Welcome to the January 2005 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.

I have recently upgraded my mailing list software and server to resolve a number of conflicts I previously experienced while sending out the monthly newsletters. None-the-less, all major technical difficulties should now be resolved. Please continue to send all newsletter-related messages to newsletter@auctionorbit.com.

Next, I have some exciting news for users of Dominant Ad Creator! Within a few weeks, I will be publicly releasing a new version of Dominant Ad Creator which contains a multitude of new features and bug fixes. A non-public release will be issued to a select number of individuals within the next couple of days for testing purposes. If you would like to test on the new version and report any issues you encounter, please send me an e-mail via support@auctionorbit.com. Some of the key new features include:

- Auto-completion of field data [title, sub-title, etc.]
- Ability to specify default values for various fields
- Integrated ad preview window [with option of previewing in default browser]
- Brand new method of inserting pictures into specific templates
- 5-10 new templates for use with the new image insertion method
- Many small enhancements and bug fixes

Finally, I will be spending a good portion of February releasing the new version of Dominant Ad Creator and updating the various download sites that the current version is featured on. In addition, I will be updating the Auction Orbit website to reflect the latest version of my ad creation software and will be making other visual and internal site enhancements to improve its performance and appearance. I will also be working on fixing problems discovered with the Auction Orbit forum and other portions of the site.

In what is seemingly becoming an annual tradition, eBay will be raising the listing fees and rates yet again. The new fee structure will take effect on February 18th and will have the most devastating impact on those who own an eBay store. The monthly fee for maintaining an eBay store will jump from $9.95 to $15.95, In addition, the final value fee for items sold through an eBay store will increase to 8% or more [depending on the ending cost]. Standard sellers will also face higher fees for a few different features. After the new fee structure becomes active, the Buy-It-Now fee will be calculated based on the price it is set at (between $0.05 and $0.25). The 10-day listing duration fee will double in price - $0.40. On another note, the gallery image will increase in size by over half once the new fees become active. For full details on eBay's new rates, visit:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/announcement/12.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

On January 28th, eBay introduced a new feature that coincides with 'Fixed Price' listings. This feature is called 'Best Offer' and allows sellers to accept price-based offers from other parties before a listing ends. This is beneficial for sellers as they will be able to take in multiple offers and can then decide to sell the item to the highest 'bid' if desired. The 'Best Offer' feature is a free addition to fixed price listings, and will also be available to Store Inventory formatted listings. More information available at:

http://pages.ebay.com/bestoffer/?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

A final enhancement to the eBay site that will be unveiled in February is the Community Hub. This is phase 3 of eBay's long-term project, its predecessors being the Buyers Hub and Sellers Hub . The Community Hub will feature information, tools, and resources that relate to the eBay community. This hub will provide links and at-a-glance information about some of the most crucial portions of the eBay community and site. Users will have quicker access to the Feedback Forum, Security & Resolution Center, and the Learning Center. You can preview the Community Hub and read more about it from the link below:

http://pages.ebay.com/community/preview/index1.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB

Ever since eBay announced the new fee structure in mid-January, many of its members been outraged and disgusted. Dozens of online petitions have been created and people have actually been promoting other auction services using eBay's own discussion boards. One petition has already generated over 22,400 virtual signatures opposing the fee increase. People are even planning a boycott for the first week that the new fees become active - in which they will not list a single item on eBay. The article I selected for this month's newsletter discusses eBay's fee increase and what sellers are planning on doing about it. A new online auction site is also referenced in the article, and I will probably be reviewing it in next month's newsletter.

"Worker Bees Tired of Supporting Corporate Giant"
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050127/sfth048_1.html

"Online Petition"
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ebayfee

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 Yahoo! Auctions. Yahoo! Auctions was founded in 1998 and was the first truly competitive auction site to eBay. At its peak in 1999, Yahoo! had millions of new users registering each month and over a million live auctions running at any given time. Yahoo! Auctions now has five international divisions in addition to the US site. Some of the benefits of this service over eBay's include:

- Can upload up to three images per listing for free
- Nine different auction durations available
- More affordable and flexible auction promotion benefits
- Can schedule a specific listing day and time for free
- Ability to prohibit low feedback members from bidding on your auctions
- Auto Extend, Auto Resubmit, and Early Close features available
- Can specify what time you want the auction to close
- Smaller listing and final value fees

Yahoo! Auctions is approximately 90% compatible with Dominant Ad Creator. Background colors are not allowed in the templates, and some of the features are left-aligned instead of centered. Other than that, the ads work fine.

http://auctions.yahoo.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.

Using Advanced eBay Search Options

In the past year, eBay has made substantial changes to the search functions available. There are now many ways a user can filter their search results, but few people take advantage of these capabilities. Below are the steps you can take to customize the results of any given eBay search.

1.) Perform a standard eBay search for whatever item(s) you are looking for.

2.) Locate the 'Search Options' section found within the yellow-tinted side menu. There are several filter options presented by default.

3.) Click on the 'Customize options displayed above' link. Sign-in if necessary.

4.) On the page that appears, you will be able to add or remove up to 14 different search options. Highlight the one(s) you want to add or remove, and then click on the appropriate arrow button.

5.) Click on the 'Save' button to return to your search results. The new filter options will then be visible in the yellow side menu.

6.) Check any filter(s) that you wish to apply and specify any additional details that are required. When you click the 'Show Items' button, the results will update based on the filters you selected.