outoftheblue
|
posted on May 20, 2001 08:50:05 PM new
Since I found out about all of the new BS linking rules ebay has initaited I decided to close my Auctiva Showcase account, but, there is no close your account option that I can find.
Can anyone help me with this?
|
eastwest
|
posted on May 20, 2001 09:05:42 PM new
why did you close your account you will still be able to have the gallery...if all products are from ebay and the other products you can still sell a couple clicks deeper
|
jrb3
|
posted on May 20, 2001 09:21:07 PM new
You can keep Auctiva as long as you only display Ebay items.
I love there showcase mainly because I don't keep a storefront or home page so in conversations when people ask "Where can I see what you sell?" Auctiva provides an easy address for business cards etc.
http://showcase.auctiva.com/yourUID
Much more pleasent then Ebay's About me page and it's all pictures. Nice neat and clean.
I have also received big Kudos from bidders for using it they claim it makes searching much easier and neater the Gallery at Ebay which I never liked.
Just My $.02
|
outoftheblue
|
posted on May 20, 2001 09:35:21 PM new
I guess I can just delete my Yahoo account from Auctiva and edit out the text link.
I was using it more for the benefit of my Yahoo customers so they could see all of my listings but, as far as I can tell, the two click rule for other listings no longer applies. I guess? I'm confused at this point.....
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 22, 2001 10:47:58 AM new
According to eBay, you CANNOT link to your Auctiva Showcase. (Bold emphasis mine)
>
>
> > Hello Beverly & Edward,
> >
> > Thank you for writing eBay regarding this policy. Even though this has
> > been regarded as a controversial policy revision, it is surprising that
> > there are few members proactively writing in.
> >
> > Although we will not be enforcing this policy until May 31st, 2001, in
> > reviewing your listings, we found that they would not be within our
> > revised policy guidelines. The listings contain the following
> > information in the description:
> >
> > Visit our online store! Click here for Wolf Cyber Gifts Store
> >
> > and
> >
> > View and search our 500 auctions BY PHOTO!
> >
> > which is a secondary link to your Auctiva Showcase.
> >
> > Our revised policy concerning allowed Links and Credits is as follows:
> >
> > "eBay allows sellers to place the following types of links in your
> > item's description:
> >
> > - One link to a page that further describes the item being sold in that
> > listing
> > - Links to your eBay or Half.com listings
> >
> > - One link to your About Me page (in addition to the About Me icon
> > already provided by eBay)
> >
> > - Links that provide credits to third parties
> >
> > Linking to web sites that offer to trade, sell or purchase goods or
> > services, or including links for any purpose other than those listed
> > above is not allowed. Prohibited links include, but are not limited to:
> >
> > - Links to web pages that offer to trade, sell or purchase goods or
> > services outside of eBay
> >
> > - Links to web sites or pages offering merchandise not permitted on
> > eBay"
> >
> > On the view item page you may have one link to a web page that further
> > describes the item being sold in your listing. The purpose in allowing
> > this is to accommodate situations where the entire description takes up
> > too much space on the main listing page.
> >
> > Please keep in mind the additional description page must provide
> > information specific to the item being sold. You may not reference
> > material that only generally applies to the item. For instance, if you
> > are selling a set of golf clubs you could link to one page that gives
> > the all specifications for each individual golf club in the set. It
> > would not be permissible however, to link to a page that provides
> > information about general golfing equipment.
> >
> > For your convenience we have included the link to our updated policy, as
> > well as an FAQ page that will better assist you in the changes that have
> > been made:
> >
> > http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html#ads
> >
> > and
> >
> > http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-adsfaq2.html
> >
> > We encourage you to review all of your current listings and auction
> > templates to determine if they are in compliance with the revised Links
> > and Credits guidelines.
> >
> > We appreciate you writing in regarding this policy and offer you our
> > best wishes in all of your eBay transactions.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > XXXXX
> > Investigations Team
> > eBay Powerseller Support
> > ______________________________
> > eBay
> > Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
apologies to the author
[ edited by bevskiwolf on May 22, 2001 11:02 AM ]
|
missspider
|
posted on May 22, 2001 10:57:01 AM new
How very confusing, I emailed Powerseller support and promptly got the following answer....
Hello xxxxx,
Thanks very much for writing to eBay with your concerns. I would be
happy to answer your question regarding your link to the Auctiva
gallery.
eBay's revised Links and Credits policy would indeed permit a link to
your Auctiva gallery, provided that all auctions listed on this page are
eBay listings. Furthermore, the link itself must conform to our
guidelines which state that a text link can be no larger than font size
"3," and an image hyperlink can be no larger than 88 x 33 pixels.
We appreciate your desire to abide by our listing guidelines and wish
you the very best in all of your eBay trading. Thanks again for
writing. Have a great day!
Regards,
xxxxxx
eBay Community Watch Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
I checked the pixel size of the link and it conforms, and I believe the text link is in fact smaller than size 3. So the Auctiva link should be fine as long as you only have eBay auctions on it.
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 22, 2001 11:02:16 AM new
Missspider, hi 
I wrote to the author of that email and included a link to this discussion.
Also found 118 pages on eBay by searching for "Auctiva Showcase."
Hmmm...
Bevski
[ edited by bevskiwolf on May 22, 2001 11:15 AM ]
|
toke
|
posted on May 22, 2001 11:11:10 AM new
It is positively infuriating that even the eBay employees can't understand the rules.
I have a size 3 font BidPay text link in my auctions... It is still unclear to me whether it's allowed or not. And obviously any letter from Support staff would be meaningless, since they continuously contradict one another. 
|
franko122
|
posted on May 22, 2001 05:25:43 PM new
They always leave their rules ambiguous on purpose.
That way they are always open to interpret them in their favor anytime they find it convient to do so.
|
paintpower
|
posted on May 23, 2001 04:57:04 AM new
I have an email from an Ebay employee stating that you can keep your Auctiva Showcase link as long as it shows only items for sale on Ebay. Also you CANNOT have both the banner link AND the text link; can only have one or the other.
|
paintpower
|
posted on May 23, 2001 04:57:05 AM new
I have an email from an Ebay employee stating that you can keep your Auctiva Showcase link as long as it shows only items for sale on Ebay. Also you CANNOT have both the banner link AND the text link; can only have one or the other.
|
franko122
|
posted on May 23, 2001 06:44:55 PM new
"Also you CANNOT have both the banner link AND the text link; can only have one or the other."
Um, call me crazy but does't eBay do that with the Honesty counters that you can include right from their sell an item form? Both the counter and the link go to Honesty.
What part of their new rules is this breaking exactly?
Do you think it would be ok if Auctiva changed their logo to link to their site, and then the text link to go to our showcase? I would think eBay ought to be happy to have both links going to a list of only eBay listings.
As usual I'm confused by them...
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 24, 2001 05:35:28 AM new
And the reply from eBay. I really feel like screaming.
-------------------------------
Hello Beverly & Edward,
Thank you for writing eBay.
I have reviewed the information that you have provided. We do allow one
link to Auctiva showcase as long as you are only displaying eBay items,
however, your auction contained 2 links side by side. You may only have
a text or logo link and not both.
We recognize that many sellers use third party services to perform
essential functions related to their listing, and that there are
legitimate reasons for crediting such companies in their listings. For
example, some companies offer picture hosting, counters, listing
software and payment facilitation services. In exchange for providing
their service, some third party companies require or request that they
receive "credit" or recognition for their service within the eBay
listing. We will allow such credit within the following guidelines.
We will permit listings that contain a small, discrete identification or
"credit" to third parties that provide services or products directly
connected with the particular listing or that allow a seller to
aggregate their eBay listings.
The credit may only contain one of the following to identify or credit
the company offering the product or service:
- Text (HTML font size 3) OR
- A logo (88x33 pixels)
The credit may not contain promotional material or other information
about the company. The text may contain no more than 10 words, and may
be no larger than HTML font size 3.
The service being credited should only be one that the seller is using
within that particular listing. For instance, if an image hosting
service was used to create your listing, you may display a credit for
the image hosting service provider (provided the credit adheres to the
above guidelines):
Example:
"Image hosting services provided company X."
The credit may link only to the third party company's web page
containing information about the service.
For more information concerning our revised Links and Credits policy
please view the following link:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html#ads
Again, thank you for writing in. Good luck and happy eBaying!
Regards,
xxxxxxxxxx
eBay Community Watch Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
[ edited by bevskiwolf on May 24, 2001 05:36 AM ]
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 24, 2001 05:51:10 AM new
Now Auctiva is arguing this issue with me. Silly me, I thought it was eBay they needed to argue with. From Auctiva:
-------------
Hi,
I‘m still not sure what their issue is. Our logo is 88x33, that is our credit. We then insert a text link that is the sellers own words that links to their showcase. That‘s the product.
So we‘ve got the product ( the link to your showcase ), and our 88x33 logo ( the credit )
Other examples:
Honesty counter (the product), 10 word text link to Honesty ( the credit)
Image in the auction ( the product ), 88x33 logo for AuctionWatch ( the credit)
Their faq for their new policy states:
"You may also link to a page where information relating to your eBay or Half.com items is grouped in a picture gallery or similar format so long as the page otherwise complies with these policies. This gallery page may also contain discrete links to other pages that offer items for sale outside of eBay, but may not contain descriptions of or links to individual items on other sites."
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html
-------------------
*sigh*
I finally found how to remove Auctiva from your listings go to MY ACCOUNT; MANAGE SHOWCASE; EDIT MY MARKETPLACE ACCOUNTS.
From there you can remove eBay. I could not edit the button; only the link. And I wanted the link, not the button so Auctiva loses.
Let eBay and Auctiva work this out. When they're done I may consider re-adding it. But for now I simply don't have time for this~
Bevski
|
vargas
|
posted on May 24, 2001 07:18:19 AM new
bevskiwolf Are you required to use the link Auctiva provides?
Can't you write your own link to the showcase?
That way you don't lose your showcase while eBay and Auctiva hash this out.
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 24, 2001 07:33:25 AM new
Vargas, hi. That's a great suggestion but I don't think so. It's automated and I can't find an option to remove the button, just the text. I assume a bot goes in and attaches to every new auction posted.
It's just not worth the hassle right now.
They have a week to hash this out. I won't be posting new auctions until after the 31st anyway.
The ambiguity and inconsistencies are exhausting.
Bevski
|
vargas
|
posted on May 24, 2001 11:26:34 AM new
I think there's a workaround in this passage from Auctiva's Showcase FAQ:
"Can I put an Auctiva Showcase link wherever I want in my listings?
Yes! If you have already included the Auctiva Showcase link into your listings,
Auctiva Showcase will not add another one.
Simply sign in at http://www.auctiva.com and then click on "Put my Showcase on
a web page". We will automatically generate the HTML that you need paste into
your auction listings. Simply copy this HTML into your listings when you post them and you're done!"
Try the above --- but alter the HTML to remove the logo before you copy & paste into your listing.
I just did this with one of my listings.
Here's the original code:
<center><table border=0 bgcolor=#FFFFCC cellpadding=4><tr align=center><td><a href="http://www.auctiva.com/showcase/as_4sale.asp?dbuid=36828"><img src="http://ti.auctiva.com/as_link.gif" align=absmiddle hspace=4 border=0><font size=2 face=Arial,Geneva><p>Click here to see a gallery of my listings</font></a></table></center><br><hr>
Here's what I removed:
<img src="http://ti.auctiva.com/as_link.gif" align=absmiddle hspace=4 border=0>
It now shows in my listings as a text only link to my showcase.
edited to add bold
[ edited by vargas on May 24, 2001 11:37 AM ]
|
toke
|
posted on May 24, 2001 12:50:00 PM new
It's an easy method. I disliked all the BidPay links, so I altered a bunch of html so that I only have the (NON-flashing!) word "BidPay" itself, as my link. It's in size 3 font, in red and blue. I just leave the html code in my template and never have to mess with it.
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 25, 2001 05:25:33 AM new
Vargas, thank you very much for the invaluable information.
If I get the gumption up to fix 800 templates again I'll add your script.
Really appreciate it!
Bevski
|
vargas
|
posted on May 25, 2001 07:24:31 AM new
You're welcome Bevskiwolf.
I'm in the process of updating hundreds of templates, too to fit eBay's new rules, so I know the size of the task ahead of you!
Best of luck to you.
edited because it's my Fry-day.
[ edited by vargas on May 25, 2001 07:25 AM ]
[ edited by vargas on May 25, 2001 07:25 AM ]
|
eventer
|
posted on May 25, 2001 08:42:16 AM new
Arggghhh! Can anyone tell me how to "remove" the Auctiva link on my auctions other than individually revising them?
bevskiwolf is right..there doesn't appear to be any way of getting the double link out unless you do it by hand which is what I'm going to do now on.
Meanwhile, I'd like to get the link off before they start shutting down auctions due to the double link.
Auctive is NOT listening..it's not the size of the banner link ebay objects to.it's the double link of both the banner AND the text. Auctiva needs to change the format so we have the option of using the button or using the text.
I see where I can discontinue adding to my showcase but not where I can remove all the showcase links in my auctions at one time.
|
eleanordew
|
posted on May 25, 2001 08:52:00 AM new
I just removed the text from my Auctiva link .. you have to go into Manage Showcase / Edit my Showcase link. Then just remove the text and go down to the bottom and accept the changes. Then click Done.
Of course, it won't help with items that have already been linked.
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
[ edited by eleanordew on May 25, 2001 08:52 AM ]
|
eventer
|
posted on May 25, 2001 08:56:55 AM new
Hi EL,
I did the same thing, removed the text link..guess I'll either have to manually edit the ones in my existing auctions or risk it & hope they don't get pulled by ebay before they close!
I assume from the latest pronoucements that be we are still allowed to have the banner or the text link on the view page so long as it meets the size requirements & doesn't include non-ebay items after 5/31?
|
iowaantiques
|
posted on May 26, 2001 06:03:09 AM new
I just found this thread and I have auctions ending after 5-31-01 with bids! I gotta hope that eBay won't jump on double links immediately
|
bevskiwolf
|
posted on May 28, 2001 08:35:26 AM new
Okay guys. Update from Auctiva:
"Our showcase appender has been updated.
The showcase logo now links to the Showcase product signup page on our site. And the text link links to your showcase. That is just one link and complies with the rules."
For now this appears to be incompliance and I believe I'll be adding Auctiva back to the auctions.
We were averaging 24 hits a day and I love being able to see all the pics in one place.
Asked Auctiva if they got anything in writing if it was in complaince but eBay refuses to reply in writing (according to Auctiva support).
I am getting very very worried about all this.
Bevski
|
