Super Bowl Sunday Listing Tip: DON'T DO IT!

Online Auctioneers Should Avoid Auctions Closing on Big Game Day

Research has shown time and again that Sunday is by far the best day of the week for online auctions to close. For reasons that seem obvious enough, this makes sense. But don't launch any auctions set to close on Sunday, February 4th, since the eyeballs that might normally be perusing your delicate Lladro figurines will likely be viewing the rather indelicate action of Super Bowl XLI.

Nielsen Media Research estimated the audience for last year's big game at over 90 million viewers in 45 million households - a record- setter that CBS says was the second-most-watched event in TV history behind only the final episode of MASH. Even if this year's audience is smaller, it's a safe bet that lots of shoppers will be checking out the on-field action and the always entertaining ads (we hear the GoDaddy.com ad finally got by the censors and should be memorable) and NOT your auctions.

If you can, delay your auctions a few days or, better yet, schedule them to launch on Sunday, February 11th. After a week away, buyers may be eager to get their shopping jones back in gear.

For bargain hunters, Super Bowl Sunday may well be a great day to steal a deal or two.

We're curious when we're gonna see some of the official apparel on eBay. Of special interest to us are the shirts and caps Reebok had ready for the alternate possible outcomes of the conference championships last weekend. As the official outfitter of the NFL, the company made apparel that proclaimed the conference runner-ups - the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots - as champs. We understand that those items were later donated to charity. But what better way to rake in a few bucks for your good cause than by auctioning off such items of obvious interest to sports fans and collectors?

We took a few days off for a much-need breather, but here's what's going on:

Christie's Hosts Big Fat Greek Auction

Sale of royal belongings proceeds despite Greek govt' protests

Artifacts that once belonged to the King George I of Greece went on sale as planned today when Christie's put them up for auction in London.

Despite protests from the Greek government, the auction - the first sale of objects belonging to the former royal family since its fall in 1973 - will see more than 850 objects, much of it silverware and works by jeweller Peter Carl Faberge (such as the egg pictured), going under the hammer over a two-day period.

The seller is not being formally identified but is believed to be London-based ex-king Constantine, BBC online reported.

Constantine was Greece's monarch from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy and is George I's great-grandson.

Greek Culture minister George Voulgarakis has called for the sale to be stopped, saying the items involved were "part of the history of the modern Greek state."

Buyers could face legal action unless the auctioneers showed the works were legally taken out of Greece, Voulgarakis warned.

(Photo by the Associated Press.)

eBay Announces Q4 and Full '06 Financials

Fourth Quarter Net Revenues of $1.7 Billion; Profit up 24%

Calling the fourth quarter "an excellent quarter for eBay, bringing 2006 to a very good close," Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay Inc., announced the company's financial results for Q4 and the full financial results for 2006.

eBay reported record consolidated Q4-06 net revenues of $1.7 billion, representing a growth rate of 29% year over year. GAAP operating income was $450 million, an increase of 21% year over year, and represented 26% of net revenues. Excluding stock-based compensation, operating income increased 33% year over year to $525 million, or 30% of net revenues. Non-GAAP operating income in Q4-06 was $575 million, representing a 33.4% operating margin and a 28% year-over-year increase.

Bouyed by demand for hard-to-find game consoles, and bolstered by recent moves to stabilize its core business (not to mention strengthening business in international markets such as Germany and Britain) fourth-quarter revenue rose 29 percent. "That reassured investors worried by three years of slowing revenue growth for the online marketplace," according to Reuters today.

Amid the din of rumors from financial pundits suggesting that 2007 would be the year she is asked to step down, after a 2006 that saw the company's stock plummet, this has got to be encouraging news for Whitman. If the improvements and committments the company announced last week at its annual seller's conference see real results, investors may have renewed faith in a company that has followed through on ehancing its value to its top sellers by making the brand more useful to buyers.

University to Auction a Year of Tuition on eBay

February event is open to all and starts at a penny

A private Oklahoma university plans to auction a year of its tuition on eBay next month.

Oklahoma Wesleyan University executive vice president Bob Myers says officials from the online auction site have told the school that they don't know of any other college or university that has tried such an auction, reports the Associated Press.

A year of tuition, room and board at Oklahoma Wesleyan in Bartlesville costs about 23-thousand dollars. The university has an enrollment of about 1-thousand-and-30 students and offers 39 majors and 24 minors.

The auction will be open to anyone, including current students.

Bidding for the auction will start February 4th at one penny and continue through February 10th.

(Perhaps the university would consider offer a major in "bidness.")

ONE LINERS: Older Game Systems Topped PS3 & Wii

In what might be a bit of sweet solace for gift givers who didn't get caught up in the hype, the sale of older game consoles topped newer offerings this holiday season, with Sony selling more PlayStation 2s than the much-ballyhooed PS3s and Nintendo moving more of its DS handheld systems than is revolutionary Wii system. (We kept it old school around here and re-gifted our spiffy Pong unit from back in the day). In a related story: Clear Channel Radio and Best Buy today announced last week that the online and on-air auctions of PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii gaming consoles raised $470,000 for Toys for Teens, a program of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation...PropertyRoom announced the appointments of Rob Hagen as CEO and P.J. Bellomo as COO, with the duo tapped to lead the company's expansion efforts with high-volume merchants while maintaining the online-auction company's growth rate...Right on the heels of the StubHub deal, the Sundance Film Festival folks are cracking down on the re-selling of tickets on Ebay at this year's event by remotely deactivating them...Fans of the "Saw" movie franchise will no doubt scream over the "Saw 3" movie online auction set to coincide with the DVD release of "The Saw 3" January 23. (We're pretty sure "Saw 3" was never screened at Sundance, BTW)

2007 is "Year of the Buyer" Declares eBay

Company Reaffirms Committment to Buyers at S.F. Sellers' Conference

It is the year of the buyer, says eBay, whose North American cheif reaffirmed the company's committment to its buying customers at its annual sellers' conference in San Francisco yesterday.

Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, told the gathering of 250 top sellers that the company's research reveals the buyers' expectations are growing and that the company intends to make significant improvements to meet those expectations.

"Across the web, the buying experience is improving quickly. That's a good thing – it assures the continued growth of e-commerce, and it raises the bar for eBay and our sellers," he said.

Cobb outlined several initiatives he says will get eBay over the bar:

1 - Reinvest in eBay's core by simplifying the site, improving finding, and accentuating the things that make eBay fun and unique.

2 - Take a more proactive approach to Trust & Safety to protect our members from fraud.

3 - Improve the buyer experience on the site by holding sellers to higher minimum standards.

A change in feedback is expected later this year. Responding to members concerns over "feedback recency," Cobb announced that eBay will archive all but the last 24 months of feedback history. A member's "total score will remain, but your percent will be based on just the last 2 years of activity. All comments older than this will be archived," he said. This will ensure that member's reputations are founded in greater measure on their recent buying and selling activity.

More from the conference can be found at eBay's general announcement board.

Correction: eBay's 2nd Annual E-Commerce Forum on NOW!

Invitation-only top-seller conference underway in San Francisco

Okay, we must be out of practice deciphering and decrypting clandestine communiques from our vast spy network. On Saturday we posted an exclusive "Spies & Ears" regarding a top-secret seller summit that we reported was to take place this coming weekend in San Francisco. What we got wrong was that this summit - an invitation-only gathering of top sellers hosted by eBay - was to start in the middle of this week. So it is going on as we correct ourselves here.

We'll recalibrate our Capt. Midnight secret decoder ring (pictured) and pass along whatever intel, innuendo, hearsay and fact that comes our way.

PayPal to Offer Fobs to Increase Password Security

Announcement comes same weekend eBay revealed 3rd Party Checkout Glitch

In an effort to beef up security and thwart phishing, PayPal announced today that it is testing a password-generating key fob as a layer of added costumer protection. In an odd coincidence of timing, word of the PayPal Security Key initiative was announced just days after eBay announced that a glitch had prevented some users from transferring funds to and from their PayPal accounts.

The new security device, which has been been developed by digital security firm Verisign, displays a new one-time password in the form of a six-digit code every 30 seconds.

PayPal has been piloting the authentication device with employees and expects to start trials with customers in the next month. According to press reports the key ring will cost $5.00 for personal PayPal accounts, but will be free for business customers.

The device is designed to protect customers against fraudulent phishing scams. Research released by IT security firm Sophos in August last year found that over 75% of all phishing e-mails target users of PayPal or its parent company eBay. A separate study conducted by Gartner also found that cyber criminals are shifting away from attacking online banks directly and are targeting brands such as PayPal and eBay more often.

PayPal said that the technology is not foolproof and should be seen as just another layer of protection. Spokeswoman Sara Bettencourt told reporters the new device will provide customers with "another layer of protection" so if a fraudulent party got hold of a person's username and password, they still wouldn't be able to get into the PayPal account.

Meanwhile, eBay announced that the funds transfer problem had affected only transactions going through eBay third-party Checkout.

One PayPal user told the San Jose Mercury-News that when he tried to withdraw money on Sunday, he received a message requesting that he complete a registration process and confirm his primary e-mail address. The message said "If you need your e-mail confirmation number resent, click on the new confirmation number link at the bottom of this page."

SPIES & EARS: eBay to Host Invitation-Only Sellers' Summit

S.F. the site of secret seller soiree set for Saturday, sources say

A group of top sellers has been invited by eBay to a conference next weekend in San Francisco. ATR has learned the the auctioneer will fly in some 250 "power sellers" - who sold 7 million items worth $1.5 billion in 2006 - from across the U.S., though the specific purpose of the summit remains unclear at this time.

Considering all of the issues in front of eBay, from the prospect of disappointing Q4 revenues and the failure of eBay Express to concerns over the accuracy of its feedback system (reitterated in the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday), and all of its recent news (the blockbuster StubHub deal, for instance), there would seem to be no shortage of talking points at the sit-down, which gets under way Saturday.

Though not nearly as stealthy as the secret agents from Mad Magazine's famous and very collectible "Spy vs. Spy" paperback series, we'll do our best to get you the scuttlebutt.

U.C. Study Reveals Feedback Flaws at eBay

Researchers wade into "feedback underworld"

"Some eBay users may not deserve the stellar reputations showcased in their member profile."

That terse sentence is the lead in a story that ran in Friday's San Francisco Chronicle reporting on the findings of a U.C. Berkeley study into eBay's feedback system. The story is the latest in a spate of news accounts detailing academic research into the flaws in one of the lynchpins the auctioneer's success.

The study finds what many eBayers already know too well: feedback can be fudged. How that fudging occurs may be news to you.

According to the paper, the U.C. study made a link between the virtually infinite number of listings for "seemingly valueless items" on eBay and schemes to inflate feedback. These nickel and dime items are listed "solely to manipulate feedback ratings. Buyers and sellers who complete a sale -- even if for only 1 cent -- can leave feedback for each other."

In many cases, sellers expressly spelled out in their listings that the buyer should leave a positive feedback for the seller, according to John Morgan, a business and economics professor who co-authored the study with Jennifer Brown, a graduate student. In return, the sellers said they would leave one for the buyer, Morgan told the paper.

The story "Skewed Ratings on eBay - UC Study Finds Some Manipulate Their Positive Feedback" also chronicles how the authors of the study were able to wade into the "feedback underworld" to buy a "positive feedback e-book." Not exactly the kind of "True Crime" grist that's going to rouse the ghost of Raymond Chandler, but the implications are serious and considerable.

In recent weeks, ATR has run a number of stories related to the issue of bogus feedback and manipulated reputation scores. On December, 17 we reported on Alice LaPlante's missive that asked if eBay's feedback system is "fatally flawed." And on January 5th we put you in touch with the NetProbe software developed by Carnegie Mellon University designed to data-mine for "false positives": the high feedback scores that result when crooks do e-business with themselves.

On behald of eBay, spokesperson Catherine England said the company has a large staff dedicated to fight this kind of fraud and takes in very seriously.

"Is any system 100 percent effective? No," England said. "But after 10 years, eBay has seen most of the ideas out there, and we have automated tools that keep our site safe."

Though all of this research is interesting and illuminates the ways in which eBay's feedback system - and online reputation programs more broadly - can be minipulated, keep in mind this nugget from eBay's own feedback tutorial:

"Each member may affect your score by only one point (positive or negative). However, they may leave you one feedback rating and comment for each transaction they have with you."

Sure, crooks and scammers invent new user I.D.'s, but the system really is designed to try to prevent a fraudster from building a bona fide rep. via an avalanche of positive feedback from a small group of accomplices.

NetCo's Rank as Best in Brand-Name Toplist

eBay joins Google & YouTube among best; "Bad Girls" are bad brands behind Glitter Gultch

A short-list of some of the Internet's premier companies topped a study of best brands announced Friday. Yet your notion of just what a "brand" is may challenged at the news that Las Vegas came in at #2, just behind Google for the top spot on the list. A study co-produced by the marketing firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates measured perceptions of more than 300 names, places and brands based on news reports. iPod ranked third behind Google and Las Vegas, followed by YouTube (a company few of us had heard of, let alone held in high esteem a year ago) came in just in front of eBay in the top five. Yahoo, Target, Oprah, Sony and the NFL round out the top ten.

The worst performing "brand names" include "bad girls" Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. (Yes, they are brand names!)

In an age when what separates the commercial from the dubiously artistic is a line skinnier than a g-string, we'd like to see "Brand Britney" and "Product Paris" take on a stronger resemblance to generic "Plain Wrap" brands. C'mon already, girls - put some clothes on, will ya? Like, when she is held in lower esteem than Las Vegas, former Mousekateer Britney's got issues.

U-Bid Announces Expansion of Express Auctions

Auction hours increased, categories broadened

The Express Auction platform offered on uBid.com has been expanded, the company announced Friday. Effective immediately, uBid Express Auctions will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 30 minutes each. Products up for auction will now include jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, Home and garden, apparel. All items start at $1.00.

"Express Auctions is one of the many reasons our customers continue to come back to uBid.com," said Bob Tomlinson, CEO for uBid.com in a press release. "By extending the hours and increasing our product offering, we feel Express Auctions will provide an even greater value to current and future uBid.com customers," he said.

Express Auctions can be found by clicking on the Express tab at www.ubud.com.

Numismatic News: Jamestown's 400th Commemorated in Coins

The U.S. Mint will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia by releasing two coins depicting the 1607 settlement. To be released today are a five-dollar gold coin featuring Captain John Smith and a Virginia Indian on one side and the Jamestown Memorial Church on the other. A silver dollar will also be issued, featuring the three ships that brought the colonists to the new land. One-hundred-thousand gold coins and 500-thousand silver coins will be released, and will be available in both proof and uncirculated conditions.

How soon will speculators have these up for auction?

Lyrics to Harrison-penned Beatles' Classic on the Block

Handwritten "Guitar" lyrics include omitted lines

The original handwritten lyrics to the Beatles classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" will go on sale as part of a large auction of Beatleana on the block Monday in Arizona. The manuscript, penned by the late George Harrison, is expected to fetch up to $780,000 when it is put under the gavel by Barrett-Jackson as part of the auctioneer's nine-day auction event that kicks off Saturday in Scottsdale.

The manuscript includes lines not in the final version of the song, which was first recorded in 1968. The bottom of the page also features the words, "The band leader said he ain't playin' no more." It's thought to be a reference to the tense atmosphere in the Beatles' studio at the time the group was recording what came to be known as the "White" album.

It's a "really significant and rare piece of memorabilia," Neil Roberts, auction manager at Britain-based Cooper Owen, told the Associated Press. "It shows the work in progress, the message, and the thoughts behind one of the band members." Cooper Owen is partnering with Scottsdale-based Barrett-Jackson for the sale.

On sale at the Scottsdale, Arizona auction is a new score for the same song written in 2006 for the band's "Love" show performed by Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas.

A 1917 Brambach baby grand piano that John Lennon and Yoko Ono owned and kept at their Long Island estate in Cold Spring Harbor in the late '70s is among the other Beatles' collectibles up for grabs. The piano is believed to have been used during Lennon's composition of some of his final songs, such as "Woman" and "(Just Like) Starting Over."

FLASH! For $310 million in Cash eBay Makes "StubHub Hubbub"

Purchase of online tix broker "a perfect complement to eBay's tickets business"

In an aggressive move to expand its own ticket brokering business, eBay has agreed to acquire online ticket re-seller StubHub Inc. for $310 million in cash. The blockbuster deal was announced on eBay's announcement board late Wednesday after word had leaked to the press.

StubHub operates an online market for the reselling of tickets that has become a thriving option to some buyers even as it has taken some flak from sports teams who see tickets to their games re-sold at a premium above face value. Ironically, NFL Hall-of-Famer Steve Young, former San Francisco 49rs quarterback, was an early investor in the Bay Area company.

eBay has had an on and off courtship of StubHub for several years and nearly bought the firm for $20 million back in 2002 before talks broke down.

As it moves to quell investor concerns over declining growth - concerns that have seen the company's market cap plunge 50% ($37 million) in the past two years and that have fueled speculation about the future of CEO Meg Whitman - eBay has agressively sought expansion into other channels of e-commerce.

StubHub is a "perfect complement to eBay's tickets business," said Bill Cobb, president of the auctioneer's North America marketplace. "Together we can strengthen both businesses and provide fans with more choice and better service."

For his part, StubHub co-founder Jeff Fluhr said....well, he said a few words for the record, but it's what must be going on behind closed doors that we'd find most interesting. Like, the guy just sold his company for 310 large in cash. A few rounds of "Who's da man?" would seem apropos, no?

Bargains Bidders Bag Houston Memorabilia...for a Song!

Tuesday's event may settle storage debt

Some of Whitney Houston's fans have managed to get a hold of the pop star's belongings for a song! According to People, the singer's Schimmel see-through piano fetched $20,000 at Tuesday's auction in New Jersey. A leather chair called "Whitney's Throne" went for two-grand, while a traveling vanity case, filled with such items as a bottle of Gatorade and a disposable razor, went for $550. Clothes and shoes worn by Houston were also up for bid.

The total profit made at the auction will not be revealed due to pending litigation. New Jersey Superior Court ordered the sale to cover Houston's debts to the storage facility where the memorabilia was kept.

As one might expect at such a distress sale, some real bargains were had. According to Metro Source, the translucent Schimmel piano that typically sells for six figures, went to a slight, middle-aged man in a leather jacket and snakeskin boots who said he preferred to remain anonymous. He handed over a hefty deposit in cash from a crumbled paper bag and said he planned to re-sell the piano.

The Newark Star-Ledger reported yesterday that someone offered up an opening 50-cent bid for sixteen awards given to Houston's now- estranged husband, R&B singer Bobby Brown. Interestingly, two of the plaques weren't his. Inscribed to Tommy Brown, they were awarded to the man who has Bobby's manager in the '80s - his brother. Meir Yadid of nearby Fair Lawn got them for $300. "It's part of history," he said. Maybe Tommy might want them back?

The reasons that necessitated the auction started when Houston's company, Nippy Inc., had stopped paying the bills in 2005. Jeffrey Campisi, a lawyer for the warehouse, won a court order last year to auction off the items.

Just after the sale, Campisi told the Star-Ledger that an initial estimate suggested that proceeds would come close to covering the storage fees and expenses due A.J. Willner Auctions -- perhaps as much as $225,000 total. Any proceeds beyond that go back to Nippy.

"I wish it hadn't gotten to this point," he said. "I would have preferred to receive payment of the amount due."

Pictured: Whitney and Bobby together in better times. (Photo by defamer.com)

eBay News: May Miss Profit Forecast; Extends Spam Initiative

Fewer Q4 listings may mean that eBay will report lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., told Bloomberg today.

Excluding certain items, profit may be as much as two cents a share, less than the 28-cent average estimate of analysts, Rashtchy said. Shares of San Jose-based EBay fell $1.08 to $29.70.

The prospect of a disappointed Wall Street must be vexing to eBay, since it was the most-popular online shopping site this holiday season.

Meanwhile, the auctioneer announced that it would extend and expand its "Safeguarding Member IDs" initiative. The program was introduced on the eBay Motors website and later on the UK and Australian sites.

In a posting on the announcement board, Rob Chesnut, eBay Sr. VP of Global Trust & Safety, said that the SMI program has been successful in reducing unwanted and malicious spam - including the "fake second chance offers" that are a favorite of crooks and phishers. As a result, eBay will roll out SMI on eBay.com and eBay.ca later this week.

"SMI adds a new layer of privacy by replacing specific User IDs with aliases (bidder 1, bidder 2, bidder 3, etc.). To ensure buyers continue to feel trust in the bidding process, SMI also provides an updated Bid History page with aggregate information about the bidders involved in a given listing, as well as their other recent activity with the listing's seller," Chesnut said.

Despite the apparent upside, their are concerns, as Ina Steiner pointed out Tuesday on AuctionBytes:

"The initiative, which reduces transparency on the site by shielding bidders' User IDs when bidding reaches $200 or greater, has been controversial, as it limits users' ability to detect shill bidding - a practice in which sellers bid on their own items, which is prohibited on eBay."

Addressing this concern, Chesnut noted that eBay "can proactively detect and investigate possible shill bidding scenarios with a higher rate of accuracy than ever before. Be assured that we will continue to monitor the sites where SMI has launched to ensure that increased shill bidding does not become an unintended consequence of SMI."

Start-up Eyes Auctions of Wide-Open Spaces

SpotScout hopes to transform hunt for parking spaces

Despite the glacially cold real estate market (so much for global warming), a Massachusetts firm sees a bright future in land, and it's all about location, location, location. Instead of townhouses in Boston's Back Bay, however, SpotScout is looking to auction prime real estate of a different sort: parking spaces, reports the Boston Eagle-Tribune.

By leveraging the growing popularity of mobile web surfing, the Cambridge-based start-up hopes to create an online marketplace where drivers can not only reserve private spaces in garages and driveways, but also swap public parking spots in real time, with vacant spaces going to the highest bidder.

Like the jerk who's parked his Hummer over three spots, myriad technical, legal and practical hurdles could box out SpotScout.

"For starters, the firm must make online parking searches sufficiently quick and inexpensive to win over a critical mass of consumers willing to abandon the old-fashioned way of simply looking for a curbside spot or garage," the story notes. The firm also must overcome problems posed by drivers who don't vacate a space when expected while mollifying city officials concerned over citizens "trafficking information about public spots that are available first-come, first-serve and can't be reserved."

SpotScout plans to begin posting information next month about garage and other private parking spots available for reservation in Boston, New York and San Francisco, with eventual rollouts planned in other large cities. SpotScout doesn't expect to launch the auction system for on-street public spots until next year.

To affirm the descriptor Davin Nissanoff uses in his poignant book "FutureShop," parking space traders would seem to epitomize the "temporary ownership society."

Christie's Hopes Artist's "Pope" Brings Home the Bacon

Rare work by expressionist Francis Bacon could set record for post-war art

The white-hot modern/contemporary art market may go sizzling even hotter when a seldom-seen work by Francis Bacon goes on the block next month in London. If all goes as planned, Christie's estimates that Bacon's 1956 "Study for Portrait II," modeled on Diego Velazquez's 1650 portrait of Pope Innocent X, could fetch upwards of $20 million, according to numerous sources, including Bloomberg this morning.

The 1956 piece is "the most important work from Bacon's Pope series to appear on the market," Pilar Ordovas of Christie's in London told the BBC. The painting has been unseen for 40 years.

As we have reported here, the super-charged art market helped Christie's and rival Sotheby's post record numbers last year, with this masterpiece from the Dublin-born Bacon (a distant relative of 16th century English philosopher/statesman Sir Francis Bacon) an apparent indicator that art auctions will continue to make headlines in 2007.

Pictured: Christie's employees Rhiannon Broomfield (l) and Pilar Ordivas walk past Francis Bacon's painting, "Study for Portrait II, 1956" at Christie's Auction House on Monday. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Largest Online Auction in DFW History Takes Off

It's surplus galore at 5th Dallas-Fort Worth airport event

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) kicked off its fifth online auction Monday, offering hundreds of surplus vehicles and equipment that were used to build the complex's recently-completed International Terminal D and the Skylink people mover system. Portable buildings, office equipment and a variety of audio- visual items said to be in "prime condition and ready for use" are also up for bidding.

In an official release, the airport says it is hoping to raise more than $3 million in the auction, "which would make it the largest online venture in Airport history." The auction runs through February 2 and is available for browsing at www.dfwairport.com or the web site of Rene Bates Auctioneers, the McKinney, Texas firm that handles DFW's online auctions.

DFW began online auctions as a pilot program in 2003, with 70 lots of merchandise netting $50,000. Each proceeding auction set a new record, with the last auction generating more than $500,000 in sales and over five million hits to the host Web sites, according to the release.

Site Promises Accurate Chart of Top eBayers

TopSellerListLive.com promises top feedback lists

The ever expanding world of resources designed to help online buyers and sellers build reputations and trust has a new component in the website TopSellerListLive.com.

Billing itself as "The only place to discover eBay's top sellers," the site presents itself as an online clearing house for information about eBay's top sellers based on total feedback. Displayed in descending order, information can be called up as either a top 100 or top 1000 list.

Though the site claims to allow one to access the seller "who has the highest feedback overall" (which is not the same as a list of sellers with the highest feedback scores) the most we could call up was a list of eBayers with the most feedbacks received. Information about top sellers, and those growing the fastest, can be displayed with some limited search features as well.

To their credit, the site proprietors note that this venture is still in the development stage, and it shows. Being in that same stage here at ATR, we know what the development stage looks like. Though we can make no endorsement as to the accruacy of the data (so use it with caution), we like the idea behind TopSellerListLive.com.

Do Wealthy Buyers WANT to Pay More at Auction?

Witness to Barrett-Jackson bidding, writer says "yes!"

In the minds of most, the purpose of an auction is to connect buyers and sellers in a real-time, dynamic exchange of micro-economic Machiavellian self-interest. The seller wants top dollar and the buyer wants a bargain, with those valuations made in a matrix of deeply personal and private considerations.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines an auction thus: "A public sale in which property or items of merchandise are sold to 'the highest bidder.'"

Not mentioned in that definition is the notion that the highest bidder is still looking for a deal. Surely no one participates in an auction with the intention of paying too much!

Not so, says Kenn Peters. After watching a great deal of the Speed Channel cable network's coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions at the end of December, Peters, the Auto Notebook columnist for the Syracuse Post-Standard, says he was struck by the premiums that were attached to many of the cars on the block.

"Why...are the '65 Mustangs and '68 Chevelles going for so much money at Barrett-Jackson? Why are the cars going for thousands and thousands more than most people would pay for a similar car purchased in Syracuse, or anywhere in New York state?"

Peters' conclusion is that the kind of folks who can participate in a Barrett-Jackson event WANT to pay more than they would elsewhere.

"They're well-heeled buyers, many flying in on private planes, all with letters of credit, ready to lay down their cash. How would it sound if some buyer snickered and said he got his new Chevelle on the cheap? Paying more than necessary is what separates them from the rank-and- file," he observed Sunday, perhaps observing for the first time what many of us refer to as "conspicuous consumption."

Peters' entire piece, "People prefer to pay more at auctions," is worth a read. He says he'll be tuning in on Tuesday, January 16th, during the "36th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event" in Scottsdale, Arizona. We will too, mostly to fantasize about one day being able to consider over-paying for a 1932 Duesenberg.

(Pictured: 1932 Duesenberg Supercharged Dual-Cowl Phaeton not associated with one sold at Barrett Jackson event.)

How Bizarre! Forbes Looks at 8 Weirdest of '06

Magazine finds auction sellers "Looking to Make a Shameless Buck"

Some bizarre items were put up for auction last year, reports Forbes Magazine. Sounding almost like Dana Carvey uttering "weird, wild stuff" in his famous Saturday Night Live impersonation of Johnny Carson, writer Marina Thompson on Sunday marveled at some of the unusual items that made 2006 a newsworthy and memorable year on the auction block.

Thompson notes that last year was certainly a big one for mega-rich art collectors, like cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, who purchased Gustave Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" for $135 million. As we reported last month, the global art market has seen a 10-year tripling of contemporary prices thanks to Lauder, David Geffen, Eli Broad and Hong Kong's Joseph Lau.

But Pablo Picasso's "Dora Maar au Chat" notwithstanding, it was some of the more ephemeral stuff that made last year such a rich one for auction fans not so, well, rich. How about a toilet once in the Red Sox dugout? Or Jake the hamster's soul?

Thompson notes that GoldenPalace.com, the top Internet casino, has made a name for itself buying some truly weird items, often selling then for charity. "You might remember GoldenPalace as the proud owner of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese," she notes.

Inspired to look further, Thompson ended up on eBay, where she says she found items listed by major auction houses and "Joe Schmoes."

"Some things sold for tens of thousands of dollars, some for under $10--some not at all. A couple of the items were gross, some were morbid, but all were downright strange," she says.

After assessing her discoveries, Thompson asserts the following as a common thread:

"It seems all of our sellers were looking to make a shameless buck; and while this is a pretty commonplace endeavor on eBay, we expected a bit more class from major auction houses!"

We're not sure if we should be offended by her critique, but we're sure you'll find some of the items on her list as puzzling as "No. 5, 1948" (pictured) by Jackson Pollock, and a lot less expensive.

New Tool Unveiled in Fight vs. Net Auction Fraud

Carnegie Mellon NetProbe data-mines for "false positives"

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed software that may be the next step forward in the detection of online auction crooks. The project, called Network Detection via Propagation of Beliefs, or NetProbe, is designed to combat those who puff up their reputation ratings (eBay's feedback score, for instance) in an effort to represent themselves as trustworthy buyers and sellers. The CMU program looks for patterns of users who have repeated dealings with one another, and alerts other users that there is a higher probability of having a fraudulent transaction with them. The university announced the project last month as a news item called "Carnegie Mellon Researchers Uncover Online Auction Fraud" on its web site, with myriad media picking up the story this week, including Yahoo! Finance.

Revealing what many experienced online auctioneers already know too well, the CMU researchers said savvy fraudsters conduct transactions with "friends or even themselves, using alternate user names to give themselves high satisfaction ratings - so unsuspecting customers will still try to buy from them." The NetProbe software looks for patterns that will reveal such so-called "false positives."

The researchers analyzed about 1 million transactions involving 66,000 eBay users to develop graphs - known in statistical circles as bipartite cores - that identify users interacting with unusual frequency. The CMU researchers say that when the transactions between fraudsters and their accomplices are plotted as a graph, they create a pattern that sticks out "like a guiding light."

A paper on the findings of this research is expected to be published early this year, with the software, perhaps, eventually marketed to eBay and/or made available to consumers.

ATR discussed this briefly in a recent podcast and it sheds new light on Alice LaPlante's question, "Is eBay's Feedback System is Fatally Flawed?" that we presented here back in December. Please share your thoughts.

Domain Name Bidness at Internext Expo

Mainstream & Adult URL's on the Block

For entrepreneurs looking to get their hands on the perfect domain name, an upcoming auction event could be just the ticket to dot-com notoriety. URL's such as Weddinggifts.com, SpecialOffer.com and Jeans.com will be up for grabs, along with a host of adult-oriented domain names, at the Internext show in Las Vegas.

The event, scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, will feature a live domain name auction managed by professional auctioneer Monte Cahn, CEO of Moniker.com, a domain registrar. The live event will be complemented by a silent domain auction hosted online.

The URL's on the block are a mix of active sites and parked locations, according to Farley Cahen, publisher of AVN Online Magazine, whose parent, AVN Media Network, operates the event. He says he expects expects domains to sell for anywhere from a few hundred to more than a million dollars. Visit the Internext web site for more information.

Not One Thin Dime for Rare Nickel

No takers for 1913 Liberty Head nickel thought to be worth millions

It used to be worth five cents, but even when adjusted for inflation for the past 93 years, bidders couldn't see forking over millions for a nickel. Despite being one of only five (and you have to love that symetry for a nickel) 1913 Liberty Head nickels known to exist, no one was willing to ante up the minimum $4.5 million for the coin at auction in Orlando on Tuesday, reports the Orlando Sentinel online via the Associated Press.

Order of Canada Auction Canceled by eBay

Violation of ban on sale of gov't property cited

The auction of a rare Order of Canada medal has been pulled by eBay because the sale violates the auctioneer's policy banning the sale of government property.

As we reported in "ONE LINERS" on Monday, this medal - Canada's highest civilian honor - surfaced last week and was listed on eBay with an auction set to close Saturday. However, a Canadian Press story carried this morning on CTV.ca reports that the medal was pulled Monday when eBay Trust & Safety determined the sale to be in violation of company prohibitions on the sale of government IDs and licences, including birth certificates, passports and "any die, seal or stamp provided by, belonging to, or used by a government department, diplomatic or military authority appointed by or acting under the authority of Her Majesty."

The medal at issue was awarded nearly 40 years ago to noted Quebec historian Gustave Lanctot - and is one of the very first Order of Canada medal ever awarded.

eBay Fee Increase to Take Effect at End of Month

Rate hike effects items with low starting prices; new insertion and final value fees announced

It will cost eBay sellers a nickel more to list items that start between $1.00 and $9.99 effective Januray 30th. The hike will impact sellers on eBay.com and eBay Canada and will not effect fees for other items.

Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, announced the new fee structure through the announcement board today.

"Let me say that, while we believe these changes are modest, we consider any changes that may impact our sellers with great care," Cobb said. "These adjustments are the result of careful analysis, and we believe they're the right thing to do to keep the marketplace strong for our eBay.com and eBay Motors sellers."

The final value fee for the $25.01 to $1,000.00 level will move from 3% to 3.25%. This hike does not effect eBay Stores or Store Inventory listings, Cobb added.

The new insertion fees and final value fees mentioned will also apply to eBay Motors Parts & Accessories categories. For eBay Motors Vehicles categories, the company will increase the transaction services fee for both motorcycles and powersports from $30.00 to $40.00. For cars & trucks and all other vehicles & trailers categories, the fees will go from $40.00 to $50.00.

N.J. Storage Co. to Liquidate Whitney Houston's Possessions

Over 400 lots of crestfallen star's forfeited items to be auctioned next week

Whitney Houston essentially walked away from her claim to the contents of a New Jersey storage facility when she failed to pay $150,000 in fees to the warehouser, the Newark Star-Ledger is reporting this morning. The forfeited contents, scheduled to be auctioned next week, are what the paper is referring to as "pricey touring equipment and musical instruments, plus beaded catsuits, monogrammed velvet bodysuits, rhinestone belts, a leather whip, pantyhose and other unmentionables."

Nancy Seltzer, identified as a Houston spokeswoman, told the Star-Ledger that she has no knowledge of any outstanding storage fees. "She is selling equipment, as many artists do, that is out of date," as well as stagings and costumes that are "not needed anymore," Seltzer told the paper.

In recent years the singer has fallen on some hard times, including a well-chronicalled bout with addicition. In late 2006 she filed for divorce from singer Bobby Brown, her husband of 14 years.

Among the bling-bling on the block are evening gowns by Badgley Mischka, Marc Bouwer and Pamela Dennis, snap-crotch bustiers in assorted colors by Dolce & Gabbana, a Giorgio Armani black beaded blazer, and a Versace silk-screened print vest. Mixed in with the glam is a bit of grunt, too, including sound equipment, a multi-tier concert stage set, a 36-inch vertical band saw, an elevator and a forklift.

The auction by A.J. Willner is scheduled for Tuesday at the warehouse. Interest in the online catalog has been high, reports the paper: by yesterday afternoon, the web site ajwillnerauctions.com had recorded 38,000 hits over two days. The auction house says the site typically gets 60,000 hits a week.

Many Unhappy Returns for PS3 Speculators

eBayer sellers find Sony game console went from red hot to "so what?"

When Sony's next-generation game console, the Playstation 3, hit stores in late November, its arrival was met with the kind of frenzy and fanfare one might expect to witness for a rock concert or celebrity book signing. Indeed, the reception fans gave to PS3 was very much like what you might see when a favorite band releases a ballyhooed new album: long lines of passionate devotees, many of whom had spent the night (or several) in hopes of being one of the first to experience the new creative utterance by their idol.

Based on this initial enthusiasm, and bolstered by favorable reviews, a PS3 became a must-have item for anyone looking to gift a gamer this holiday season. And, just as with a superstar rock concert, the scalpers pounced, driving the price of a PS3 into the many thousands of dollars - despite a sticker price between $600 and $800. eBay even issued guidelines for PS3 speculators detailing exactly what needed to be shown in photos to ensure the authenticity and rightful ownership of each new unit posted for auction.

For a brief period it looked to many as though the only way to have a PS3 under the tree was to buy one on eBay at some astronomical mark-up. However, Sony came to the rescue in the form of a late batch of PS3s in stores just before Christmas. To enthusiasts, Sony had become Santa; to speculators, the company was now the Grinch.

As Ben Richardson of GamesRadar.com observed today: "Thousands of unopened PS3's are being returned to shops across the U.S. as eBay opportunists fail to sell their consoles online for a huge profit. This is largely thanks to Sony managing to push out a fresh batch of PS3s before the Christmas break, lowering interest in the auctions."

He notes approximately 2,500 PS3's currently for auction on eBay, most of which have no bids. Yet Sony's good deed for consumers may not go unpunished, as number of game-related sites we perused are asserting that Microsoft's Xbox 360 will end up as the console of choice for the next generation of gamers anyway.

New Year's Resolution: Don't Be Reeled in by Phishers

Four Tips to Keep You Off the Hook

"Complete the necessary verification tasks within 5 days, or your account might get temporarily suspended."

This sentence is typical of those used by criminals looking to get your personal identification online using a method known as brand spoofing or "phishing."

As Daryl Campbell explained in an undated piece of the site Top Secret Software: "With Phishing...criminals set up phony but legitimate looking websites then spam you with e-mail like the one described above in the hopes of catching a percentage of Internet users. No reputable business will ever ask ask for your personal information via e-mail information."

With the Federal Trade Commission estimating that identity theft will have cost consumers $6 billion in 2006, and with online commerce growing more ubiquitous, savvy consumers (including eBayers and online other auction customers) should take steps to keep themselves protected.

To keep you from getting hooked, ATR found some simple but effective steps detailed in a short piece called "Four Tips to Avoid Phishers" posted Friday on TheStreet.com:

1. Your eBay and PayPal passwords should be different. Each should have eight characters, varying four letters and four numbers (e.g., 4j2o1m9s).

2. Never open any email from eBay or PayPal from your regular email account. Always go to "My eBay," scroll down the left side and click "My Messages." If the email really is from eBay, it will be duplicated there. For "real" PayPal messages, log in to your Paypal account. Any important information will be in the top left-hand corner of your main PayPal page.

3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

4. If you start a transaction on eBay, don't take it outside eBay. Always complete your transactions on eBay so you can take advantage of the protections eBay and PayPal provide, including PayPal's Seller Protection Policy and numerous Buyer Protection options.

Beyond these tips, the entire piece is worth a read. It highlights the ease with which crooks can invade your life, your privacy and your bank accounts. As has been featured here on ATR.com in the past month, when we have brought you news of a fraud scheme in Chicago and also a California professor's online buyer protection tips, some common sense can pay uncommon dividends.

Online Sales Tax in Play in Washington State

Senate bill passed in 2006 may go to full House

It appears likely that both the House and the Senate in the state of Washington will vote on proposed legislation that would allow the state to begin collecting sales taxes on Internet purchases.

The Tacoma News Tribune is reporting this morning that legislators in Olympia will take up the issue in the new year after a bill passed by the Senate failed to make it to the full House in 2006. The proposed legislation would also tax mail-order purchases.

"For years, retailers and local governments engaged in a fierce debate over the proposed rewriting of state tax code - called the streamlined sales tax, or SST. Some cities didn't like it because it would collect taxes where a buyer lives rather than where a sale takes place or where the merchandise is shipped from," reports the paper online.

As ATR detailed in "Should eBayers Pay the Piper? IRS says Yes" last month, the Federal government is looking to close what it is calling the "tax gap" between what online sellers earn and what they claim. Now the state of Washington is looking to close its own tax gap via this proposed sales tax. Is this fair? Does this level the playing field for bricks-and-mortar businesses? Please share your thoughts.

ONE LINERS: Goin' Mobile

A political plane, a killer Caddie and a beaucoup bus

A GM Futurliner bus (pictured) sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction today for a non-mass-transportation record price of $4.1 million, as reported on Edmunds.com...After a disappointing round of online bidding fell far below the $2.6 million asking price, the state of Alaska will try again to sell the Westwind II personal jet that helped ground former Gov. Frank Murkowski's long political career...The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Seville (with just 2,240 miles on the clock, it is believed to be the lowest mileage 1959 Cadillac in the world) linked to the 1959 murder of entrepreneur Maurice Gagnon (and that stored his lifeless body) is to be auctioned next month in Arizona...One of the earliest Order of Canada medals (one of that nation's highest honors) that had been awarded noted Quebec historian Gustave Lanctot nearly 40 years ago, surfaced eight days ago on eBay, with auction set to end January 6th...Sorry as we are to see it, merchandise and items purported to be connected to Saddam Hussein have found their way to eBay here in the U.S. and around the world...ABC News is reporting today on a Colorado couple selling what they are calling "genuine Colorado snow" on eBay with a starting price of 99-cents - they say it's all for laughs.