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TAGnotes Thu 31 Jan 2002 Vol 4 Number 8 Issue 390
 

The Auction Guild Notes for Thu 31 Jan 2002
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The TAGnotes archive is available in a searchable format at     
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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
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Thanks for your help with the TAG RESEARCH PROJECT. So far we have
received 98 responses. For anyone who would still like to participate,
please send the number of User ID's you have on ebaY, active or
inactive. If any of them are no longer registered (NARU) please let us
know that also. Remember a NARU is not necessarily someone who has
violated ebaY rules, it can also be someone who requested an account be
closed by ebaY. ebaY never removes an account from the site, one reason
TAG believes ebaY comes up with such inflated and untruthful user
numbers, in addition to individuals having multiple IDs.
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ebaY - On 27 Jan at 11:28:30 PT some users reported an outage lasting
until 11:50:39 PT. Reports were of not being able to access anything on
the ebaY site, and a time gap between postings was evidenced on some of
the chat boards. This only appeared to affect certain users. At
13:06:41 PT Mister Lister collection uploads were not working. The
problems continued to be reported until 14:50:05 PT. At 18:17:08 PT
users reported problems with leaving feedback. This problem continued
until 19:51:54 PT. ebaY posted at 20:08:22 PT that the ebaY Billpoint
payment system was down. Users could not make payments, register or get
authorized. At 22:31:40 PT ebaY announced that ebaY Billpoint payments
was down from 19:24 PT to 22:05 PT.

ebaY posted on 28 Jan at 11:33:56 PT that the ability to search by Item
Specifics was not working.   At 19:33:33 PT the ebaY Wanted Board
started to disappear off the ebaY site. An alternative site to replace
the wanted board was started by a user at -
http://forums.delphiforums.com/wantedtobuy
The other alternative is to use the EBAY wanted board, which you can get
to by taking a little trip "down under" and access the wanted board from
-
http://cgi3.ebay.com.au/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewBoard&name=wanted


On 29 Jan at 12:29:36 PT ebaY posted that they were taking the online
help system down for emergency maintenance at 22:30 PT. ebaY projected
the maintenance period would take approx 30 minutes. Users reported at
18:38:29 PT that the bidding problems were back. A bidder would place
an opening bid for example $9.99, on an auction, but instead of getting
the correct bid confirmation, would receive a message, "Please go back
and bid 10.49". Users also reported listing problems, where the pages
would take a long time to upload.

On 30 Jan at 10:56:30 PT users reported that the slow listing problems
continued from the previous night.

On 31 Jan 11:20:09 PT ebaY posted that there were problems with gallery
images not showing. ebaY claimed that this was only affecting the
gallery pages and not the actual auction listing page. ebaY recommended
that users resubmit their gallery images and said the resubmitted image
would appear in the gallery within 24 hours. To resubmit go to-
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?DisplayGalleryImagePage?item=
ebaY claimed in a 12:09:53 PT posting that the gallery problem lasted
from 09:52 PT to 11:53 PT. Unfortunately for sellers, this only touches
on the constant reoccurring gallery problems. We have been hearing from
users for several months about galley images appearing and disappearing,
and updates of images either never indexing or taking well over 24 hours
to update. In an email to a user today ebaY said, "Hello, Thank you for
contacting eBay Customer Support. We apologize for the delay in some
items appearing in the Gallery. Currently the Gallery updates are
behind in some of our categories. We
understand the importance of items being indexed into the Gallery in a
timely fashion, and are working to bring all Gallery updates within
normal range. Please accept our sincere apologies for the
inconvenience, and we appreciate your continued support and patience.
Regards, Brian J. P. eBay Customer Support " It is a shame ebaY does
not see fit to let all their users know about the problems and the fact
that sellers are not getting the services they pay for.

ebaY is taking the site down for scheduled maintenance on Friday 1 Feb
from 01:00 PT to 03:00 PT. The ebaY Billpoint payment system will also
be down for maintenance during this time frame.

Users have been reporting that it appears that ebaY has fixed some of
the MSIE incompatibility problems. Sellers have reported being able to
list using various MS browsers. Several problems remain on the site.
Sellers who opt out of Checkout can still be forced into taking Checkout
from the closed auction by the buyer. 10 Day completed auction search
is inadequate. Sellers who use Billpoint report their auctions are being
sabotaged when the price of the auction exceeds their Billpoint
allowable credit and a notice shows on the auction that causes buyers to
back away form the auction, because it makes it look as if the seller is
unreliable. In addition sellers who use ebaY's Billpoint keep reporting
that unjustifiable chargebacks continue. ebaY users continue to have
Billpoint logo appearance problems with closed ebaY Billpoint payment
accounts.   Though the user closed the account months ago, ebaY accepts
Billpoint payments because for some reason they do not know the account
is closed. If you have this problem contact ewa-@ebay.com . Bidding
anomalies continue causing confusion for buyers. ebaY title/description
search indexing is running 10 hours behind, though some items are not
indexing at all. Sellers should use a keyword in all their auctions so
they can track to see if all their listings have indexed completely. We
are also hearing from an increasing number of users about ebaY billing
problems. If ebaY ends your auctions for any reason, make sure you check
your account for refunds. The User Agreement states that ebaY will
credit all fees for ALL auctions ebaY ends.

Workaround for ebaY's useless completed search is to go to Yahoo
Auctions where you can find the sale prices of Yahoo Auction closed
items for up to 90 days, and can search
completeds by item.

TAG recommends that IF you are going to list on ebaY, do NOT use
Billpoint, ebaY pic services, Checkout, or ANY ebaY provided service
beyond the most basic ones. None of ebaY's services are reliable, and
the feature and site reliability continues
degenerate daily.

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 - Post made on the Fee Increase Objection
Petition, by former pink Rokin Robin Rosaaen post number 1011, "As a
former eBay employee, I am saddened by the corporate greed and gutting
of the sellers for a few more $$$ to add to the eBay coffers when you
have other issues that need to be addressed, such as the credit card
fraud and millions in uncollected debt and fees owed to eBay, not to
mention the elimination of jobs of those of us that helped to build eBay
from a no name nothing company formally known as Auction Web to the mega
Giant that eBay has become. Maybe you will go the way Enron did in a
year or two. Remember folks there are other auction sites that still
care for the people that use their services, try www.epier.com or
www.erock.com"
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ebay16&1

TAG has an editorial on the website titled 'ebaY- a solution NOW'.
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=78

ebaY, with its failure with upscale auctions, their purchasing of and
the downslide of Buttterfields and Butterfields, their attempts to
re-ignite a spark in the dying Great Collections by remaking it into
ebaY Premier, appears to have finally given up. ebaY has launched an
alliance with Sotheby to provide upscale auctions on the ebaY site.
Sotheby has had problems of its own with the price fixing scandal and
conviction it was involved in with Christies. TAG wonders if anyone has
warned Sothebys that partnering with ebaY has been the kiss of death for
almost every venture that has joined forces with ebaY.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020131/tc/tech_ebay_sothebys_dc_1.html

Using Mister Lister and stores, sellers may now list items in ebaY
stores for longer durations using Mister Lister. In addition to the
current 3, 5, 7, 10, 20 and 30 day options, sellers may now select -
- 60 days: for a fee of 10 cents
- 90 days: for a fee of 15 cents
- 120 days: for a fee of 20 cents
The default selection is 30 days with the standard 05 cent listing fee.
To use this new feature with Mister Lister, you do not need to download
and install another version of Mister Lister. You do need to update your
categories.
If you list an item for longer than 30 days but the item sells earlier,
ebaY will not refund the difference in fee.

Ongoing Issues and Information
----------------------------------------------------------------
TAG has received a rash of reports from sellers who had closed
their Billpoint account, some as far back as April 01, with
Billpoint suddenly appearing and allowing buyers to pay using
Billpoint without the seller even having a Billpoint account. Email
ewa-@ebay.com about this - explain the situation that you
have closed your account but Billpoint is still showing up on your
auctions and has accepted payments on your behalf though your
account has been closed. Hopefully ebaY will start coordinating
with their payment service side of the house and get this
ongoing problem straightened out.

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
FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center at: http://www.ifccfbi.gov/

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.
These will become even more inflated by the higher Dutch
Auction Prices. 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
* * * * *
Yahoo Auction/Warehouse/Classifieds
TAG has heard from subscribers that the International sellers, who sell
on the Yahoo Auctions US site are running into severe problems with
Yahoo. We are trying to get some definitive info out of Yahoo and will
report further on this issue.

Yahoo has put up a Valentine's Day showcase. for more info go to -
http://user.auctions.shopping.yahoo.com/showcase/valentine

Yahoo! Auctions survey -
http://promo2.yahoo.com/sbin/Auctions_Jan2002/survey.cgi

Ongoing Issues -
In contrast to ebaY's 10 day or less limit on completed search,
completed search on Yahoo Auctions is available at the bottom
of the search result page and goes back approx 3 months.
Yahoo Auctions completed search only shows sold items.

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
Yahoo Buyer Protection Plan
http://auctions.yahoo.com/phtml/auc/us/ins/protectionpromo.html

Yahoo contact Information
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=38

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 Yahoo Auctions had 504,507 listings on their site
As of 23Jan02 Yahoo Auctions had 313,102 listings on their site
As of 25Jan02 Yahoo Auctions had 620,132 listings on their site
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
* * * * *
Amazon Auctions, zShops and Marketplace
Amazon posted on 28 Jan at 22:07 PT, that they have fixed the Pro auto
relisting feature. This fix is not retroactive, sellers will have to
edit their listings to new relisting options in order for different
options to display.

Users have reported that Amazon has been slow in sending out the
successfully ended auction emails and the Amazon payments "this item is
paid for" emails. Users have reported that some have been delayed as
much as two days.   There is also a problem with the Sold tab on the
Seller's page that is not accurately reflecting the actual sales made by
the seller.

Friday sales, where many sellers pick up great bargains for
resale -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/548166/ref=outl
et_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-sellan
nounce&nav=start&ctx=0

Amazon chat boards -
http://prospero.amazon.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=am-sellcon
nect&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
* * * * *
eRock.net is a Rock and Roll memorabilia site opened in Feb of 1999.
This is a small niche site with chat boards, links to rock star pages
and other musical links. There are 2618 listings on the site and as far
as we could tell there were 12 one bid sales in the last thirty days.
The Fee Schedule is at - http://www.erock.net/faq.html#28
Listing is currently free, though final value fees apply.
http://www.erock.net/alphadex.html
* * * * *
PayPal IPO information for those considering an investment but ALSO for
those who want an inside look into the workings and challenges for
PayPal.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103415/000091205702001968/a2060419zs-1a.htm

* * * * *
Hammer Tap has updated Fee Finder tool for ebaY. This tool allows
sellers to calculate their ebaY fees, and calculates the costs
associated with receiving payment through
PayPal and ebaY Billpoint payments. Users can download the program for
a free 30 day trial, or purchase the program for $12.99. Download the
product from
http://www.hammertap.com/FeeFinder.html
The new version of Fee Finder calculates fees for auctions on ebaY US,
ebaY UK, and ebaY Canada.
System Requirements:
Windows 95/98/2000/NT/Me/XP.
32 MB RAM. 486-66 processor.
Requires approx 6 MBs of hard drive space.
http://www.hammertap.com/Purchase.html
* * * * *
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://members.ebay.com/aboutme/copper-maven/

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/collectibles.oz/

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/customer-glance/A5TGMPM
TNX03S/104-0366425-9273563

http://www.uniqueandprecious.com/main.html

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/user-glance/A3K4AU50A54
BTP/104-0366425-9273563

http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=
ViewListedItems&-@earthlink.net&include=
0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=25
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