AuctionBytes-Update Number 56 - November 25, 2001 - ISSN 1528-6703

Please recommend this newsletter: <http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/Recommend/recommend.ht ml >

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IN THIS ISSUE:
1) Wheeler Brothers' General Store: Auctions in the Computer Age
2) The Seller's Guide to Online Auction Etiquette
3) This & That
4) Collector's Corner
5) AUCTIONBYTES FEATURES
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FROM THE EDITOR
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I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This traditionally kicks off the Holiday shopping season, and auction sales should remain high throughout the winter months - eBay says that historically its busiest period is first quarter (January, February and March).

In this issue, we have an interesting story about a recent auction we attended that was simultaneously Cybercast over the Internet. Contents from the Wheeler Brothers' General Store were auctioned off in central Massachusetts AND through eBay Live Auctions. David attended the auction on the premises, while I "attended" via computer.

I highly recommend you watch a live auction via computer if you haven't already. It is an amazing technology that allows you to bid online in real-time.

While this auction appeared to go smoothly, we all know that technology is not 100% foolproof. Lots of things can go wrong, both with the bidder's computer and Internet connection, and with the auctioneer's. (We were told that it is up to the discretion of the auctioneer whether or not to hold up the live auction process if technical problems do occur.)

Internet bidders may be wise to leave a 'left bid,' also called an absentee bid. That way, if your ISP or computer lets you down the day of the auction, the auction house already has your left bid. And it does not prevent you from logging on and - if bidding surpasses your left bid - bidding a higher amount! This is a technology with great potential and brings some of the flavor of real life auctions to your computer.

Speaking of technical issues, some users have been having problems accessing our discussion forums as a result of changes we recently made to our servers. Users who are accessing our forums through bookmarks in their browsers may experience problems. Certain programs, such as Zone Alarm, may also keep users from updating the cookie necessary to access the forum. If you are logging into the forums through a bookmark, you should update your bookmark. To do this, access the forums through our home page, then add the URL to your favorites (or bookmarks).

If you ever have any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to write to us. We love to hear from you, and we want you to have a good experience with AuctionBytes.

Thanks for reading!

Ina Steiner, Editor
Email: ina@auctionbytes.com
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1) Wheeler Brothers' General Store: Auctions in the Computer Age
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by Ina and David Steiner

Imagine if Sci-Fi writer William Gibson had penned "The Waltons."

That might help you picture the events last Sunday in the bucolic setting of Hubbardston, Massachusetts, when the entire contents from the Wheeler Brothers' General Store were auctioned off to the public. Not only were several hundred people jammed elbow-to-elbow in the auction hall of the Gardner Colonial Hotel, but hundreds more looked on via computer, hoping to snag a treasure from days gone by.

Wheeler Brothers' business was one of America's last true general stores. Established in 1845, Wheeler Brothers' carried everything the local community could need, from dry good groceries to boots, shoes, crockery, hardware, silk stockings and sporting goods. In 1968, Cyrus Wheeler - son of one of the founding brothers - became ill. The store on the corner of Main Street closed its doors and stood like a time capsule, with its entire stock sealed inside.

The auction generated intense interest from collectors, eager to view vintage and antique items, many in mint condition and in original boxes. Some items dated back to the 1800s, including old advertising signs, tins, toys and clothes. The buildings and a 1937 Chevy Pickup, used to deliver goods to customers, were also included in the sale.

What gave this important auction an even more fascinating twist was the fact that collectors from all over the world could view and bid on the auction live over the Internet through eBay Live Auctions and its partner, iCollector.com.

Simond Hill & Associates handled the floor auction and divided it into 843 separate lots. Along with the floor bidding, Internet bidders could view pictures of the current lot being auctioned, and could also track the bidding activity in "real time" on their screen. If an Internet bidder was registered to participate in the auction, they could click on a button that contained the current bid amount. A system was in place so the auctioneer could see all Internet bids as he auctioned off each lot.

According to Mark Hill, Director of Live Auctions for iCollector.com, 642 approved bidders viewed the auction through the Internet. Eighty percent of the lots received an Internet bid, and nearly 25% of the lots sold to Internet bidders. The interest generated through the Internet broadcast significantly boosted the prices realized at the Wheeler Brothers' auction.

"I was interested in some of the tin and porcelain signs, but they went for more money than they could have been resold for," said Gary Sohmers, an avid collector, appraiser, and owner of WexRex Collectibles in Framingham, Massachusetts. "The auction buyers were paying top dollar, and that left me out as a reseller."

For home viewers with fast computers and a fast Internet connection, watching the Wheeler Brothers' auction was the next best thing to being there. The interest in live auctions has doubled, according to iCollector.com.

iCollector has been involved in over 150 live auctions since January, when it began working with eBay Live Auctions. "The lots sold at live auctions to Internet bidders have doubled," stated Hill. "More auctioneers are interested in using the technology, and user penetration has increased."

These are the same auctioneers who once viewed online auctions as the "competition." Slowly, they are starting to embrace the technology. "I don't know why they wouldn't," said Jay Beard, president of Simond Hill & Associates. "We're definitely seeing higher prices being realized at our auctions because of the live Internet aspect. It means another 30% difference to our bottom line."

Which means that in all likelihood, a hybrid of live and online interaction is the direction that auctions are headed. "I think it has to," continued Mr. Beard. "It's a high-speed train. If you don't get on board, it's going to pass you by."

A lot has changed since 1968 when Mr. Wheeler shuttered the doors to his family's general store. Bread is no longer 25 cents a loaf, and the pace of our lifestyles has increased. One thing has proven constant, however - the love of things old - even in the age of the Internet.
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Ina and David Steiner run AuctionBytes.com.

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2) The Seller's Guide to Online Auction Etiquette
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by David Steiner

In a previous issue, I wrote an article entitled "The Buyer's Guide to Online Auction Etiquette" <http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/37/38/38.html#buyers>. It was a common-sense outline for expediting the buying process online. To show that I am not partisan, here is the "Seller's Guide to Online Auction Etiquette"!

If you boil this guide down to its essence, I'd have to say, "BE COURTEOUS AND PROFESSIONAL."

People go back to stores where they are treated well and have a good buying experience. Although it may be easier said than done, you should treat each customer as though they have just walked through the front door of your shop.

CREATING THE AUCTION LISTING
1) Making your listings user-friendly is good etiquette. Be a "Minimalist." This has been said over and over, but music files, animations, over-sized images and mouse trailers are unnecessary and sales-killers. I'll back out of an auction as fast as I can if it begins grinding my hard-drive.

Make your Terms of Sale concise. If I'm a potential buyer, I want to know how I should pay, how you ship and a few more essentials. I don't want to know what I SHOULDN'T do.

DURING THE AUCTION
2) Answer questions politely! You're bound to get questions from prospective bidders during the course of an auction, probably some that have been included in your description. Be patient with the buyer and answer them politely. Remember, you're the only person that can answer them. Handling questions professionally makes a huge impression and often results in sales. Conversely, you'll never know how many sales you've LOST by being rude or not answering at all.

3) Be firm, but polite! You may get several requests to change your Terms of Sale during an auction. For example, on one of my seller IDs, I list that I accept Money Orders or Personal Checks. I may get several requests to accept a certain electronic payment system. I DON'T tell the bidder to go and read my terms, I simply respond to them by saying, "I'm afraid at this time I don't accept XXXX, but I ship quickly for both Money Orders and Personal Check." Good seller etiquette doesn't mean always acquiescing to a customer's requests, it simply means using good public relations skills when you deal with them.

AFTER THE AUCTION
4) Send your End of Auction notices out in a timely manner. I generally send my EOA messages out within 12-24 hours after an auction has closed. If I don't get a response from a buyer, I'll send another email out within the next 48 hours. I'll also include a line at the top of my message that states, "2nd Notice." I do this for a couple of reasons, a) it subtly lets the bidder know that I've sent out a previous email that wasn't responded to, and b) it helps me keep track. If this email elicits no response, I'll send out a 3rd and Final (which is also noted at the top of the email) message within 48-72 hours of sending my second email. I'll also pull contact info for the buyer to let them know that I'm serious and also to make sure my emails are getting through. If a buyer then responds and asks why I've pulled their contact info, I simply tell them that I wanted to ensure there were no problems between my ISP and theirs - which is the truth. As much as you'd like to say it, d!
on't tell them, "BECAUSE YOU DON'T ANSWER YOUR #$*&#^%* EMAILS!!"

5) When you receive payment from a customer, notify them and let them know that you have their money. Tell them when their package will be shipped, and you might want to put a line in asking them to drop you an email when they have received the item safely.

6) This is an optional step, but I'm a firm believer that people buy from smaller sellers not only because of the vast assortment of items that we list, but also because of the personal touch. It doesn't take much to accomplish this. I simply hand-write at the bottom of a customer's invoice, "Thanks for your business" or "Enjoy!". It is nice to know that there is a person at the other end of the transaction.

7) Leave feedback - preferably after you've received payment and before your customer has received the item - after all, they've held up their end of the bargain. Some sellers work in larger volume than others, and leaving one feedback at a time may not be possible. That's fine too - in fact there's a great page on eBay that allows users to leave multiple feedback.
<http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?LeaveFeedbackShow> The important part is to do it.

8) If a customer has a problem with a transaction - if they receive the item broken, it's lost in the mail or they feel that an item has been misrepresented - handle it professionally. As a seller, it's your responsibility to file Postal insurance claims. If a customer has a complaint about the quality of an item, don't let your temper dictate your response. Write an email that outlines the steps that you will take to rectify the situation, and also outline what the buyer should do. Unfortunately, this doesn't guarantee that the transaction will be settled satisfactorily - but even in the event that a negative feedback follows, your response to it should be factual and professional. Future customers will check to see how you handled a bad situation.

There may be some steps that I've left out because of space constraints or some that you may disagree with. By all means, let me know at <http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewforum.php?forum=3&190 >. I'll handle your criticism calmly and professionally.
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David Steiner is the president of AuctionBytes.com.

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3) THIS & THAT
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Furthering International Trade: AuctionPix.co.uk
AuctionPix.co.uk (not to be confused with AuctionPix.com) is a new site from the U.K. that offers international currency exchange for online auction buyers and sellers.

One of the problems with buying and selling from people in other countries is the differing currency (we in the U.S. always demand U.S. dollars from our buyers, right?).

AuctionPix.co.uk proposes you send your payment to them, and they will forward payment in the appropriate currency to your seller. AuctionPix converts between U.S. dollars, British pounds and Euros. The fees are built into the exchange rate, which is updated weekly.

The company also offers escrow services and free image hosting as well as goodies like tips on HTML code and eBay tricks.

As always, use caution in sending money to third-parties. < http://www.auctionpix.co.uk>

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NYC Auction Site: Gruvo.com

Gruvo is an auction site that attempts to put some personality into auction commerce. The site has three inhabitants who live in the Gruvo animated apartment.

The site says it has a weekly companion TV show that airs in New York city (Sundays at Noon on AOL Time Warner's Channel 35 in New York), and they plan to expand the show to some other large cities. Television is far more likely to generate interest than the animation of the site, which I found added nothing to the experience.

It's free to list items on Gruvo, and FVFs are listed here:
<http://www.gruvo.com/cgi-bin/auction/fees.pl>.

If you live in New York, let us know what you think of the show.

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Guide to Online Photo Albums
Here's a handy guide to "online photo albums" with a designation for "eBay OK"!
<http://www.andromeda.com/people/ddyer/photo/albums.html >
(Thanks for the great link, Robert!)

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Popular Gifts in Electronics & Toys
eBay conducted recent surveys of eBay users to see which electronics and toys are most popular this holiday season.

Among electronics, respondents said they'd "love to give or receive" the following gifts this holiday season:
1. DVD players 31%
2. Digital cameras 27%
3. Flat-screen TVs 25%
4. Laptop computers 24%
5. Digital camcorders 19%
6. CD rewriteable drives 18%
7. Video game systems 12%
8. Handheld computer or personal digital assistants 11%
9. Desktop PC systems 10%
10. Cellular phones 7%

Among toys, the top choices included:
1. Barbie dolls 44%
2. Harry Potter toys 23%
3. Blue's Clues 22%
4. Gameboy Advance 20%
5. Pokemon character toys 19%
6. Scooby Doo character toys 19%
7. LEGO Bionicles 16%
8. Power Puff Girls 13%
9. Bob the Builder toys 13%
10. Rugrats character toys 12%

Source: eBay, 2001

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Upcoming Antiques & Collectibles Events

11/25/01 (Today!): John McInnis annual Thanksgiving estates auction, Amesbury, MA. The auction features a portrait of Florence Nightingale and a distinctive landscape by the noted African-American artist, Edward Mitchell Bannister.

The 17" x 20" oil on canvas Nightingale portrait was painted by German artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze in 1864. Rendered in warm hues of gold, brown, russet and creams, the portrait captures Nightingale - acclaimed as the founder of modern nursing - ministering to injured soldiers during the Crimean War. The work is estimated to fetch upwards of $15,000 to $20,000.

The 40"x32" oil on canvas by African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister is expected to sell for more than $30,000. Bannister is the first African-American artist ever to receive a national award. Wanting the painting to stand on its own merits without being subjected to racial bias, he submitted a painting entitled Under the Oaks to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, along with only his signature. When he appeared before the committee to claim his first-prize medal, he created both shock and disbelief.

John McInnis Gallery will also auction a collection of over 40 clocks (including a Chippendale Newburyport tall case clock attributed to David Wood (est. $6,000 to $9,000); formal and country furniture, paintings, and decorative accessories; and Oriental rugs. Two lots caught my eye: Lot 177 is a framed marking sampler wrought by Lucretia Adams, aged 10 years, 1812, and Lot 421 is a 19th century embroidered eagle and flag.

The John McInnis Auction Gallery is located in historic Downtown Amesbury, Massachusetts. Preview is from 8 to 11, and the auction begins at 11 am.
An online catalog is found at < http://www.johnmcinnisauctioneers.com>.

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11/28/01: HGTV's "Flea Market Finds with the Kovels." Wednesday's show will feature American flags, firefighter ribbons, valentines, linens, hankies, pincushions, needle cases, mourning pins, sewing machines, puppet molds, and uncut doll patterns. Home and Garden Television, Wednesday evenings, 8 pm EST.

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12/2/01: Collectibles Extravaganza, Boston, MA. The 15th Annual Wex Rex Collectibles Extravaganza will be held next Sunday at the Suffolk Downs Racetrack, Rt. 1A in Boston, Sunday 9:30 - 5. General Admission is $6.00.

Features 200 tables of pop culture collectibles, including antique & collectible toys, dolls, action figures, sci-fi, comics, trading cards, Disneyana, video, diecast, and more.

Celebrity guests will sign autographs in person for a fee: Julie McCullough (Playboy Playmate, "Growing Pains"); Lynne Stewart (Miss Yvonne from "Pee Wee's Playhouse"), Debra Lee Scott ("Welcome Back Kotter," "Police Academy") and Mark Goddard ("Lost In Space"), and more.
<http://www.allcollectors.com>

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4) Collector's Corner
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Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price List 2002
by Ina Steiner

The Kovels are the royalty of the collectibles world. Husband and wife Ralph and Terry Kovel are the authors of more than eighty books, write a nationally syndicated newspaper column and a column in Forbes magazine, as well as publishing their own newsletter. Their latest television show, "Flea Market Finds with the Kovels" airs on the HGTV Home and Garden television network.

The Kovels recently published the 34th edition of their Antiques & Collectibles Price List for 2002. This is a very handy guide to have around, and is one I have started bringing to shows and auctions. It is a nice size and stands up well to use. (The Kovels are typical collectors; practical and frugal. The book is jam-packed, with no empty spaces, and there is even a little ruler printed on the last page!)

The prices in the 2002 Price List are based on actual sales from 2001 and are from the American market, for the American market.

"All year we check prices, visit shops and shows, read our mail, check online computer services and the Internet, and decide what antiques and collectibles of most interest. We concentrate on the average pieces in any category."

The book also contains basic background on many of the items listed; for example, it briefly explains Carnival Glass and then goes on to list specific pieces of carnival glass and their selling price. So, if you see some pieces at an auction, you can check the book and get a very general sense of what Carnival Glass is and what some pieces have gone for in the prior year.

This is an excellent way to continue your education. The best way to learn about antiques and collectibles is to pick up and touch real items at stores, auctions, shows, etc. And who knows, someday, you might come across some of the items you have learned about, and either pick up a great find, or save yourself some dough by passing it by.

As it so happens, I am the proud owner of a 1969 second edition of their book, "The Complete Antiques Price List," a guide to the 1970 market for professionals, dealers and collectors. I picked it up at a yard sale (of course - I am frugal too), and it has stood the test of time. As Ralph and Terry say in the beginning of these guides, don't throw out the book when you get the new edition next year. "Old Kovels' price books should be saved for future reference, and for tax and appraisal information." I must admit, it IS pretty interesting to look at prices in the 2nd edition and compare them to those in the 34th edition.

The 2002 Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price List includes over 50,000 collectibles and antiques, 400 pictures marks and logos, and dozens of helpful tips on care and preservation. The book features cross-referenced categories and a complete index. You can find copies on Amazon at:
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609808419/auctionbytescom >

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5) AUCTIONBYTES FEATURES
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GET DAILY NEWS: Read news about the online auction and collectibles world. Send a blank email to: auctionflash-subscribe@topica.com

SHOP FOR AUCTION-RELATED PRODUCTS: Go to the AuctionBytes Yellow Pages where you can find supplies for collectors, auction-management software and more.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/bizdirectory/biz-dir-index.pl

POST A QUESTION: The AuctionBytes Discussion Forums are a great place to post a question and learn about selling online.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php

READ BACK ISSUES: Read 2 years of AuctionBytes newsletters!
http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/email_newsletter.html

CHECK THE AUCTION FORECAST: Dave's Interactive Auction Calendar forecasts whether it's a good day to start your online auction.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/calendar/calendar.html

Go to http://www.auctionbytes.com and find links to these features and more (look for links in the left-hand column).

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AuctionBytes-Update ISSN 1528-6703
Ina Steiner, Editor, Publisher, Founder: ina@auctionbytes.com
David Steiner, President, Founder: dsteiner@auctionbytes.com
Michele Alice, Contributing Editor
AuctionBytes.com
c/o Steiner Associates
PO Box 668
Natick, MA 01760
508-655-5697
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