Home   |  TAGnotes   |   TAGblog   |   TAGchat   |   Services   |   Fraud   |  Contact Us   |   Site Map
 
 
Back
TAGnotes Fri 2 Nov 2001 Vol 3 Number 109 Issue 370
  

The Auction Guild Notes for Fri 2 Nov 2001
************************************************************
Detailed disaster contact information, disaster relief information and
links for contributions to the United Way, 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
       * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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.
************************************************************
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 30 Oct users reported continuing problems with sign in/cookies,
relist and revise. AT 07:28:57 PT users reported problems with search
not working intermittently. At 07:54:46 PT WebTV users once again
reported the problem with their auctions defaulting to international
shipping continued. At 18:49:06 PT users reported error messages when
trying to list. Users reported many Checkpoint related problems.

On 31 Oct at 06:42:42 PT users reported search intermittently down. At
09:39:09 PT users reported problems with the listing page. Problems
with sign in/cookies continued. A range of problems with Checkout were
also reported, as it appeared that Checkout was causing widespread
confusion for buyers.

On 1 Nov, the problems with sign in/cookies, relist and revise,
continued unabated. The complaints about Checkout continued also. At
19:28:23 PT ebaY posted that users were having problems when using
checkout in conjunction with the Billpoint payment system. This only
added further confusion to a system already causing sellers great
difficulty.

ebaY took their system down for maintenance from 01:00 PT until 03:00 PT
on Fri 2 Nov. The Billpoint web site and functions were also down for
that time period. At 01:07:46 PT ebaY reported that the ability to add
images to the Gallery in ebaY Motors was down. This was joined by
11:53:25 PT by the inability to add images to the Gallery in ebaY Motors
when relisting. ebaY did not post either service restored as of this
publication. Problems with problems with sign in/cookies, relist and
revise continued unabated, as did problems and confusion caused by ebaY
Checkout.

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 - in a classic posting by Jerry@ebaY in the
Checkout threads on 30 Oct at 13:56 PT, just the title of the thread
said it all, "The meaning of the word "optional"" To read the whole
absurd post you can go to
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?50@195.t8zscbfdsFm^-@.eede507/0
Maybe Jerry can next take on what the meaning of "is" is. ebaY should
invest in a dictionary, and use it before they announce new features.

Idiocy of the day - TAG noted that ebaY in it's effort to control
everyone and everything on their site so they can extract the maximum
profit from everyone and everything has gone on a search and destroy
rampage against 'about me' pages. Anyone who has a tribute page about
9/11 on their 'about me' pages, with pictures of the WTC and/or Pentagon
are having those 'about me' pages deleted by ebaY. This is despite the
fact that there are no SALES of any 9/11 images or items in relation to
the tribute pages, but are just expressions of emotion by users. The
"about me" page is on longer "about me", except how ebaY defines it in
their usual unwritten and undefined policies.
One page ebaY removed - http://www.digitex.net/younameit/ginaaboutme.htm
Threads on ebaY about this topic -
http://forums.ebay.com/dwb?128@10.Furoamch0Sn^-@.eed7a04
http://forums.ebay.com/dwb?128@29.BmF6ag6E1zP^1-@.eed7d56

Banned on ebaY - There have been a rash of bannings, suspensions thread
removals and NARU's on the ebaY boards, as in TAG's opinion, ebaY
attempts to squelch some of the controversy on their site. Several
problems, from Sign In/Cookie problems, to the exploitive A4A, topped
off by the Checkout conflagration have left ebaY gaining unfavorable
press. This leads lower projections for the future by the financial
folks and the resulting lower stock prices. The banned folks put the
banned info up elsewhere on the net, and we post some of the sites in
TAGnotes. One recent one is -
What is the connection between ebaY, Martha Stewart and Censorship -
http://www.geocities.com/zenbeer/

ebaY is making some changes to their stores. Beginning next week, ebaY
is changing the stores directory. Sellers will be able to purchase the
ability to be a featured store for $49.95 with the first month free.
For that fee the store will rotate through a special featured section on
the ebaY stores directory. The store will also be featured within the
top level Category directory pages where the seller has items listed.

In the next several weeks, ebaY will create the ability to search for a
specific store within the ebaY stores directory. The categories will be
sorted by store size within a category. Stores with the most items in a
category will be listed first. Large corporate sellers will have the
advantage. The store will automatically appear in every category the
seller has items listed in, which will greatly inflate the number of
stores on the site. The users can also sort stores alphabetically.
ebaY will have a category page that lists all of the related
subcategories and featured stores.   Users will also be able to search
for a specific store by name. These changes will appear on the
international stores sites in mid December.
For the new stores directory go to-
http://www.pages.ebay.com/stores/hubpreview1.html
For the new top-level category pages go to -
http://www.pages.ebay.com/stores/hubpreview2.html
For the new subcategory pages go to -
http://www.pages.ebay.com/stores/hubpreview3.html

ebaY has changed their policy on what is permissible in the sale of
stocks and other securities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
govern the sale of these items. As usual ebaY has made a policy change
without the requisite 30 day notice as contracted for in the user
agreement. changed policy can be found at -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-stocks.html

ebaY has also changed their policy on Government Identification and
Licenses to include the prohibition of uniforms and materials related to
mass commercial public transportation. To see the policy go to -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-government.html

ebaY is planning to launch search results by category site-wide in
mid-to-late Nov. For more info go to
http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/catsearch_preview.html
Preview search results by category at -
http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/catsearch_faq.html

With the furor over Checkout unabated, ebaY has made or will make some
adjustments, though not the critical one of this feature being optional.
*Buyer information - ebaY will no longer pre-fill the phone number on
the shipping address page, and clarify that the phone number is optional
and that ebaY will send this information to the seller. The shipping
address will continue to be pre-filled using the buyer's ebaY
registration information. The buyer may edit this shipping address.
STATUS: Will be completed within a next few days.

*Store Buy-It-Now items - Inventory will be decreased when the buyer
requests the total amount from the seller.
STATUS: Will be completed within a month.
TAG notes, until this is fixed, you can close all these sales off ebaY,
and without ebaY earning a commission and reduce your inventory by
removing the item manually.

*Payment Reminder - ebaY will reinstate the "Payment Reminder" link in
My ebaY.
STATUS: Complete.

*"Request Total" changes - If the buyer requests the total from the
seller (because the buyer does not know the total amount), ebaY will
make it clearer to both the buyer and seller what to do at that point
and afterwards. For example, instead of displaying an estimated total
price, the buyer will be told that the price is "To be determined."
STATUS: Will be completed within a few days.
*Checkout emails - The messages entered by buyers and sellers will be
made more prominent in these emails. STATUS: Will be completed within a
few days.
*Text - Modify the text around the Checkout button from "JoeeBay is the
winner and SHOULD Checkout" to "JoeeBay is the winner and MAY Checkout".

STATUS: Complete.
*Modify the text when sellers do not list with Checkout details to
"Seller will provide details in the item description or after the
listing ends." STATUS: Complete.
*Item listing page - When sellers list with Checkout details but will
not charge insurance and/or sales tax, add an indication as to the item
being charged or not instead of just leaving it blank. STATUS: Complete.
*Mister Lister and Seller's Assistant beta now support Checkout.
*Items that were incorrectly displaying "0.00" for shipping should now
only appear in new listings if the seller specifies this amount when
listing.
*ebaY Billpoint Payments icon will now only show up if the seller
accepts ebaY Payments for that listing.
*Seller's may now may view and modify his/her payment address when
relisting an item. *ebaY is now sending Payments confirmation emails.
*ebaY has fixed problem where buyers and sellers were incorrectly
notified that an ebaY Payments transaction was successful.
*ebaY says they have fixed sellers problems accessing the SYI form and
certain parts of Checkout.

Other issues raised on the discussion boards that ebaY has noted but
have not acted and may not act on include:
*Checkout appears on all listings regardless of whether Checkout details
are specified
*Checkout needs to support multiple purchases (non-Dutch).
*Shipping insurance enhancements (e.g., add "included in S&H", etc.)

ebaY claims that Checkout is not appearing on Disney listings because
they are on a separate area of the site with different programming, but
ebaY will address this issue in the near future.

ebaY also posted some clarifications about how Checkout works.
1. Checkout does not require ebaY Billpoint Payments. According to
seller reports, TAG has been told that a buyer can "request" the seller
to use Billpoint even if the seller did not offer this method.

2. The shipping address (for buying), the payment address (for selling)
and the ebaY registration information are three distinct and separate
addresses. The Checkout feature may use ebaY registration information to
pre-fill fields, but it can be edited to remove it.

When the buyer goes through Checkout, the shipping address will be
pre-filled using the information the buyer registered with on ebaY. The
phone number is an optional field. that within the next few days, we
will no longer be pre-filled by ebaY. ebaY will send this info to the
seller when the buyer requests the total amount or complete payment.

For sellers that do not have an ebaY store, the payment address will be
sent to the buyer only if submitted via the Sell Your Item form AND the
winning bidder selects "Check", "Money Order" or "Other" during Checkout
(assuming you have enabled these payment methods). The payment address
(if submitted) will not be shown to the buyer if you do not list with
Checkout details or update Checkout details, OR allow the buyer to
edit/enter the total price after the listing ends. Also, the phone
number is an optional field. If you provided a phone number, you can
delete it by going to the "Edit my payment address" link under the My
ebaY "Selling" tab.

For sellers with an ebaY store, your payment address will be sent to the
buyer only if the winning bidder selects "Check", "Money Order" or
"Other" during Checkout (assuming you have enabled these payment
methods). The payment address will not be shown to the buyer if you do
not: (a) list with Checkout details or update Checkout details, OR (b)
allow the buyer to edit/enter the total price after the listing ends.
Note that the payment address used is the one you entered when opening
an ebaY Store. You can change this address at any time.

3. Fixed Shipping is not required to list an item or to use Checkout.
If the seller is unable to specify shipping up front, the seller should
not specify Checkout details when listing the item. After the listing
ends, a buyer will only be able to send his/her shipping address to the
seller through Checkout. The seller can then determine the shipping cost
and update Checkout details.

In what TAG sees as a blatant ploy to convince users, particularly
buyers, to use this force fed and much vilified Checkout, ebaY has
instituted a sweepstakes with automatic entry for anyone who uses
Checkout. There are 2 major prizes - one for a buyer and one for a
sellers of a $1,000 credit with ebaY Billpoint Payments and in TAG's
view another manipulative and exploitive way for ebaY to use the 9/11
horror to their advantage, a $500 donation to one of the following
charities: September 11th Fund, Twin Towers Fund, New York State World
Trade Center Relief Fund, or the American Red Cross. Winners will have
the opportunity to select one and the contribution will be made in the
winner's name from ebaY.com. There will be 10 other prizes - 5 for
buyers and 5 for sellers of a $500 credit with ebaY Billpoint Payments
and a $200 donation to one of the charities listed previously. TAG sees
this as ebaY once again using 9/11 to get users to buy into an ebaY
feature no one wants. First Billpoint with A4A, now Checkout.
http://pages.ebay.com/checkout/sweeps.html?ssPageName=MOPS1;PRC0016;PLCHD04;MDC02;DST00015


TAG recommends that sellers put a notice in their auctions, that for
every sale that does NOT use checkout, the seller will SEND in a write
in entry for the buyer! To enter without a purchase, and without using
Checkout, On a 3" x 5" card, hand-print your name, complete address,
daytime telephone number and mail card in a #10 envelope via 1st Class
to: ebaY "Checkout" Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 812720, Chicago, IL
60681-2720. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by 30 Nov 2001, and
received by 7 Dec 2001. Limit one entry per stamped envelope.

Unhappy with Checkout? Show your buyers you will have no part of it.
TAG has some logos for your auctions - Go to Gifs you can use on the TAG
site at
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=58

TAG also recommends that if you are not going to fill in the Checkout
details, you put the words NO CHECKOUT in your item description in
addition to all the other things you are doing to get your buyers to not
use Checkout. The mainstream media goes by numbers, and if they could
search ebaY and see that millions of auctions have NO CHECKOUT in them
instead of the current approx 100,000, it will get much more play in the
press. The only way to influence ebaY is through outside pressure, and
the press is a valuable source of that pressure. Also add you voice to
that of thousands of other ebaY sellers -   
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@228.mbN5cF6Tl6M^-@.eed7f8f/0

Another site that might be of interest to users is
The Anarchists Guide to Checkout - http://checkout.batcave.net/

Articles on checkout -
The Street - http://www.thestreet.com/stocks/timarango/10003236.html
CNET - http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-7744121.html
CNET - http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-7763531.html?tag=cd_mh

TAG has now heard that negotiations continue to get ebaY to continue its
sponsorship of The Antiques Roadshow (TAR), and that TAR is hoping ebaY
will continue to sponsor the show.

Netscape 4.78 is a version of Netscape that is said to work well with
ebaY and to provide a successful platform on which to relist and revise
auctions on ebaY.
http://home.netscape.com/download/0730101/10000-----_qual.html?cp=dowcomm


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
10/29/2001

Want to PERMANENTLY close an account on ebaY? go to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/closedAccount.html

ebaY announcement board http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
g-module art gallery presents
Katia Santibanez : Jardins Artificiels
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
http://www.amazon.com

Amazon has added a "pending" state to Marketplace listings in which a
buyer has initiated a purchase of an item but the sale is not complete
because Amazon is processing payment. “Pending” item listings cannot be
edited or cancelled. Attempts to edit or close a “pending” item via your
Seller Account or by using the Inventory Loader will result in a message
alerting you to its “pending” status.   The item will move from
"pending" to "sold" when Amazon has completed the transaction and they
will notify you of your sale via e-mail. In the event the transaction is
not completed successfully, the item will move from "pending" back to
"open” and will be returned to your inventory.

Amazon.com Marketplace sellers now have the option of offering expedited
shipping in addition to standard shipping. Offering expedited shipping
is optional, and does not replace the Media Mail standard option.
Marketplace buyers will be able to select standard or expedited shipping
whenever the option is available.

Sellers may ship by whatever carrier they prefer. Expedited shipments
are expected to reach the buyer within 3-6 business days of purchase.
Standard shipping retains the same expectation of 4-14 days. Amazon
will include a larger shipping credit with expedited orders, sufficient
to ship most orders via USPS priority mail or equivalent. Tools &
Hardware, Kitchen & Housewares, and Electronics items will also receive
a per-pound compensation for larger items. Shipping credit details can
be found at -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/537880/

Existing listings can be individually edited to include the expedited
shipping option, or re-loaded using the Inventory Loader. UIEE sellers
can check the box on the upload page to have a batch marked for
expedited shipping. To convert existing Marketplace listings to offer
expedited shipping using the Inventory Loader, follow these steps:
* Download an open listings report. Open it using your spreadsheet
application. Add a column named expedited-shipping.
* Put a "y" in the fields where expedited shipping will be offered.
* Save the file as text tab delimited and upload to Amazon.com as an
"Add/modify/delete."
More information for sellers is available in online Help.

On 31 Oct at 14:59 PT Amazon announced that price and seller ratings
fields were not appearing for Marketplace listings.
Announcement Board
http://prospero.amazon.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=am-sellannounce&nav=start&ctx=0


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
* * * * *
Yahoo On 30 Oct launched their new universal search. Search for an item
and have results come up in Yahoo Shopping, Warehouse, Auctions and
Classifieds.
http://all.shopping.yahoo.com/

This search divides the items by the type of listing and the category it
falls in, and has direct links to the searched for item in addition to
those displayed. Alternatively you can just search for the item in one
area such as auctions of classifieds. This will take some getting used
to as it is very different from other sites. Advanced search is still
available within auctions, classified and the shopping sections

http://auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
Newsletter/sites that might be of interest to OAI/OTI users -
Auction Bytes http://www.auctionbytes.com/

Auction Seller Resource, ebaY focused, with lots of info
http://www.auction-sellers-resource.com/newsletters/index.html
* * * * *
Online Auction Users Association is holding a special election for a
Board of Directors Information on this special election can be found
here -
http://www.auctionusers.org/announce/special-election.shtml
http://www.auctionusers.org/forums/Forum22/HTML/000002.html
http://www.auctionusers.org/forums/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Special+

Board+of+Directors+Election&number=22

The election begins at 12:01 AM PT on 3 Nov 2001 and ends at midnight PT
on 7 Nov 2001.    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://members.ebay.com/aboutme/just_ducky/

http://www.antique-central.com

http://www.esnipe.com

http://www.longlocks.com
***********************************************************
THE AUCTION GUILD
and eTRADERS GUILD
www.auctionguild.com
Not just a venue
877-SAFETAG
READ TAGnotes
Have the most current information at your fingertips through
our almost daily email synopsis of announcements and changes from the
Online Auction Industry. Subscribe today at-
http://www.auctionguild.com
or email us - tag@theauctionguild.com
***********************************************************
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human
history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to
improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends
forth a tiny ripple of hope; those ripples build a current that can
sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." - Robert
F. Kennedy
"I only insult people who need it" - Horace Greeley
All trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners
Copyright 1999 - 2001 The Auction Guild Inc All rights reserved