Treasurer's Report:
None presented

Secretary's Report:
None presented.

Program:
ICPCUG member Jim Crissman and his associate, George McMillen, presented the evening's program on using the Internet auction site eBay.

To illustrate how an auction operates, Jim had placed for sale on eBay a videotape of banjo-playing instruction.  His auction was timed to end during his presentation.

Jim said eBay charges a seller an insertion fee of $0.30 to place for sale an item priced between $0.01 and $0.99. A seller may include one picture of the item at no charge and post up to 10 additional pictures for $0.15 each.

Sellers may use a third party such as Craters and Freighters of Pittsburgh to package and ship goods to the buyers.

When an auction ends, eBay charges the seller a final fee of 5.25% of the sale price for items priced up to $25.00 (a maximum of $1.3125).  A fee of 2.75% is applied to the portion of a selling price over $25.00 up to $1,000, and a fee of 1.5% is charged on the amount of a sale price over $1,000.

Buyers are liable for paying 6% sales tax for items sold and bought within Pennsylvania.  The seller is responsible to remit the tax to the state.  However, sellers are not usually pursued for sales-tax collections unless they sell more than $2,000 worth of items per month.

In order to limit the costs of shipping and handling, sellers may place a limit on the area where an item may be shipped.  Those restrictions and the amounts charged for shipping should be included in the item's description on the eBay Web site.

Jim's banjo videotape had attracted a high bid of $1.75 at the time the group viewed it on eBay.  In the final minutes and seconds of the auction, buyers raised the bidding to $6.12.  Jim also charged $4.50, what he said was a standard figure, for shipping.  It is the responsibility of the buyer to contact the shipper within three days of a sale to arrange payment and delivery of the product.

The eBay site helps to protect buyers and sellers by allowing users to post feedback regarding their transactions.  George, who was described as a "power-seller" on eBay, said he has recorded about 1,800 positive feedback remarks.  Jim said he has sold 48 items and earned 43 positive feedbacks.

Buyers may comment on whether sellers deliver a product of the advertised quality in a timely manner.  Sellers may comment on whether buyers make prompt payment.

Jim demonstrated how to set up an auction to sell one party or many of the same item, how to properly describe an item offered for sale, how to give the item a title that will appear for users who search eBay (use all 55 character spaces available, George said). For additional fees, a seller may list an item in boldface type or have it get preferential placement in site searches. The fees range up to $19.95.

Jim said a subtitle does not help generate hits in a search on the site and George advised sellers to to post "sell for now" price.  Jim recommended auctioning items for seven days, and identifying in the product description where it is located (i.e., the town and state where the seller resides).

Jim and George recommended that sellers indicate a preference for payment by money order.  George said he likes PayPal but said the fee charged by PayPal is a drawback $0.65 for any item sold for less than $10.00). Sellers should indicate that an item would be sent to the buyer by U.S. Postal Service, UPS or another carrier.  A return policy should be stated with the payment and shipping instructions.  They said eBay charges nothing to buyers.

George recommended the postal service because it provides free boxes, tape and labels for priority-mail packages.

Jim said eBay can collect its fees from sellers by charging their credit cards, debiting their bank accounts.  Jim said he set up a cash account with eBay, and George said he has eBay deduct his fees from his PayPal account.

To avoid getting negative feedback, George advised that sellers should be honest in description of their items. To build credibility and gain positive feedbacks, users should make several purchases before starting to sell them.

Old Business:
President Larry Rodack sought users willing to do presentations on WordPerfect and Microsoft Front Page, and said he would prepare a presentation on Pinnacle for the July 20th meeting.

New Business:
None

Open Forum:

The group discussed various issues, concerns, problems and ideas relating to technology.  "Why does my computer make a shirring sound like a 747 when I start it?" one asked. What are the pros and cons of hybrid PCs compared to systems made by leading manufacturers?" another asked. Solutions were brainstormed; personal philosophies were debated.

The next meeting of the ICPCUG will be held Tuesday, July 20, 2004.  There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:59 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/
Chauncey Ross
Publicity Director