Overstock Auctions has officially launched its new Trusted Merchant program designed to increase buyer confidence. The program enables qualified Overstock Auction sellers to become bonded through a third-party service called BuySafe, giving them the ability to guarantee transactions up to $25,000. The two companies first announced the program in March (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m03/i18/s08).

The program is also intended to give Overstock Auction listings more exposure to buyers. The company will display auction listings from Trusted Merchant participants in the Overstock.com main search results, greatly increasing exposure to auction listings.

Some Overstock sellers have expressed dissatisfaction about minimum requirements BuySafe imposes in order to become bonded. Sellers who do less than $1,000 a month in gross sales on the Internet cannot become bonded through BuySafe, and therefore cannot participate in Overstock's Trusted Merchant program. However some other sellers believe having a Trusted Merchant program where transactions are guaranteed will benefit all Overstock Auction sellers by bringing new buyers to the site.

Vice President of Overstock Auctions Holly MacDonald-Korth said BuySafe sets the criteria for its bonding service. She said the Trusted Merchant program is designed to attract new customers. Once new users get educated on things like feedback and how to research sellers, they will become more comfortable with making purchases on the auction site. Several sellers posting on the Overstock discussion boards said they believe BuySafe's tagline ("BuySafe or not at all"), and the name of the program itself, implies they are not "trusted merchants."

In response to the concerns of small sellers, MacDonald-Korth is introducing feature called a repeat rating designed to augment the feedback rating sellers get. The repeat rating displays the percentage of repeat customers a seller has in the seller information box. In a posting on Overstock Auctions discussion boards announcing the program, she stated, "We will create marketing around sellers with the highest repeat ratings, including items in emails and on the home page. After a while, when we have enough data, we will determine what threshold of repeat activity will designate someone as a "favorite seller",..."

BuySafe launched its service for eBay sellers in 2003. It claims bonded sellers achieve higher selling prices and better sell-through rates and charges sellers 1 percent of the selling price on bonded auctions that sell.

Through September 1, Overstock and buySAFE are running a special promotion where qualified sellers will not be charged to participate in the program. After September 1, Trusted Merchants pay 1% of closing fees to participate.

http://auctions.overstock.com