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TAGnotes Sun 14 Oct 2001 Vol 3 Number 104 Issue 365

The Auction Guild Notes for Sun 14 Oct 2001
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Detailed disaster contact information, disaster relief information and
links for contributions to the United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army
etc. on the TAG website at
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=67
       * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For quality, variety & great deals, shop the experienced auction
sellers of the EMPORIUM http://www.lynnet.com/~jmm/emporium.html
       * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
$Buck98 on eBay. No reserve$1.98 opening bid auctions. Going on NOW Ends
16 Oct, don't miss the great deals!   
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/$buck98/
       * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Support the people who support TAGnotes. Click on their links, bid on
their auctions and buy their products. You too can participate in a Win
Win solution. Support TAG and promote your website or auctions. Seller
group ads also available. Subscribers Ads $5.00 - Commercial rates
available, email ta-@theauctionguild.com for details.
************************************************************
We apologize again about the infrequency and lateness of TAGnotes. We
are hoping that a more regular schedule of Army Reserve duties for our
editor is emerging, which will help us restore a more stable schedule of
publication. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
************************************************************
The TAGnotes archive is available in a searchable format at
http://www.escribe.com/business/TAGnotes/
Interested in more information about TAG? Go to our website at
http://www.auctionguild.com You can find contact info for several sites
and services there, along with editorials and other information.
************************************************************
On 9 Oct at 11:18:23 PT ebaY announced problems with the integration of
iBazar and ebaY France. Users reported technical including the
appearance of some French-language pages on the eBay.com site. ebaY
reported at 13:47:33 PT that they had fixed the problems.

On 10 Oct at 07:51:56 PT users reported search was not working. Search
was up again at 08:23:50 PT, but continued slow. At 23:04:59 PT ebaY
reported problems with their accounts system. Attempts to view accounts
in My ebaY or use credit card functions got error messages. At 23:25:47
PT ebaY reported the accounts system was down from 22:42 PT to 23:19 PT.


ebaY took the system down for regularly scheduled maintenance from 01:00
PT until 03:00 PT on Fri 12 Oct.   Billpoint was also down for the same
period, but users could access ebaY Billpoint from
http://www.billpoint.com. At 09:54:41 PT ebaY reported that users were
having problems using Mister Lister caused by ebaY's latest category
changes.   At 14:52:34 PT ebaY reported the feedback system not working
with users receiving "item not found" error messages. They fixed the
problems for some items ending within the past 24 hours, and hoped to
have the other problems completed by the end of next week. In addition,
some users with less than 1000 feedback have found that their feedback
had automatically been recalculated to 25. They expected to have this
glitch corrected soon.

On 13 Oct at 11:33:29 PT search was down. Users received messages
stating "This function is currently unavailable We apologize that you
are not able to access this feature at the present time. Our Technical
Support Team has been notified and we are working on resolving this
difficulty as quickly as possible. Please visit the eBay Announcements
Board for updates on recent and upcoming changes, major system issues,
and other important eBay news. http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml ".
The problems continued until approx 11:36:18 PT. At 12:08:15 PT ebaY
announced that My ebaY and Seller Search were down from 11:35 PT until
11:45 PT.

ebaY posted that the category changes they made, caused problems with
Mister Lister and Seller's Assistant. Updated versions of these tools
are now available for download.
Seller's Assistant http://pages.ebay.com/sellers_assistant/
and Mister Lister http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/mr.html

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.

Pink Quote of the Day, when asked by a seller with '0' feedback, why
checkout was not really optional, since it will appear in the listing
even if the seller does not opt to use it, Jerry@ebaY at 13:57 PT on 14
Oct said, 'If you would like more respect, may I suggest that you post
using your real selling Userid? It is difficult to take anyone seriously
when they don't fully disclose their identity. Anyone can make
incendiary comments when it's done behind a zero-feedback posting
UserId. Regards, Jerry, eBay Community Development Specialist" Though
asked the same question by a seller with 8100 feedback, Jerry still
would not answer the question. TAG does not see comments by ebaY reps
such as this as a good way for ebaY to "develop the community".   Maybe
Jerry can be assigned to other duties, such as the obfuscation and
evasion dept, or community alienation, though at ebaY, maybe that is
what community development is.

As reported in TAGnotes several months ago, ebaY is going ahead with its
plans to merge Half.Com with ebaY.Com. It remains to be seen how this
will affect the user agreement as Half.Com has a very restrictive
agreement. Later this quarter, ebaY users will have a single account to
buy and sell on both ebaY.com and Half.com. ebaY will merge the
feedback systems of Half.com and ebaY. Sometime during the coming
quarters, ebaY will do away with the Half.com brand name entirely by
merging all of the listings on Half.com into ebaY. Articles on the
subject
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-7463041.html?tag=pt.msnbc.feed..ne_7463041

http://public.wsj.com/sn/y/SB1002660861194031600.html

ebaY in an attempt to boost the quickly fading Auction of America, has
put together some ideas for boosting listings. They have put together a
How To Guide at http://pages.ebay.com/auctionforamerica/donatetime.html
or you can contact ebaY at donat-@ebay.com. In TAG's view, if ebaY
had concentrated on coming up with a program that was really unselfish
and philanthropic, rather than designed to exploit the situation for
ebaY's own financial gain, users might be more enthusiastic about it.
Auction of America on ebaY core is down to 14845 auctions from a high of
approx 20,000. On 13 Oct a total of 187 items closed, 97 sold, all
items sold received only 1 bid, the items sold for a total of $1542.36
with an average selling price of $16.07. TAG feels the sellers who are
donating these items and the money received for them deserve the highest
praise for their generosity.

ebaY has announced a program called the ebaY recognition program. In
its pilot stage, ebaY said this is designed to acknowledge the
dedication and hard work ebaY buyers and sellers.   Based on users
feedback score a minimum of 10 feedback is required to be eligible.
ebaY will include 100,000 members in the pilot and include everyone else
with a feedback score of 10 or greater will into the program over the
next month. The program will officially begin in a few weeks and ebaY
will we will post more information detailing what is actually involved.

ebaY has added an Auction of America recognition page. According to
ebaY, new members who have contributed to Auction of America in some way
will be randomly chosen to be added to the recognition page.

ebaY has once again changed the categories. These changes might affect
your third party management and listing tools, as it has ebaY's own SAP
and Mister Lister, so check with your provider for an update.
*ANTIQUES & ART
All Art categories are now separate from Antiques. In Antiques, you'll
find a new Decorative Arts category and an expanded structure for
Silver. In Art, they have added Digital Art and Self-Representing
Artists categories.
*COLLECTIBLES
Coca-Cola has fifteen new categories.   ebaY has expanded the Postcard
categories. Vintage Clothing & Accessories are divided by time period.
*COMPUTERS
ebaY has added new breakouts in several areas, including Components &
Parts and Network Interface Cards.
*CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
ebaY has added Xbox and Game Cube in Video Games. There are new
Accessories categories for each brand of Cellular & Wireless Phones.
*HOME & GARDEN
Has been completely revamped. This now has 14 subcategories, Baby Items,

Bed & Bath, Food & Beverage , Furniture, Gardening, Home Décor, Home
Improvement & Repair, Housekeeping & Storage, Kitchen & Table, Lamps,
Lighting & Ceiling Fan, Major Appliances, Outdoor Living, Pet Supplies,
and Tools.
Note that Swimming Pools is now located in Outdoor Living and Solar
Energy is in the Home Improvement & Repair section.
*SPORTING GOODS
ebaY has expanded the categories in including Archery, Bowling, Ice
Hockey, Soccer and Tennis.
*TOY & HOBBIES
New categories for Drivers in Diecast: NASCAR, breakouts in TV,
Character Toys – including SpongeBob Squarepants.
*EVERYTHING ELSE/NEW CATEGORIES
ebaY has expanded Genealogy and categories to Wedding Services,
Supplies. There is also a new Personalized, Customized area for things
like custom-engraved coffee mugs and personalized stationery.

ebaY is holding a workshop on Mon, 15 Oct, from 17:00 to 18:30 PT
Workshop Title: "ebaY Checkout". This will be a follow-up to last week's
workshop on Checkout. For more info go to
href="http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed927b">here.

ebaY has expanded their ban on travel vouchers. Effective immediately,
the "Travel Vouchers" policy is now a "Travel" policy. ebaY has revised
the policy to limit who is eligible to list travel-related items on ebaY
as well as what can be sold.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-travelvouchers.html

ebaY has added a Designer Boutique for designer clothes, shoes,
accessories and personal care for men and women. Items are listed by
designer from the Designer Boutique homepage.
http://pages.ebay.com/designer_boutique/?ssPageName=CatDesignerBoutiqueAnnBoard


ebaY's has added a "Bidding Starts at $1" page to the Jewelry section
for items starting at $1. no reserve. Go to http://www.ebay-jewelry.com

ebaY once again reminds users that ebaY will NEVER ask you for your
private information, including credit card information, in an email. If
you receive or suspect you have received such an email, do not respond
to it. Send it to safeh-@ebay.com.
TAG strongly seconds this caution, and further advises you change your
sensitive passwords on sites such as ebaY on a regular basis.

In a move to support ebaY's direct challenge to take on Amazon, ebaY has
added a Book Readers Discussion board, for member-to-member
conversations about their favorite books and authors, book reviews, and
all things literary.
http://servlet.ebay.com/ForumController?dest=http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed1c42


Passport problems and why you should NOT use it
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2814881,00.html

In a pink post on 5Oct 18:32:56 PT, Claire@ebaY said, "... here's one
suggested work around for getting the Passport prompt: If you have ever
had MSN or Hotmail then you already have a passport account. If the ID
for passport is the same as the one you use for eBay, sign in with
passport but use your MSN or Hotmail info (ID and password). Then go
into my eBay and change the sign in preferences to eBay sign in instead
of passport. ....................... Another is to Sign Out of eBay and
just not sign back in (Sign In is not required for Bidding or Selling).
...................... and a third suggestion would be to disable
javascript. ................................ We apologize for the
problems you are having and hope this will help!
................................Claire" So, if you have EVER had an MSN
account or Hotmail account you might have a Passport account if you
wanted one or not.

Article on ebaY users falling victim to a fraud ring.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,64483,00.asp
TAG wrote about this problem in August
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=65
We recently heard from a subscriber who bid on an item on ebaY, and
received a "classic" fraud response for a US account, using the same
language these normally overseas accounts use. If you are requested to
pay by Western Union money transfer, and it is not explicitly spelled
out in the auction, this IS a change of terms after the fact, and
invalidates the auction. It should also raise alarm bells for the
buyer. Make sure you get contact information from the ebaY site and
check it before sending money.

Community overview board –
http://pages.ebay.com/community/index.html
ebaY news board - http://pages.ebay.com/community/news/index.html

ebaY categories with the category number
http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/categories.html
An off ebaY category number locator page
http://www.kinem.com/files/cat.htm

ebaY contact information including analog mail and email addresses and
phone numbers, regular and toll free, refund info and insider trading
info etc can be found at
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=17

ebaY announcement board http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
g-module art gallery presents
Katia Santibanez : Jardins Artificiels and Mark Dean Veca : Toile de
Brooklyn
October 5 - November 17, 2001
visit: http://www.g-module.com for documentation
g-module, 15, rue Debelleyme, 75003 Paris, France
Telephone 01 42 71 14 75       Fax 01 42 71 14 67 inf-@g-module.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
Amazon Auctions, zShops and Marketplace, main Amazon home page has link
to donate directly to the Red Cross from their site.
http://www.amazon.com

Amazon took the Marketplace, Auctions, and zShops down for maintenance
on 12-13 Oct from 22:00 PT on 12 Oct until 01:00 PT on 13 Oct 01.
Announcement Board
http://prospero.amazon.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=am-sellannounce&nav=start&ctx=0


User to User boards
http://forums.prospero.com/am-sellconnect/messages/?msg

Amazon live telephone customer service 16 hours a day
Toll-free in U.S. and Canada: (800)201-7575
Auction Pro phone number 1-877-251-0696
http://auctions.amazon.com
* * * * *
Cookies and understandable information on how to get rid of them for
both IE and Netscape   http://www.paperdots.com/cookie.html
* * * * *
Vrane.Com was down at 1800 PT on 5 Oct and came back online on 9 Oct.
They posted at 12:51am ET "We have experienced our longest and most
extensive outage since Friday Oct 5 2001. Because of the long weekend we
were understaffed to immediately correct the problems as well as to post
the problem to this page.
We have now traced the source of the problem of the new firewall
software we have recently installed system wide. We have also
implemented a workaround until we find the permanent solution. We will
post a notice once we find the permanent solution
We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this may have cause all of our
customers"

They have since posted that, "All unlimited Power Relister users will
get 20 days bonus usage as a compensation for the recent outage. Other
Power Relister users will get 80 credits. All paid snipe users will get
20 days bonus usage. We will implement these compensation in a few
days."

TAG feels this is an honorable action by an excellent company, and Vrane
continues to earn our highest recommendation. To check the site status
of Vrane go to
http://www.vrane.com/site.html

http://www.vrane.com
*Note, we have sometimes been asked if we have any kind of
"relationship" with Vrane, (particularly by their competitors) since we
recommend them so frequently. We do not. All our recommendations are
based on our observations of how they do business, use of their tools,
and comments by other users, the same way we evaluate ALL the services
we report on.
* * * * *
PayPal.Com announced on 11 Oct that effective 6 Nov 2001 they will no
longer allow account holders of free personal accounts to receive ANY
credit card payments. Personal Accounts that receive credit card funded
payments after 6 Nov will have to change to a paying Premier or Business
account, or they will have to deny the payment. Personal accounts will
continue to be able to receive non-credit card funded payments for free.


TAG has recommended to PayPal that they offer all users of PayPal the
ability to buy stock at the IPO offering. This would prevent PayPal
from being bought out by ebaY, and also provide PayPal with a more loyal
users base, and allow PayPal users who helped recruit new PayPal users
to share in a say of how the company progresses. This could be to both
PayPal's and their account holder's advantage.
http://www.paypal.com
* * * * *
CNET's Downloads.Com has lots of great programs for download, freeware,
shareware etc. One recommended on the boards recently is Smasher, a PC
utility that reportedly stops cookies and pop ups on your system as well
as preventing web bugs from reporting your surfing behavior.
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1,10150,0-10001-103-0-1-7,00.html?tag=srch&qt=smasher&cn=&ca=10001

http://download.cnet.com/
* * * * *
Online Auction Users Association
OAUA has put together discount packages for their members for auction
management services.    http://www.auctionusers.org/discounts-am.shtml

Interested in volunteering and serving the Online Auction Community?
Check out http://www.auctionusers.org/volunteerop.shtml

http://www.auctionusers.org
************************************************************
PLEASE NOTE: Many long links we post in TAGnotes must be
copy/pasted into your browsers URL/Address box in pieces, with no extra
spaces, to get them to work due to HTML limitations
*************************************************************
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 or websites.
TAGassist Contributors –

http://www.longlocks.com

http://www.pantheus.com/

http://shop.auctionwatch.com/crusader69
***********************************************************
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