eBay support for repet. stupidity

September 27, 2005

HostedSupport.com, a provider of automated online customer support solutions for Web businesses, today announced ezSupport for eBay, its new automated customer support solution customized specifically to the needs of eBay sellers.

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ezSupport for eBay assists sellers in dealing with the overwhelming volume of repetitive (and often stupid) e-mail questions from buyers by automatically answering 80 percent of incoming questions. (eBay currently has 135 million users worldwide.)

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Typical questions received by sellers include inquiries on shipping policies as well as specifics regarding products’ sizes, weight and colors.�Through a set-up wizard, sellers develop their own list of questions and answers:

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Buyer inquiry: “Quick question before I bid...Does the Actual-Size Vintage 1942 DC-3/C-47 Cargo Aircraft come with a CD player?”

Seller automated response: “The actual-size aircraft is from World War II. It's a 1942 model.”

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Buyer follow-up inquiry: “So it doesn’t have a CD player?”

Seller follow-up automated response: “No stupid questions, please. Read product description before inquiring...Stupid.”

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Obviously persistent stupid potential buyer: “Does�the aircraft�come in purple?”

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Once sellers develop their own questions and answers, ezSupport for eBay can be up and running in less than 20 minutes.

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ezSupport for eBay is a Web-based, hosted solution with no special software or hardware to purchase. Targeted to eBay sellers and ecommerce companies that sell on eBay, ezSupport for eBay enables sellers to focus on increasing sales rather than dealing with redundant customer e-mail messages.�

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HostedSupport.com’s partnership with the online auction company makes the company the only developer of automated customer support that has integrated into the eBay API to support “Ask the Seller a Question.”��

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According to a company statement, one example of an eBay seller who found himself bogged down in the volume of buyer e-mail is Bob Allen, co-founder of MyGolfBallStore.com. MyGolfBallStore.com is an online retailer of sporting goods and an eBay platinum power seller.�Allen and his customer support team utilized e-mail, spreadsheets and paper files to track customer issues.�As the business grew, this manual process consumed too much time and became too complex and costly. Allen then adopted ezSupport for eBay to automate his customer support process.

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According to Allen, “HostedSupport.com was the answer to my prayers. We were suffering severe growing pains trying to keep up with our customer support workload.�Since using ezSupport for eBay, seventy percent of our workload has been eliminated by the system, and our customer relationships have never been better.”

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ezSupport for eBay is priced at $9.95 per seat per month. It is available on a month-to-month subscription basis.�Further, the hosted solution supports Windows and Macintosh and is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Opera and Safari Web browsers.�

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In addition to ezSupport for eBay, HostedSupport.com offers another product customized to eBay: ezSupport Lite for eBay, a free introductory solution that also integrates with “Ask the Seller a Question.”�

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HostedSupport.com also offers ezSupport and ezSupport Pro, the company’s automated online customer support solutions for any online business. ezSupport and ezSupport Pro feature auto-answer e-mail, FAQs, ticket tracking, live chat, advanced reporting and POP e-mail importing, as well as free training and set-up assistance. Pricing is $49.95 per seat per month for ezSupport and $79.95 per seat per month for ezSupport Pro.

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HostedSupport.com is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. In addition to eBay, its clients and partners include PCMall; E! Online; TicketWeb; Yahoo! Search Marketing; and, of course, MyGolfBallStore.

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DRB