Here is the AuctionBytes online-auction news roundup for Wednesday, May 18, 2005.

Industry News & Trends

eBay town Hall Event: Customer service
Wendy Jones, Vice President of eBay's Customer Support, will host an online audio Customer Support Town Hall event on Wednesday, May 25 at 2:30 PM PT. Wendy will be available to answer questions on how eBay's Customer Support works. You can submit your questions starting one week in advance, on May 18.
http://pages.ebay.com/townhall

"Local towns, counties using eBay to turn a profit," KcenTV.com, 5/17/05
http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=1&nid=7062

"Auction site Paid Inc. more than doubles Q1 revenue," Boston Business Journal, 5/16/05
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/05/16/daily3.html

"EBay: Reverse auction feature a hit" (Reuters) CNN, 5/17/05
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/05/17/ebay.want.it.now.reut

Weird, Unusual, Celebrity or Charity Auctions

"Part of controversial TX history being sold in online auction," (AP), KTRK tv, 5/16/05
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/technology/051605_aptech_dallas.html

"Town bought on eBay slowly transforming," (AP), Mercury News, 5/15/05
Free registration required.
http://digbig.com/4dknr

Fraud, Privacy, Security Issues

"Stolen Medical Gear Sold on eBay," By Lyndsay Moss, Scotsman.com, 5/16/05
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4562101

"Shinders worker pleads guilty to felony theft: He sold sports cards, memorabilia on eBay," BY FREDERICK MELO, Pioneer Press, 5/17/05
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/11663087.htm

Miscellaneous

"UPS Buys Overnite for $1.25B," By Scott Hovanyetz, DMnews.com, 5/17/05
http://dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=32821