AuctionBytes-Update Number 32 - February 18, 2001 - ISSN 1528-6703

AuctionBytes-Update is a free newsletter for online auction buyers and sellers. Read reviews of online-auction products and services, tips on being more efficient, and information about antiques and collectibles. AuctionBytes-Update is published by email twice a month. (Print it out for easier reading.)

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IN THIS ISSUE:
1) From the Editor
2) ReliableMerchants.com
3) Online Auction World Going from FREE to FEE
4) Where Can I Get Bubblewrap? It Pays to Shop Around
5) MyBiz.com Product Review
6) MyBiz.com Responds to Review
7) COLLECTOR'S CORNER: Stamps, The Twilight Zone
8) This & That
9) Newsflash
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1) FROM THE EDITOR

Chalk this up under Yard Sale bonuses! David and I were delighted when we pulled up to a yard sale recently to find a great assortment of sports memorabilia. We soon discovered the reason for the abundance of sports items. The home belonged to a Hall of Fame sports figure. Needless to say, David was thrilled, and was even happier to find his idol sitting in the living room chatting it up. After buying a few choice items, David and I introduced ourselves to this sports great, and had a nice conversation. He even signed one of David's purchases. You just never know whose house you might be in when you go out looking for yard sale treasures!

***
There's nothing more satisfying than feeling that someone out there is listening. Helen Ledgewood wrote about MyBiz.com for this issue. She pointed out some features that she felt needed improving. I contacted MyBiz.com for a response, and they acted quickly. They've already made changes to the service based on Helen's feedback!

MyBiz sells tools that help auction sellers provide customer service to their customers, and it sets a good example by responding to customer feedback so quickly. I hope other vendors are listening!

***
David has redone the USPS/UPS comparison chart that he created last month. The new chart reflects the hike in UPS fees that occurred earlier this month. While he was recalculating the fees, David noticed that, while there were moderate rate hikes all across the board, UPS actually DROPPED rates for packages that were being shipped to Zone 3 destinations. You can find the new chart at <http://www.auctionbytes.com/Yellow_Pages/postratesnew/postratesnew. html >. To figure out what zone you're shipping to, try this USPS link:
<http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?D=16868>

As always, you can find some of the more interesting headlines from Newsflash at the end of this issue. Newsflash is our daily email newsletter; subscribe by sending a blank email to: auctionflash-subscribe@topica.com

Ina Steiner, Editor
email: ina@auctionbytes.com

PS: Have you voted yet for the best day to end an auction? The voting booth is right on our home page < http://www.auctionbytes.com>.

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2) ReliableMerchants.com
By Edith Reynolds

TV news may tout that some of our familiar consumer watchdogs aren't as true as they used to be, but this doesn't mean the need for safeguards doesn't exist. This is true especially in the burgeoning region of cyberspace, specifically within the mercantile giant eBay and its trading population that's roughly the size of New York City.

Former eBayer Steve Ebin, age 17, recognized this gap and decided to fill it with Reliablemerchants.com. But that's just what you might expect from someone who already holds two other patents on business concepts. Ebin explains, "I was on ebay for awhile, selling computer programs, and I discovered a lot of flaws even though it's a good system." The flaws he describes were ones relating to the manipulation of feedback and the lack of customer security when it came to auction integrity.

His response was to work with mathematicians to devise a method of extrapolating information from feedback with regard to what it says and how many responses a seller receives. Using an algorithm he designed himself, he developed a new and more efficient way of determining reliability. The end result of each calculation is a number between 1 and 100. If the rank 95 or over, the seller is eligible for inclusion in the Reliable Merchants family.

The service is free and is manned by a team of 5 employees, managed by COO Ebin, CEO Ron Friedman, and CTO Jonathan Kops.

Each participating eBay merchant receives a seal of approval that can be automatically inserted within their auctions and that link back to a Reliable Merchants page. The seal gives customers the assurance that this seller is in good standing.

When asked how the company guarantees the participating merchant remains in good standing, Ebin responded, "Each merchant is given a rating update daily. If the number falls to 94 or below, they're suspended for 30 days. If this continues or the number isn't raised, the merchant is expelled." Each complaint is overseen by a manual investigation to further insure the process' integrity, according to the young COO.

Can the merchant continue to use the seal? The answer is yes, however the link back will no longer operate, and so it becomes the customer's responsibility to investigate each auction. But how likely is it that an average eBay buyer will take the time to follow through? There's no way to know for sure, but Reliablemerchants.com does provide a page on their Web site that outlines some common sense rules for safe trading. The rules include:
Avoid spam-advertised sales
Use credit cards for purchases
Look into a seller's references before buying
Don't conduct business with an anonymous user
Beware of sellers using free mail services
Keep copies of all emails relating to the deal.

As the online trading community continues to grow, auction fraud cases increase as well, so Reliablemerchants.com arrives at a fortuitous time.

This company's plans for the future include expanding the service to other auction sites like Yahoo, possibly adding image hosting, and other auction-related services.

Signing up is easy - there are four simple steps. Type in your user name and you will receive an email reply that includes a password. This step verifies your eBay account and the email provides a link to resume the setup. Once you enter the basic information, you receive the Reliable Merchant numerical ranking in a flash. If you qualify, you can describe yourself for the Reliable Merchant page.

This is the only tricky part! The first box to be filled can contain no more than 250 CHARACTERS (not words). You can go over this limit by extending the description to a second box that's included and situated directly below the first. If you fail to limit yourself, you run the risk of hitting an error page. I know, because I rattled on far too long. My response was to immediately email their support, and I received a swift and clear reply. My name and numerical ranking is listed for all eBay buyers to see.

Compared to the eBay feedback system, there's not a whole lot of difference, but the ReliableMerchants process seems more tamper proof. Even with eBay's restriction that limits feedback for concluded transactions, bogus sales can be staged to upgrade the seller's rating. Even if you attain a good ranking, Reliable Merchants demands you maintain this standing.

Given the ease of the process and the good intentions this company displays, my only complaint is that they've limited themselves. I'm sure sellers would love to see buyers ranked in a like manner because, even if the customer is always right, a bad sale isn't always the seller's fault.

NOTE: To leave a rating or to review Reliable Merchants in the Online Yellow Pages directory, go to:
<http://www.auctionbytes.com/bin/bizdirectory/biz-dir-search.pl?query=9 81635851>
---
Edith Reynolds is a former newspaper and magazine writer. She and her husband Dan own an antiquarian bookstore, The John Bale Book Company in Waterbury, CT. For the past nine years, they have specialized in early Americana and rare bindings. They are members of the ABAA - Antiquarian Booksellers of America Association, ILAB - International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, IOBA - International Online Booksellers Association, and OAUA - Online Auction Users Association. Edith manages online sales. In addition to their bookstore, they sell on eBay and at book fairs. Visit Edith's Web sites, www.taxter.com and www.usiana.com. eBay IDs: TAXTER , TAXTER2 , TAXTER3 , USIANA , BALEBOOKS

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3) Online Auction World Going from FREE to FEE
by David Steiner

You knew it couldn't last forever.

The free ride, I mean. Since the beginning of the year, Postal rates have risen, Yahoo Auctions has begun implementing fees and eBay has raised their fees. Auction management programs such as eBay's Seller Assistant (formerly Blackthorne's Auction Assistant) and GoTo's Channel Fusion have instituted monthly charges. Even Honesty.com has started charging for image hosting.

Auction inflation has hit the Internet, and while a dime here and a quarter there may not seem like much, to some users it represents a fair amount of profit that is leaving their pocket.

New fees shouldn't come as a shock. No self-respecting VC-funded company could be expected to give away their services forever, especially when the point of Venture Capital is to gain a return on the investment that's been made - as quickly as possible. So expect the roster of free programs and services to shrink rather precipitously over the coming year.

Believe it or not, according to folklore, there was a time when there were no image hosting Sites, and no auction management services. Sellers handcrafted their auctions and walked 7 miles uphill (both ways) to the Post Office with their packages. The legend goes that these sellers were happy and prosperous, and while Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was rampant, there was a general sense of contentment in the land of online auctions.

Getting Back To Basics
Yes, it's true that all of these 'newfangled' services streamline the process. It's much easier to use a simple interface to upload images than it is to figure out how to use a File Transfer Program. It's a breeze to bulk-list all of your auctions using auction management software rather than entering information manually into an auction Site's text box. But these are conveniences - not necessities. There are still sellers - and Power Sellers who prefer to do things the "Old-fashioned" way.

Buster44 has been on Ebay since 1997. On any given day you can find between 200-300 of Buster's auctions running. Buster uses no bulk listing software and no third-party image hosting services. All of his images are hosted on his own server and he lists about 35 auctions per day - all individually.

"I have a standard auction 'template' set up that I have saved in a file," explains Buster44. "I change a word or phrase depending on what I am selling. I list all auctions manually, one at a time. I group like items, list one, hit the back button twice, change one or 2 things, and submit another auction."

So just how long does this take?

"I can list 35 auctions in 50 to 60 minutes normally," Buster44 asserts matter-of-factly.

Buster also keeps his inventory, his customer list with addresses, every important piece of information, in one, very inexpensive storage device: A green Steno Pad.

He is, to coin a phrase, an eBayer's eBayer.

Choices
So what choice does the online auction user have when faced with impending fees and price increases? Well there's the obvious one: suck it up and pay. There's also the possibility that some smaller sellers will stop selling all together.

The third choice is to adjust, and become even more computer-savvy than you already are. If you are going to use an auction management software program, expect to pay for the ease of use, the bulk listing and the templates. If you are going to have a third-party Web site host your images, get used to paying a fee for it. Or learn how to do things yourself.

Learn a basic understanding of HTML. It's not that difficult. There are books and Web Sites that are loaded with useful information. Create your own templates. Another method is to use a program like FrontPage. Once you've used the "editing view" to create your template, switch to the "HTML view" and copy it into the description box on the auction Site of your choice. Voila! Instant template. I've also made some basic templates available on the AuctionBytes Web site at < http://www.auctionbytes.com/Yellow_Pages/Template/template.html >. They're free and will always remain free. Write that on my headstone!

Utilize the server space that comes with your ISP account. Virtually every Internet Service Provider gives you server space when you sign up with them. It could range from 1 to 10 megabytes or more. Take advantage of it by storing your auction images on your own server. You'll need to learn how to use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program, such as CuteFTP or WsFtP. Again, this isn't brain surgery, and many times you can have your ISP's tech support help you in setting it up. In the years I've been doing online auctions, I find that my server is eminently more reliable than a third-party image hosting service.

Learn a spreadsheet program like Excel to enter your data. Make entries that will allow you to track how much you paid for an item, how much you sold it for, who you sold it to, etc. This will be very valuable information when tax time rolls around. Or use a green steno pad.

That's not to say that you should avoid auction management services entirely. There are some great free and one-time fee management programs out there. Don't be averse to shopping around.

Your computer is your store. If you owned a brick and mortar, you'd have to learn how to unlock the doors, turn on the lights and run the cash register. The more you can do around the store, the more money you save by not having to hire someone to do it for you, and the more self-reliant you become.

It's really no different with online auctions.

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"Do It Yourselfer" Resources

FTP Programs:
CuteFTP http://www.cuteftp.com/products/cuteftp/index.shtml
WsFTP http://www.ipswitch.com
For AOL users here's a great tutorial page on uploading images to your Web space
http://twaze.com/aolpix/aolintro.html

HTML Reference Sites:
http://werbach.com/barebones
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html
http://www.jmarshall.com/easy/html

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4) Where Can I Get Bubblewrap? It Pays to Shop Around
by Ina Steiner

Here is a chart of the current prices of bubble wrap from several sources. I chose to compare the 3/16" bubble size in a quantity of 12" x 175'. Prices of this specific size and quantity of bubble wrap ranged from $10.99 to $41.90, showing that it does pay to shop around. Bubble sizes vary, as do sizes of the rolls, so be sure to compare similar items when you are shopping for the best prices.

These prices do not include shipping. WB Mason says it delivers for FREE. Staples will deliver free if order is over $50. Email me at ina@auctionbytes.com if you have cheaper sources of shipping supplies. And let us know if you have ideas on FREE sources of mailing supplies.

Prices of Bubble Wrap, 2/16/01
3/16" bubble size; 12" x 175' rolls; shipping & handling not factored in:

Bargains Galore (ParrotHead88 on eBay) 800-981-9064
< http://www.bargainsgalorestore.com>
BM1751 $10.99
I asked the customer service representative how he could sell the bubblewrap so cheap. He said they buy the bubblewrap by the tractor-trailer load, and the sell a tractor-trailer's worth every week. He said eBay sales are only a small percentage of their business.

Staples Catalog 800-333-3330
468264-41 $18.99 - prices vary according to geographic location

BrassPack <http://www.brasspack.com> 888-525-3357
C1418P $23
The friendly customer service representative suggested I purchase Item C2789P, which is a 3/16" bubble, 12" x 300' and costs only $6 more. The only difference besides the quantity is that the 12" x 300' doesn't come in a special "dispenser" box, it's shipped in a normal corrugated cardboard box.

WB Mason 888-926-2766
SEL-88655 $25.59

ULINE 800-295-5510
S-1012 $23

Chiswick 800-225-8708
81-12175 $25

National Bag 800-247-6000
87-600C3 $36.60

Consolidated 800-362-1000
87600KM $41.90

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5) MyBiz.com Product Review
by Helen Ledgewood

A couple of issues ago, Edith Reynolds wrote about a new Web-based customer service tool from Mybiz.com that accumulated customer data, tracked auctions, and provided an email sorting service that allowed online sellers to become more user-friendly. (See < http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/29/29.html#mybiz>.) Since that introduction, I tried Mybiz.com. Here's a summary of my experience with the service.

I decided to try the 30-day free trial to see how well MyBiz worked. The initial introduction through their Web page seemed easy enough and the concept was good. I wanted to see if the program really saved me time and pleased my customers. The email templates, the FAQ page, the customer tracking were attractive enough to overcome my initial hesitation about trying something new, and I figured that with nearly 10 years of computer and electronic experience through the Air Force and my year of selling through eBay should be enough to get me through the set up and trial.

I was wrong. I should have turned back when I discovered that I had to change my email address to one provided by them but I didn't. BIG MISTAKE.

This was the point at which things grew difficult. MyBiz lacked detailed guidance for setting up the program. I would have appreciated some diagrams, illustrations, easy directions, examples...ANYTHING! Despite my experience with computers, I was bewildered and completely puzzled. Rather than run for the hills, however, I clicked on the help link to see if I could find something to guide me to the point where I could start saving time. What I got though was little better than a dictionary, and I began to wonder if the help was supposed to be delivered through osmosis or telepathy.

Now I was lost in computerland. You know that place, it's where things don't work the way you hope they will and the only thought running through your mind is "Now what have I done?" Still, I couldn't wait to start saving time, so I kept going.

With the program eventually installed, I encountered a hitch early on. With the auction assistant program I employ (Ebud), I keep numerous windows open to allow me to click back and forth while I work. With MyBiz, your password isn't remembered, so when I tried to visit other pages, I got logged off of MyBiz.

That's when I knew this program wasn't for me. I wasn't saving any time, and before I got in any deeper, I changed my email back. Only, I really didn't, since the Mybiz bar kept appearing on my auctions. This caused confusion among my customers. Again I tried to uninstall the bar and couldn't find an on/off switch to stop its insertion into my ads. This cost me an hour with all the logging off and emailing MyBiz customer support for help.

When someone came to my rescue, I had only one request--cancel my membership. Yet still the toolbar kept appearing. The support staff told me how to operate the shutoff button, and I was able to close my account. I offered the advice that Mybiz spend more time making the process easier to understand.

The support staff was courteous and seemed eager to know my suggestions to help improve their site. I received numerous automatic emails asking how it was working and whether there was anything they could do to help me through the process. In the end, there wasn't enough benefit to keep me using this program.

Therefore, my experience leads me to recommend that, while this program might work well for the online hobbyist, powersellers might become frustrated. More development is necessary. My advice for now is--don't waste your time or effort. In the end MyBiz will cost you more time than you will save.

NOTE: To leave a rating or to review MyBiz in the Online Yellow Pages directory, go to http://www.auctionbytes.com/bin/bizdirectory/biz-dir-search.pl?query=97 8296492

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Helen Ledgewood (auction ID: taxter2) spent nine years serving in the United States Air Force. She is now a stay-at-home mom living in the Mojave Desert with her family. Helen sells a variety of items and ephemera, including Railroad Timetables. Email her at hking1@earthlink.net .

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6) MyBiz.com Responds to Review

We'd like to thank Helen for her feedback regarding our service. We appreciate her feedback very much and we're glad she likes the concept behind mybiz - making it easier for small businesses to provide great customer service and build stronger, more profitable customer relationships. We also appreciate her mentioning that our support staff was courteous, helpful and interested in assisting her. We would like to address some of the concerns she raised in the article.

We appreciate her feedback that the site needs more documentation and are working hard to improve in this area. In the last couple of weeks, we have added a Start Up Wizard - a step by step process that assists a new user to use and understand our service. We've already seen positive results due to this change. We are also working on improving the content in the Help section.

Helen also stated that you need to change your email address to use mybiz. You can use mybiz without changing your email address as long as you can forward your email to your mybiz account. If you cannot forward your email to mybiz then you would have to use your mybiz email account if you want to take advantage of mybiz's email features, such as templates. mybiz features such as FAQs and eBay customer tracking are independent of your email address and can be used without changing your email address. We are working on ways to make it easier to use mybiz with your existing email account.

Helen was also frustrated by a warning that appears if a user is logged in to his/her mybiz account and is inactive for 30 minutes. The warning asks the user to stay logged in or be automatically logged out in 5 minutes. The warning is a security measure to prevent unauthorized access to your account. However, we are going to change the way this is done to make this feature less annoying.

Helen reported having difficulty finding out how to turn off her mybiz Toolbar. Once again this is great feedback and we will be making it easier to find this option on the site (The ability to turn off your toolbar is currently found in 'Toolbar Instructions'. On this page it reads, "You have already chosen to have mybiz insert the toolbar into your auctions for you. If you would like to turn off the toolbar, you may click on button below". The button reads "Turn Toolbar Off". Clicking that button will shut off the automatic insertion of all toolbars.)

When Helen requested that we close her account, we made an error that resulted in her account not being closed. We have apologized to her for this error and have a new system in place for closing accounts.

And finally, we'd like to thank Helen again for offering this feedback and thank Ina for allowing us to respond to the issues raised. We'd like to invite others to try mybiz free during our open trial period, and are very interested in hearing what other auction sellers have to say about our customer service and marketing tools and would welcome all such contributions.

As we continue to make improvements and add new features, I'm sure auction sellers will find mybiz tools of great value in building customer loyalty, increasing profitability and saving time.

Marianne Glasgow
mybiz Technologies, Inc.
www.mybiz.com

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AUCTION FORECAST:

David's auction forecast calls for a mixed day for Sunday, February 18, 2001:
5-day auction: Fair
7-day auction: Good
10-day auction: Bad

Click here for an extended auction forecast:
<http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/calendar/calendar.html >
Bookmark it!

Brought to you by AuctionBytes Yellow Pages at
<http://www.online-auction-directory.com>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

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7) COLLECTOR'S CORNER: Stamps, The Twilight Zone

Stamps
The Pan American Inverts First Day Ceremony will be held March 29 - April 1, 2001, at the Postage Stamp Mega Event. Show Piers #92, 55th St. & 12th Avenue, NY, NY. ASDA, Inc. (516) 759-7000 or asda@erols.com
For other events, go to the ASDA Event Calendar: < http://www.asdaonline.com/aevent.htm>

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Collector's Corner: The Twilight Zone
By Michele Alice

There it was again.

I'd already been to half a dozen yard sales that morning, and I'd noticed it at each. This was my seventh stop, and there it was again--the same small green glass ruffled rim vase.

Was someone ahead of me, endlessly buying and reselling the vase as part of some Kafkaesque plot? Was it some manifestation of a rift in the space-time continuum? Was this-The Twilight Zone?

Nah! Those vases had been popular a number of years ago, and half of Berkshire County had them. (I have one in my kitchen.)

The anecdote, however, serves to illustrate the degree to which Rod Serling's television masterpiece has become part of our national psyche. Even now, nearly forty years after its initial run (1959-64), we can still appreciate its imaginative impact.

And so can collectors.

Over the years, Twilight Zone has generated a modest variety of licensed merchandise-primarily books, videos, and comics-but the hot market today is in trading cards. Believe it or not, it wasn't until 1999 that the first-ever TZ trading cards were issued, but with an added bonus that made them an immediate sellout.

A number of now-famous actors had appeared on Twilight Zone early in their careers, and Rittenhouse Archives (publisher of the cards) convinced many of the stars to autograph limited numbers of the cards, which were then distributed randomly in the packs. So, a search (02.03.01) of completed auctions on eBay has revealed that Burt Reynolds' signature was worth $41 to someone; Bill Mumy's sold for $52.50; and William Shatner's (yes, Captain Kirk himself!) was traded for 'a mere' $155!

Trading has also been fairly steady for sealed box sets (Rittenhouse issued the Premier Edition set in November 1999 and the Next Dimension set in December 2000), with many selling in the $50+ range.

For more information on the sets, and for free sample cards, you can check out the Rittenhouse Archives web site at <http://www.scifihobby.com>. Rittenhouse also publishes Star Trek, Xena, and other sci-fi card sets.

You might also want to take more than a peek at these other sites:

The TZ Archives <http://www.twilightzone.org>
Links to the Twilight Zone webring. Also sponsoring a petition to the United States Postal Service for a Rod Serling postage stamp!

The 5th Dimension < http://www.thetzsite.com>
Latest news, Episode guide, Promoting a TZ alumni cruise in October 2001 where you can rub shoulders with yet-to-be-announced stars from the show.

Sci-Fi Channel <http://www.scifi.com/twizone >
Episode guide, Fan forum, Viewing schedule.

If you prefer your reference on paper, the following books are available:

The Twilight Zone Companion, by Marc Scott Zicree
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1879505096/auctionbytescom
I consider this the "bible" of the series-very well written, extensively researched. I've had my copy for almost 20 years.

Twilight Zone: the Complete Stories, by Rod Serling
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157500111X/auctionbytesco m
Actually, there are just 19 stories, but well worth the price as they were adapted from teleplays to short stories by the master himself.

So, next time you're at a yard sale and you see a green glass ruffled rim vase, remember:

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call... THE TWILIGHT ZONE." --Rod Serling

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8) This & That

Mystery Mail from Dough Heads
Here's a fun rant from an auction seller fed up with receiving cash or money orders with no reference to the auction item and no return address. Don't forget to include all your information when sending payment to the seller!
<http://www.kelseyville.com/store/mystery.htm>

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From the Archives: Postage Scales
You may find this story from last year useful. It discusses postage scales (mechanical versus digital, accuracy, etc.): <http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/8/8.html#scales>.

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"Shields Up," Scotty!
For those of you who do a lot of Net surfing, "Shields Up" is a pretty cool site that let's you determine how secure your connection is. By clicking on one the buttons near the bottom of the page, you can check to see how vulnerable your computer is to a hacker attack. This is especially important for people on a network or using cable connections.
<https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 >

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African Art Makes Its Way Across the Atlantic
"The Chelsea Mini-Storage, a grimy, seven-story brick building with a loading dock at 615 West 27th Street, may well be the nation's largest transit point for wholesale African art." So begins this New York Times article about art and artifacts imported from Africa by American and African dealers. < http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/17/arts/17AFRI.html>

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9) Newsflash Highlights
See Web Site for Full Details and Continuous Coverage
Go to <http://www.auctionbytes.com > and click on Newsflash.

February 16, 2001
Bidder's Edge Shuts Its Doors
And the Hits Just Keep on Coming...
Busted! Auction Fraud Perpetrators Arrested and Charged
eBay Allies with MotorcycleWorld.com

February 15, 2001
eBay Proposes More Category Changes
Invenna Software Pledges to Keep One-Time Fee Policy for AuctionAmigo Pro
eBay Cruises for Bids with boats.com

February 14, 2001
eBay Sets Sights on Amazon.com
QXL ricardo PLC Faces More Bad News
Mattel Introduces Dolls, Survivor Game, at Toy Fair 2001

February 13, 2001
Parlez-vous "eBay"?
eBay Changes May Affect Auction Management Software
Auctioneer's Silver Cloud in Dot-Com Bankruptcies
Anna Kournikova Virus: This is No Blonde Joke
Auction Price-Fixing Lawsuit Closer to Settlement
Largiest Indie Sells Books on Half.com

February 12, 2001
Auction Traffic Report
FairMarket Extends CRM Capability
Financial Institutions to Offer Online Payment Systems

February 9, 2001
Gold's Auctions and Dutchbid Can't Get It Together
Honesty Joins the "Fee" Parade
Toy Fair Opens Sunday
Lawmakers Try to Extend Internet Tax Moratorium
FreeMarkets Buys Adexa for $340 Million
eBay Expands Its Outage Policy

February 8, 2001
GoTo Auctions Announces Fees For ChannelFusion Pro
Postage "Decrease": Layoffs Announced at Stamps.com
Visit, Appreciate, and Pay If You Want! Amazon Introduces MicroPayments
Collectors Universe "Auction & Collectible" Sales Up 68%, "Grading & Authentication" Revenues Down 7%

February 7, 2001
eBay Sends Members from eBay to eLance Site
Postage Rates May Rise Again
Blackthorne Changes Name and Institutes Monthly Fees
uBid Signs with FedEx Home Delivery

February 6, 2001
Spock on Chat Boards 2/8/01
Online-Auction Performance Art
SportsNetwork.com Contest Features McFarlane Sports Action Figures

February 5, 2001
AuctionWatch Launches StoreFronts for Sellers
Protect Your Intellectual Property
Japanese Users Resist Yahoo Auction Fees
P2P Online Payments to Experience 149% Growth Rate - Mostly for Online Auction Transactions

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