For some time now, David has recognized the need for a place where merchants could show shoppers all of the channels on which they sell. (I thought it was a pretty good idea, too!) With reader surveys coming back showing more and more of you are selling on multiple marketplaces and creating your own sites, we decided to launch the EveryPlaceISell.com Merchant Directory.

You can read more about the directory in today's AuctionBytes-Update newsletter, and the website is live here. Sellers can submit listings for free, and buyers can use the directory to research sellers.

David and our programming team worked hard to create a user-friendly directory. As we exposed the site to new rounds of beta testers, they uncovered issues and made excellent suggestions, which we've been busy implementing.

But this weekend, we were confronted with a challenge. How do you roll out a brand new site in beta to tens of thousands of readers in a controlled manner? So we are opening up registration to everyone, but will be accepting registrations slowly as we look for problems and solicit feedback.

During this phase, it may take up to a week to receive an email notifying you whether you have been approved or not. Once your registration is approved, you can go in and set up your listing. When you set up a listing for the first time, and every time you update it thereafter, we will review it and send you an email - so again, we ask for your patience during this process.

Please make constructive comments in the EveryPlaceISell.com (EPIS) forums - this is only open to registered users who have been approved, so in the meantime, please make your comments in this blog post.

This new site is all about empowering sellers. We do not favor one marketplace over another - it's up to sellers to decide where they want to list items and where they want to send buyers, and it's up to shoppers to decide where they prefer to do their shopping!