| Date: 01/15/2004 |
***Cancel Bid / Increase Bid - new features***
Two new features have been added to the website:
Cancel Bid feature
High bidders on active auctions can now cancel their bids by following the steps below.
Please note that high bids placed on auctions that have closed cannot be cancelled.
1) log into My Account
2) Click on the "View your bidding history" link
3) Limit results to "active auctions" on the bidding results page
4) Click the "Cancel this bid" button beside desired auction(s)
Increase Bid Feature
An auction's high bidder can now increase his bid amount (proxy and regular bids) without bidding against himself.
Simply cancel the existing bid by following the steps above, and then place a new, higher bid.
|
| Date: 10/20/2003 |
***New Mailing Address***
Effective immediately, the new mailing address for the webmaster and all SlideTrader.com
related business is as follows:
SlideTrader.com
5220 Dunbar Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6N 1V9
Mail sent to the old address will be forwarded for 90 days. Please update your records accordingly.
|
| Date: 07/02/2003 |
***Edit/Cancel Auction - new features***
Sellers can now cancel their own auctions by simply logging into My Account and
clicking on the "Cancel Auction Early" link. It is no longer necessary to send
the 9-digit numbers to the webmaster.
Also, a new "edit auction" button appears at the top of auction pages when a
seller is logged into the system and viewing their own auctions. This makes
editting auctions even easier!
|
| Date: 06/07/2003 |
***Block Bidder/Edit Auction/Login-Logout Upgrades***
This past week several new features were added to the website:
Bulk Loader
Within My Account, the new Bulk Loader allows sellers to list large numbers of
slides very rapidly. All large volume sellers are encouraged to look at this
time saving feature!
Block Bidder
Sellers can now block bidders from bidding on their auctions using the new Block
Bidder page, accessed in My Account. Site users with a history of slow payment or
poor communication should be aware that sellers can now block their bids!
Blocked Bidder List
All users that are blocked are presented for all to see on the new
Blocked Bidder List.
The Blocked Bidder List
also shows the nickname of the blocking seller(s). This will allow everyone to see emerging
patterns of poor performance, and will hopefully encourage the blocked bidders to rectify
their problems.
Edit Auction
Sellers can now make the following changes to their auctions on the Edit Auction
page within My Account:
1) change image
2) edit auction title
3) change auction category
Login-Logout Module
A new time-saving login-logout module has been added to the website. When logged in,
users no longer need to enter their nickname and password when performing all site functions (bidding,
listing slides etc).
Important Note:
In order for the login-logout module to work properly, PC browser settings must
be enabled to accept cookies with medium or lower security.
Users who experience problems should follow these steps:
1) in browser select Tools / Internet Options / General tab
2) delete all temporary internet files
3) delete all cookies
4) select the Privacy tab within Internet Options
3) reduce privacy to medium (or lower)
4) click Apply/OK tab
5) re-boot computer
|
| Date: 05/23/2003 |
***Auction Relist Upgrade***
This week we completed two significant upgrades to the website.
1) Relist Completed Auction
A "Relist This Item" button now appears at the top of all expired auctions.
Clicking this button automatically launches a new Sell Page that is pre-populated
with all the details and images from the completed auction. Of course any field
can be changed (except images) and the relisted auction can be posted with two
simple clicks of the mouse! Be careful not to relist auctions that were initially
set to relist automatically... to avoid double listings.
2) Behind the Scenes Image Management Upgrade
With the high volume of auction images being posted to the website each month, the
level of image reliability was becoming compromised. Although rare, there were
incidents of images being mixed-up on the system. We have made significant behind
the scenes upgrades to the image management system and do not expect any further
image problems.
In the coming weeks we have several other site upgrades planned (in response to
requests made by members) and they will be announced on completion.
|
| Date: 05/13/2003 |
***User Code of Conduct - Reminder Notice***
All members should be aware of the website's User Code of Conduct, and should take a few
minutes to read the rules now:
http://www.slidetrader.com/welcome/safety.cfm
From time to time, users send emails complaining that they have acquired slides on the website
that have problems that were not noted in the auction listing.
Specifically, people complain to the webmaster when:
a) slides are not kodachrome originals (and this was not noted in the auction)
b) slides have damage, processing marks, scratches etc. (and this was not noted in
the auction).
c) other members are slow to communicate and slow to pay
The Safe Harbor - User Code of Conduct explicitly sets out the rules of the website. In summary:
a) If a slide is not a kodachrome original, the auction listing must contain this
information for bidders to see.
b) If a slide is damaged, the auction listing must contain this information for
bidders to see.
c) Auction winners and sellers must communicate within 7 days of auction close,
and the winner must pay within 14 days of auction close.
What happens when a seller gets a slide that is defective for reasons not explained
in the listing? The buyer should follow these steps:
1) Tell the seller the slide is being returned and ask for a refund.
2) Leave negative feedback
3) If the seller will not refund the buyer's money, please contact us and
we will assist in resloving the matter.
If a member is slow to communicate and/or slow to pay, leave them negative feedback.
Serious violations should be brought to our attention.
The feedback system allows all of us to monitor the pattern of behavior for all site
members. If a negative pattern emerges for a certain member, we can then take corrective
action based on hard facts.
The vast majority of site users are honest and conduct their website activities within
the rules. And some people simply are not as well organized as others, but are still honest.
If we can all be aware of the User Code of Conduct and try to comply as best we can, this
will benefit all of our online trading experiences.
|
| Date: 05/07/2003 |
***Mailing Address/Payment Instructions Notice***
A number of site members are not aware of two recently added, time-saving features of the website.
Sellers can include their mailing address in the congratulations email sent to auction winners.
Simply select the check-box at the bottom of the Sell Page that says:
NEW!! Include mailing address in winning bidder email
Also, sellers can send winners detailed payment instructions in the same end of auction
congratulations email. Simply enter the text in the Payment Instructions field, also on
the Sell Page.
Many slide sellers are not making use of these time saving features. As a result, the seller
has to send the winner a seperate email asking for payment, while the auction winner must
wait for this information. Much time is wasted if these features are not employed.
All sellers are keenly encouraged to make use of these features.
|
| Date: 04/30/2003 |
***Lost Payment and Slide Notice***
It is apparent that the vast majority of incidents of lost slides and lost payments
in the mail is easily explained by careless action of members.
For example, in the past few weeks, I have personally received:
1) A letter containing cash that was incorrectly addressed, which I found
in the lobby of our building. It was delivered to the wrong suite number
and the occupant dumped the letter in the lobby for return to the Post Office.
2) The letter referenced above contained NO RETURN ADDRESS!!!!! Therefore, had
I not found the letter it would have been destroyed by the Post Office, and
the sender would be complaining to me that he sent the money! In actuality,
this loss would have been entirely the fault and responsibility of the
careless sender.
3) Numerous letters are received with addresses written in a barely legible
scrible. This makes it difficult for the Post Office to decipher to which address
the letter is to be delivered, and it makes it extremely difficult for the seller
to determine the correct mailing address to send the slide to. Again, this
carelessness results in payments and slides getting lost, and it is entirely
the fault of the buyer.
4) Numerous letters are received with cash in an envelope with no reference
to the slide(s) for which payment is sent. This makes it extremely difficult
and time consuming to find the right slide to send to the buyer.
The above examples support the website policy of placing all risk of loss
(payment to seller, and slide to buyer) with the buyer. If the buyer does not
address his payment properly it gets lost, at buyer's risk. And if the buyer
provides an illegible address and the slide does not get delivered, this too
is at buyer's risk.
To minimize these unpleasant occurences, all AirlineHobby members are strongly
urged to follow the following basic guidelines when sending payment to sellers
for slides they have won:
1) Address and return address must be neetly PRINTED (not written). I
repeat, it must be neetly PRINTED so it can be easily read without the
chance for error on the part of the Post Office or the recipient.
2) Envelope must contain a return address... without exception!!!
3) Sender should include the details of the slides for which payment
is being sent. Print the email confirmation received from AirlineHobby
and send it to the seller as this will insure the seller sends the
correct slide(s).
If everyone can follow the above guidelines, we will all experience a
much smoother online trading experience.
|
| Date: 03/17/2003 |
***Duplicate Slide Policy***
It is important to remind all site members of the website's duplicate slide policy.
Sellers are required to include the word "duplicate" or "dupe" in the main title field when
listing duplicate slides for auction.
|
| Date: 02/02/2003 |
***New Listings Here feature***
There is one additional new feature that was added last week, that was not
explained in the email sent out on Friday.
If an auction (or auctions) have been posted to a category within the past
24 hours, the words "New Listings Here" will appear
beside the category name on the Listings page.
Users can quicky and easily see where new auctions have been posted to the website
in the past 24 hours.
For more details please see the New Features page.
|
| Date: 01/31/2003 |
***New Features - Payment Instructions***
It is now possible for sellers to send their mailing address, and custom payment
instructions to auction winners in the end-of-auction "congratulations" email
that is automatically sent out by the system. Here are the details...
On the Sell Page, we have added a new text box (titled "Payment Instructions")
in which sellers can include their own custom message for the winner. This
payment instruction message would otherwise have to be manually sent to the
winner by way of seperate email after the auction closes.
Also, at the bottom of the Sell page, there is a new check box where sellers
can select to have the system include their complete mailing address along
with the "congratulations" results email to auction winners.
Custom message and address information is also sent to "BuyNow" customers.
It is very important that sellers make sure their addresses are current
and accurate in our database. Otherwise winners will send payment to the
wrong address!
Auction winners should now pay close attention and read end-of-auction
"congratulations" emails and "BuyNow successful" emails very carefully.
Effective today, many sellers will be providing specific payment instructions
and their mailing address.
These new features will hopefully benefit everyone, particularly high-volume sellers.
For more details please see the New Features page.
|
| Date: 01/29/2003 |
***New Features - Watch, Privacy***
Over the past week we have added some new features to the website:
1) Auction Watch
Just click on the "watch" link which now appears on all auctions to add desired
auctions to your "watch" page. By logging into My Account,
you can then access the "watch" page which presents all the auctions you would
like to keep close watch of ... all in one convenient place. Selected auctions
remain on the watch page until auction expirey.
2) Account Balance
You can view your account balance simply by logging into My Account. It is
no longer necessary to run a detailed account inquirey to retrieve account balances.
3) Private Auctions
All auctions posted on the website are now private. Seller and high bidder
nicknames presented on any given auction are now Nickname and Password protected.
In order to send an email to the seller/high bidder, simply click on the seller/high
bidder nickname, enter your nickname and password, and our system will send your
email message for you. This change was made to protect user's email addresses from
being archived by spam engines, and to prevent unsolicited communications from
people outside the SlideTrader community.
For more details please see the New Features page.
|
| Date: 01/09/2003 |
***current auction Front Page relisting fees***
Several people have sent emails asking if Front Page relist auctions set prior to
today will be charged the new $1 Front Page fee.
Today at 1445 PST (Jan 09, 2003), the database was re-set whereby the auction-relist
for all auctions on the system was changed to 0. This means if a user selected a
relist value of 1, 2 or 3 prior to 1445 PST today, all such current auctions WILL
NOT BE RELISTED if they do not sell.
For all new auctions posted after 1445 PST today, relist values of 1, 2 or 3 will be
processed accordingly. Therefore, an auction relist value of 3, in combination
with the Front Page listing selected, will result in Front Page listing fees
totalling $3 if the item relists 3 times.
This was the only we were able to prevent users from being charged the $1 Front
Page listing fees which come into effect today, as detailed in the previous email
(see below).
There may be a few auctions that closed while the database changes were in work,
and were inadvertantly charged the $1 Front Page fee. Simply send an email and
we will be happy to make the necessary adjustments to the effected accounts.
|
| Date: 01/09/2003 |
***Front Page Listings for HOT RARE slides***
We have created a very special, new venue for sellers with special slides (hot new,
golden oldies, mega-rare) to showcase their auctions with prime exposure in their
own category, right on the website home page.
As such, the home page has been re-designed to present thumbnail images for
these very special auctions posted in the new Front Page listing category.
Effective immediately, there will be a $1 fee for sellers that would like for
their auctions to be posted in the new Front Page listing category. Auctions
will also continue to appear in the standard listing categories as selected
on the auction Sell Page. The Front Page listing category simply provides
added exclusive exposure for a nominal $1 fee.
The home page will present a rolling marquee of the most current 14 Front
Page auctions at any given time, with the older Front Page listings presented
in their own special pages accessed from the link at the bottom of the
home page.
Several site members offered this suggestion as a way to create a new area of
added excitement. It had been often pointed out that the old format of free
listings on the home page was of little value or interest because they were
available to everyone, at no cost.
We have several other new features in the works, including the ability to
track auctions of potential interest. Happy collecting!
|
| Date: 08/06/2002 |
***Holiday Notification Board - NEW***
As we enter into the busiest holiday month of the year, site members are
encouraged to advise website trading partners of their upcoming holiday
dates using the new Holiday Notification Board. Here is the link:
http://slidetrader.community.everyone.net
Before sending an email to the webmaster asking why someone has not responded to emails
in a timely fashion, please first check the Holiday Notice Board for information.
In many cases people are on holidays, and up until now, there has not been a venue
for this information to be shared with other website members.
Login and password are NOT REQUIRED to post a notice on the Holiday Notification
Board. Holiday notices should include your system nickname, your real name, as well
as dates of travel.
|
| Date: 05/24/2002 |
***Hit Counter + other site improvements***
Yesterday we implemented a number of improvements to the web site, several of
which were requested by a number of users.
These improvements were implimented throughout the day, and there were periods
when the site was down or bidding was not possible. The site is now fully
functioning with the following new features:
Hit Counter
All auctions posted to the site now automatically have a hit counter.
The counter records one visit per person (per unique IP address) each 24 hour period.
View Other Auctions By Seller
We now have multiple page links (1 2 3 4 5 6 etc.) at the top and bottom of
each page (with 50 listings per page). These page links provide easier
navigation and replaced a "Next" button.
Selling History - Active Auctions page (within My Account)
http://www.slidetrader.com/personal/index.cfm
a) Soonest ending auctions are presented first
b) We now have multiple page links (1 2 3 4 5 6 etc.) at the top and
bottom of each page (with 50 listings per page). These page links provide easier
navigation and replaced a "Next" button.
Selling History - Expired Auctions page (within My Account)
a) Most recently ended auctions are presented first
b) We now have multiple page links (1 2 3 4 5 6 etc.) at the top and bottom
of each page (with 50 listings per page). These page links provide easier
navigation and replaced a "Next" button.
Bidding History - Active Auctions page (within My Account)
a) Soonest ending auctions are presented first
b) We now have multiple page links (1 2 3 4 5 6 etc.) at the top and bottom
of each page (with 50 listings per page). These page links provide easier
navigation and replaced a "Next" button.
Bidding History - Expired Auctions page (within My Account)
a) Most recently ended auctions are presented first
b) We now have multiple page links (1 2 3 4 5 6 etc.) at the top and bottom of
each page (with 50 listings per page). These page links provide easier navigation
and replaced a "Next" button.
|
| Date: 05/16/2002 |
***FutureWatch Feature***
Recent improvements have been made to the FutureWatch feature, which is now working
after an extended period of downtime.
The FutureWatch feature will send you an email notification when new auctions are
listed that contain key words you select.
For example, if you are looking for slides of Singapore Airlines,
Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air Jamaica, Viscount, Tu-154, L-188, French, Canadian, and
British registered aircraft... you would enter the following key words into your
FutureWatch page:
Singapore, Lingus, Canada, Jamaica, Viscount, 154, Electra, 188,
F-, C-, CF-, G-
Each expression must be seperated by a coma.
Do not enter the world "Airlines" with Singapore, or "Air" with Canada or Jamaica.
Otherwise you will receive emails each day for every auction listed that alo contains
the word "Air," which there are dozens.
To set your FutureWatch settings...
1) Log into My Account at
http://www.slidetrader.com/personal/index.cfm
2) Click on the FutureWatch Setting link
3) Enter all your keywords into the Keywords field
4) YOU MUST CHECK THE ENABLE BOX!!
5) Click the Update button at the bottom of the page
If you wish to stop receiving FutureWatch emails, simply de-select the check-mark from
the enable box on your FutureWatch page.
Please be aware that some ISPs block certain forms of server generated email
(such as FutureWatch emails), and email delivery is never a 100% sure thing (due to internet
traffic irregularities and other reasons). As such, there is no gaurantee that the
FutureWatch system will catch and deliver every single auction that is a possible match.
At the very least, this feature will give you advance notice on some auctions that are likely
to be of interest.
|
| Date: 05/13/2002 |
***Search Engine changes***
Last week we updated the Search Engine to allow you to do much more refined
searches of the database. This means you should make use of Wild Card searches
(which use the asterisk *) for most of your searches.
Here are some examples:
If you are looking for all French registered aircraft in the database,
enter F-* into the search box
If you are looking for all British Registered aircraft in the database,
enter G-* into the search box
If you are looking for all 707s in the database, enter *707* into the
search box (you should get 230+ hits right now)
The Wild Card search capability is explained on the Search Tips page at
http://www.slidetrader.com/help/searching.cfm
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