Nine and a half years ago, David introduced me to a skinny 4-month old Beagle who was all gangly legs, soft floppy ears, and heart. He explained to me, in his typical persuasive way, that while we were building our new business, there probably wouldn't be many vacations, and we should have something that we could enjoy while we worked and during any moment that we could steal away from our business.

It was ironic in a sense, because for the first ten years of our marriage, I had been the one trying to convince David that we should get a puppy. He had been stubbornly resistant, and yet here he was, making my case for me. When he took me to meet her for the first time at Buddy Dog Humane Society, one look into her huge brown eyes and it was over. In December of 1999, little Maggie became the third member of our family.

Maggie was also the third member of the AuctionBytes team (longtime readers know her as Maggie the Auction Hound). She was the reality check that reminded us that there were some things more important than the online world in which we immersed ourselves. She moved equitably between our offices, sleeping nearby as I typed up a story, or on David's chest while he spoke with clients. At various times throughout the day, she insisted that we stop what we were doing to walk or play with her. Dropping a rope bone at one of our office doorways and wagging her tail insistently, her message was clear: "Get off those computers, it's time to pay attention to me!" There was no doubt - we worked for her.

Maggie left us on Friday, all too soon. I suspect many of you who have built your own online businesses have a Maggie, who makes the long days of work worthwhile. The late Roger Caras, President of the ASPCA, once said, "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

The same is true for any beloved pet that manages to worm their way into our hearts. Maggie made our lives whole, and we deeply miss her.

*****

For those of you who use PayPal, you should know that eBay posted new Policy Updates for the online payment service. It's 28 pages long, and I'll be taking a closer look at it this week. Log in to your account and click on "What's New" - "Policy Updates" to read over the details that appear to include some significant changes. Meanwhile, Amazon.com is increasing its reach to online merchants by integrating with shopping cart providers and ecommerce solution providers (link).

There were some reports of eBay's new Dispute Process we reported in the AuctionBytes Blog last week that certainly have some sellers concerned. eBay's seller advocate Griff sheds more light on eBay's thinking about the new dispute resolution process in this discussion board thread in the post time-stamped Apr 24, 2009 6:28 PM.

eBay, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and Google announced first quarter earnings recently, and we reported some media reaction to eBay's decline and Amazon's rise on the AuctionBytes Blog. You can also read our comparison of recent eBay and Amazon.com traffic data in this report, which shows Amazon.com is making headway while eBay traffic suffers. This is important to readers because, while analysts and reporters focus on the company itself, traffic and GMV declines directly impact eBay sellers.

Next up are annual shareholder meetings. eBay held its meeting at its headquarters last week, Overstock.com will hold its meeting on Wednesday (May 6), and Amazon.com's is scheduled for May 28.

In today's issue, Greg Holden interviews Ruby Lane president Tom Johnson, Ed Tomchin reviews Bonanzle and WeBidz.com, and Michele Alice takes a look at collectible belt buckles. We also have our regular features include First Item Sold Online (hint - "I feel good,..."), This & That, and Letters from Readers.

Finally, keep an eye on AuctionBytes Newsflash this week, we'll be publishing my podcast interview with Randy Smythe about the state of the industry and Buy.com's third-party merchant program - you won't want to miss it!

Thanks for reading.