I received a letter from a reader at the end of November that piqued my curiosity:

"Can you tell me how the NFL uses scrolling pictures in their auctions? [http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=nfl-auctions] Their auctions look incredible and I would love to be able to promote my auctions in a similar fashion. Any and all help is much appreciated. Mike"

Although it is no longer visible, the feature that Mike was talking about is called PictureLynxx from AuctionHelper. The NFL (National Football League) is beta-testing the tool for AuctionHelper, and it is not yet available to the general public. PictureLynxx is designed to keep bidders interested in your auctions by finding all of the images from your currently running auctions, and converting them to "clickable" thumbnails that roll across the bottom of your listing.

AuctionHelper has developed another interesting tool to generate revenue for sellers by helping them cross-promote auctions. AuctionLynxx, which we reviewed in July, inserts a window in your auction listing containing a scrollable list of all your current auctions. Each item has a category that appears on the left side of the window. When clicking on that category, the right side dynamically generates all the auctions you have running in that respective category. Auctions are updated in AuctionLynxx immediately; on eBay, it can take up to 24 hours for items to find their way into eBay's search function.

You can check out AuctionLynxx for yourself. Go to eBay and do a seller search for NFL-Auctions and click on an auction item and you'll see AuctionLynxx in action. It allows you to post ALL your eBay auctions, in categories, so potential bidders can see everything that you have to offer. According to AH, customers receive an average 32% click-through rate with AuctionLynxx. Note that AuctionLynxx uses Macromedia Flash.

Front Runner is another tool from AuctionHelper. Front Runner allows you to get eBay auction item numbers before you actually post your items on eBay! This is a great feature if you want to advertise eBay auctions of large items in your local newspaper. Simply send the newspaper your camera-ready copy with the auction numbers a week in advance, and your ad will run at the same time your auctions are running.

In short, AuctionHelper's tools are designed to achieve multiple sales from prospective customers and help you effectively market your auctions.

AuctionHelper itself is a robust web-based auction-management software that allows users to schedule and list items, re-list unsold items, manage inventory, email and invoice winners and keep track of sales data.

I tried out the AuctionHelper listing tool myself, and found it to be a very powerful, feature-packed program. Having the listing tool fit on one screen was very convenient, and being able to choose my auction start times from a calendar was a nice touch. The inventory system stores all item descriptions, so if you frequently sell the same product, it's easy to launch new auctions. The Launch Pad is a calendar-based system that allows you to launch identical items at customized intervals.

Of the two auctions that I listed last week using AuctionHelper, only one went off as scheduled. Apparently, eBay made recent changes to its system, causing glitches in the way that AuctionHelper interfaces with eBay. (AH has a warning about the problem on the top of every page of its site.) Technical Support at AuctionHelper was very responsive and assured me that once they have eBay's API tool - expected in a few weeks - things will run more smoothly.

Many vendors have told us that eBay's constant Site changes cause vendors to scramble to keep up. In fact, eBay's recent release of its Checkout feature caused massive headaches - even for vendors who have purchased eBay's API.

When items do not launch as scheduled, AuctionHelper has the following policy: "Although we achieve 99% accuracy on listings, items are sometimes delayed or do not make it to eBay as scheduled. If your item is not listed we will continue to post it to eBay for 90 minutes after the time you set. If your item is not listed within 90 minutes, it will be re-scheduled for the same time on the next day."

This is standard operating procedure, and you can manually override this if you want to change the new launch time.

The only complaint I have in using AH is the lack of instructions. I had trouble figuring out how to do things like modifying an item. On the other hand, usability is one of the best things about this tool - AH has shortcuts and pulldown boxes to make things go very quickly when you are listing items.

As for the lack of documentation, Brandon Marz, the CEO of AuctionHelper, said they have been developing a sophisticated and comprehensive help tool that will sit inside of each page throughout the Web site. "The instructions will be going live very soon and we anticipate receiving certification from the eBay API by no later than the beginning of the year," Brandon told me. "Fortunately, once users do figure out how to use our site, they are selling in record-numbers. November was our best month ever and this first week of December looks like we're off to another record-breaking month."

It's evident that AuctionHelper understands the selling process and their emphasis on marketing will be very attractive to sellers who are frustrated with the limitations eBay imposes on its sellers. Once eBay's API is implemented, this is a service to consider.

AH charges 1.5% of Gross Merchandise Sales, with a minimum fee of 15 cents and a maximum fee of 70 cents per transaction. There is a minimum fee of $10/month. Fees are listed here: http://www.auctionhelper.com/ahfees.html

AuctionLynxx is currently free for auctions listed using AuctionHelper. (AH is developing a stand-alone Web site for users that do not wish to use the AH listing tool but want to use AuctionLynxx, at which time there will be a fee.)

You can download a free 30-day trial of AuctionHelper at http://www.auctionhelper.com. Let us know what you think of it in our forums at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewforum.php?forum=7&100