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TAGnotes Fri 4 Jan 2002 Vol 4 Number 1 Issue 383
 

The Auction Guild Notes for Fri 4 Jan 2002
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Support the people who support TAGnotes. Click on their links, bid on
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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.
************************************************************
The Checkout shipping and handling problems continue. It appears that
ebaY has fixed the problem with the 0.00 shipping and handling amount
in the end of auction to a certain degree, though users continue to post
intermittent reports of the problem showing up in the EOA emails.
Relisted auctions, particularly those listed through third party service
providers, are still showing 0.00 for shipping in the listing.

Users continued to report serious ongoing problems with sign in/cookies,
listing, relisting and revision, incompatibility with MSIE, Netscape,
AOL, and at times all browsers, difficulties with search, both for lack
of ease of use and the limit of 10 days on completed auctions all
continued. Some sellers were finding that where they had opted out of
Checkout, Checkout was not showing up on the ended auctions. Other
sellers reported that though they had changed the setting on My ebaY to
opt OUT of Checkout, their options mysteriously changed back. In
addition the problem with Checkout emails not reaching their destination
were once again reported by sellers and buyer. When this occurs,
Checkout is basically non-functional.

On 1 Jan at 09:29:24 PT ebaY reported that for users listing tickets,
the tickets attributes section of the Sell Your Item form was down from
07:20 until 09:07 PT.

On 3 Jan at 02:48:13 PT users reported 405 errors on the sign in page,
preventing the one time sign in. At 07:36:04 PT users reported
intermittent problems with search. At 10:50:00 PT ebaY posted that
users were unable to view full-size images uploaded to ebaY picture
services.   At 18:20:43 PT the ability to add item specifics details
within the Tickets category was down again.

ebaY took the site down for maintenance from approx 01:00 PT until 03:00
PT on Friday 4 Jan.   ebaY Billpoint Payments was also down during that
time frame. At 03:44:01 PT ebaY reported that ebaY picture services was
down and users were unable to upload new images from 03:00 PT to 03:35
PT. At 09:18:39 PT ebaY picture services was down again from 08:30 PT to
09:05 PT. Viewing images was slow or intermittent during this time. At
10:04:03 PT ebaY noted that they had restored the ability to add item
specifics details to listings in the Tickets. In another ebaY Microsoft
Internet Explorer (MSIE) incompatibility problem, users posted that if
you try to change a category for a relisted item, if the seller uses
Internet Explorer or a browser that supports ActiveX, ebaY was
defaulting to ebaY picture services as your image host, even if the
seller never uses ebaY pic services. The seller would then be trapped
in an ebaY pic services loop, and could not relist the item. The
workaround is to use a browser such as Opera and stay away from ActiveX
enabled browsers. At 10:36:48 PT the MSIE incompatibility problem
spread to both the revise and Sell Your Item page. The category boxes
were blank, so the seller could not proceed with the listing. Switching
to the Netscape browser was the work around solution. Users reported
Mister Lister down from 11:22:12 PT until 12:15:38 PT.   At 17:47:06 PT
ebaY reported that the ability to view full-size images uploaded to ebaY
picture services had been restored. This service was not functioning
from 10:50:00 PT on 3 Jan until 17:47:06 PT on 4 Jan. If you use
picture services you should request refunds for all auctions during that
period if you feel the lack of service affected your auctions.
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.
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=17
If you don't get your refunds complain to the BBB Online at
http://www.bbbsilicon.org/index.htm
And also file a complaint with the FTC
https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm

Pink Quote of the Day - When asked when completed search was going back
to a longer time frame, on 3 Jan at 20:17:58 PT Gianni@ebaY said,"...
Completed will return once the number of auctions has reduced to allow
the site to remain stable." TAG sees this as a scary message for
stockholders. It demonstrated how unstable the ebaY system is, and how
the current growth plans will not be possible unless huge amounts of
capital are invested in infrastructure to support the projected growth.
The site is so unstable it can't handle normal functions and essential
services, so ebaY has to cut back on those services to keep the site
from crashing. ebaY listing numbers have been virtually stagnant for
over 12 months.

We received a report from a user that ebaY changed their ebaY store name
involuntarily. The store was named with the users domain name, and had
been in existence long before the ebaY policy change on 28 Dec.
According to ebaY the policy change was only applicable to a new store
or a store whose name was changed after 28 Dec.

A very astute reader pointed out to TAG that rather than Meg lying about
the auctions numbers she instead used obfuscating language that was
technically true, but went right over our heads as we are sure it did
many others (though NOT our more astute subscribers!) Meg actually
said, "Currently, there are over 7 million items listed for sale on eBay
at any given time" . That is items not auctions, so in the way that
smaller sites inflate their numbers, ebaY is now doing the same, by
counting all the dutch auctions as separate "items" to arrive at the
inflated figure that is at least 2 million auctions over the actual
number of auctions listed
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml

Digibid posted a press release advertisement that it has signed on with
the ebaY application programming interface (API). They plan on selling
auction management tools to retailers, distributors and manufacturers of
large quantities of new and excess inventory.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020103/flth004_1.html

ebaY posted that they are starting a new feature next week called seller
merchandising. A buyer will see up to three related items from the same
seller whenever they place a bid on that seller's item or complete
Checkout. The items will appear in a box marked "Other related items
from the same seller" on the bid confirmation and checkout confirmation
pages. If the seller has no similar or related items, the box will not
appear. The items listed will be based on automated searches for
complementary items from the seller's listings. For store sellers, the
promotions will include store Buy It Now items.    
* If the item was added to Gallery, then ebaY will display the Gallery
image.
* If the item was not added to the gallery but does have an ebaY picture
services title bar picture then ebaY will display the title bar picture.

* If the item has neither a Gallery image nor a title bar image, ebaY
will not display a picture.
Seller merchandising will currently only appear on the bid confirmation
and checkout confirmation pages, not in the corresponding emails.
Sellers can opt out of this feature from the My ebaY page by changing
their seller merchandising preferences. ebaY will default all sellers'
preferences to OPT IN for this feature. This feature is currently free.
Send suggestions and feedback to - merchan-@ebay.com
For more info go to -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/faq_sellermerchandising.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/preview_sellermerchandising.html

For some amusing ebaY satire go to eGad -
http://www.capnwacky.com/eGad/main.html

ebaY has made some changes to the category discussion boards. They have
added Historical Collectibles, Science, Cook’s Nook, Sports Memorabilia
& Trading Cards, and
Off-Road Playground. ebaY is discontinuing Autographs, Paper & Writing,
Advertising Collectibles, and Car Audio & Electronics. ebaY is changing
the name of the Consumer Electronics board to Electronics, PDA's & Other
Gadgets, and Transportation will become Railroadiana & Transportation
Collectibles.
eBay Chat and Discussion Boards are at
http://pages.ebay.com/community/chat/index.html

Meg has a post about Auction of America on the Marketing Announcement
Board. She thinks the community raised $10 million dollars, though TAG
has not seen anything that would support this, and a few days ago Kevin
Purseglove the ebaY spokesperson said it was approximately 7 million.
ebaY plans to launch a program this spring using a direct payment
mechanism for charities, as a permanent site feature. TAG sees this as
a way for ebaY to continue to capitalize on the misfortune of others,
and the efforts of genuine charitable organizations. The devil will be
in the details.
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml
ebaY advertising press release -
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020104/40112_1.html
Article on subject -
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-8362724.html?tag=mn_hd

Ongoing Issues and Information
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti and No Checkout logos are available on the TAG site at -
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=58
For those still getting the Checkout logo on their auctions, TAG has a
Checkout disable script you can add to your auction description on the
website at -
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=73
Make sure you keep an eye on your Checkout options, as ebaY has a
tendency to change your "opt out" selection to "opt in", despite your
wishes.

Is Checkout interfering with your online business? Is the new search
slowing down your sales? Tired of the scam Chargebacks form Billpoint?
You pay ebaY for services, so file a complaint against ebaY with the
Better Business Bureau, the FTC and or The Consumer Trouble Shooter.
http://www.troubleshooter.com/data/access.html
BBB Online - http://www.bbbsilicon.org
FTC - https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm

Since ebaY is no longer fully compatible with Microsoft IE, TAG
recommends you have IE, Netscape AND the Opera browsers on your
computer, so you can alternate between them as required. Better yet use
another auction site, where the depth of problems you find on ebaY does
not exist. Opera can be found at http://www.opera.com
For WebTV users, some users have had some limited success by unplugging
their WebTV unit after each ebaY session for sufficient time to let the
unit. Some other WebTV links that might be useful -
http://www.collierad.com/coolebaytools/webtvstory.htm
http://www.geocities.com/glynne2/index2.html

To move an item to another category go to -
http://cgi5.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ChangeCategoryShow
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

TAG no longer reports ebaY numbers because we don't believe ebaY is
providing accurate numbers in their categories anymore. We believe they
are lying about and inflating their numbers to prevent stockholders from
knowing the true state of listing on ebaY. Even with ebaY's various
means of inflating these numbers, the inclusion of a multitude of
foreign sites and the proliferation of corporate sellers and stores
listings, the listing numbers on ebaY continue to be stagnant for well
over a year. To see the trends on ebaY go to the MedVed site to view
their long term records.
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND

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

ebaY Community boards
http://pages.ebay.com/community/index.html
ebaY news board
http://pages.ebay.com/community/news/index.html
ebaY status announcement board (SAB)
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
* * * * *
BidVille.Com is running a clearance sale from 2 thru 31 January. Find
the items by clicking on the Clearance Sale logo on the front page of
the Bidville site. 1,070,268 mil auctions listed, though 340,000 of them
are in books, many of them mass market paperbacks. Many of the
activities on the site, such as the clearance auctions, are organized
with community support and participation.
http://www.bidville.com
* * * * *
Amazon Auctions, zShops and Marketplace
Friday sales, where many sellers pick up great bargains for resale -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/548166/ref=outlet_nav_fs/103-1162116-7199055

Find links to all events on the Outlet tab.
http://www.amazon.com

Amazon Announcement Board
http://prospero.amazon.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=am-sellannounce&nav=start&ctx=0


Amazon chat boards -
http://prospero.amazon.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=am-sellconnect&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 Auction/ Warehouse
Ongoing Issues -
Users can attempt to seek user to user help at -
http://experts.yahoo.com/expertinbox?b_id=383051397&t_id=openboard
and community chat boards at
http://auctions.yahoo.com/html/community/
Live chat
http://chat.yahoo.com/?room=Chat%20Central::1600326456

Remember Yahoo allows links from auctions, and has a MUCH more liberal
and less paranoid point of view on off Yahoo sales. Yahoo's policy can
be found at -
http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/legal/linking_policy.html

Yahoo Auctions has user to user help boards at
http://experts.yahoo.com/expertinbox?b_id=383051397&t_id=openboard
and community chat boards at
http://auctions.yahoo.com/html/community/
Live chat
http://chat.yahoo.com/?room=Chat%20Central::1600326456

As of 24 Nov 01 Yahoo Auctions had 274,047 listings on the site.
As of 5 Dec 01 Yahoo Auctions had 399,258 listings on their site
As of 7 Dec01 Auctions had 504,507 listings on their site
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
NEW AUCTION AND TRADING SITES
http://www.quickbidauction.com/
http://www.littleauction.com/ opening mid-Jan
http://www.antique-show.net/
http://www.playerauctions.com/
* * * * *
Hemmings.Com - From the folks who bring you Hemmings Motor News, there
is now an auction site for cars and things automotive.
http://www.hemmings.com
http://auctions.hemmings.com/
* * * * *
US Post Office is asking for rate raise as early as 30 June. Under the
proposed deal, rates would go up 8.7% on average, providing an estimated
$6 billion in additional revenue for the post office, with the cost of a
first-class stamp rising three cents to 37 cents.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/jan02/2002-01-04-postal-rates.htm
* * * * *
Online Auction Users Association
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
*************************************************************
Have any information for us? email us at ta-@theauctionguild.com
TAG Subscribers often contribute information reported on in TAGnotes.   
Visit their auctions or websites.
TAGassist Contributors

http://www.longlocks.com

http://www.esnipe.com
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