It was difficult to wrap up this issue - there's a lot going on with online-auction sites and services! Here's some news about features and policies of some online auction sites.

EBAY NEWS
Try the working prototype of eBay's new search tool, Smart Search, at http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/search-new.html. Tell eBay what you think by writing to smartsearch@ebay.com till the end of February.

EBay's Feedback changes are expected to be completed in the next few weeks. http://pages.ebay.com/community/suggestion/feedbackresults.html

EBay's announcement board is worth visiting frequently. They announce new policies ("Beginning March 1, 2000, we will be enforcing this long-standing policy of not allowing advertisements on your Item Pages"), new marketing agreements ("eBay and GO.com will work together to develop a co-branded site that will be promoted by the GO.com network, a top Internet portal with millions of users"), new features ("a new online support board utilizing "threaded" board technology ... called "Community Help" is scheduled to go live late next week") and of course announcements about scheduled maintenance that may affect eBay availability.

AMAZON AUCTIONS NEWS
Amazon.com Payments is an online payment service that allows sellers to accept credit cards online (Amazon Auctions only). The fee for sellers is now $.25 per transaction, plus 2.5% of the transaction amount.

Amazon Auctions has an interesting feature. When you see an auction with a "Take-It Price," you can seize the item outright by offering the price you see listed. "For example, you may find that bidding on a used golf club is at $42. If you see a Take-It Price of $50, you can forgo bidding altogether and end the auction with an offer of $50. This has the advantage of ending the auction immediately--meaning you can get your hands on the item as quickly as possible--and eliminating the chance of being outbid."

UPCOMING
I am often asked by journalists about the negative side of online auctions (scams, absurd items up for auction, etc.). In the next issue, we plan on reviewing how online auctions are affecting the economy in a positive way. Please write me and tell me what you think.

I'd also be writing about the international aspect of online auctions. We write AuctionBytes-Update from a U.S. point of view (and will continue to do so). But what's happening in the rest of the world? I'd like to know what your experiences are, whether you are a U.S. user having bought from or sold to international users, or whether you are an online auction user outside the U.S. I'd love to hear from you!

Please tell your friends about AuctionBytes.com!

-Ina Steiner, Editor ina@auctionbytes.com