posted on February 3, 2000 12:09:46 PM new
OK, I was poking around on Amazon last night (yes I have sucumbed to temptation and am going to list some of my extras there). They have a couple things that I really like that I wish AC had....
Standard Terms default: You put your auctions terms in on your defaults page and it gets automatically added to every auction. I would love this since if I want to modify my terms I have to go into each individual items template and change it. A pain in the rear.
Download open auctions in a spreadsheet: Lets you get a list of all your open items in a convenient spreadsheet format for easy tracking. Would make it real easy to put an up-to-date items list on a web site....
Any chance on either of these items? Also still anxiously awaiting the revamp of the categories.
posted on February 3, 2000 01:49:50 PM new
Hi Tanya:
Thanks for the feedback on categories and as a matter of fact, we're working hard on them as we speak.
Standard terms default is at least partially implemented although the terms are not retroactive. This is done by clicking the box entitled "Item terms default" and also under category, "Category default." The terms default refers to payment options -- check, money order, Bidsafe, etc. and keeps these constant for all your listings. Ditto on the category.
As far as the "spreadsheet" option that is really already there provided you have a web-enabled spreadsheet program such as the ubiquitous Excel 97.
You can copy -- even from the listings in MYauctions or from a basic seller search -- the relavant details and paste them directly into Excel 97. The trick is to paste them as html first and then copy that page (typically page one of the workbook) and then repaste it using the paste-special command and "values." the result is a version with only blank lines that you can edit quite quickly.
I don't know the level of work required to download the workbook version on Amazon but you can pretty much do this on any site with a copy-paste, copy-special paste operation.
I do have a question though... what information -- headings -- does Amazon provide in this file? Getting all the pertinent information in one area is one of those things that could certainly justify doing it their way.
posted on February 3, 2000 02:37:59 PM new
Well, what I am referring to with the terms is that they give you a text block of 1,000 characters that you can use to put in your standard terms like "Must receive payment within 21 days of auction end" which is then appended to each listing as you post it.
As for the spreadsheet download, you right-click on a link, do a Save-As, and add a .xls to the end of the file name. And it includes all the field names as well as the data, such as Item Name, Listing ID (Auction Number), Minimum Bid, Current Bid, etc. The one thing it is missing that I wish it had is the auction ending date or even the duration of the auction since it does give the Start Date.
I will have to experiment with the copy-paste on AC and see what that output looks like..... Thanks for the tip.
I figured the text description was what you were talking about. Most folks just have that in their templates but I admit it is a nice feature.
The "save-as" trick is also cool and I tried it with auctions.com and it works quite similarly to the cut and paste method I described. Indeed, the cut and paste method may be a bit easier to use on our site because our "table" pages do combine some cells, requiring a bit more editing using that method.
Apparently, though, Amazon recognized this use factor and directed their HTML coders to clean up the tables so the info formats properly from the get go. (Or do their pages need some format editing?)
The neat thing, of course, is that you can specify a wide range of reporting criteria including auction name, auction number, opening bid, current bid, end date, state, catgory, state and seller email. You can get also get a little different material from my auctions (including buyer name and whether you've rated them for instance.)
