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eBay TV

pictures of items on eBay on TV
  (+7, -5)
(+7, -5)
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A 24h 7/7 TV show with a slide show of objects now on eBay. When you see something you like, you remember the day and time you saw it and find it back on eBay.tv (eBay owns that domain already). A dozen slides shown around that time on tv appear in a band you can scroll through, linked to the actual ad on the eBay site.

Sellers who want the (hi-res) picture of their item on eBay also to appear on television pay some extra. This prevents boring items appearing on eBay tv, besides the income for the channel. Real estate and cars yes, no electronics spare parts and such. Prime time is more expensive.

The audio is a paid phone-in chatroom (another source of income). Most viewers will turn off the sound or put something else on to listen to, but anyone can call in to talk about what is on the screen.

When you search for eBay TV on the web you find stories that years ago eBay intended to make a tv-show with _stories_ around the objects on eBay, like the Antiques Roadshow (see first link). That is traditional television. Just bring the actual objects on television to watch and let the advertisers pay for it. Just a brief flash of a nanosecond is affordable for anyone. Some 20 seconds with slides for an object is reserved for the professional sellers/advertisers.

Important: no 'interactive television', only lean back television, just the slides. Television is 'push', a flow, a shower of images. When you want to act on what you see, go to the web. That technology works, everyone is used to that interface to eBay. Integrating it in a tv-set is costly and is incompatible with the way most people watch television.

When I say 'no interactive television' this also means no categories to browse with your remote and such (see link with 'eBay on TiVo'). The advertisers determine when their ad appears on television. Just a slide show. The sequence is a bit of a surprise, but advertisers will find out what is the best time in the day to advertise for which object. Real estate in the evening, groceries in the morning, tech stuff in the afternoon? Who will know? It might change per day, depending on the season, the weather and so on.

There should also be an ebay.tv screensaver, so you can watch it through an ip-connection. It would be sensible to regionalise it also: ebay.tv/us/nyc or ebay.tv/nl/020 and ebay.tv/fr/75010 or whatever local way there is to regionalise.

rrr, Jun 16 2005

mentions eBay TV http://www.clickz.c...article.php/1457811
but the concept is different, just wrong [rrr, Jun 16 2005]

eBay on TiVo http://www.pvrblog....bay_coming_to_.html
another wrong concept, interactive TV, hate it, won't work [rrr, Jun 16 2005]

Sparschwein TV http://www.springwi...sparschwein_update/
baked by Sparschwein! [rrr, May 30 2006]

[link]






       Nice idea, although in much the same way as I don't watch QVC or any similar shopping channels I wouldn't watch this either.
hippo, Jun 16 2005
  

       QVC is boring. Too much repetition and hysteric sellers. Endless drivel on some product you don't need.   

       eBay TV would be much more like the quiet fireplace video, but then with (for example) the pictures of local real estate that are also popular in the shop windows of real estate agents (at least over here in Europe).
rrr, Jun 16 2005
  

       "A 24h 7/7 TV show with a slide show of objects now on eBay." OK, what in Hades name was the rest of that waffle. Sorry, feeling a bit grumpy.
weedy, Jun 16 2005
  

       <boringly predictable> eBay Watch! </bp>
DrBob, Jun 16 2005
  

       Don't be too upset DrBob, someone had to do it.
juanmanandez, Jun 16 2005
  

       I think this would work better if restricted to certain lines. For instance, in common with [hippo] and most sane people, I don't watch QVC (or bid-up tv or any of the rest of them) because I don't like buying general 'stuff', especially crap stuff. I shop on eBay only for things that I need. An eBay motors channel would do very well. Within the UK or areas of North America, people will travel a fair way for a good car or a classic. An eBay real estate channel would also have potential, although localisation becomes more of a problem here. The bizzarre stuff channel would get watched by stoners, late night students and me, but a general eBay channel for everything just doesn't appeal to me. Then again, I'm not a shopaholic. Overall, [+].
wagster, Jun 16 2005
  

       Actually, you don't *watch* eBay TV, you just have it on. Next to your aquarium, your fireplace and the windows of your house looking out to the street or some gently waving green leaves. Some distraction, nothing fancy. Like most people use their TV set...
rrr, Jun 16 2005
  

       I reckon ebay might just do this ....they just bought 'Skype' remember....I can see people selling stuff from their house - 'contact seller' will open up a video-skype link.....
monojohnny, May 30 2006
  

       It looks like I'm a little late coming to this site, but when I read this it immediately spawned another idea. Targeted eBay ads. Similar to Google's AdSense. Of course, sadly, a quick search on google found just that site. www.auctionads.com
laf, Mar 24 2007
  

       i really don't get the picture. why isn't any interactivity allowed? send e-bay to history-television? who's actually watching classic TV anymore?
sweet, Mar 25 2007
  
      
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