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| February 2000• Vol.6 Issue 2 | |
Auction Searching Made Easy Consult AuctionWatch.com For All Of The Latest Information |
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[RICH]
[GRAY]
[DATABASE]
One of the most explosive growth areas on the Internet is in online auctions. As more users are logging on to buy and sell items, more of the big boys are getting into the game. Entities such as Amazon.com, Yahoo!, and Excite, which have traditionally been know for other services are now competing to draw viewers to their auctions. In the meantime auction sites that cater to specialized audiences, such as Shopzone Auctions (cameras and film equipment) and Auctionauto.com (cars and trucks) are staking out virtual space in record numbers. It can get as confusing as an auctioneer’s count. Enter AuctionWatch.com (http://www.auctionwatch.com/). Originating as a message board on co-founder Mark Dodd’s homepage, AuctionWatch.com’s mission has always been to serve as an unbiased source of online auction information. Or, as stated on AuctionWatch’s site, “To empower participants in the auctioning process by building the only independent and comprehensive resource on online auctions.” Dodd and Rodrigo Sales, who currently serve as Vice President of Product Development and CEO, respectively, founded AuctionWatch .com in January 1999. Located in San Bruno, California, it boasts some impressive numbers: 25,000 auctions launched daily, over 10,000 posts each month to its message center, and over two million auction images served daily. AuctionWatch.com serves as an online auction watchdog and a neutral corner where buyers and sellers can meet to share their experiences.  Online Auctions.
Understanding AuctionWatch.com’s role in the field of online auctions requires a little understanding of the auction site phenomenon and what the company refers to as the “auction life cycle.” Online auctions have cropped up in the past few years as resources for buyers and sellers looking for a unique way to exchange merchandise. For a small fee, sellers can write up descriptions of items, link snapshots to them, and upload them to an online auction site. There are a great many different sites that host these auctions, some of them hig |
Getting Started.
Getting started with AuctionWatch.com is easy and free. Poke around the site and read messages and other content any time. To use some of the specialized services such as image hosting, you will need to register by clicking the Register Now section on the front page. Registration is quick and fairly painless: you’ll need to give a name, city/state, and e-mail address, but much of the additional information they ask for is optional. Once you confirm the e-mail they send you, you’re ready to roll.
Not surprisingly, you can access pretty much everything from AuctionWatch.com’s front page. At the far left of the page you’ll find a few smaller features, such as the AuctionWatch System Status link (check on outages and other system conditions), a box to register to receive the AuctionWatch.com newsletter, quote of the day, and Top Ten listings with the “hottest and strangest” items currently up for bid at various sites. An in-site search engine is located beneath the afore-mentioned features. Along the far right side of the page are links to the AW Daily section, which is AuctionWatch.com’s original content area.
Taking up center page are the main services offered at the site. This includes the Universal Search And Image Hosting sections, Message Center, and ePostcards areas. The Registration link is also located here. The Auction Site Categories, a database of online auction links and services, anchor the bottom of the page.
When you get past the front page, a handy navigation bar along the left margin will accompany you just about anywhere you go on the site. It links to all the main Service and AW Daily sections and gives you access to the on-site search box. These navigation features are also replicated at the bottom of every page.
AW Daily.
Think of AW Daily as the newsstand at AuctionWatch.com. Here you will find a collection of original content displayed under several categories:
• Daily News. This features original stories on auction sites and the industry as a whole, as well as auction news from other sources, such as Reuters and AP, original columns, and more.
•Reviews. Looks at various auction sites and how they rate.
•Exclusive Features. Get history, special reports, and a wide selection of investigative/ detailed looks at the industry.
•Tips & Tactics. Specialized articles on various aspects of the business. Topics range from accepting credit cards to dealing with deadbeat sellers.
•Collectible Spotlight. Detailed looks at specific collectibles, such as stamps, glass, and rare books.
•Speak Out. Various professional looks at specific issues.
•Getting Started. A collection of frequently asked questions (FAQs) that introduce you to AuctionWatch.com, online auctions, and more. You’ll also find links to a glossary, which is a must-read for understanding some of the terminology.
Services.
AuctionWatch.com offers a range of services, many of which are unique to the Internet. The first of these is the Universal Search and is an excellent example.
Universal Search. The Universal Search box debuted in September 1999, but don’t let its age or its simple look fool you; this is a very powerful tool. With Universal Search you can search over 300 general and niche auction sites by keyword. Overall, it makes the task of finding a particular item easier.
The feature is simple to use. Type keywords into the box from the front page, or go to the Power Search section for additional options such as the ability to search specific sites. Click Go and sit back as the engine finds and sorts through listings from Yahoo!, Amazon.com, MSN, and more. The results are arranged initially according to when the auction ends, but you can click on column headings to sort by site and high bid as well. Clicking on the item will bring you to it; you can also access the general site the item is on, as well as photos of the item (click on the camera icon next to an item).
Image Hosting. While most auction sites allow and encourage you to include a photo with your description, many don’t have the space to host large graphic files themselves. Registered users at AuctionWatch.com can take advantage of the free image hosting service to place image files online that they can link to from their auction items on other sites.
Images can be as large as 350 Kilobytes (KB) and in formats such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG or JPEG), graphics Interchange Format (GIF), and Bitmap (BMP), uploading them is as simple as opening a file on your hard drive. A variety of help files and FAQs exist online to walk you through this. You can also turn to a special message board with any specific questions.
Counters. Trying to find out if anyone is visiting your auction page is impossible on many auction sites. This is where AuctionWatch.com’s free Smart Counter service comes in handy. Registered users can place a counter on their auction page to see how many potential bidders are visiting. A variety of styles are available, including invisible which lets only you can see the count, and a detailed FAQ, Help section, and message board are available to assist you.
EPostcards. EPostcards are a free way for buyers and sellers to keep in touch with each other, or for anyone who wants to just send a quick message to a friend. Choose from a variety of pictures, enter your message, and the postcard is placed online for about a month for you and the receipient to access. Recepients are sent a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to access the card.
Message Center. This is where it all began. The Message Center features a variety of forums to let you sound off, ask questions, or just discuss some aspect of the industry. Many of the forums are site specific (for example, Auctions.com, Yahoo!, and others.). However, others are geared towards various AuctionWatch.com areas. Yet others take on more general aspects of online auctions, such as a Buyer Beware section, Wanted section, and more.
As we mentioned earlier, the Message Center gets over 10,000 posts a month. This makes it a tremendous resource for users looking for more information in a given area.
Auction Site
Categories. Resting along the bottom of the front page are links collectively called Auction Site Categories. These fall into two general areas.
Services. A large industry has cropped up around the online auction phenomenon. These links will bring you to a host of services to enhance your auctioning experience, including escrow services and proxy auctions, shipping resources, auction associations, and software.
Auctions. Annotated links to auction sites are collected into categories such as Collectibles, Computing & Electronics, and Vehicles. If you’re looking for a specialized auction site, this is the place to go.
by Rich Gray
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