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TAGnotes Special Edition Yahoo FLD on 7 Jan 05

The Auction Guild Notes Special Edition Yahoo Free Listing Day
6 Jan 2005
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THIS ISSUE -
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YAHOO FREE LISTING DAY FRIDAY 7 JAN 2005
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OTHER INFORMATION OF NOTE
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PAYPAL'S ORIGINS EXPOSED IN "THE PAYPAL WARS"
An insider’s account of PayPal’s beginnings, and its clashes
with the Mafia, lawyers, and eBay! http://snipurl.com/bs0q
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MINSTHINS AUCTIONS Start the New Year Right CLEARANCE
Everything must go! Prices as low as 49 cents. Go where those in the
know go for great prices!      http://www.minsthinsauction.com
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Wide variety of items in excellent condition, from Digital Cameras
to an ’89 Dodge Raider. Shop http://blujay.com/dustyseller
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Looking for reliable image hosting? Check TAG's image hosting
directory at - http://www.auctionguild.com/generic80.html
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This issue brought to you by the preceding ads, supporting TAG
through their advertising dollars. Please support them, by
clicking on or copy/pasting their links and buying their products.
TAG's advertising rates are at -
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic99.html

The complete TAGnotes archive can be found at -
http://www.escribe.com/business/TAGnotes/
Visit The Auction Guild Web Log at -
http://auctionguild.blogspot.com/

TAG does not endorse the companies or products advertised
9000 subscribers   

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YAHOO FREE LISTING DAY FRIDAY 7 JAN 2005
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Yahoo Auctions is holding a free listing day on Friday 7 Jan 2005,
between 12:01 a.m. PT and 11:59 p.m. PT.   All items listed during
this promotional period will incur no listing fees. All other fees
still apply.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

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OTHER INFORMATION OF NOTE
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EBAY
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Pink Quote of the Day - ebaY Spokesperson Hani Durzy said in a
6 Jan article on a theft ring using ebaY as its fence, "It would be
impossible for us to be able to pinpoint a stolen good before it gets
reported to us," Durzy said. "We don't own it. We don't ship it. We
never handle it." What Durzy failed to add is that ebaY refuses to
monitor its own site for suspicious activity and tends to suspend
users who report fraudulent and suspicious activity to ebaY too
frequently for ebaY’s taste. And that users are also prohibited
from posting about fraudulent activity on ebaY’s boards. So ebaY
will not monitor suspicious activity, nor allow their users to do so.
http://www.bizreport.com/news/8554/

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ebaY will soon change the item not received process. Buyers who have
not received their item or heard from their seller in 10 days from
the end of the listing will be able to start the new item not received
process from four different access points:
1. The dispute console in My ebaY
2. A new link in My ebaY ("report an item not received" link in the
action column),
3. The security & resolution center
4. ebay’s help pages

Sellers can respond to item not received disputes via the dispute
console in My ebaY. They will also receive an alert via email
letting them know they have a new dispute.

Buyers can initiate the item not received process anytime between
10-60 days after the listing closes. It must be filed before a
purchase protection plan claim can be filed. Supposedly ebaY will t
ake action against buyers who file claims for items they have not
paid for, or use the process as coercion against the seller.

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ebaY has added information and links to a process to recycle unwanted
computer equipment. For more information go to the Rethink link at -
http://www.ebay.com/rethink

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PayPal responded to us very quickly over the issue of whether they
would charge UNICEF any fees for receiving funds through the link
on the PayPal site. PayPal says they will NOT charge UNICEF any fees
for donations made by PayPal users from their link. Well done
PayPal.

This is an exception though as, “Any other organizations which
have relief efforts going would be assessed the PayPal payment
receiving fees if they are set up as a Premier or Business PayPal
account. PayPal does not provide a non fee category for non
profits.”

TAG thinks it is time ebaY and PayPal rethought this strategy and
exempted certain non profits from paying any fees. They could set
forth criteria, such as a an “A” rating from an organization
such as Charity Watch - http://www.charitywatch.org

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Another article on ebaY as the world best site to fence stolen goods.
Note, the thieves were not caught due to any ebaY’s efforts, or
as far as we can tell from this article, ebaY cooperation, but
through hard and persistent police work.
http://www.bizreport.com/news/8554/

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OVERSTOCK
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Overstock Auctions currently has approx 20,000 items listed with an
approx 7% sell through rate.

In a recent change, a seller must now have a minimum business rating
of 10 to use the Make it Mine feature, or to set a time limit of one
day on an auction. This is a move to help prevent fraudulent
auctions. TAG believes there is no valid reason for 1 day auctions
under any circumstances, and just accommodates thieves using online
auction and trading sites as a way to fence their stolen goods.

For links and info on Overstock Auctions –
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic127.html

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WEB TV
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MSN TV, the replacement for the old WebTV system, has been having
problems for several months. The older systems have become less
and less compatible with ebaY and other sites (though doing a
retrograde to an earlier version of the operating system sometimes
helps) and the new box (TNB) (as opposed to the old box TOB) MSNTV2,
is not compatible with ebaY or anything else, and appears to be so
flawed that Microsoft has done one recall of keyboards, and is
talking about “hibernating” the entire system.

Some of the known problems acknowledged by MSN are –
An Intermittent inability to Click
Frequent Crashes
Frequent Freezes
A variety of Frequent Error messages.
An intermittent inability to access Email.
Occasional Inability to Delete Email.
Non Functioning Email light
A Frequent Inability to complete Online Purchases at Best Buy, Circuit
City, Wal-Mart, Sears, Florsheim and other Websites.
An inability to horizontally fit the complete Webpage on the screen.
At certain Websites. Including Wal-Mart.
An intermittent inability to Submit Bids on ebaY Auctions. And a
multitude of other ebaY problems.

To see if your MSNTV2 has been recalled use the following –
To determine if you have one of the affected keyboards, you need to
see if your keyboards serial number falls within the following ranges:
621400001 ˜ 621401140
701400001 ˜ 701401600
702400001 ˜ 702402100
705400001 ˜ 705400170
To check the serial number of your keyboard, turn it upside down. You
will see three number or number/letter combinations that begin with
Model, P/N and S/N. The serial number is a 9-digit number listed
after S/N. If your keyboards serial number falls within the ranges
above, call RCA/Thomson toll-free at 800-722-9599. Listen to the menu
items. Press Option 3 (Repair & Exchange Assistance) and then Option
1 (Additional Help) to speak to an agent. RCA/Thomson will ship you a
new keyboard free of charge. Prior to making this call, you need to
have the following information readily available:
Serial number of the keyboard
Serial number of the MSN TV 2 Internet & Media Player (see below for
instructions on how to do this)
Purchase date of the device or activation date of your MSN TV
Subscription

Those with MSNTV2 who are having problems, might want to get a refund
on it before their warranty or store return policy runs out. Some of
the later produced hardware might be better than the first released
systems.

For those looking for Retrogades or software fixes, check the WebTV
link on the TAG site at -
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=64
We hear the 2.9 upgrade on TOB is not too bad but avoid the 5128
software upgrade on TNB.

As to putting the system into hibernation Red Herring posted the
following on their site,
“Return of WebTV
Eight years ago WebTV seemed like a grand idea: a simple,
inexpensive machine that provided worry-free Internet access. Then
Microsoft bought the Silicon Valley startup in 1997, and proceeded
to let its $425-million purchase collect dust, issuing only minor
maintenance upgrades while failing to deliver the major upgrade it
had promised when it bought WebTV. Now Microsoft is giving the
concept another try with its MSN TV 2. But the Washington Post says
MSN TV 2 may go back into hibernation because of technical flaws
and a price that may be too steep for what you get. Though TAG has
yet to find the Washington Post article that stated this.

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THE AUCTION GUILD
and eTRADERS GUILD
www.auctionguild.com
Not just a venue
877-SAFETAG
http://www.auctionguild.com
email us - ta-@theauctionguild.com

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