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TAGnotes Wed 11 Apr 2001 Vol 3 Number 49 Issue 310
  

The Auction Guild Notes for Wed 11 Apr 2001
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$$$$$ PLEASE NOTE $$$$$
On 11 Apr at 18:09:54 PT ebay posted that they are going to be
doing maintenance outside of their regular schedule. If you feel
these changes will have a negative impact on your auctions you
might to want to end them early. You might also not want to
list items that can be affected by these changes.
On Friday 13 April ebaY will be down from 0100 PT until 0300 PT
for regularly scheduled maintenance. During this maintenance, users
will get maintenance outage messages only on certain pages, such as
viewing an item, listing an item, leaving feedback, etc.
Search will probably be at least 12 to 15 hours behind on Friday
and Saturday as usually happens following scheduled maintenance.
On Thursday 19 April through Friday 20 April ebaY will do a large
infrastructure change. Maintenance will start TWO HOURS EARLY
and will be extended by one hour. ebaY will be down from 2300 PT
on Thursday the 19th, until 0400 PT on Friday the 20th.
$$$$$ PLEASE NOTE $$$$$

There continue to be problems with ebaY refunding fees for items
that were relisted and sold the second time around. Sellers need to
carefully track their listings and relistings, know what credits they
should receive and make sure they received them. Sellers can no
longer rely on ebaY to provide them with accurate accounts.

TO REQUEST REFUNDS from ebaY go to
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=33
Don't take no for an answer, keep requesting until you get them.

ebaY has changed the My ebaY pages. The overall reaction on the
OAI/OTI chat boards has been overwhelmingly negative. Users
are complaining about the print size, about the amount of information
on each page causing a cluttered appearance, about the pagination
that only shows up to 200 items per page, and that only allows a total
of 800 items to show in My ebaY at all. n addition it appears that My
ebaY no longer works for Web TV users at all. For now, until
ebaY has worked some of the worst bugs out, all users can go to
the international sites to get the OLD My ebaY pages at
http://cgi1.ebay.co.uk/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbayLogin
http://cgi1.ebay.com.au/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbayLogin

ebaY has added an Items I’ve Won table that will list all items
purchased. From this page you will be able to leave feedback for
the seller and pay for the item with Billpoint. ebaY also has an
Items I’ve Sold table within the Selling tab. Sellers can view a 30
day history of items listed up to 800 items. Users will be able to
customize and save preferences of the My ebaY pages. You can
also save a list of up to 15 sellers in the Favorites. There are also
more links to other site info. ebaY is releasing the selling page
changes first. The other My ebaY pages will change later this week.
In a few weeks, ebaY will add a delete column to select and delete
ended listings from the My ebaY tables. These changes will not be
completely functional for several days. In addition, the changes to
My ebaY may impair third party auction management tools that pull
data from My ebaY. The new pages keep appearing and disappearing.
To preview some of the changes, go to
http://pages.ebay.com/preview/selling.html
http://pages.ebay.com/preview/buying.html
http://pages.ebay.com/preview/favorites.html

ebaY has an advertisement on the marketing board about Billpoint
being tied in to Tradenable (formerly i-Escrow, Inc.). The escrow
portion of the listing Sell Your Item form now says Tradenable.
The default setting will be set to "I accept escrow on items over $500,
if the buyer pays the escrow fees." Sellers who have already set their
preferences will not be affected, for new sellers the change is
highlighted in red text. If a seller chooses to use Tradenable, the Item
auction page will note that escrow is available for the transaction if:
a. the Buy-It-Now price of the item is equal to or greater than $500
or b. the price of the item has reached or exceeded $450. After the
listing closes, either party can start the escrow process by clicking
the "initiate" link on the item listing page. If the final value of the
item exceeds $500 and the seller chose the escrow option, the End
of Auction email will reflect this as a payment option.
For more info about Tradenable go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/escrow.html,
http://www.tradenable.com, or email supp-@tradenable.com.
ebaY has not disclosed their fiduciary relationship to Tradenable.

To see upcoming ebaY workshops go to
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/workshopevents

Check your HTML before you post your listings,
Go to      http://watson.addy.com/
It will catch all of the common mistakes like unmatched tags.

eBay has another Billpoint advertisement on the Marketing board.
They claim to be less expensive that PayPal, but that is an unverified
claim. They also claim to trust and respect their users, protect
privacy, safeguard financial information, support and stand behind
payment transactions and believe in straight talk, honesty, and open
communication. TAG wonders at this alleged straight talk as Billpoint
does not talk about all the bugs glitches and problems users have with
Billpoint. They do not talk about the fact that Billpoint shows up as
an option on sellers auctions, particularly on relists, even though the
seller does not offer Billpoint. They also did not explain how or why
Billpoint users have received ebaY credit card applications via analog
mail if Billpoint is keeping their user information so private. As an
example of Billpoint glitches, tonight in an interesting role reversal,
successful buyers were sending Billpoint invoices to sellers. For
several months users have reported that the invoices that go from
Billpoint have the wrong categories on the invoice for example
electronics going out under Art and Antiques. For more info on
Billpoint email custom-@billpoint.com.

ebaY Picture Services changes are now on effect. Users get one free
picture per listing, each additional picture costs 15 cents each.
The price for SuperSize and Slide Show is 75 cents. Picture Pack
gives users up to six pictures, SuperSize format and includes the
gallery for $1.00. Title Bar Picture displays a small picture in
the top left corner of the listing and has no additional charge for
ebaY Picture Services users. To view go to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/pictureservicesFAQ.html#2.
ebaY has updated Mister Lister and Seller's Assistant to reflect
the new pricing structure and will be changed at some unknown future
date to support the Picture Pack and Title Bar Picture.
For more info go to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/pictureservicesFAQ.html.

ebaY has launched the Blocked Bidder List tool to allow sellers to
block specific User IDs from bidding on their listings. Currently
available on the US site, ebaY will add this to the international
sites at some unannounced future date. This feature will take
several days to become fully functional. For more info go to
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin.

For sellers who feel they have not had their refunds or other situations
dealt with to your satisfaction, you can file reports
with The Attorney General of California and also in your home state
http://caag.state.ca.us/piu/mailform.htm
The Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbbonline.com
The Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov
The Office of Consumer Affair, US Department of Commerce
send email to - Caff-@doc.gov
The FBI's Internet Fraud Units
http://www.nipc.gov/contact.htm#arrow,
National Fraud Information Center
http://www.fraud.org
eComplaints http://www.ecomplaints.com/

TAG strongly recommends ALL users read the new User and
Privacy Policy Agreements (UA/PP).   Effective 15 May. Links
can be found at the bottom of nearly every ebaY page and on the
site map under community. For a summary of the revisions to the
UA and Privacy Policy, go to:
User Agreement: http://pages.ebay.com/help\basics\uarevision1-faq.html
Privacy Policy: http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/pprevision1-faq.html
To view the entire revised User Agreement, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-user.html
To view the enter revised Privacy Policy, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-priv.html
We have heard from many WebTV users that they cannot view
the user agreement. We have contacted ebaY about this and hope
to hear from them soon.

ebaY Contact Information, analog mail and email addresses and
phone numbers, regular and toll free, refund info and insider
trading info go to http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=17
* * * * *
Amazon Auctions, zShops and Marketplace
is taking over the Borders Books online business.
Amazon User chat board
http://amazon.remarq.com/amazon/threads.asp?g=discuss%2
Eamazon%2Eseller%2Econnection&nav=LAST

Amazon live telephone customer service 16 hours a day Toll-free
in U.S. and Canada: (800)201-7575
http://auctions.amazon.com
* * * * *
Yahoo is going into the adult material and pornography business.   
They are actively seeking sellers in this area as a way to generate
revenue for Yahoo.
Yahoo announcement board
http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/promo/announcements.html

Yahoo site map.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/promo/sitemap.html
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

Yahoo Contact Information
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=38
Yahoo PayDirect phone number
1-877-521-1458

http://list.auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
PayPal has provided TAG with a frequently asked question
and their answer about their new debit card.
Question - What methods of putting funds in the PayPal account
are eligible for the Debit card rebate?
Answer - Any funds in a PayPal account are eligible for the rebate.
Funds that come from sales, that are sent for non sales and money
you transfer from a bank account to your PayPal account are all
eligible for the rebate if you spend those fund using your debit card.

TAG has heard from several users that they are having trouble
getting their Debit card authorized due to many reasons. Users
are required to give their social security number to PayPal if they
want to use the debit card. All the information provided by the
user has to match that which will come up on the SSN check.
PayPal customer service should be able to fix the problems, but
if they can't or wont let TAG know and we will provide you with
an alternative contact.   http://www.paypal.com
* * * * *
Antiques Collectible Connection website contains resources for
antique and collectibles dealers and hobbyists. There are tools,
tips and tutorials for buying and selling at online auctions, appraising
and identifying collectibles, building and hosting a web site and
setting up and promoting an online store.
http://alsnetbiz.com/acc/index.html
* * * * *
Magstr SPAM Virus Article
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2693125,00.html
and more in depth virus info can be found here
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2706608,00.html
* * * * *
Online Auction Users Association
Live chats -
Thursday 12 April 21:00 ET - Chat with Ewanted
Monday 16 April 21:30 or 22:00 p.m. ET - Trivia Night with
Trivia Master Steve
Thursday 19 Apr 21:00 ET - Chat with OAUA President Jen Hassler
Interested in volunteering and serving the Online Auction Community?
Check out http://www.auctionusers.org/volunteerop.shtml
http://www.auctionusers.org
* * * * *
Online Auction & Trading Site Co-op
Interested in an OAT Site Co-op?
Interested in getting involved?
Information on co-ops -
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/cir55/cir55rpt.htm
http://www.wisc.edu/uwcc/
Ideas for co-ops continue to develop
To participate in weekly live co-op chats go to
http://pages.zdnet.com/labellebooks/OnlineSellersCoop/
Every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM EST.

Vintage Items Co-Op info can be found at
http://www.ali-baba.org./ and
http://pages.zdnet.com/juststuff/vintmarket/
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If you would like an Auction House or Service Provider added to
this list, please email us at ta-@theauctionguild.com
Have any information for us? email us at ta-@theauctionguild.com
TAG Subscribers have often contributed to information reported on in
TAGnotes. Visit their auctions.
         TAGassist Contributors -
http://www.dandelionfarms.com

http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=
ViewListedItems&userid=bllamb&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=200
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