Feedback on auction sites is what keeps us honest! But I always hear people saying, why won't eBay allow me to easily locate a user's negative feedback so I don't have to go wading through pages and pages of feedback to find it. Well, have I got a tool for you! Go to http://www.vrane.com/ef.html and look the box "Review Negative and Neutral Feedbacks Received by an eBay user." Now you can see whether those two negatives out of 1,000 total feedback points make this seller worth staying away from or were just "sour grapes" on the part of buyers.
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Here's a book that caught my eye. "Brimfield" is a romantic suspense tale set in the flea-market fields of Brimfield, New England's largest outdoor antiques fair. I will put it on my reading list and let you know how it is. Here's a link to Amazon.com if you want to check it out yourself. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970047606/auctionbytescom
There's bound to be someone who'll write a romance that takes place on the online-auction circuit! If you have any stories, let me know.
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"Ask the Expert with Marlene Earle" is a new feature! You can now find out more about your items. Marlene is an antiques expert who specializes in advertising memorabilia. She has an extensive collection and recently sold her antiques shop to focus on online auction selling (eBay ID: CCMOOR).
If you have an item you'd like to learn more about, ask Marlene! This is not an appraisal service. Marlene will identify your object and give you background information about it. We'll publish your question along with Marlene's answer in this newsletter.
To ask the expert, send an email to Marlene@AuctionBytes.com. Send a photo to help Marlene identify your item more accurately.
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A picture is an important element to successful online auctions, and knowing how to light your item is a skill worth learning. David has been playing around with Javascript and has created an interactive online demonstration of how lighting affects objects. Hopefully, all of you will be able to see it and use it...browser compatibility is always a factor when using Javascript. The story also has a link on the home page.
David was feeling ambitious and also created a JavaScript auction calendar that lets you determine whether or not it's a good day to start your auction. The Online Auction Forecast (http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/calendar/calendar.html) has a link on the home page. If you have any other ideas for demonstrations, let David know. He's just ITCHING to write some more programs.
Photos play a key role in this issue of AuctionBytes. As well as David's story on good lighting when taking photos, we have a story on photo archiving by Edith Reynolds, and I've included some resources on proper photo storage. You may also want to go back and take a look at "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Bids" http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/Email_Archives/preview/preview.html#pic.
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Today's triva question comes from David: "What eBay user name is the easiest to type?" Look for the answer somewhere in today's issue.
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and AuctionBytes.com and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @auctionbytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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