Some basic information on how the auction works:

This screenshot shows the footer of each auction page and there is a *wealth* of tools here to help make the auction as simple and enjoyable as possible for you!

Starting from left to right on the top row:

Category List- Clicking on this will take you to the main auction page from anywhere else (for instance, after you've bid on an item).

Buy Now Auctions- Clicking here will take you to a list of EVERY auction available as a Buy it Now- in other words you can bid on these but the seller is also willing to sell them for a set price with no further bidding. On a Buy it Now auction you will see the following just above the bid form and in this example the item is available for $3.00 (plus any s/h charges or other conditions the seller may have listed in the auction ad. You would simply click where it says "Buy Now" near the bottom and then enter your username and password just as though you were entering a bid. The difference is that when you use the Buy Now it will end the auction immediately.

Hot- This will take you to a list of any auctions that have 10 or more bids and so are considered "Hot" or popular items.

New- This will take you to a list of auctions that were added within the last 24 hours.

Ending Soon- This will take you to a list of auctions that will end within the next 24 hours.

$1.00- This takes you to a list of every auction that had an opening bid of $1.00 (regardless of what the bids may be at now).

Reserve Price Met- A reserve auction is one in which a seller wants to receive a set amount for something however, they may choose to list it with a smaller starting bid than the reserve amount. There are 2 reasons for this: #1. The buyer is, obviously, more likely to look at something with a smaller starting bid. #2. They may actually be willing to sell the item anyway even if the bidding doesn't meet their reserve. This gives them a good and safe way to evaluate the value of their item. If you are selling an item and put a reserve price on it you are *not* required to sell the item unless the bidding meets that reserve however, should the bidding get close or should you decide that you are willing to take the high bid even if it's lower than your reserve that is entirely up to you.

Item Tracking- While browsing the auction you may see something you are interested in but don't want to bid on just yet- for this you would use Item Tracking. Next to the seller's name in the auction ad (view the pic below) you will see a red eye- if you click on it and then enter your username and password you will then be "tracking" that item. Clicking on Item Tracking at the bottom will take you to a list of any items you have chosen to track whether you bid on them or not.

Post New Item- This will take you to the form to list an item for auction. For the most part it is a very simple form to use and I will do a more detailed page for this at another time :o)

Retract a Bid- Absolutely a serious link! If you have bid on an item and find that the information was incomplete or for some reason you will be unable to complete the auction you may retract your bid. This will make it as though your bid never existed for the bid price BUT don't use this for the heck of it. Bidding is very serious, not something to be done if you don't intend to follow through and should you abuse the retraction process you may be suspended from the auction. Very simply, if you are bidding you are entering a legal contract and the seller can and may take legal action against you if you fail to follow through.

New Registration- When you click this you will visit a contract page in which the terms/conditions & policies of the auction are set out for you. I realize it's easy to skim but please- take the time and read it so you don't inadvertently list an auction we'll have to remove :o) After reading through click on the "Accept" button at the very bottom. This will take you to a page where you will enter your username, email address, snail mail address and phone number. Please be careful not to type when putting the email address in or you won't receive your password and will wonder what the heck's going on. This information is ONLY used for the auction and it's important to make sure it's accurate so that when your buyers and/or sellers receive the information at the auction close things can go smoothly. Please do not list an email address you won't actually check on a regular basis. After filling this out you will receive your password at the email address you listed, if your information changes check out the next section.

Change Registration- Very important! Keep things up to date please! If your email changes or you decide you'd rather use a different account this is the one to click. You will need to know your username and password (and you can use this to change your password from the randomly generated one you received when you registered to something easier to recall as well) to use this section and when you do this remember: other than your username and password ONLY FILL IN THE BLANKS FOR THE CHANGED INFORMATION. For example- if your email address has changed you would fill that area in but leave the rest blank. If your street address has changed but your email remains the same only fill out the portion that has changed. When changing your password you will note that you will need to fill in the new password twice.

My Auctions- Clicking this link will take you to a page on which you can view all auctions you are currently selling or bidding on as well as any closed auctions you have won or sold.

Tell a Friend- The best way to make this auction as successful as possible is to pass the word so please do! Clicking this will take you to a short form which uses our own email server (so no spam and the emails aren't stored anywhere) to send a one time email telling whoever you send it to about the site.

Lookup Username/Password- Can't remember if you used Stitchy122 or Stitchy123 as your username? Lost your password? Clicking here and putting in your email address will retrieve them for you- they will be automatically sent to the email address you put in provided it is the same one you used to register (or the new one if you changed it using Change Registration).

Leave Feedback- There's a lot to this so I will put this at the very bottom.

Search Feedback- if you would like to see if feedback has been left for you or what the person said in their feedback just click here and enter the username you want to check on. It will take you to a page with their feedback ratings and comments.

Admin Only- This is what we use to administrate much of the auction and if we did it right you'll never need this link :o)

 

Leave Feedback- This is a GREAT feature! Clicking here will bring up a list of auctions you've won or sold and if you've not left feedback for your partner in this auction there will be a button available to do so. Feedback is very important as it tells everyone else about the seller or buyer- please be very cautious, once you've left feedback it's permanent and it's important to remember that what you say today will carry weight a month from now. If you are going to leave negative or neutral feedback please be sure it's appropriate. If you received your item in a timely manner and in good condition then it is not appropriate to leave negative feedback because the seller didn't email you until 4 days after the auction to give you details on closing the auction. If you received payment promptly via PayPal etc but the buyer didn't answer your email personally, it may be rude but it's not worthy of a negative or a neutral. Try to remember that what you consider timely may not be the same as the next person- having bought and sold on eBay for several years I can tell you that it's not unusual for me to send out an end of auction notice and never hear back from the buyer until I receive their payment by snail mail as much as 3 weeks (or longer) later. By the same token, please don't put your auction partner in this boat. 3 days is ideal for the buyer or seller to contact the other or to respond to something and we all realize that Life Happens and this may not work for you but if something comes up take 5 minutes and send a note or use the contact information you received and pick up the phone- keep communication open and honest!

My personal yardstick as a buyer is: if I have not heard from the seller within 3 days I will email them asking them to send their payment details. If I've still not heard from them within a month I will email them asking them to respond within 3 days or I will, by necessity, have to leave negative feedback for them. After those 3 days I leave negative feedback. If I have not received my item within 30 days of paying for it OR if I receive the item but it is not what the auction ad described I will (in the first instance) email asking for the date the item was mailed and adjust my expectations as to when it should arrive accordingly. In the second instance, I will email telling the seller the item is not what I expected according to their ad and ask them how they would like to resolve the situation? If I am expected to mail the item back for a refund I expect the refund to include the shipping charges both ways (assuming shipping and/or handling wasn't included in the bid). If the seller simply will not work it out with me to my satisfaction I will tell them that I will be leaving negative or neutral (as the case may be) feedback for them if the situation isn't resolved within X number of days. If I receive an item in a timely manner and it is fine except somehow fails to meet the description I will generally leave neutral feedback to the effect of "Shipped promptly but item mis-represented in ad.".

As a seller: I email within 3 days of the auction end with my end of auction instructions for payment- I do ask that the buyer respond to the email with their shipping information (this is a simple way for me to verify that they received my email). I also include the auction item number and ask that they include this number with their payment to avoid mix-ups. If I haven't received payment or any type of communication within 30 days of the end of auction I will email saying that I need to hear from them within 3 days to avoid leaving negative or neutral feedback. I will generally leave neutral feedback stating "buyer failed to complete auction" if I haven't mailed the item out or incurred fees (such as at eBay) because I've lost nothing but time. If the item has been mailed (for example to a buyer I have dealt with before) or there are fees involved I will leave negative feedback saying the same thing.