‘FreeBay’ reaches out to developers across the world.
One of the main reasons I never tried the eBay affiliate program was the fees required to use the eBay API. It doesn’t make sense, because developers are just sending more visitors to the site — thus increasing eBay’s profits. If anything, eBay should pay developers to use their API, assuming it’s profitable (which I’m sure it is).
Members will now be able to use eBay’s application programming interface (API), the set of protocols and tools that people can create applications with, for free. The San Jose, California-based auction giant will waive the developers’ program membership as well as certification fees.
As developers build applications that help users buy and sell on eBay, they can charge for applications which drive sales and traffic to eBay. It’s win-win.
“Twenty-two percent of all listings come from third party-developers,” said Greg Isaacs, director of eBay’s developers program. “They’re continuing to add a lot of value. We wanted to remove any obstacles [that hindered their ability to innovate].”
As an example of a successful affiliate program, Amazon.com offers a free API with over 80,000 registered developers. eBay reportedly has 21,000 members who have produced more than 1,600 applications.
“By waiving all fees, the company is also hoping to reach out to developers in countries such as China and India, said Mr. Isaacs.”
Continue reading ‘eBay drops API fees’
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