To create your account choose the Register link on the header navigational bar or use any of the links available on the home page. When registering you will be asked to complete a short form which includes standard information such as your contact details, preferred login credentials etc.

Mandatory fields include:

· Name

· City

· State/Province/county

· Zip/Post Code

· Phone Number

· Birthday

· Username & Password

· E-Mail address

· Confirmation of terms an conditions acceptance

Once registered you will receive an E-Mail confirmation and link, to complete the registration process.

Should you encounter any registration difficulties please contact us.

Placing a bid on an item you are interested in couldn't be easier, when viewing the item details page you will have two areas from where you can place your bid, one next to the item details and a second at the bottom of the page.

To place your bid simply enter the amount you wish to bid, example: 50.00. Please note no currency symbols are required. The bid will be placed in the auction currency.

Once done, you will be asked to review your bid and you will also be able to view vital item details such as the shipping conditions before confirming your bid. To submit your bid simply press the Place Bid button.

If your bid is high enough to take the lead in the auction, a confirmation message will be displayed to you, however if your bid has not taken the lead because of a higher proxy bid or not meeting the reserve price, you will be invited to make a further bid.

Should you decide to retract your bid this can be done via the Current Bids section of the members area.

You can also place a proxy bid, proxy bidding allows you to place your High Bid. At all times you will only pay the lowest required bid should you win the auction. For example, if the current bid on an auction is 500.00 you can place a proxy bid of 2,000. Should you remain the only bidder you will only pay 500.00. However should the item receive other bids, the site will automatically re-bid for you (up to 2,000 in this scenario) to ensure you remain in the lead.

If the option is available you can use Buy Out to purchase the item immediately without having to place a bid. Some sellers offer such an option which can be used at any time until a bid has been placed over any applicable reserve price. The Buy Out option will appear on the item details page, you will be asked to confirm your intention to buy out the item before the sale is concluded. Buy outs cannot be retracted.

The auction watch features notifies you of newly listed auctions which contain keywords you have chosen. For example if you are looking for a new Digital Camera you could enter in those keywords from within your members area. Each time a new auction is listed containing those keywords you will be notified via email.

The item watch feature lets you keep a close eye on any auction without having to place a bid on it. This feature means you can be kept up to date on how an auction is doing and prepares you to place a winning last minute bid. You can watch any auction by clicking on the Watch this item link on that auction page.

To list your item, simply click on the Sellers tab on the navigational bar, at the top of the page. The listing process is split up into several main sections, notably:

• Category selection
• Item Details
• Auction Settings
• Shipping and Payment
• Listing preview
• Listing confirmation

The listing process is developed in such a way that you are guided through every step seamlessly.

The first part of the process is to choose the category you wish to list your item in, this can be revised at any time by using the Previous Step navigation button.

Step two enables you to enter your item title and description, using an HTML editor.

If you have a voucher code to redeem, this can be entered just below the description field.

Moving on to step three, this is the biggest stage of the listing process. On this step you can set the following:

Auction type:

Standard Auction: This is a single item auction.

Dutch Auction: Enables you to list a multiple quantity auction, for example if you have 100 pens to sell, you can list all of these together in a single lot. Bidders will be able to select how many they wish to bid for.

Currency:

You can select your preferred auction currency using the drop down menu available

Quantity:

This field is only active if listing a Dutch auction, please see above for an explanation of this listing type

Auction Starts At:

This requires you to enter the minimum bid you are willing to accept, you can also set a reserve price to ensure you do not sell the item for this amount. Please see below for more information on this.

Reserve Price:

Enabling a reserve price affectively means you will not sell the item for less than the amount set, for example you can set the start price at 5.00 but only accept winning bids over 50.00, should a bid be placed for 49.99 the item will close without a winner.

Buy out (optional):

Buy out allows you to set an amount you are willing to sell the item for. For example you can set the start price to 10.00, but offer interested parties the option to buy the item immediately for 100.00.

You can also list buy out only auctions, these auctions remove all bidding options meaning the listing can only be purchased for a set amount. To set a buy out only auction you need to set the buy out value to be exactly equal with the start bid.

Offer-Range:

You can set a price bracket in which you are willing to accept offers, for example if you set the price brackets from 15.00 to 100.00, interested parties will be able to offer you an amount within these brackets, you can opt whether to accept or decline these offers at any time via the members area.

Bid increment:

This option can be used to set your own custom bid increment if preferred.

Item featuring (optional):

The following options are available to you (fees may apply), these will highlight your items to ensure more visitors see them:

Home page featured

Category featured

Bold text

Highlighted background

Set start/end time:

You can either opt to list your item right away and set a defined number of days for it to be live, or you also have the option to define your own custom start/end times.

Private Auction:

Private auction will hide the bidders identity on the item details page

Image upload:

To accompany your item you can either upload images from your local computer or enter the URL of an image(s) hosted elsewhere

Media upload:

In addition to images you can also upload media files, please note only .avi/.mpeg/.mov are supported.

Auto Re-List

For convenience, you can opt to have your items automatically re-listed. Options are available to allow you to select whether the item should be re-listed if sold, and how many times to re-list.

On the next step you can set your shipping and payment preferences including your shipping rates and available methods of delivery.

Proceeding on, you can then review the listing and make changes if required, please note you can still edit your listing once live, via the members area.

• Step 1. Capture the photo electronically
• Step 2. Edit the photo
• Step 3. Upload photo to your ad
• Step 4. If you put your image on the Web, then point to your image from your ad description

Step 1. Capture the photo electronically

Digital Camera

Using a digital camera is an ideal way to capture an electronic image of a three-dimensional item. A digital camera is just like a regular camera, except the image is stored in the digital camera's memory instead of on film. You simply transfer the file directly from the camera to your computer using a cable. Some cameras allow you to save images onto removable media which can be read by your computer. Ideally, get a camera that stores images in the JPG format, since this format produces Web photos that are sharp and easily read by most imaging software. Also, if you sell small items, make sure the camera you purchase has a lens that will handle extreme close ups (known as macro capability). Most cameras with a zoom feature will take excellent macro images but others will not. Be sure to find out all of the capabilities of the camera before you make a purchase.

Scanners

A scanner is connected to a computer and is controlled by a software application running on the computer. Once you scan an image using a software application that controls the scanner, you can use that software to save the image onto your computer's hard drive or floppy disk. You probably will want to scan the image at 72 dpi (dots per inch) since it will be displayed at this resolution. Scanners are ideal for items which are flat, such as photos, posters or trading cards. If you have a three-dimensional object that cannot be scanned easily, you can still use a scanner to get that image into your computer.

Video Capture

If you have video images from your video camera or your VCR tapes, you can transfer this video into a digital image using a Video Capture device and software. Assuming you have the video equipment, this option costs less than buying a digital camera or a scanner because all you need to buy is the device.

Paying someone to develop an electronic image for you

You can bring your items to a professional photographer and pay for them to be either scanned or photographed, and converted into a digital format. Again, we recommend that you make sure digital images are saved in a JPEG (.jpg) format.

Paying someone to process your film and put your image on the Web

If you choose to have someone else put your photos on the Web, you can avoid Steps 2 and 3. Again, if you use this solution, make sure the digital image is saved in a JPG (.jpg) format.

Recommended Maximum Image Size: 50 KB (compressed); less than 200KB (uncompressed)
Recommended Maximum Dimensions: 300 x 300 pixels

TIPS on making your pictures Really Great!

• Use proper lighting. Many people find natural, outdoor lighting best. Indoors or out, light your item thoroughly.
• Consider a backdrop. If appropriate, consider using a plain, colored fabric backdrop to make your item stand out. Don't use pure white, as it tends to create too much contrast in your photo. If you don't use a backdrop, be sure to move other things out of the way so your item will really stand out.
• Get close up! Buyers want to see detail, so really make your item take up the whole frame. Consider taking a close-up of a section of the item in addition to the entire object in order to give buyers a better idea of the item's actual condition.
  

Step 2. Edit the photo

Once you capture an image electronically, you can view and edit it on your computer, with image editing software. Editing an image allows you to get rid of unnecessary details and modify the image's dimension and graphic size so the image is small enough to download quickly when someone views your item, yet large enough to display sufficient detail.

Recommended Maximum Image Size: 50 KB (compressed); less than 200KB (uncompressed)
Recommended Maximum Dimensions: 300 x 300 pixels

Software to help you edit your image

Check to see if your digital camera, scanner, or video capture software has some basic features which allow you to crop and edit the image. There are several excellent photo software packages which allow you to resize, convert, and adjust all aspects of an image file.

Tips for editing your image

If your image file is very large, it will take a long time to download over the Web. To help users more easily view your item, reduce your image's size if it is larger than 50 KB. Large image files may discourage some users from downloading your photo and may use up a lot of limited space on your Web server. Image file sizes of 10 to 25KB (compressed) are even better.

The software that came with your digital camera, scanner, or video capture method will help you reduce your image files to a workable size while maintaining satisfactory image quality. You may have to experiment a bit until you're satisfied with the results.

If you use a scanner to capture your electronic image, try scanning at a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) at first. If you think your image looks good and is relatively small (again, less than 50KB), then your image are fine. If you think your image does not look clear enough, you can either scan only the most important part of the image, or increase the dpi setting and accept that your image will require a longer download time.

To highlight your item more prominently in the picture, remove unnecessary background (easier when photographing the item or later with an image editing program) and make sure you balance the contrast and brightness. The tools for making these kinds of adjustments are available in most image editing programs.

Put your image into the right format

Once you have the file containing the image on your computer, you need to make sure you save it so that it can be used on the Web. While you can usually choose to save your image in one of several different types of image files or formats, there are only two that are appropriate for the Web: JPG (.jpg) and GIF (.gif). We recommend using the JPG (.jpg)

In addition to choosing a format, you must also give the image file a name. The end of the name will end in a dot (.) followed by the type of file you saved it as: jpg or gif. You should not put any spaces or special characters (such as &, $, or /) in the name of your file. An example of a file name is: myphoto.jpg

Here's how to save your file in the right format (in most programs):

• Choose Save As from the File menu.
• Name your file.
• Select JPEG (.jpg) or GIF (.gif) from the Save as Type drop-down list.
  

Step 3. Upload photo to your ad

Once your photo is on your computer's hard drive and has been sized, you can upload the image when you place an ad by selecting the browse button, finding the photo off your computer, and then selecting the upload button, and your done!

Or

Step 4. Put your image on the Web & Point to your image from your ad description

If you have a personal web page

Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide some space on their computers where their customers can post their own stuff.

Find out from your ISP how you can transfer your file to this space. Most likely, you will need to use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application to transfer your file from your computer to theirs. FTP programs can be confusing and difficult to understand.

If you are an AOL user

AOL users can go to the keyword MyPlace and access their own webspace where they can follow instructions to upload their own images.Determine your URL

Once you have uploaded your image file to a place on the Web, you need to know the file's Web address, also know as a URL (Universal Resource Locator). A URL is the text on your browser which determines a file or page's location on the Web. You will enter this URL in the box below the ad description, when you place your ad.

An URL is like a postal address. The first part of the URL is established for you by your ISP or photo hosting service. For example, it will look something like this:

http://www.something.com/my_user_id/

The name of the file that you uploaded appears in the second part of the URL. In this example, it would look like this:

my_photo.jpg

Together, all the elements of an URL point to your file on the Web. In this example, it would look like this:

http://www.something.com/my_user_id/my_photo.jpg

Verify the image appears with your item description

It is very easy to make a typographical error on this step. If you do not enter your URL exactly correct, your image will be a broken link. One trick is to view your image in a browser window, and then copy and paste the URL into the List an Item page. Please make sure you:

Include the proper extension of your image name (.jpg or .gif) and correctly spell the URL address.

If you have followed the above steps carefully and correctly, the image will appear when you preview your item description. If you do not see your image, go back and check to make sure you typed in your URL correctly. (You can also verify that your image is on the Web by viewing your picture's URL directly in a Web browser.)

Other reasons your image may not be appearing could be:

The Web server hosting the images is temporarily offline. The viewer's Web browser is not configured properly for viewing images.