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As you can see we have adopted a new layout for the UK Auction Line Newsletter. For some weeks now Tim has been saying that the template we have been using was badly coded and needed changing. The change should also help us get through the strict Spam controls that the likes of AOL now have in place. As someone who receives about 200 Spam e-mails every day I fully support everything that will get rid of this curse but quite often the good guys get kicked out with thee bad guys. Why not make sure that you receive your newsletter regularly by adding us to your white or friends list. Having safely been parted from his appendix Tim spent some of his recuperation time designing the new layout. I think it looks pretty good and I hope you agree.

In the USA all the talk seems to be about eBay Live, which starts later this week in New Orleans. This is the big annual eBay jamboree and show. I fully expect to see quite a few new products being launched in the eBay support field. With all the software tools and books for eBayers this has become a real growth industry in itself.
The trouble is that there is still remarkably little available for users of eBay.co.uk but the position is getting better. One of the best sources of information regarding software for use with eBay is a London based expert Andy Geldman. For more information visit his site at www.auctionsoftwarereview.com

With effect from 6th August Paypal is adding some new tiers to its fee structure. Paypal guarantee that no one will pay more for UK domestic transactions, but if you are a big player you will be able to make some considerable savings.

The new rates are as follows:
£0 -£1500 turnover per month	3.4% +20p per transaction
£1501-£6,000	2.9%+ 20p per transaction
£6,000-£15,000	2.7% +20p per transaction
£15,001-£55,000	2.4% +20p per transaction
above £55,000	1.9% + 20p per transaction

For cross border sales ( Selling to customers outside the UK) there is an additional
0.5% charge plus the following additional charge per transaction.
USA 30¢ Canada 55¢ Euro €0.35 and Japan ¥40. But remember you will still have to pay the currency exchange fee as well.

Your turnover levels will be based on the previous months performance but initially when you think that you have qualified for the Merchant rate, (sales over £1500 per month) you will have to apply to Paypal. If you already have a Merchant Rate then there is no need to reapply.

From what I can see there will not be much difference for the average eBay seller but if for instance you sell £5,000 per month at the merchant rate you will save £25 a month in fees and if you do a massive £60,000 per month your saving is £900.

If you read the popular press you might be forgiven for thinking that there was only one online auction site on the Internet. Ebay with its massive publicity machine has been grabbing all the headlines. In fairness, as they have 95% of the market is probably understandable but there are some interesting UK challengers emerging from the pack.

It is unlikely that any rival will be in a position to seriously challenge eBay for the number one spot. However, I think that there is an opportunity emerging for a UK company to take a fair slice of the market. Recently I have been looking at a range of online auctions and one particularly has caught my eye. If you have not yet discovered CQout I would recommend you visit the site.

This is no “me too” clone of eBay but an auction site that has taken its own path to offer online auction buyers and sellers what they claim to want, tighter security. Cqout (pronounced seek you out) is the only online auction site that I know that charges a registration fee, £2 by credit card or £1.50 for postal applications.

Although you can browse the site for free I was initially surprised to find I would have to pay the registration fee even if I only wanted to buy. However, I could see how this could prevent “shiming” (registering several IDs and then bidding on your own items to push the price up). The saving on this alone could more than off set the registration cost.

By debiting your credit card this gives the company confirmation of your address and the other details you provided on registration. I was also most impressed after I registered to receive a phone call to confirm my acceptance. No doubt another security check and it left me with the impression that here was a company that really cared about security and was not just paying lip service to the concept.

As Tony Newton, a founder Director of CQout told me, “we know that a registration fee can put some potential users off, especially fraudsters, but those that elect to enter their details know that they are joining a secure, trustworthy trading community and time has proved us right.”

This would most certainly appear to be the case. Despite the fact that they use no advertising and rely purely on word of mouth, CQout are now second only to eBay in the UK, judged by the number of items offered for sale.

One feature that will appeal to all auction sellers is the fact that basic listings are free. Enhancement and final listing fees are also considerably lower than eBays.

Three graduates of the London Business School launched Cqout in 1999. After a slow start, which is typical of most new auction sites, they are now growing rapidly. A year ago they had users in 39 countries, now it is 58.
A powerful feature is that users can place and view auctions in their local currency.

Although a general auction site CQout is gaining a reputation in specialist categories such as movie memorabilia and music.

The challenge for any auction site is to attract enough buyers. Free listings will always attract the “well I have nothing to lose” brigade, but unless there are buyers any auction site will eventually fail. CQout has proved that it can attract them by offering a secure and fair trading environment. It may not be as big, bold and brash as its American rival but it does have a rather friendly reassuring feel that I like. Why don’t you visit the site and give it a look, you could be surprised. None of this should put you off using eBay to sell higher priced items but it is important that you take every precaution to protect yourself from fraud. At the moment I think I would only sell higher priced items within the UK but that is very much a personal opinion. I am sure there are many examples of people successfully selling high priced items overseas but I would not want to take the risk.

Over the years I have spent a fortune buying Master resale rights to products. Not that I am complaining because they have proved profitable and I currently sell a range of these products both through eBay and my website at www.eclipsepublishing.com.

But last week, purely by accident I came across a web site that amazed me. Not only does it offer nearly 200 different programs with master resale rights but also over 20 web sites that you could use or sell on eBay. Now if that was not enough in this package you also get FREE web hosting, FREE autoresponders and FREE Ad Tracking.

On top of this there is a great residual income opportunity selling the SoftwarePak on to others. The owner Denis Hardy adds at least 4 new programs each month and to be quite honest I have never seen a site that offers so much for so little. I signed up straight away and already have some products listed on eBay. I see this as becoming a “nice little earner” especially with the potential of a regular residual income as well.

But don’t take my word for it go and visit the site now at www.softwarepak.com and make up your own mind.

Pop Group sell their music online

Buy Magnum PI’s Ferrari

Cherie Blair uses eBay

This months special offer

www.e-DUDS.com is a brand new auction website. When you register, you will receive £10 into your account. If you list an item, you will earn £10 more.

There are nearly 50 members and about 10 auctions so far. This means that it is a buyers' market with not many bids per item. Already they have sold a playstation2 for £10, and a Sony Walkman for £5. It might be worth having a quick visit to see what bargains they have at the moment

The charges seem quite reasonable at 5p to list any item and 1% final value fee. But with the initial £20, that means you can list loads of free auctions.