Peekaboo View Coding

Just testing out a little code added to the template to try and demonstrate an expandable blogger post. Basically on the blog main page there should only be a summary, or to be more specific a defined first few lines or paragraphs visible, then below should be the 'read more.....'

Having clicked to read more, the rest of this text should appear, this should allow the main page to become a little easier to navigate, especially given my tendency to write and write the blog was starting to seem a bit much and I preferred and alternative to archiving. Well it all seems to be working though it did require a little more tinkering than I planned. Now to try it out moving forward and see how it goes.

Throughout the cyber chasing, it has become clear to me where my area of focus has been with regard to the whole blogging thang. Basically I seem obsessed with the imagery of the site, the layout, and behind that, all the gadgets and widgets and html trickery that makes a page interact better and visually appeal more. The finer details, like attaching a small image, a 'favicon' to the address bar when visiting a web page (although for me this only seems to be working in Firefox at the moment).

If you do see anything I have used and want to ask about it feel free to post comments or email me directly. I'm always available to help. Thanks go out to Ramani over at Hackosphere for their great page and work.

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The Ebay Experience – part 2

I have to be honest here and say that upon hearing the next challenge was to sell our previously purchased surprising items, my first thought was to scream. This was only because I had already had my fill of eBay having lost so many auctions during the buying challenge. On a positive note it might not be too difficult for me to complete a sale due to the item I finally landed, but for many who had purchased ‘buy now’ items that were sold as new from eBay shops, making a profit would seem a big challenge.

Anyway the challenge was set, so some further investigation into what I had actually bought was necessary to provide a more detailed sales description for eBay and get the item listed. The results of which can be found by searching for (auction number: 190095692961). It was clear with the many options available to help ‘market’ items why eBay are the success they have become. It also became clear that my seemingly unusual Rolls Razors were a little more common than I had first thought, in fact there is a constant stream of them available to buy both here in England and abroad on the other international eBay websites.

Those of you with well trained investigative skills and a thorough knowledge of our fellow cyber chasers will notice my first auction was won by none other than our own Der Forkmeister. However this was not a genuine interest in a piece of art deco memorabilia but a cunning ploy to sabotage the competition. Upon receipt of my invoice the self proclaimed dominating and narcissistic master of forks refused to pay. Forcing my hand to initiate an ‘Unpaid Item Dispute’, this was a fruitless process although it did mean the final sale fees charged by eBay would no longer be due, allowing me to re-list the item in the search for another buyer. Unfortunately none were to be found during the evidently quiet mid-week auctions as can be seen by searching for the re-list (auction number: 190097014507).

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Having livened up the circumstances surrounding my first attempted eBay sale, I should provide a few further details concerning the alleged sabotage by Der Forkmeister. This in fact, was a not so cunning plan, hatched over a beer after work to ensure we received at least a bid to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately in the case of my auction the bidding exploits of Der Forkmeister were clearly too rich for other interested buyers. This did however demonstrate another example of how trust online is so easily abused. Remember, trust everyone, just dont trust the devil inside them.

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The Ebay Experience - part 1

Having never used Ebay before, this was an interesting challenge. However it has not converted me into another one of the millions of regular users. The reasons for this I will come to shortly, for now you can see the eBay items that got away in this slide show, as you can see they are a motley bunch of the weird and wonderful.

So having missed out on everything from a prosthetic eye to a kangaroos paw, I found myself wondering why. Often it was just because the final bid went just beyond our fifteen pound limit. However in some cases something strange was afoot in the world of ebay, some bidders seemed able to place a bid hours before mine without it ever showing until the auction closed. I suspected the influence of outside software. Regardless the hunt had to continue although I became more wary and found myself checking sellers feedback in more detail often seeing duplicate feedback artificially raising their ratings. I futher investigated the value of this feedback by asking the seller of the item I finally won, if they could provide me with good buyer feedback even before payment was received. They obliged willingly.



Another aspect of Ebay I became aware of, and personally didnt like or expect, was the high number of resellers, shops using Ebay as a sales channel. It was not their presence but their number that I was disappointed to see and it eroded my experience as the 'uniqueness' and 'value for money' became increasingly difficult to find.

Finally and after many lost auctions I did settle on what I considered suprising value for the money, an antique Rolls Royce 1920's silver plated razor at the bargain price of £6.50 plus delivery (ebay number: 250088793917). That being said, I am still awaiting delivery.



So the issue of trust had revealed itself. And within the digital realm this can be seen across so many layers; from the personal identity and how they portray themselves, through to the apparent authenticity of entire websites. Even Microsofts latest releases for internet explore attempt to combat this threat using anti-phishing protection.

Another face of trust that is becoming a greater threat to those choosing e-commerce is the security of credit or bank card details and the use of digital certificates within the SSL. Major players in the industry such as Verisign have developed trust, but as with all 'identities' there are others providing far less protection. As with everything online, the complexities of identity continue into the complexities of trust, ultimately we must all follow our own paths.

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust." - Samuel Johnson

"I trust everyone. I just don't trust the devil inside them." - The Italian Job

Well it finally arrived and was wrapped to prevent all but the most persistent of buyers from actually gaining access to what they had bought. I was exhausted having fought for 5 minutes against the adhesive powers of several hundred meters of masking tape, doubly exhausting when having broken throught the first layer I was faced with yet another individually sealed against hazardous materials box.



Eventually I was face to face with what had caught my eye online, and ignoring the fact I am easily entertained, was surprised to find it was even better than I could have imagined as the box containing the razor was actually an integrated sharpening stone and leather strap. A marvelous example of quality products from a bygone time.

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An eBay Method: 13 Steps to Profitable Auctions

A useful article I found prior to beginning the eBay challenge, some personal recommendations to assist anyone in achieving profitable auctions courtesy of J.D. over at the Get Rich Slowly Blog, the full article can be found at [read all of My eBay Method: 13 Steps to Profitable Auctions]

1. Research the hell out of each item you post. Dig through eBay to find what similar items fetch (and how often they sell). Check other places (Amazon, abebooks.com, and other forums) to see what they charge for the item.
2. Use low starting bids. Low starting bids cost less to list, and they encourage participation. The more popular you expect an item to be, the lower you should set the starting bid. If you expect only a few bids, start bidding closer to your minimum desired sale point. For example, I sold some Tolkien videos on VHS that I thought would receive few bids, so I set my minimum bid at about $10. Do not use a reserve.
3. Start your listings on Thursday afternoons and evenings. Run ten-day listings. Time your auctions to end on Sunday evening between seven and ten Eastern (four and seven Pacific). This gives two weekends to attract bids.
4. If needed, pay the extra ten cents to prepare listings in advance and schedule them to start on Thursday evenings. Prepare a group of listings in advance, then schedule them to start within a couple of hours of each other. (Don’t have your listings end closer than within two minutes of each other.)
5. Offer free shipping and delivery confirmation. You could charge for these, but free shipping builds goodwill. Delivery confirmation gives you peace of mind. Free insurance is of dubious value; I sometimes offer it, but generally only on expensive items. You might offer it as a customer-paid option.
6. Offer a money-back guarantee, but only for when the item is not as described. (Not for when a person changes his mind or makes a mistake.)
7. Craft your auction title with care. For example, I recently sold a book entitled The Hidden Game of Baseball by John Thorn and Pete Palmer. I could have put all that into my auction title, but it would have been a waste. My title was geared toward keywords that I believed interested buyers would use: HIDDEN GAME OF BASEBALL Thorn Palmer SABR Bill James. Bill James had nothing to do with the book, but fans of Bill James would be likely to purchase it. You want many people to see your items in their search results.
8. Write a good description listing the strengths and flaws of your item. Write things like “I think this book is in great shape, but be aware that the cover has a small tear and the previous owner’s name is on the flyleaf”, etc. Try to place additional keywords in the description, but sprinkled into conversational sentences. For example, in my auction for the Tolkien animated films on VHS, I used the names of Peter Jackson, Liv Tyler, etc.
9. Be thorough. Many people advocate short descriptions. I disagree. I think that long descriptions are best, especially if they use bold text and highlighting to emphasize the important aspects of your auction.
10. Refuse to accept bids from headaches: people with negative feedback, people who haven’t been paying, foreign bidders. (Note: foreign bidders aren’t a headache for everyone; if you love ‘em, let ‘em bid!)
11. Take photos and post them in the description. Use the 35-cent gallery feature so that your photo appears when people browse listings. If condition is a concern, use many photos to convey the state of the item.
12. Answer questions. You will receive many questions about your items. Some of the questions will be stupid. Answer them anyhow. If it’s a question that many people are likely to have, post your response publicly.
13. Be amiable! A friendly, easy-going persona is going to receive better response than a brusque, business-like persona. Make jokes. Show enthusiasm.

Best of luck with all your eBay selling.

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