DealDotFree

…and all without having anything to sell yourself. Sound too good to be true - no, it doesn’t does it, since affiliate programs are 10 a penny these days. However, some blogs will no doubt find it useful to display relevant ebay product listings on their site with the click of a button. Forget simple affiliate links, why not show a complete item preview!

Yes, we’re back to DealDotCom today, with a look at (and comparison with) one of their earliest products - a wordpress plugin called BayRSS. Weighing in at $37, with a 60 day no questions asked moneyback guarentee, it is at least not the most costly plugin to grace the virtual doors of DDC.

What can BayRSS do?

• Set up a niche eBay or Amazon affiliate store in under 5 minutes
• Track the auctions using the SID parameters
• Specify minimum bid and price for auctions to display
• Revenue sharing to entice other users to write articles for you

A live demo of the auction display is also available here. Not a bad resume, although I’m not convinced the revenue sharing will do much for many blogs using it (although of course its possible). But the big question is, can we find any free alternatives for wordpress?

Introducing phpBay:

I guess that means the answer is yes then! The phpBay wordpress also allows you to display eBay auctions easily within your blog. There is both a free and pro version available, but considering the nature of this site, most attention will be focused on the free version.

Can the free version compete with BayRSS? As usual (you’re going to find this becomes a running theme here I predict), the answer is yes and no. A lot will depend on your own needs. Adding an auction list to your page is easy enough, just by adding code like the example below to your post:

And the result, almost identical to that of BayRSS:

BLACK LEATHER CASE FOR iPOD NANO 3RD GEN+LCD+BELT CLIP US $9.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Thursday Aug-28-2008 11:11:39 PDT Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

HOME+CAR CHARGER+USB FOR iPOD TOUCH/NANO 3RD/iPHONE 3G US $5.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Thursday Aug-28-2008 11:11:39 PDT Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

BLACK ARMBAND CASE FOR iPOD NANO 3 3RD 3G GEN+LCD US $9.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Thursday Aug-28-2008 11:11:39 PDT Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

Great, that covers the basics. It has to be said that that is really all the free version covers though. There is no revenue sharing included, and no amazon display option available. There are also no price filtering options, as BayRSS claims to have. As I said earlier, if your needs are just to display eBay auctions relevant to your posts, then phpBay Lite is for you, otherwise you may prefer something a little more exotic.

A quick note on the Pro version of phpBay. At $39, the price is comparable to that of BayRSS. The only thing it appears to lack is the revenue sharing, but it does make up for it in other areas (such as the API inclusion, and a commission program). You can read more about it if interested.

What’s the Verdict?

If you need to display eBay auctions on your site, as a source of monetisation, then it’s worth giving phpBay Lite a try out. If you like it, but want a little more flexibility, then you have a choice between both BayRSS and phpBay Pro. Both are very similar, both do much the same job, and both are reasonably good value too.