Windows-based eBay searching tool Prospector has undergone a major update with improvements in search setup and result display.

New searching options include item condition, best offer, and local pickup. In search results, shipping cost, item condition, and ship-to locations can now be shown.

In addition, the free Lite version now allows 100 searches per day (up from 30).

Multi-channel e-commerce software company Vendio Services has been acquired by Chinese wholesale marketplace Alibaba.com.

The acquisition will enable the direct integration of Alibaba's AliExpress wholesale platform with Vendio's multi-channel sales management solution, allowing Vendio sellers to buy directly from Alibaba's product manufacturers. Exclusive guarantees, promotions and special deals will also be available to Vendio users. The acquisition is part of Alibaba's US$100 million investment plan announced in April 2010.

"At Alibaba.com, our goal is to make it easier for our customers around the world to do business by providing solutions that increase margins, productivity and competitiveness through e-commerce," said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com. "Vendio is our first acquisition in the U.S. and a strong strategic fit... I am confident that our complementary businesses will create enhanced opportunities for our customers."

Vendio became the largest third-party eBay software company in 2006 with their acquisition of Andale.

Auctiva have added support for eBay Motor's parts compatibility feature currently being rolled out across Motors categories.

"eBay has clearly articulated the significant benefits that parts compatibility listings provide to sellers, [including] the boost their listings will receive in Best Match," says Tony Maxey, Auctiva's senior product manager. "We strive to be the listing tool of choice for eBay sellers, and delivering parts compatibility listing capability is an important part of fulfilling that objective."

eBay began adding parts compatibility to selected eBay Motors categories in March.

Auction management system Auctiva is to add support for two new marketplaces: Amazon.com and their own marketplace, Elefy.com.

They aim to introduce Amazon support in early 2011, promising a simpler implementation than competing providers.

Elefy.com, a search-driven marketplace for independent sellers, is Auctiva's own sales venue. Elefy support will be added to Auctiva later this year.

• Order manager Zazanaire manages and monitors order status, prints shipping labels, sends message to buyers etc.
• goSnipe is a new web-based sniper
• A trio of new products from Just Applications include courier booking service PayPerParcel, template design service Just Template IT, and eBay listing tool Ad-Lister
• Ebeezy is a new eBay template and store design service

eBay listing and auction management tool inkFrog has added a new research and suggestion feature called "Smart Lister".

Smart Lister provides real-time keyword, title, duration and scheduled time suggestions to the seller based on actual research data. It also provides examples of recently sold items which are similar to the item being listed. The data is provided through a partnership with Terapeak.

Greg Sisung, President of inkFrog, inc., states, "eBay sellers can now get the research they need while they are actually creating their listings. Our Smart Lister is the first tool of its kind and actually empowers inkFrog sellers to increase buyer visits and increase their sales."

eBay market research solution Terapeak has announced a new version for PayPal.

The new tool provides insight into a seller's own PayPal transactions, organizing the activity visually and tracking taxes and fees.

A free trial is available at analytics.terapeak.com.

The winners of the 2010 eBay star developer awards have been announced at the eBay Developers Conference:

• DSR Rockstar: eCommSource by Cloud Conversion
• Early Adopter: Quantity Manager and Price Spectre by NullApps (runner up for DSR report last year)
• Most Innovative: Outright by Outright
• Rapid Evolution: Vendio Reviser by Vendio (runner up in the Most Innovative category for Vendio Research last year)
• Service to the Developer Community: David Kronenwetter of Experimenter's Discount Warehouse (runner up last year)

Runners-up:

• DSR Rockstar: PhiConnect Return Service by PhiConnect.com
• Early Adopter: ChannelAdvisor Premium Marketplaces by ChannelAdvisor
• Most Innovative: GarageSale iPhone application by iwascoding
• Rapid Evolution: ShipSaver Insurance by inkFrog (winner of the Rapid Evolution award for Sales Manager last year)
• Service to the Developer Community: Alan Capesius of AlsSoftware

Previous winners: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004

A new version of desktop-based eBay auction manager AuctionSage has been released.

AuctionSage 10.20 adds support for new eBay features including the (now mandatory) Item Condition setting, Multiple Variation Listings (MVL), and Buyer Requirements.

eBay seller tools provider Sellebrity.com have announced a new tool called Feedback Friend.

Feedback Friend monitors bidders on current auctions, and alerts the seller to any that leave a high proportion of negative feedback, so they can be blocked before the auction closes.

eCommerce solutions provider ChannelAdvisor has announced the release of the ChannelAdvisor CRM Connector on Salesforce.com's AppExchange 2.

The new application enables online retailers to integrate customer transaction data with Salesforce's CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform.

"The CRM Connector opens up a new world of possibilities for ChannelAdvisor customers," said Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor CEO.  "Retailers will now have the ability to manage full customer communications as well as connect nearly any application in salesforce.com's AppExchange 2 with ChannelAdvisor's platform, enabling an unprecedented level of control and visibility into their e-commerce performance."