Welcome to the December 2004 edition of the Auction Orbit newsletter. Within each newsletter you will find a variety of auction-related content including site updates, online auctions in the news, selling and buying tips, and more! If you would like to suggest a new topic for future newsletters or wish to make a comment about anything found within this particular issue, do not hesitate to contact me. Have a safe and happy New Year!

This month I have released several new tutorials and articles that are suitable for auction sellers, webmasters, digital photography enthusiasts, and general computer users. The most comprehensive new tutorial I have published describes a variety of functions that can be performed using the freeware image manipulator, IrfanView. Within the IrfanView tutorial, you will find step-by-step instructions and screenshots which cover a number of different enhancement options (resizing, brightness/contrast, sharpening, watermarking, and more).

The other tutorial that has been released describes the steps required to clear your Internet cache and Temporary Internet Files using a variety of different web-browsers. Clearing the cache can be important and may be required if you are unable to get a particular portion of a Web site to function properly (such as eBay). I have also created an article which offers a chart of HTML symbols and ASCII values that can be used in auction listings, Web sites, and more. These new tutorials and articles can all be found on the Auction Orbit website: http://www.auctionorbit.com.

For users of Dominant Ad Creator, a public update is in the works and may even be available before the end of January. The new version will have several valuable additions and improvements over Dominant Ad Creator 2.3.2. Some of the new features will include an integrated and faster loading preview window and the ability to insert pictures between blocks of text within the description. There will also be several new templates and a variety of other enhancements. Look for more information about this update in next month's newsletter.

One addition to eBay's site which was introduced in early December is called 'Want It Now'. By utilizing this section of the site, buyers are able to post a 'want' ad for any item that they are having a difficult time locating. Sellers can then browse through the buyer requests, getting new ideas on what to sell or locating potential buyers for items that the seller already has in their possession. Back during the early days of eBay, a similar feature was also available but was removed due to abuse and an increase in off-eBay sales. EBay has recently revised the policies of the new Want It Now section and are working hard to ensure the feature is used appropriately.

W.I.N. Site: http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

W.I.N. Tutorial: http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/about.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

W.I.N. FAQ: http://pages.ebay.com/help/specialtysites/ia/want_it_now.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

EBay has also introduced a new section to its site called 'My Messages'. This section is accessible by all eBay users and serves as a mailbox which allows eBay to deliver announcements and important information relating to your eBay account. It is a safe way to ensure that the messages you are reading are actually from eBay. Right now 'My Messages' gives you the ability to delete messages, flag messages, sort the messages by a variety of parameters, and mark the messages as read or unread. If you do not delete messages, they will automatically be removed after 60 days. In the next year, eBay will be adding more features and customizable options to 'My Messages'. The 'My Messages' section is accessible through 'My eBay',

My Messages Preview: http://pages.ebay.com/MyMessages/Preview/index1.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

My Messages FAQ: http://pages.ebay.com/help/myebay/my-messages-faq.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

EBay will also be removing the Microsoft .NET sign-in capabilities from their Web site in late January. Those that used the .NET passport to receive eBay alerts will now have to switch over to eBay's own mobile phone alerts or install the eBay Toolbar (NOTE: widely speculated to contain Spyware).

The devastating natural disasters which recently struck Southern Asia have killed an estimated 135,000 people according to CNN. Some of the larger online Web sites are trying to lend aid to the surviving victims of this tragedy. EBay now offers information on how to send a donation to eight different organizations. In addition, if you list any auctions through eBay Giving Works, you can specify a percentage of your profits to be donated to any of the said organizations. Other online services are also pitching in to help the millions that have been left homeless. Some relevant links are provided below:

eBay Tsunami Disaster Relief: http://pages.ebay.com/tsunamirelief/

Amazon.com One-Click Donation: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/103-6394347-2619043

Microsoft Tsunami Donation Information: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/citizenship/giving/relief.asp

News Article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10537237.htm?1c

In this section, I will be showcasing a different online auction site each month. Although eBay is currently the most populated and active, there are many other similar auction sites out there - some of which have benefits over eBay's service.

This month I will be describing Auction Fire. This auction service has been around since 2002 and there are thousands of items listed at any given time. Registration is very quick and easy, however you must be a verified member in order to fully-activate your account or sell items. There is a small fee for becoming verified, ranging from $3.00 to $6.00 depending on the type of verification service you wish to obtain. For $6.00, you can become verified and have all of your feedback from eBay and Yahoo auctions automatically imported to quickly build a strong feedback profile on Auction Fire. Some of the benefits of this service over eBay's include:

- FREE Listings, you pay 2.5% of the final fee only if the item sells
- Ability to list auctions for up to 30 days at a time
- Automatic re-listing feature for items that don't sell
- Registration takes a matter of minutes
- Approximately 18,000 registered users (1600 verified)
- Optional enhancements such as bold and highlight

Auction Fire is compatible with Dominant Ad Creator, however the ads, when posted, cannot exceed a certain width so several templates within Dominant Ad Creator may not be suitable for use on this auction website.

http://www.auctionfire.com

Each month I will provide one helpful auction tip or trick that will help sellers and/or buyers out while using online auction sites. An archive of previous tips and tricks can be found here. If you have a tip that you would like to display in the next newsletter, please send me a message and I will try my best to include it.

Communication Is Your Top Priority

An increasingly serious problem with auction transactions is the failure to communicate with the other party. With increasing measures being taken to prevent junk e-mail from entering our inbox and the growing number of Internet Service Providers out there, it simply has become more difficult to ensure that your messages get to the recipient. Here are some steps that you can take to help prevent communication problems:

- Lower (or disable) your Spam filter to ensure eBay-related messages are not mistaken for spam

- Put a statement into your auction listings to warn others that if they have a spam filter, eBay-related messages might be sent there by accident

- Use eBay's site to contact the other party if you do not receive a response after e-mailing him or her from your own e-mail account

- Contact the user using a different e-mail account if you still don't receive a response after 2-3 days

- Provide your e-mail address in your ME Page or on the auction listing(s) themselves; this will ensure that the other party knows how to contact you *

- If all else fails, you can obtain the other party's contact information via eBay's 'Find A Member' feature. This will include the user's e-mail address and phone number for you to get in touch. At the same time you request the contact details, the other party will also be sent your contact details

* Posting your e-mail address on a Web page may result in a greater amount of spam due to mail harvesting utilities