eBay Developers Conference 2005

A Fantastic Developers Conference

Thank You for a terrific eBay Developers Conference 2005!

We've enjoyed connecting with our amazing community of developers again this year, hearing your thoughts about the program, improvements you've noticed taking place and suggestions for the future. This year's conference was our biggest and best yet. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of just some of the sessions, keynote speeches, interactions with developers and awards on this weblog.

Most importantly, keep letting us know how we're doing - and we promise we'll continue to do our best for you. Your innovative ideas, input and spirit are the driving force behind the power of all of us.

Download .pdf versions of the session presentations you attended at Developers Conference 2005.

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developers Relations

Cross-Border Trade Increasing

International expansion once again came up at the conference, this time during the closing keynote panel, titled "Global Market Opportunity." International business was one of the most exciting themes of the conference. It makes sense -- there are now more eBay users outside the US than inside.

And according to panelist Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, in the past, cross-border trade on eBay was about 9-10% of GMV, but now it's about 15%. 

PayPal, and the fact that eBay has become smarter about shipping, have contributed to the increase, Cobb said. Cross-border trade will be "increasingly part of our business."

A member of the audience asked about the plan for PayPal in Germany, where there have been "pain points" around payment. Jeff Jordan, President of PayPal, said Germany is a large market for eBay and PayPal is doing a lot of development there. A "robust" platform in Germany is one of the top priorities for PayPal, he said. We're going to "work very hard in this market."

The panelists said that one way developers can expand is by partnering with people in other countries and sharing ownership of products.

Jordan said that eBay learned in Japan that for international expansion, local teams, local talent, and responding to local needs are necessary.

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

How About This Photo?

Posted by: Suzanne Ahmed, eBay Developers Program

I thought you might like to see this photo of the eBay Star Developer Award winners taken at the awards ceremony Tuesday evening, June 21. That's Meg Whitman, second from left.

Schema Migration

This afternoon I attended a schema migration session given by Alan Lewis, eBay Technical Evangelist. Schema migration is about moving an application from the legacy schema XML API to eBay web services, specifically to the eBay SOAP API, the new schema XML API, the eBay SDK for Java, or the new (3.0) eBay SDK for Windows.

eBay is requiring all developers to migrate by June, 2006, but it seems like a good idea to start early, or at least make a migration plan so that you understand how long the migration will take. In our experience working with our early adopters, a migration needs to be done in a phased, gradual manner with plenty of testing.

Several developers asked about application performance on the new schema. Eric Maas of Infopia shared his experience of being able to achieve performance on the eBay SOAP API comparable to that of the legacy schema XML API. Eric achieved this by using the ApiCall class in the Java SDK to set up communication with the SOAP API and modifying the ApiCall source code.

If your application is in Java, and you want to use the same migration strategy (eBay SOAP API through the Java SDK), I would suggest working with eBay Developer Technical Support to develop a migration plan that works with your application and listing volume.

Overall, an interesting session. See the migration landing page on the eBay developer site for more info.

Posted by: Suzanne Ahmed, eBay Developers Program

Germany, UK, France, China, Wow

Michele Don Durbin, Senior Manager, International Platform Solutions, said that for many reasons – including the desire for a level playing field – there are opportunities to help sellers and buyers internationally. Germany, the UK, France, and China were among the countries she discussed in the International Opportunities presentation. 

One of the most exciting points Don Durbin made was that it’s possible to “get your toes wet” in international markets without committing a lot of resources. For example, eBay’s existing user base includes English-speaking exporters to the US market and US exporters to international markets.

A member of the audience asked about examples of barriers a company with a US site would face if it wanted to sell on the German and French sites.  Don Durbin provided several examples, including categories not aligning. Paul Lundy, Chief Marketing Officer of Marketworks Inc., which is in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia, said it’s important to have teams established locally overseas. You need to get to know the “local nuances,” he said. He gave me a couple of examples after the presentation: In Germany, you have to allow for returns of products purchased and you have to determine if the price displayed on eBay is going to be VAT inclusive or VAT exclusive.

During the presentation, Don Durbin said the Germany site is one of the most popular, it has steady growth, and it has the highest number of API developers outside the US. Developers interested in the German market should keep in mind that customers there are looking for innovation and creativity, Don Durbin said. They want an easy look and feel, something that plays into the fun theme of eBay. And the German market loves “introductory” pricing!

The UK site also has a healthy growth rate -- 105% year-over-year in GMV. And eBay is well-known in the UK. Users in the UK say they spend 70% of their time in listing and image management, so there are specific opportunities in these areas, Don Durbin said. The types of automation that UK users need include database and spreadsheet integration, as well as help with fulfillment and checkout. They want “holistic” management tools.

France has 10.2 million online buyers and “tremendous growth rates,” Don Durbin said. GMV growth is 160% year-over-year and is accelerating. And in France, she said, there’s only one certified provider and there are only six API applications in use! The needs in the French market include customer support and training.

China is a “nascent” market, Don Durbin said, and although there are unknowns, now is the time to “get in on the ground floor.” There is huge growth and acceptance of eBay in China. In Q1, eBay China got 1.8 million new users and by 2007, there could be 80% broadband use.

Companies can “ride the wave” of high eBay investment in China, Don Durbin said. There’s a need in China “right now” for third party tools -- TurboLister is the only listing tool option! Export support is also needed because 20% of the business in China is exports.

Wow!

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

Projected New Features Include Custom SKUs, My eBay Enhancements

Upcoming API features are planned to include a custom SKU field in the AddItem and GetItem calls, Jason Steinhorn and Dheeraj Mohnia of eBay Product Management told developers Tuesday in the New Technologies Roadmap presentation. A custom SKU field in the AddItem and GetItem calls will enable sellers to track an item through the eBay item lifecycle, Steinhorn said. Later the same day a developer told me he wanted a product-based identifier for products he lists.

A member of the audience asked if the SKU will be retrievable by GetSearchResults. The response from the front was that it’s likely that initially, only a seller will be able to search on the SKU, but in a later release GetSearchResults will have a field for the SKU.

Also at the New Technologies presentation, Steinhorn and Mohnia discussed the process of how ideas become actual features, and described enhancements to My eBay 2.0. They said the enhancements are projected to include Buying, Selling, Awaiting Feedback, and Buying and Selling reminders. And GetSearchResults will have enhancements that include configurable and new output (such as whether a seller supports PayPal and the country in which items are located), additional sort options, new output tags, and spell-check recommendations. Work will be done for an API call for finding out which features are available in which categories, and an Announcements Board API will contain a new call for retrieval of the latest eBay marketing messages, news announcements, and information about new features.

Steinhorn went through the “top 5” initiatives for 2005: New Schema Migration, API Enhancements, Sandbox Enhancements, Notification Extensions, and Internal/External Platform Development. For New Schema Migration, Steinhorn said that starting in January 2006, newly certified applications (as opposed to existing applications) must be written against the new schema. For December 2005, some general enhancements that have been requested by developers will be implemented – enhancements to GetSellerList, GetSellerTransactions, GetDispute/GetUserDisputes, and GetItem.

For the Sandbox, there are plans for a control panel for creating test items as easily as test users are created with the Sandbox User Registration Tool. With the control panel, developers will be able to manipulate start and end times and other properties of their test items. Answering a question from the audience, Steinhorn said developers will even be able to use the control panel to create expired items.

Steinhorn said to provide him with feedback!

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

Things to do in San Jose

At the keynote yesterday, Greg Isaacs poked fun at the lack of things to do in San Jose when compared to the location of the conference last year - New Orleans. As a native of the South Bay - born and raised in Santa Clara, graduate of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose - I feel compelled to defend my home town. Here are some ideas for things to do:

Food: Hatcho, 1271 Franklin Mall, Santa Clara. This place has the best Japanese food I've ever had, and it is the best place to eat in the South Bay. I've you've never had sushi, then this is the place to do it. Get the tuna or the salmon. And if you've ever wanted to try the kind of food you see on Iron Chef, you can get it here. For more food recommendations, check out Wes Kashawagi's South Bay food site.

Entertainment/Shopping: Santana Row, Corner of Winchester and Stevens Creek, San Jose. This upscale outdoor mall opened up a few years ago, and it is great place to hang out and people watch, especially in the summer. You can laugh at the ridiculously over-priced stores, eat at some great restaurants like the Straights Cafe (Singaporean food), and hang out at the Borders book store.

Cheesy Tourist Attraction: Winchester Mystery House, 525 S. Winchester Blvd. If you've never heard of this place, you can check out the website for the story. I've been on the tour of the house a few times, and I can attest that it is worth the trip.

Road Trip: Santa Cruz. Take a 45 minutes road trip down 880 South (which turns into 17) to get to this ultra-liberal beach community. The beach boardwalk can be fun, but I like to hang out in downtown and on some of the other beaches in the area, especially the ones up highway 1 that face west, which make them a great place to hang out and view the sunset.

Culture: San Jose Museum of Art. This place is right next door to the Fairmont, and it has a great exhibit of black and white photographs. Oh, and it's free.

Post your comments with your tips for what to do in the South Bay.

Posted by: Alan Lewis, eBay Developers Program

Scalability a Priority; eBay Wants Feedback from Developers

Lynn Reedy, CTO of eBay Marketplace, Product, and Technology, said in a keynote that eBay is architecting for future traffic on its platform equal to ten times the current volume. This includes the backend databases, which have to be “totally scalable.”

Reedy also took the opportunity to ask for feedback from developers. This request also was made by Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, who made a surprise appearance after Reedy’s keynote. Whitman said the week of the Developer’s Conference and eBay Live is her “favorite week of the year,” and third party developers have always played a central role in eBay’s evolution. She asked developers in the audience to please provide feedback to the eBay and PayPal employees they see at the conference.

Over the past couple of days here, developers have voiced concerns about whether the platform can handle large numbers of API calls and about how reliable the Sandbox is.

In Q4 of last year, Reedy said, there were about 4.4 million transactions per day on eBay. And in June of this year, there have been 42 million API calls per day. eBay needs to ensure that “a year from now, 2 years from now, 3 years from now,” the platform can continue to scale, she said.

In addition to architecting for scalability, the steps for the API that have been or soon will be taken include improving API caching and monitoring, improving the reliability of the GetAccount call, and the new schema, Reedy said. Additional steps are notification improvements and Sandbox improvements to further enable developers to test their applications, she said.

Developers “are a critical component to our mutual success,” and drive innovation, Reedy said. Opportunities for developers include Best Offer, a feature which has been successful in helping sellers increase business, and Want It Now, a popular feature that will be added to the API.

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

The Envelope, Please

I really enjoyed last evening at the conference. More than 500 developers gathered in the Imperial Ballroom at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose for the 2005 eBay Star Developer Awards Ceremony. Even Meg Whitman attended, speaking about the power of the eBay community, 147 million strong.

For three years now, the Star Developer awards have recognized the very best in the developer community, and this year is no different. The 2005 awards and winners are:

Highest Volume of Listings on eBay
MarketWorks, accepted by Jerry Ablan

Top Producer of GMV on eBay Using Third-Party Tools
Andale, accepted by Prashant Nedungadi

Affiliate Technical Leadership
Earthlink, accepted by Chris Holland and James Ching

PayPal Early Adopter
Mal's e-commerce, presented to Mal Stuart

PayPal Service to the Community
Scorpion Systems, presented to Andrew Chen

PayPal Innovative Application
Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting, accepted by Jimmy Duvall

Early Adopter
Infopia, accepted by Eric Maas

Service to the Community
Kuntay Taner of FoundValue, accepted by Kuntay Taner

Innovative Application
Vendio, accepted by Rodrigo Sales and Mike Effle

Congratulations, everyone!

Posted by: Suzanne Ahmed, eBay Developers Program

An interesting Day 1...and a new record on eBay

After the keynotes of the morning, I spent some time discussing design issues and new features with a number of other developers and the DTS staff at the conference.  Many of the new features developers have been requested are in the plans over the next few quarters, and one of the larger announcements of the night included increased focus on the structure, functionality parity, and stability of the sandbox.  I think most developers will appreciate the further increased availability and functionality that we can look forward to over the next few months with the sandbox environment.  Additionally, integrating the PayPal sandbox with the eBay sandbox allows for even more integration and testing without special hoops required for developer testing.

My favorite new feature is the dashboard allowing for manual control of listings, to assist in testing functions like UPI and INR rather than having to wait the several days normally required to exercise the function.  This should make testing and development on these functions much easier on everyone compared to the existing design.

After the sessions, keynotes (including visits from a number of eBay executives) and awards, we had a great reception and party until I was whisked away to assist a number of developers that had signed up for 1-on-1 time with various eBay technical assistance personnel and outside developers that volunteered to assist.  We worked on a number of problems for various developers and tried to fix as many as possible.

The lunchtime roundtable I hosted was the "best practices" table, where a number of those present were asking about the certification process.  When preparing for the certification process and designing your application, make sure to take best use of the most efficient calls available for your application -- use GetSellerEvents instead of GetSellerList if the values in GetSellerEvents will suffice for what you need.  Also, avoid requesting data again that doesn't change -- retrieve once and store locally.  (You may be doing this already, but some people don't think about the importance of the efficiencies.)  Then, when you go to certify and eBay DTS evaluates your application, there won't be any concern that you're not making the most efficient use of your API calls.  If you have more questions, stop by may table tomorrow and we can talk about those too.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm giving a presentation from the non-eBay employee perspective of "Adopting New Features and Changes (without Tequila)", session 403.  For any of the developers out there that have felt like a drink after dealing with some of the changes that have come through the eBay API, feel free to stop by for the presentation (gifts may be available).  If I don't cover your issue during the talk, I'll be available to talk afterward and address your cases.

And on a final note tonight, I'd like to send out a congratulations to GlacierBayDVD, who has now established the highest feedback score on eBay (currently 238252) surpassing jayandmarie as the highest feedback score of any seller on eBay.

Posted by: Marshall Smith, ChannelAdvisor Corporation

Connecting with Developers

Immediately after the lunchtime round tables ended today, I had a great time connecting with some members of our eBay Developer Council that I get to talk to every month, but most of whom I got to meet in person for the first time today.

Marco Georgi of Ageto.de traveled all the way from Germany to be here for the Developers Conference. Marshall Smith of Channel Advisor and Robert Jordan of Saris Technology (both former eBay Star Developers) each hosted round tables and shared experiences of previous Developer Conferences.

Tobe Goldfinger of JDT Technologies hosted our Systems Integration round table, and Derek Wade of Bargainland got his company a mention in our closing keynote this evening (think eBay-branded wine!) Finally, Eric Maas of Infopia co-hosted our Schema Migration roundtable and was a winner in tonight's Star Developer Awards.

Meeting members of our developer community has really been a highlight for me this year! I look forward to meeting more of you tomorrow, perhaps after the Community Connections session on Wednesday at 4:00PM on Incorporating Developer Feedback into Product Design, #407.

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developers Relations

Approaches to Market-Sizing for Startups

Attendees of the “Market Sizing and Revenue Modeling for Startups” roundtable voiced differing approaches to when to size a market and how to do it. I spoke to several of them individually after our lunch together.

Better World Books didn’t size its market before launching, co-founder F. Xavier Helgesen said. Instead, “we just started selling books.” Better World Books has a feedback score of more than 33,000, Helgesen said. The company donates to literacy programs and in 2004 funded the shipment of more than 200,000 books to the African continent. The company started when Helgesen and others at Notre Dame’s undergraduate program went to Half.com and sold some books that their classmates didn’t want, Helgesen said. The next year, they won the 2003 McClosky Social Venture Plan competition at Notre Dame, he said.

Anthony Nassar, Founder and Principal of Venture Momentum, Inc., said he hosted the roundtable to discuss how to size markets and do revenue modeling. He said he advocates a bottom-up approach in both areas. Additionally, he said, for revenue modeling, you can understand how your margin per customer is evolving over time by using the following factors: sales cycle length, cost of acquiring customers, cost of servicing customers, and revenue per customer.

Bud Bach, CTO of Receller, said that in 2004, Receller researched the market for wireless applications for selling on eBay. Receller found that there were about 170 million cell phone users in the United States, Bach said. The company also looked at camera phone sales, he said, and some manufacturers were originally projecting that 40 percent of their upcoming phones would have cameras. So Receller based projected market size on the projected sales of camera phones, a number that Bach said is actually exceeding the original projections.

Bach said that Receller is in the business of selling products on eBay for people who use cell phones. He said a customer takes a picture of an item and sends the picture to Receller, who then contacts the customer and obtains information for the sale. Receller then lists the item, bringing its sales knowledge, including on pricing, Bach said.

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

Going Global- Tackling Intl Markets

The most popular question, of course, is the holy grail..."Where do I go next?"  With non-US marketplaces at 50% of eBay's total GMV, international user registration bypassing US registration and cross-border trade at 40% (or more) of site activity for all but the most mature markets, international is most definitely an attractive opportunity.

At today's international roundtable, some of the topics discussed were: eBay's (lack of) presence in Japan, the competitive market in China, handling payments on ebay.de and easy moves to appeal to the Canadian marketplace. Developers networked with API-enabled sellers. US tools makers found international resources to help with technical and business questions. And I even remembered to hand out my business cards...

At tomorrow's International discussion, I'll help to classify eBay's international markets and discuss some of the considerations, opportunities and strategies to use when establishing yourself internationally. Remember: 10:15 in the Crystal room. And, if you can't make it, we've got another International Roundtable at lunch tomorrow too.

Hope to see you there! - Michele

Posted by: Michele Don Durbin, eBay Developers Program

Express Checkout and Direct Payment APIs for PayPal Developers

Express Checkout and Direct Payment APIs are among the new features of PayPal, Dave Nielsen, Manager of the PayPal Developer's Network, said in an exciting What’s New Keynote.

Nielsen said that developers asked for more control during checkout. In response, PayPal has provided Express Checkout. Using Express Checkout, customers decide on a purchase on a merchant’s site, go briefly to PayPal’s site to choose payment options and a shipping address, and then are returned to the merchant’s site for payment. 

Also, developers can use the Direct Payment API for customers who are unfamiliar with PayPal.  With Direct Payment, a customer enters credit card information directly on a merchant’s site. The site then calls PayPal. This is useful when a merchant has customers who are unfamiliar with PayPal.

The PayPal Developer's Network is ready to help developers implement these new features, Nielsen said -- current uses of PayPal APIs are just the beginning. In the future, he said, people may even be able to use PayPal to pay their share right after lunch with a friend! PayPal APIs are “a huge opportunity for developers ready to jump in on the ground floor!”

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

And .. Developer Conference Opens!

It's finally here - the opening day of eBay Developer Conference 2005. We on eBay staff warmly welcome all of our developers who are here and say a big Hello to any of you who are busy working back at home.

Greg Isaacs, Director of the eBay Developers Program, introduced this morning's keynote by emphasizing the importance of all of you to eBay. Greg said, "You help drive new demand to eBay's platforms. You are truly the innovators and pioneers." I found the announcements of the Community Codebase and Individual Tier Licensing exciting, and I might contribute some code myself. As they say - the power of all of us.

Jeff Jordan, President, PayPal, Inc., spoke on the importance of developers to the eBay and PayPal ecosystem, saying that all of you have the opportunity to change e-commerce as we know it. And did you know that if eBay were a country, it would be the 7th most populous nation in the world?

Stay tuned to this blog -- we're all having a lot of fun here.

Posted by: Suzanne Ahmed, eBay Developers Program

Introducing Community Codebase

Introducing eBay Community Codebase, the new development environment providing developers interested in creating software applications using eBay Web Services a place to share development resources.

eBay developers have consistently given us feedback that you’d like to collaborate on open source projects and exchange ideas with your fellow eBay developers. The eBay Community Codebase responds to this feedback by providing a place where you can work collaboratively on open source projects to build innovative applications. eBay Community Codebase includes a shared code repository with version controls, group mailing lists, issue tracker and shared documents and files.

Developers can find eBay Community Codebase at http://codebase.ebay.com and immediately begin browsing active projects and downloading code. If interested in contributing to a active project, developers will login using their eBay Developers Program User ID, create a unique version control password, then join an active project. Or developers can chose to create a brand new project. Our codebase guidelines have more information for interested developers.

The eBay Community Codebase is a new development environment that, in combination with our increased API call limits and new pricing model at the Individual tier, enables our developer community to innovate and collaborate on new projects together. Our codebase also represents our Community Values as a company:

• We believe people are basically good
• We believe everyone has something to contribute
• We believe that an honest, open environment can bring out the best in people
• We recognize and respect everyone as a unique individual
• We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated

You can read the press release announcing these exciting changes, or check out the announcement email Greg Isaacs sent to program members.

We believe in the power of all of us. Welcome to eBay Community Codebase.

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developer Relations

Announcing Changes to the Individual Tier License

In order to foster innovation and new application creation among members of the eBay Developers Program, we’ve announced some significant changes to the Developers Program Individual tier license, including:

• Individual tier members of the eBay Developers Program now receive 10,000 free monthly API calls compared with the prior limit of 50 free daily API calls (AddItem and RelistItem API calls are all free). We believe this additional API call flexibility will enable you to build the applications you want and allow existing developers to continue to profitably grow your business while ensuring the stability of eBay’s infrastructure.

• Unlike previous provisions in the Individual Tier license, Individual tier members are now free to distribute their applications.

• We have removed the $100 self-certification fee for Individual Tier members.

For more information on our membership tiers, go to http://developer.ebay.com/join/pricing/

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developer Relations

Watermark Solutions Demonstrates API Applications

Developers saw several applications today at the Pre-Conference Workshop, “Introduction to eBay Application Development.” Adam Schneider of Watermark Solutions demonstrated calls like AddItem, GetItem, GetSellerTransactions, GetSellerList, GetFeedback, and GetSearchResults.

I thought the listing application was the coolest – it was a Visual Basic .NET application with a tabbed interface that made it easy to list items in the Sandbox and also to get items, transactions, and feedback from the Sandbox. Developers stepped through code behind a clean interface.

A lot of questions came up about general topics such as Authentication and Authorization and about specific topics like the data returned by individual calls.

Towards the end of the day-long workshop, Amish Patel of eBay Developer Support presented information about getting an application certified for use in the production environment.

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

Awards Ceremony is Tuesday

The awards ceremony is tomorrow night, so the excitement is starting to build.  Quite a few developers have already gathered here at the Fairmont for the Day 0 pre-conference workshop, and I've seen a lot of media hanging out in anticipation of some big announcements. 

Word has it that Meg Whitman might come to the awards ceremony -- wouldn't that be cool?!  Michael Dearing is already scheduled to present, so it's sure to be a momentous event.

It didn't take us long to figure out how good the food is here.  The hotel is pretty deluxe, so it's a fairly nice way to spend a couple of days networking and learning.  I can't wait to meet all of the developers who will be attending.  It's going to be a great event!

Leslie Drate, eBay Developers Program, Marketing

Tomorrow Will Be a Great Day

I'm in my office at eBay, getting ready for Developer Conference tomorrow. There are so many exciting events that it's getting a bit hard to choose. Of course, I'll start with Jeff Jordan's opening keynote at 9am, and I can't wait to see all of you there.

After the morning sessions, it will be time to join one of the roundtables for lunch. I'll be cohosting the schema migration roundtable with Eric Maas, CTO of Infopia in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eric is the first developer to migrate an application to eBay's new unified schema. He's the person behind the case study in your developer bag -- Schema Migration in the New Economy.

Come on over and join us. It should be a lively, enjoyable conversation, and you can hear the story behind the story. Everyone needs to migrate their application to the new schema, so bring a friend. Not to mention that we'll be giving out million-dollar bills.   :)

There should be some great sessions in the afternoon as well. On my list are the New Technologies Roadmap, Community Collaboration, the Future Directions keynote, and then at 6pm - the AWARDS.

Posted by: Suzanne Ahmed, eBay Developers Program

Monday Morning Excitement

Even though it's Monday morning, there's a lot of excitement around creating innovative applications that work with eBay.

The Pre-Conference Workshop has begun. Registration for the conference this morning was fast and easy, and the Fairmont Hotel is beautiful.

Developers are already discussing some of their plans for new applications. One of the high-interest areas is reducing sellers' costs. Some of the developers in attendance are working with sellers to create applications that directly interact with their customers' databases.

The Pre-Conference Workshop, titled "Introduction to eBay Application Development," opened with a general discussion of the eBay API and a lot of interesting numbers from last quarter. For example, the eBay platform handles more than 1 billion API calls per month! And sellers that move from SYI to an API application see a listing improvement of more than 60% within six months!

Posted by: Bert McMeen, eBay Developers Program

Real-time Updates from the Developers Conference

Beginning June 20th on this weblog, you'll find real-time updates on news and announcements from the live event, June 21-22, from the Fairmont in San Jose.

This year at the eBay Developers Conference 2005, eBay staff and developers will be posting real-time updates and comments from sessions and events happening throughout the conference, beginning with check-in and the Pre-Conference Workshop being held on June 20th.

Developers at the conference can comment on sessions they attended, as well as read about interesting sessions on alternate tracks they weren't able to attend. Developers who aren't able to attend Developers Conference 2005 will get a sense of the exciting announcements and fun events happening at the conference.

We'll see you at the conference - and here online!

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developer Relations

Star Developer Awards - Don't Miss the Ceremony

We’re all getting pretty excited for the eBay Star Developer Awards, which will take place in the Grand Ballroom at the Fairmont on the first night of the conference at 6 p.m. 

I hope everyone is going to hang out for this, because there’s a party right after.  Plus, this is considered one of the highlights of the conference.  Everyone gets together to recognize the outstanding achievements of program members, and it’s much better when everyone’s there to congratulate the winners. 

We’ve got some surprise awards to give out this year because the program has grown so much and there are so many developers involved with innovating on the platform.  Some of our senior level executives will be presenting the awards, too.  I hope to see everyone there!

Posted by: Leslie Drate, eBay Developer Marketing

Don't Miss the Most Important eBay Events of the Year

The eBay Developers Conference and eBay Live! are just around the corner. If your business involves eBay, this is where you need to be.

Attend the eBay Developers Conference, June 21-22 in San Jose, California, and get into eBay Live! (June 23-25) free with your paid Developers Conference registration.

• Hear about the expanding global opportunity for eBay and PayPal developers
• Gather market intelligence from the most passionate eBay buyers and sellers
• Cut loose on Friday night, June 24th, at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara
• Rock out to the world's greatest party band, the B-52's, at eBay's 10th Anniversary Gala on Saturday night, June 25th, at the Santa Clara Convention Center

Register now and save $50. See you in San Jose!

Posted by: Leslie Drate, eBay Developer Marketing

Book Your Room Now for the Developers Conference

Time is running out to take advantage of the Developers Conference discounted room rate at the conference hotel--the Fairmont San Jose.

So, if you haven't made your hotel reservations yet, be sure to do so by May 30th, and pay only $149 per night plus tax, or $189 per night plus tax for suites.

To make your reservations, call The Fairmont San Jose and identify yourself as an eBay Developers Conference attendee:

• 408.998.1900 (ask for Reservations)
• 800.346.5550 (Toll-free within the U.S.)
• 506.863.6310 (From outside the U.S.)

Posted by: Leslie Drate, eBay Developer Marketing

eBay Developer Conference 2005 -- Register Now and Save $50

June 21-22, 2005
The Fairmont San Jose

You still have time to register and save $50 off the on-site conference fee for the eBay Developers Conference 2005. The two-day agenda includes inspiring keynotes, in-depth technical and business sessions, and hands-on labs with advance access to new tools and technology.

If you're interested in learning about the eBay Affiliate API Program and how you can generate more revenue with your application, this is the place to be. Of course, you will have plenty of opportunities to exchange information and ideas with your fellow innovators in June, but you can start networking now!

Sign in to the Developers Conference Forum and start planning your participation early. Check out the complete agenda and register right away for your $50 savings.

Posted by: Leslie Drate, eBay Developer Marketing

Conference Round Table Topics

We're looking for developer input on the Lunch Round Table topics we'll be hosting at the Developers Conference 2005, June 21-22, in San Jose.

We've opened a discussion thread to collect your ideas. We want a sense of what interests you, so shout out and tell us your favorites so we can offer what you'd like to see at your Developers Conference this year.

Posted by: Delyn Simons, eBay Developer Relations

Developers Conference: Top 10 List

Do you know the way to San Jose?

At the eBay Developers Conference 2005, we thought it would be fun to share the “Top 10 reasons why San Jose is the best place on earth to host a developers conference”.

eBay and PayPal developers continually impress us with their innovation and wit, so we look forward to receiving and sharing your humorous responses. The Top 10 responses will be highlighted at the eBay Developers Conference, June 21-22, in San Jose, California.

Please don’t hold back!  Send your replies directly to developer-relations@ebay.com for consideration.

Posted by: Greg Isaacs, eBay Developers Program

Register Now for Early-Bird Discount on Developers Conference

Registration is now open for the eBay Developers Conference 2005 -- the definitive learning experience for eBay and PayPal developers. In just two days, June 21-22, at the Fairmont in San Jose, you will get the information and inspiration you need to keep the wheels of innovation turning:

• Learn how to take advantage of marketing resources designed specifically to help you accelerate your business growth.
• Get up to speed on development tools and technologies that can help you build better applications faster.
• Learn tried-and-true strategies for implementing the most powerful and complex eBay and PayPal features.
• Network with your fellow innovators and establish long-lasting relationships with potential strategic partners.

Check out the complete agenda, then register by May 1st to get $150 off the on-site conference fee. When you register for the Developers Conference, you also get free access to eBay Live!, the eBay Community Conference taking place June 23-25 in San Jose.

Register today!

Posted by: Leslie Drate, eBay Developer Marketing