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TAGnotes Tue 5 Dec 2000 Vol 2 Number 169 Issue 251

The Auction Guild Notes for Tue 5 Dec 2000
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SMOOTHSALE PRESENTS a special offer for TAGnotes
subscribers. Sign up as a SmoothSale Merchant and use this
special TAG link and receive a $10.00 bonus.
http://www.smoothsale.com/promotion.html?refer_id=148
For more details http://www.smoothsale.com/incentiveTerms.html
This offer is good now through 31 December.
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If you have any comments, questions, information, ideas or
suggestions please email us at tagn-@theauctionguild.com
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ebaY posted on 1 Dec that the site was down from 05:00 PT and
05:10 PT. Board users posted problems until 05:16:23. At
06:09:02 PT users reported intermittent outages and slowdowns.
The site functioned well for the rest of the day until 16:01 PT.
At 16:45:21 ebaY reported that Billpoint went down from 16:01 PT.
At 16:53:02 they reported Billpoint was up as of 16:44 PT. At
19:45:36 ebaY reported Description search was current as of 13:25 PT
30 Nov. Description search has been consistently running 24-36
hours behind for months.

On 3 Dec at 11:01:05 PT users reported problems with items search
pages out of date order. This was in addition to the frequently
reoccurring search problems on items with multiple pages of listings
being jumbled. The site ran well during the day with a period of
slowness reported by users at 22:10:22 PT.

On 4 Dec TAG did not receive all the reports for the day, so as
far as we can tell the site ran well other than the standard reoccurring
feature problems. There was also an ebaY reported problem with
Billpoint. At 20:25:00 ebaY reported Billpoint down and at 22:13:38
that it was up as of 21:37 PST.   

On 5 Dec users reported a problem with gallery pictures not showing
up, particularly on items with 10 digit numbers. Users on the OAI/OTI
boards reported an ebaY outage from 17:23:23 to 17:43:15. Overall
the site was up and working.

There have also been intermittently reported problems with the Buy
It Now (BIN) feature. Users have reported buying an item with BIN
and having it show up as a bid, and conversely, placing a bid, and
receiving a BIN completed auction notice from ebaY. It remains
unclear if these are ebaY glitches or user errors, but need to be
monitored by users.

TAG strongly recommends that anyone who feels their auctions were
negatively impacted by any of these problems apply for credit. Request
listing, special feature and Final Value Fees. Go to the form at
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?
SendSupportEmailShow&subject=Credit%20--%20How%20can
%20I%20receive%20credit%20for%20insertion%20fees%3F%20
Send -
* The item number(s) of the ended auction(s)
* The specific fee(s) charged for them
* Your seller's email address or User ID
* The phrase, GIVE CREDIT in the Subject line
This can also be accessed from
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/select-support.html
TAG can't emphasize enough that sellers should not take NO for an
answer. In the face of inconsistency on ebaYs part, persistence pays.

On 4 Dec Bloomberg reported that ebaY is in talks with Korean
Auction Site Internet Auction. ebaY is planning on buying a 50%
share at a price in excess of $130 mil. http://www.cnetinvestor.com/
newsitem-fd-bloomberg.asp?symbol=110803768

ebaY has denied reports that they are in talks to buy CMGI Inc.'s
Ubid Inc, despite other reports and rumors to the contrary.
http://www.cnetinvestor.com/newsitem-fd-bloomberg.asp?symbol
=111768527

ebaY has implemented the final changes to the Adult areas, and search
within Mature Audiences. Policy revisions can be found at
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-mature.html
A couple of suggestions that have emerged to prevent auctions from
being closed, when the material complies with ebaY policy, are to
not use terms such as XXX rated, but stick with the more conservative
X rated, and when selling vintage undergarments, using terms such as
"vintage" "antique" "wear is unapparent" rather than "used".

ebaY Workshop links can be found at -
http://remarq.ebay.com/ebay/transcript.asp?g=discuss%2Eebay%2
Emiscellaneous&tn=22750&sh=03bb87cd600cb753&idx=-1

ebaY has introduced a feature they are calling Popular Searches. This
allows the most frequently run searches for items in a particular
category to show up automatically and is being tested on 37 categories
including Patches WWII, Militaria; Ty Beanies Bean Bag Plush Toys, Bean
Bag Plush; and 35mm Photo Equipment Photo & Electronics. The test runs
through 31 Jan 01. When you click on a "Popular Searches in this
category" link at the top of a category page, it will take you to the
bottom of the page where the Popular Search terms are. When you click
on a search term, ebaY's search engine runs the search and delivers a
list of items that correspond to that search term. For more info got to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buyerguide/popular_searches.html
email opinions to online-@ebay.com

http://www.ebay.com/
* * * * *
Yahoo Auctions is running a contest for the US only, whereby each
time you use PayDirect between now and 11 Feb 01, You get
a chance to win a cash prize. There are 20 $100 winners daily,
1 weekly $1,000, 1 monthly $10,000 and 1grand prize $30,000
https://paydirect.yahoo.com/sweepstakes/rules.html

Yahoo Pay Direct can be used anywhere on the net to send and
receive money in the US. It is currently free, but may charge fees
in the future. There are also plans to make it available
internationally.
PayDirect Contact info
paydirect-@yahoo.inc.com
8AM-6PM PT 7 days a week 408-731-3335
3400 Central Expressway, Santa Clara, CA 95051
Yahoo site map.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/promo/sitemap.html
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
Amazon Amazon on 2 Dec 19:27:03 PT had a complete outage.
Another outage occurred on 5 Dec at 15:50:46. Other intermittent
reoccurring problems reported by users were instances where adding
bid for featured placement (BFFP) has caused several different fatal
errors with auctions, including the loss of the title and/or the
auctions becoming "not currently available." We concur with user
recommendations that sellers should avoid the addition of BFFP
until these issues are cleared up. A user also reported to us that
zShops and Marketplace items have lost the Amazon 1-Click icon
which makes it appear that there is no way to pay for marketplace
items. Amazon customer support acts as if they are unaware of
these problems, and don't seem to understand how the site functions.

If a seller is listing more than 40 items a month on the Amazon
Marketplace, they can save money by signing up for the pro
merchant subscription at
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/help/sdp-selling-volume.html
as pro merchants are not charged the 99 cent fee per item.

http://auctions.amazon.com
* * * * *
Golds Auction disappeared without warning, from the net, on
Thursday night. The site was shut down by its ISP due to unpaid
bills. Greg Rose, Golds CEO said he is still trying to decide what to
do with the site and is considering reopening it or selling the
software.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3992348.html?tag=st.cn.sr.ne.2
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SmoothSale is offering a free shipping program from 4 through 29
December. When a seller offers a buyer free shipping, or a shipping
credit of up to $3.20, Smooth Sale will send the seller $3.20 per sale
up to 50 transactions. As a bonus, SmoothSale will give every seller
5 priority stamps worth $3.20 each just for signing up. To receive the
reimbursement, the sale must be made while the seller is online live
through their SmoothSale Instant Selling Chat. to sign up go to
http://www.smoothsale.com/freeShipping.html
SmoothSale is free through January 2001. After 1 Jan,
according to the site info, there will be no listing fees, a flat fee of
$30. per month (waived for charter merchants) and a 2% transaction
fee (or 1.5% for charter merchant members) of the total final invoiced
amount of each item, merchandise or service sold via the
SmoothSale Service. There is still time to sign up as a Charter seller.
SmoothSale also has a referral program. For every SS seller who uses
you as a referral SS will pay you $10.
To sign up for SmoothSale
http://www.smoothsale.com/promotion.html?refer_id=148
To sign up for SmoothSale ebaY listing reimbursement offer
http://www.smoothsale.com/opEbutton.html
http://www.smoothsale.com
* * * * *
Auction Watch(AW) and Exchange Path (EP) auction
reimbursement special, requires all auction must be launched
on 7 Dec but can be posted to AW through 7 Dec.
You can get up to $50 for eBay and Amazon fees. They will reimburse
listing fees (including Dutch auctions) up to $2 for each listing on
ebaY and Amazon auctions scheduled to post on 7 Dec.
Auction Manager Pro
http://www.auctionwatch.com/tours/ampro/intro.html
Promotion Detail
http://wsacp.auctionwatch.com/promo/freelistingday/free_details.html

AuctionWatch is conducting a survey on content, layout and
usefulness, and entering those who complete the survey in a
sweepstakes for a $100. gift certificate for Amazon.Com.
www.auctionwatch.com/survey/survey_site_02.html

Auction Watch http://www.auctionwatch.com
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PayPal had some short intermittent outages on 4 Dec.
Contact numbers 877- 672-9725 888-221-1161
Number of items with PP on ebaY 2544514
http://www.paypal.com
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Here is a list on analog fleamarkets across the USA
http://members.aol.com/fleamktusa/index.html
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United States Post Office rates are going up on 7 Jan 2001. First
class is going from 33 to 34 cents and Priority on a 2 pound package
from $3.20 to $3.95.
http://www.usps.gov/news/2001rate.htm
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TAG has received several requests from subscribers as to where to go
to file complaints about ebaY and other online companies. Here are a
couple of links -
Complaint filing - Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/bbbcomplaints/consumerform.asp?ZIP=95125&
BBBID=1216&MaxTextLength=2030

FTC https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm

We also recommend contacting your State Attorney General and
State Consumer Protection Board. The Dept of Justice also frequently
investigates companies for various violations -
http://www.usdoj.gov/
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*******VOTE******* VOTE******* VOTE********
The Million Auction March wants to move you to VOTE.
List your items on V enues O ther T han E bay
For more information go to http://www.millionauctionmarch.com
New Auction Houses, Sales Venues and Service Providers are
joining daily. All are offering incentives and specials to the OAI.
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If you would like an Auction House or Service Provider added to
this list, please email us at tag@theauctionguild.com
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and eTRADERS GUILD
www.auctionguild.com
Not just a venue
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