eCommerce Report - Australian eCommerce news, ecommerce information, ecommerce reports, ecommerce statistics, ecommerce views, ecommerce resources and analysis, email update 23rd July 2008

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Creditcard.com.au domain name auction hits six figures

Bidding on the domain name creditcard.com.au was up to $101,000 at www.domainshed.com.au as this email update went to press. But there are serious doubts over the integrity of the auction.

Sydney man, Chris Dutton, from Bean Media confirmed to eCommerce Report yesterday that he owns the domain name.
However he also claimed that, despite the auction, he won’t be selling the name.
“There was a bid of half a million or something” he said “and I’m not happy with the security. It seems like anyone can bid. You don’t even have to register.”
Dutton said he was considering putting the name up at alternative auction sites such as www.netfleet.com.au and/or www.sedo.com
Dutton also claimed he’d been offered $50,000 cash for the name and rejected the offer.
“I’ve got a site ready to go and I can make more money from that” he claimed.
However there is reason to be cautious about Dutton’s claims.
An emigrant from the UK some five years ago, Dutton is the brains behind the affiliate marketing business known as www.therichpom.com
The business targets unsophisticated Internet users who can be gulled into paying $79 for an e-book that promises to show them ‘How to get rich quickly on the Internet.’
But the e-book is merely an introduction to affiliate marketing, and cleverly links in with Dutton’s own affiliate marketing operation promoted via www.clixgalore.com.au
Dutton denied that he was ramping the auction for his domain name at domainshed, specifically denying that he was the person TRPTRP, topping each bid by $50 over the last week or so.
He suggested that, because TRP is an acronym for The Rich Pom, someone is trying to make it look like he is involved.

eBay abandons PayPal monopoly plan, withdraws ACCC application
eBay has abandoned its attempts to enforce a PayPal monopoly within its Australian online market-place.
An announcement on eBay's web-site posted yesterday said that "eBay will continue to allow all existing payment methods on eBay.com.au."
It said that eBay had withdrawn its notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, "to stop any further confusion and disruption in the eBay community."
However the company said it will continue with the new policy implemented in mid-May making it compulsory for all sellers to offer PayPal.
[Posted July 4th]

ACCC rejects eBay’s plan for PayPal monopoly
eBay’s plans for www.ebay.com.au to become a PayPal-only zone had a setback at the hands of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last week.
In a detailed, 39 page notification, the ACCC said it had concluded that eBay’s plan had “substantial anti-competitive detriments” and that these “outweigh any public benefit.”
more?

ACCC action underlines reality that PayPal is eBay’s future
eBay’s application to the ACCC for official endorsement of its plan to make its Australian online marketplace a PayPal only zone would appear to have backfired in a big way.
more?

Questions mounting over new government EFTPOS welfare card
There are previous few details available about the government’s new Centrelink EFTPOS debit card for welfare recipients, and certainly many questions about it still unanswered. more?

Marketers get access to electoral roll?
Changes to Electoral Act regulations last year have given marketers direct and online access to voters’ details on the Australian Electoral Roll. more?

Au domain aftermarket slowly emerging
Au domain aftermarket slowly emerging Instant riches for au domain name owners have so far failed to materialize in the wake of the new rules that came into effect on June 1st allowing au domain names to be traded. But a number of new web-sites have sprung up hoping to cash-in on the change in rules. more?

Sensis adds auctions to Trading Post online
After years of decline and neglect, Telstra subsidiary - Sensis, has finally added online auctions to its Trading Post classifieds service. more?

OZtion sold in $2million deal
Local online auction site OZtion has attracted a large number of new users recently, many of them disgruntled with eBay.com.au And now it has also attracted a new owner - listed company, Jumbuck Entertainment. more?

New statistics show Australian card fraud is at very low levels
Credit and charge card fraud (that is, signature permitted and card-not-present) increased from 36.9 cents to 44.5 cents in every $1,000. more?

NSW pricing regulator backs Cabcharge concerns
A 10% surcharge levied by Cabcharge on fares collected through its payment system have been flagged as a competition concern by the NSW pricing regulator, the Independent Pricing and Review Tribunal (IPART). more?

In-Brief: Shane Warne online poker, Pay TV gambling strikes parliamentary opposition
Shane Warne is the front-man for a new online poker service from listed British company - 888.
Pay TV gambling operator Two Way Interactive has run into opposition in the Australian parliament. more?

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