It's almost yard sale season here in the Northeast. The time we dust off the map and break out the rolls of quarters. :) There's nothing that beats the feeling of finding treasures for a "steal." (Have any stories you want to share?)
Spring fever or not, we have been busy here at AuctionBytes! We have redesigned portions of the AuctionBytes.com Web site. Please tell us what you like about the site, and what features would you like to see added. We are going to make an effort to boost the links - if you have sites you use or would recommend for online auction users and collectors, please email me
at ina@auctionbytes.com. (Note that we are in the middle of a redesign on the Collector's Corner pages.)
Our subscriber base is growing! Thanks for your support. If you find AuctionBytes-Update useful, please forward it to anyone you think may also benefit from reading it. This extra support will mean that AuctionBytes-Update can remain first-rate and free.
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Charge it!
Would you like to be able to accept credit card payments from buyers when you sell items on auction sites? Some online payment systems allow you to do so, like BidPay and PayPal, which we've reviewed in past issues. But to set up your own online merchant account, be informed - check out an article on AuctionWatch at http://www.auctionwatch.com/awdaily/features/beware/index.html.
Scroll down to read about the merger between X.com and PayPal.com. Especially disturbing is news about security problems relating to X.com. This, added to the periodic reports of credit card numbers being hacked into online, and privacy concerns (heard about DoubleClick?), I'm feeling justified in my reluctance to disclose personal information online. I urge you to be careful too.
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Be sure and check out eBay's announcement board. There have been significant announcements, including a notice that eBay's new feedback policy has gone into effect as of yesterday, March 4, 2000. (http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml)
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The Online Auction Users Association (http://www.auctionusers.org) is a nonprofit corporation. "The OAUA is an association committed to maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards in the online auction community, in an atmosphere of integrity and honor. We provide education, research, lobbying efforts and a collective voice in matters concerning the interests of all members." More information on the OAUA and its history can
be found here: http://198.173.20.127/press/. It has an excellent links page.
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Our very own Toys Editor Ray Tipton (Comic Ray) attended the Toy Fair 2000 show in NYC recently. In this issue, he gives us the latest on TOYS! Take a sneak peak at a "Shelby" (cousin to Furby) at our Web site at http://www.auctionbytes.com.
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
