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Volume 1, Issue 2 July 1997

The Search is Over

Remember when using search was like praying for miracles? Remember when search results looked like obscure omens from above? Those days are over. Thankfully.

In the old days, the system only allowed simple searches by item number, title, seller or bidder. With the beta version, implemented early last month, searches can be done using Boolean operators to narrow search results.

Search results can be sorted by ending date, seller and bid price. And the search results display the item information, auction end times, the seller, current bid price, the number of bids made and the item location.

eBay hopes to add even more functionality to Search and would appreciate hearing from anyone with creative suggestions. Send your suggestions to [suggest@ebay.com].

Hugs and Kisses
1000% improvement in speed, length of display, and inclusion of Boolean operators. Searching for the word “Indian” with the old engine would

A. Take long enough for me to go brew a cup of coffee
B. Display 25 items at a time with interminable waits between pages
C. Return Indiana Jones hits
D. Cause an out of memory error in Netscape 3.1 on a Power Mac before it finished displaying all hits.

This morning I completed the entire search in 15 minutes and am now only a little late for work instead of having to call in with excuses about the subway (a New Yorker’s only ever-believable lateness excuse!). Good work!


	This Beta Search is pretty groovilatin’. I never know what you guys are going to come up with next. Anyway, it’s cool! Thanks, and keep up the good work.



	Terrific!!! I look for cookbooks…usually I type in “cook” because sometimes they are listed as one word and sometimes two. By typing “cook and no jar”, I don’t end up with all the cookie jars. Fantastic! Even on a night as slow as this, the search was almost immediate. Great job….

It’s Great. I have always wondered why Items were not listed in order of closing date. Now I can just jump on my computer in the morning before work, pull up the search for the thing I'm interested in and not miss a thing that was too far down the list for me to get to before I have to leave. It’s GREAT!!!

Boos and Hisses
No doubt this note is misdirected since you are the "editor", but since the beta version of the search feature was installed I can't search on anything! Please....the search feature is really vital. Junk the beta and bring back the old one!!

Suggestion Box

If you have an idea that would help us to improve eBay, please let us know. Drop by the Suggestion Box on the Menu Page or email us at suggest@ebay.com.

Wanted No More

It was used and abused. Big Time.

That’s why TPTB (The Powers That Be) took the Wanted Page, hosed it down and cleaned it up. And it looks good!

No need to remind everyone what the old Wanted Page looked like. The new Wanted Page attaches a name to every message that is posted - making the poster of messages on the Wanted Page (1) responsible for his or her words and (2) more importantly, accountable for any (heaven forbid) offensive language.

And now, all is good in the world. So post away. But beware, “duping” might still get you sent to the dungeon.

eBay what?

In the last six months, eBay has experienced astounding growth. When Skippy first came to work for eBay earlier this year, the site received one million hits per week and listed some 15,000 auctions per day (with 2,000 new auctions listed daily). Today, Skippy is responsible for maintaining a system that receives over 10 million hits per week and lists over 60,000 auctions per day (with 9,000 new auctions listed daily).

Small wonder that eBay is searching for ways to describe itself to the rest of the world which doesn’t already know what eBay is all about. Are we just an online auction? Are we a marketplace or a community or both? What is eBay?

We’re asking for input from the most important people at eBay - you, our user. Below are a few possible taglines.

1. Swap your stuff online
2. The Web's best marketplace
3. The online trading community
4. Where people trade online
5. The global trading community
6. Make a friend. Made a deal. Do it again.

Please let us know if you are a buyer or a seller (or both), and please vote on a few favorites. OR if you have a better suggestion, tell us! If eBay decides to use your tagline, we will send you and a friend to dinner. Send your votes and suggestions to marylou@ebay.com.

More addiction confessions….

The AuctionWeb Addiction confessions continue to pour in. But eBay would like to inform everyone that the AuctionWeb Addiction Contest is over! Please save your confessions until next year, during eBay’s Second Annual AuctionWeb Addiction Contest.

For those who can’t seem to get enough, however, the Editor has decided to continue publishing entries beginning with confessions from the honorable mentions for the First Annual AuctionWeb Addiction Contest. Click here to read the honorable mentions.

Second-Chance at Stardom!

For those of you who missed the opportunity to be a media darling with USA Today, you have another chance with US News.

US News is doing an article on the ins and outs of online auctions. In particular, the publication would like to hear from experts and buyers who have made transactions in collectibles and furniture (but not computer equipment). More specifically, the publication is looking for detailed information about the potential plusses and pitfalls of online auctions. In short, answer this question: Why should I bother with online auctions at all?

Send your stories to JR at editor@ebay.com.


		Hints From Heidi

	The eBay Observer would like to introduce our advice columnist, Heidi. Each month, Heidi will share her incredible knowledge of the eBay system with those of us who are not quite as well versed as she. If you need help with your auction skills, read Hints from Heidi. - The Editor


		Guest Column

	Welcome to the “Guest Column” section of The eBay Observer. We invite users to submit stories - the subjects of which are left to personal propensity - for publication. The Editor makes no promises regarding which stories - if any - are printed. He leaves that to the discretion of Mother Earth, Father Time and other forces of nature. Chances aside, send your Guest Column submissions, marked “Guest Column” to editor@ebay.com. Click here to read this month’s guest column.


	Skippy Takes Marta to “Lost World” to Sharpen Man-Eating Skills


	The blood. The gore. The screams. The gut-wrenching, fear-sweating attack. Forgetting the horrific scene would be virtually impossible for any sensitive, caring human being. For Skippy, it was child’s play. Last month, Mary Lou went to Skippy’s house to ask for a new name for the eBay Café (formerly, the Bulletin Board). She accidentally let sunlight into Skippy’s dark and dank, rodent-infested home, for which Skippy ordered Marta the Vole to attack Mary Lou. Thus began Marta’s taste for human flesh and Skippy’s desire to encourage her man-eating tendencies.


			Marta Practicing the Compsognathus Attack Stance



			Compsognathus: Marta’s Hero

	The eBay Observer has learned that Skippy took Marta to see “Lost World.” A movie-goer said that Skippy reportedly ordered Marta to “take notes” and to pay special attention to the Velociraptors and the Compsognathi (those “hungry little, squealing dinosaurs that eat the people”). A neighbor later reported that she had seen Skippy and Marta practicing vole attack strategies, modeled after the Compsognathi attack strategy. “Y’all might want to watch your backs,” Mary Lou warned. “I keep a loaded bowl of vole chow with me at all times. If Marta’s hungry, I want her to choose the chow!”

New Interior Decorators Retained for the eBay Café

SkIpPy recently invited everyone to help in decorating the eBay Café, allowing users to add HTML and breathing new life in the drab, gray surroundings.

People have been adding color, animation, photos and other assorted decorations to the Café walls.

“We are having so much fun!” Carolyn, a Café regular, said.

The decorating invitation baffled Café regulars, who speculated that Skippy had set a trap to keep Addicts contained at the Café.

During a coffee klatch discussion, Mary Lou offered one possible cause - Skippy may have actually done something nice just for the sake of doing something nice. Her suggestion, of course, was met with roaring laughter and sarcastic agreements, like “Yeah, right.”

“I think Skippy did this to the board to keep the peasants quiet:) Also to distract us in case any big problems came up, like feedback crashing or something:> ),” said Sam, tempting fate and venturing into vole attack territory.

Regardless of the reasons, Skippy did warn that “Anyone who abuses HTML privileges at the Café will be summarily punished.” He mentioned punishments ranging from the firing squad to time in the dungeon.

eBay encourages anyone who would like to learn how to use HTML at the eBay Café to visit A Beginner’s Guide to HTML or A Bare Bones Guide to HTML.

eBay also encourages anyone using HTML at the Café to respect the privilege or face Skippy’s wrath.


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