eBay Announcements
Brian Burke, eBay's Senior Marketplace Policy Manager for Feedback, announced that restrictions will be placed on sellers who decide to keep their feedback profile private. As of Oct. 26, 2006, members who have private feedback profiles will no longer be allowed to list items.

According to Burke, members who use private feedback are able to hide comments which could impact another buyer's decision to purchase from that seller. eBay's goal is to ensure buyers have all the information available about their prospective sellers' past trading histories. Sellers currently using private feedback can change to public showing in their account options.

For those sellers who just don't know when the right time is to list, the Terapeak marketing team will be hosting a workshop that will introduce sellers to some free tools that can be used to find the best times to end your eBay auctions. More details on how to join today's "Knowing When to Sell" workshop can be found here.

eBay In The News
This week eBay and the British Museum are sending out a warning to unscrupulous eBay sellers who are selling treasures on the auction site. The museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) team will ensure antiques are being legally sold by eBay sellers. According to a BBC news report, people who find treasure may be breaking the law if they do not report it.

The report went on to state that some traders in archaeological finds are unaware they may have to be declared under the Treasure Act. Illegal listings found on eBay will be reported to Met Police detectives specializing in this area of expertise. Items that have been spotted by the PAS on eBay illegally in the past have included national treasures such as gold and silver Roman rings.

Third Party Services & E-commerce Tools Round-Up
ArteWorks Business Class this week released version 3.0 of PrimeCart, its search-engine-friendly e-commerce software solution. PrimeCart offers businesses a slew of search engine optimization (SEO) tools, such as dynamically generated Google sitemaps, Froogle feeds and individual product page optimization. ArteWorks Business Class claims their PrimeCart software solution also eliminates problems related to session IDs and dynamically-generated product pages, which are largely invisible to search engines. PrimeCart pricing begins at $59.00 per month. The PrimeCart Web site is also promoting a 30-day free trial.

BizAuctions, Inc., a company offering commercial eBay liquidation services, announced a new nationwide initiative to solicit Liquidation Services Contracts. Previously, the company developed its core business on a regional level. According to BizAuctions CEO Delmar Janovec, companies across the nation are sitting on $60 billion worth of excess inventory, and BizAuctions is able to help those companies liquidate that excess inventory. BizAuctions employs two business models, one where they liquidate inventory through eBay on a consignment basis, the other is purchasing excess inventory that is also sold through eBay.

With a motto of "Create Once, Post Everywhere," a new start-up vFlyer announced availability of a classified ad creation, management and submission platform. It is a free service that enables consumers selling online to create "virtual flyers" that can be posted to multiple online marketplaces with just a few clicks.

As a Classifieds 2.0 service provider, vFlyer allows you to create an ad for various markets including homes for sale, vehicle listings and property rentals. You then submit the information to search engines (like Vast and Google Base) as well as classified marketplaces including eBay, Craig's List and others.

Eye on The Little Guy: MotoYard Profile
This week our profile of a "smaller" auction Web site is another niche seller called MotoYard.com, a place for consumers to buy and sell ATV and motorcycles, as well as power sports parts and accessories. MotoYard was started when two friends with a passion for motorcycles realized that there was a significant demand for power-sports auction site that was easier to use, and less expensive, than eBay. Motoyard is owned and operated by motorcycle riders and they designed it to appeal to others with the same passion for motorbikes of all types.

Citing a rising cost to sell these types of items on eBay and eBay Motors, MotoYard offers a flat $8 fee for any vehicles (for a total of $16 if you make the sale). Additional upgrades to your vehicle auction can include a $1 "vehicle reserve fee" for any listing $200 or more, a $5.99 fee for "gallery featured" items, or $2 for "bold title." These are just a few of the upgrade listing options available.

For those interested in selling parts and accessories rather than vehicles, auction insertion and final sale fees work on a sliding scale. For example, an ATV part with a starting bid of $9.99 and selling for $25 would cost you a 17-cent listing fee and a 65-cent selling fee. All listing and selling fees for buyers can be found on the Motoyard fees page.

As an incentive for sellers to try Motoryard, the site is currently offering free listings to new sellers, by way of a $20 credit that is added to your account when you register. The credit can be used for new listings.