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TAGnotes Wed 16 Feb 2000 Vol 2 Number 28 Issue 110

From:   <tagn-@theauctionguild.com>
Date: Thu Feb 17, 2000 1:59am
Subject: TAGnotes Wed 16 Feb 2000 Vol 2 Number 28 Issue 110

The Auction Guild Notes for Wednesday 16 Feb 2000
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The Online Auction Industry links to Auction Houses and Auction
Service Providers are on   http://www.auctionguild.com . Please
visit and use our affiliates links on our sites at
http://www.tagnotes.com/generic.html and http://www.auctionguild.com
Help TAGnotes grow, spread the word and invite one or two of your
Online Auction using family, friends and associates to sign up today.
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Internet Fraud -The FTC is making an effort to enforce the laws and
control internet auction fraud. The FTC received 107 complaints about
online auction fraud in 1997, and 10,700 complaints in 1999. Most
complaints are due to non-delivery of the goods purchased. Federal and
state enforcers have filed 35 cases to date and are going to follow up
on other open investigations. eBay has agreed to direct fraud complaints
directly to the FTC beginning later this month. The complaints will go
directly to the Consumer Sentinel data base, where they can be checked
by more than 200 law enforcement agencies. Scammers may be prosecuted
in federal court on mail and wire fraud charges, which can bring maximum
prison sentences of five years or more, depending on the circumstances
and past criminal history. Criminal fines, civil penalties and state
criminal charges are also possibilities. It appears that many cases are
being resolved by having the perpetrators pay back the victims.
The FTC has published an online auction users guide at:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm
* * * * *
eBay is doing a promotion with Daytona Speedway. They will have an
eBay race truck there on Wed 16 Feb, in the qualifying round of the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Television coverage begins at 12:30PM ET
(or 9:30AM PT) on ESPN2. The race truck, #84, has the eBay logo and is
driven by Donnie Neuenberger, an eBay member. Donnie's About Me page
can be found at: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/dgnracing/

eBay promised the feedback system changes in first quarter 2000, and
later in response to an email from TAG, by mid Feb. Though exactly
when eBay will implement these changes is not clear, it appears it will
be soon. Feedback Forum changes phase 1:
* Transaction feedback only between the seller and high bidder in a
successfully completed auction (no non-transactional feedback allowed).
* Feedback from permanently suspended users (NARU) will NOT be
converted to neutral, but rather kept unchanged as part of the
feedback profile.
* A user’s feedback profile will show a 6-month bid retraction.
* eBay will establish and post clear guidelines for the exceptional
situations where eBay will remove comments from a user’s feedback
profile. eBay will strictly follow the guidelines to resolve
feedback removal requests.
* Users will be able to leave feedback as long as the item remains on
their database, which will be for at least 60 days, but possibly longer.
*The feature that places the word PRIVATE in place of the feedback
rating for those users that have private feedback profiles is not
complete and eBay will release it at a later date.
*These policies will NOT be applied to past feedback, only new feedback
once the new policies are implemented.
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
Listings, currently approx 4.04 mil

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating eBay for possible
anti competitive activities.   If you have input contact DOJ at
antit-@u.... Mr. Klein is the current point of contact
Anti Trust Division Home Page http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/
* * * * *
Yahoo Auctions are free, no listing or final value fees. The most
seller options in the industry. Easy listing form, good auction tools
for buyers and sellers. Questions? Find answers in their auction help
section
http://help.yahoo.com/help/auctions/
http://auctions.yahoo.com/html/features/features.html
Approx 1.79 million auctions currently running
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
Amazon.com and its Alexa Internet software subsidiary are being sued for
privacy invasion in 2 lawsuits and an informal inquiry by the Federal
Trade Commission. This software allows Amazon to customize information
for its users, but can also follow a user to track their net usage. The
suits allege that Alexa secretly intercepted electronic communications
and other personal data with its software and sent the information to
third parties, Amazon included.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34192,00.html

Amazon Auction has dollar deals on books, movies, music, calendars
electronics, toys and other items. All items start at $1.00 no reserve
with S/H fees that vary depending on the size and weight of the item.
Books and Videos S/H range from $2.50 to $6.00, computers around $25.00.

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/announcement-list/dollar-
deals/ref=a_h_cb1_03_x/002-4941393-2365054

Amazon Auction features OneClick Amazon.Com payment service to 25 cents
per sale plus 2.5% of the transaction value.
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/selling/
payments-start.html/ref=a_h_cb1_01_x/002-4941393-2365054
10 cent listing fee until further notice. Customer service 24/7
Toll-free in U.S. and Canada: (800)201-7575
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/announcement-list/all-
happenings/102-2649290-9020037
Listings, currently guesstimated at approximately 400,000
* * * * *
Golds Auction has free basic listings through Feb. They are also still
giving away free listing enhancement features for landmark auctions.
http://www.goldsauction.com/apps/viewAnnouncements.html
Approx 9993 auctions listed now, and 328690 Auctions since 6/20/99
* * * * *
Honesty.Com purchased an online auction chat site in December, but
has just decided to make it public. The original owners of the chat
site will continue to run it in the same manner as they have in the
past. A problem with Internic on the 15th caused many users to be
totally without access to the Honesty site, and not able to contact them
via email. Images and counters were not visible on auctions for up to
24 hours. This problem will be solved as the site propagates across the
net. Most users were getting access to their pics and counters by around
7PM ET, with many more recovered by 10:00PM ET on the 16th.
http://www.honesty.com
* * * * *
AuctionUser, the newest of the major online chat boards, has been
removed from the net by its owner/hoster. AuctionPatrol, another
chat and auction tool site, also owned by the same person, is rumored
to have been either partially or wholly sold to the person running
Auction Tribune, for $50,000. The popular board moderator was
asked to leave by the original owner, and her information removed from
the site. We have emailed them to try to confirm this information.
* * * * *
OAUA Online Auction User Association, Join today!
http://www.auctionusers.org/join.shtml
* * * * *
If you would like an Auction House or Service Provider added to
this list, please email us at tagn-@t...
or TheAuction-@onelist.com.
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