Auction Yard Online Auction News.
News about online auctions

Auction Yard Free?
Auction Yard recently made some changes on behalf of you. All listings are now FREE. That's right FREE. Charges will only apply to addons and featured ads. We thank you all for joining and hope you continue to support us by telling a friend or family member.  If your looking for an alternative to eBay that's affordable, how can you pass us up.  Lets all work together and help keep this new Online Auction Website free.  Help us grow and tell a friend!

Fraud abroad remains 'uphill battle' for eBay
eBay is decrying the lack of interest in cybercrime by authorities in countries such as Romania, Russia, and China. The online auction site pinpoints these three countries as the source of the majority of phishing e-mails that target eBay users for personal and account details.  Mark Lee, trust and safety manager for eBay UK, blamed the fact there was "no fear of real punishment" in the countries and highlighted the particular scale of the problem in Romania.  These attacks are definitely organized," Lee said. "There are towns in Romania where the entire focus is on sites like eBay as the main source of income." In June, eBay revealed details of a campaign to curb online fraud by criminals in Romania that led to several hundred arrests.

EBay rises with price target increase
EBay Inc. shares moved higher Tuesday after a Goldman Sachs analyst raised his estimates and price target for the online auctioneer, citing recent changes to its fee structure and appreciation of the Euro.
EBay shares gained $1.34, or 4.5 percent, to $31.17. In the past 12 months, the stock has traded between $25.10 and $40.73, and is off 10 percent since the start of the year.

EBay lobbied on online child safety
Online auctioneer eBay Inc. spent about $2.1 million in 2007 to lobby on online child safety, intellectual property issues, retail crime prevention and other issues.

The company spent $1.1 million in the second half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. It also lobbied on increasing the number of U.S. visas for highly skilled foreign workers, a moratorium on Internet access taxes, affordable health insurance for small businesses and 'Net neutrality,' which is the practice of treating all Internet traffic equally

eBay Adds Fee-Based Option for More International Exposure
More charges for eBay.
eBay is introducing a paid option for US and Canadian sellers to gain exposure on eBay.co.uk default search results. eBay UK and eBay Ireland sellers will also have an upgrade option to list on the North American sites.

Currently sellers have the option of choosing World Wide Shipping when listing on eBay.com for no extra fees, but their items only show up on another international site when buyers specifically look for international items using Advanced Search features. Otherwise sellers have to create a separate listing on other international eBay sites and pay full listing fees for those sites. eBay spokesperson Usher Lieberman said sellers still have those options, but said "Paying the fee gains sellers much more exposure through default search results."

The fees for US and Canadian sellers using the International Site Visibility Listing upgrade range from 10 cents for an item with a starting price of under $10, to 40 cents for an item with a starting price of $50 and above.  Auction Yard only charges 99cents per listing with no final value fee.

Negative Feedback On eBay?
On eBay, feedback is quite important - for obvious reasons. Buyers will shy away from a seller with lousy feedback scores. The unofficial concensus is that feedback ratings below 98% will damage your ability to sell. But whatever the magic number, negative feedback doesn't do our wallets any good.

Still, we all run into the Customer From Hell at times. Perhaps he was extremely unpleasant or his demands were ridiculous, resulting in garbage comments. As a seller, do you have any recourse? Not really...

Obviously, the easiest way to avoid this problem is not to get any negative feedback in the first place. Of course, that's easier said than done. But when - not if - you get your first critical comment, don't respond by bashing the jerk! I know it's tempting, but you want to be seen as a professional. It will turn off future buyers if the feedback dispute turns into an insult session.

Instead, calmly explain what happened by sticking to the facts of the deal. An example: Chris Malta of OneSource and I sold an ebook on eBay for $.99. A moron ... oops, a confused buyer ... sent an email threatening all kinds of nasty retaliation if we didn't send him a printed book immediately. He claimed we never stated in our auction that it was an ebook. My response was to send him the exact wording in the auction where we informed buyers it was a download. We made this clear in three separate spots on the auction. Once I took the time to look up those remarks, we never heard from him again.

  In the event that you DID make an error, the best procedure is to 'fess up and remedy the situation immediately. Often this tactic will reassure buyers and result in even more business. Most folks recognize that we're all human and mess up at times. If this happens, though, mention that you received negative feedback BEFORE you were given a chance to rectify the situation. This may make the buyer look like a dork, instead of you.

  Another option is a service like Square Trade. Square Trade is a mediation service, and yes, it costs to join. But if you receive unjustified negative feedback, you can file a claim stating WHY you think this is unfair and the other person has two weeks to answer your claim. According to Square Trade, most cases are resolved without a mediator, but if you do need a mediator, it usually costs between $20-$40. It's your decision about whether the cost is worth it.

  To avoid problems with negative feed use Auction Yard Online Auction.  Auction Yard was built by power sellers who were tired of all the fees and negative feedback from users that enjoy bashing your reputation.  On eBay once negative feedback is left from a buyer or seller there is no way to remove it.  On Auction Yard they will investigate why negative feedback was left and if they determine you did not do wrong to a auction seller or auction buyer Auction Yard will remove the negative feedback.