Wordpress Wednesdays: Live Auctions On Your Blog

Posted on March 5th, 2008

When Jeremy Schoemaker (”Shoemoney”) co-founded AuctionAds, it represented one of the first times that eBay auctions could be easily implemented into the blogosphere. People found a new way to make money by promoting all the various auctions available on eBay and it was even possible to highlight a specific auction. But what if you wanted to sell something of your own? You could highlight your own eBay auction, but you were still on the hook for all those fees.

The same guy who runs John Cow dot Com has come up with a nifty Wordpress plug-in that effectively integrates an auction right into your blog. The appropriately named WP Auctions is a free auction widget for Wordpress blogs and it works in much the same way as eBay auctions except there are no fees.

People who bid on your auction do not have to register; they just bid based on an email address. This could prove to be a little problematic if the winner decides to flake, but it lowers any barrier to entry. Naturally, you will achieve the best success if your blog has a larger readership, but the WP Auctions site has a section for live auctions for extra promotion as well. Another nifty feature is the RSS feed to keep track of bids.

See WP Auctions in action on John Cow’s site and then you can download the plug-in here.

What do you think?

Posted in Wordpress Wednesdays | 245 views