In every issue, readers soundoff about issues important to them. From feedback to payment services, from increased fees to posting policies, AuctionBytes Soundoff gives you a chance to air your views.
In my last editorial, I asked if sellers with an eBay Store were noticing any effect of eBay's changes to the way Store items show up in searches (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m02/abu0161/s01). In addition to forum postings, which you can read here (http://digbig.com/4gjcp), I received some letters.
Ina,
Just a quick note to comment on your article re "Will Store Items Benefit from New Results Format?" My store carries vintage and antique items and I have indeed seen an increase in my store sales. I would like to think it's a combination of updating my store categories to align with eBay categories and the fact that my items are coming up in search results for buyers due to eBay restructuring its process.
Regards,
Vicki
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Hi,
Well responding to your link about the ebay stores, I have been ill and put my store on vacation as a way to let the buyer know there could be a shipping delay once the item is purchased. Wow! Have I noticed a big difference in sales!! I thought maybe because I put the store on vacation where they can look and buy, but have the delay in shipping threw the store in a different meta link causing more exposure, but now that I have been reading up on past mail, maybe it is due to the new exposure ebay is offering, at least I hope is.
Linda
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Hi,
I get your email newsletter and love it. Thanks for providing it.
I was wondering if you could help me. I am looking for the search engine (fee or free) where one can search for an artist or an antique for sale at on line auctions, internet auctions, antique stores, galleries, etc. For example if you were looking for a Monet painting (or a Newport kneehole desk) you could go to the search service and all Monets would come up whether they are about to sell at Sotheby's, or ebay or Garth Clark Gallery. Is there such a thing?
I already subscribe to Timeblasters but that is only for ebay. I need something that covers the entire web. I also know of the prices realized sites like ArtFact that report after the item is sold. Is there a place that reports items before they sell? Any information you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Aloha,
Meredith
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Hi Ina,
Just wanted to check to see if you were aware of the big brew-ha-ha over eBay now banning teacher's editions of books. No announcement to any of the sellers, just mass cancellations of auctions and store items without any refund of fees paid. It's affecting many booksellers as well as home-schoolers who now have to go elsewhere to buy curriculum. Current discussion on bookseller's board is here:
http://digbig.com/4gpeb
If I go to Shopping.com - an Ebay Company - and type in the words Teacher's Edition, I am sent to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Alibris, Academic Textbook Exchange and a whole slew of other sites to purchase my textbooks. This seems a bit strange....
It is affecting quite a few sellers - especially in that thousands of auctions and store items are being cancelled and fees aren't being credited either. A number of sellers have also received temporary suspensions over this silly policy.
Jeff
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Re: "How Safe Is Your eBay Business?"
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m02/abu0161/s02
Hi Lissa,
I read your article in AuctionBytes and, while you had many good tips, the information about wireless network security is a little off.
First, turning off SSID broadcast does not make your network invisible or even difficult to access. With the right software, it is actually pretty easy to get the SSID. I was surprised to find this capability built into one of my laptops. Turning off SSID may prevent a neighbor from accidentally getting on your network, but it is not security.
Second, if you don't enable encryption on the access point, a "bad guy" doesn't need both the SSID and a password. He only needs the SSID, which is easy to get. He may need a password to reconfigure the router, but that's different from gaining access to the network.
The only effective way to secure a wireless network is with WPA - period. Full stop. Everything else can be cracked - SSID hiding, MAC address filtering, WEP, everything. Theoretically, this slows the network, but not in a way most humans would notice unless they were transferring large files. Web surfing should not be affected noticeably. If you want to secure a wireless network, WPA is not optional. It's essential.
You might want to check out "Security Now," which is a podcast about computer security issues. They did a series of podcasts about wireless security, and even posted transcripts. Here's one:
http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-011.htm
and another:
http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-013.htm
Good luck.
Jonathan
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Ina,
You might check out the latest EBay deception. They have reduced the size of print that a user could put on. Don't know exactly what their limitation is but on my items, you can hardly read the print cause ebay reduced them so much.
Your friend,
Tom
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Hi!
The whole Bidpay ending was poorly handled. I do not believe Bidpay sent out any type of formal notification. I received nothing from them. I had 40/50 auctions live at the time so I had to go online manually and edit the html for them one-at-a-time. Sheesh.
So I emailed Bidpay that "it would have been nice" for them to have sent prior notification out. I can't imagine dealing with them in that last week to receive payment. So Bidpay writes back:
"We apologize for any inconvenience. If you log into your BidPay Seller account on BidPay you can disable the auto banner insertions (option 4-banner management). Please note that this will only apply to any new listings but not your current running auctions."
Oh yeah - that's going to be a big help. But it got better!
"However, you might want to reconsider that decision since BidPay has over 650,000 registered buyers who actually search us out when making their purchasing decisions because they know that payment is only a click away."
The email was sent January 28th - after Bidpay was DOA. I must presume the employee had yet to be notified not to report on Monday.
The comment of 650K buyers intrigued me - so I wrote to them again asking "What do you intend to do with my personal data, the data of my eBay winning bidders. Do you plan to wipe out your databases or sell them to another company?"
The wrote back saying they had no plans at this time to sell or resell... surely, somebody will pay them for those 650,000 registered users.
Have a good one!
Richard
