I
Indefinite suspension:
An indefinite suspension is a suspension of a user's privilege to use The Free Auction
site for more than 60 days with no definite reinstatement date. Indefinite suspensions are generally reserved for the more serious violations of The Free Auction
rules, or for repeated violations of The Free Auction rules. Indefinitely suspended users may be reinstated by The Free Auction in its discretion, though The Free Auction
may determine at any time that the suspension is permanent. Users who have been indefinitely suspended may not register with The Free Auction during the suspension, nor may they use
The Free Auction's site in any way.
Insertion Fee:
Some auction sites have a fee paid by a seller to initially list an item for auction. The fee is usually calculated either by the opening bid price or the reserve price.
The Free Auction does not impose any insertion fees.
InterActive Classified:
In an InterActive Classified, there is no bidding, only the submission of competing offers based on an asking price set by the seller. The buyer and seller can communicate freely to decide on a price for the item.
Item Lookup: A method for finding an item if you already know its item number. (
The Free Auction assigns a unique item number to each auction.)
J
Java:
A complex programming language developed by Sun Microsystems that allows for the creation of embedded applications (called applets) that can be downloaded from the Internet and run immediately within a browser on any platform.
Just Me page:
A customized page where you can tell the world about you. Will show an icon next to your name when people view your auctions. Clicking on this icon will take them to your "Just Me" page, where they will see your personalized page with your interests, hobbies or whatever you want them to see. You must first login and personalize it before it is viewable to others.
K
Keep Your Emotions in Check:
It's easy to strike out against the faceless buyer or seller who upset you. Maybe they didn't mean to. One difficulty of cyber communication on The Free Auction
is the absence of tone or inflection in your words. Take extra steps to ensure your e-mail or chat communications with The Free Auction
members can be easily interpreted. Courteous and respectful communication is always the best defense against aggressive people. Remember this Internet Golden Rule: Flame, and be flamed.
L
Length of Auction:
The number of day's people can bid on your auction. Most auctions are open for at least a week or two to allow buyers to locate and bid on
the item. The seller determines the length of the auction when they create the auction.
Live Chat: A place on The Free Auction
where you can talk "live" with other auction users.
LOL: Message board abbreviation for "laugh out loud."
Lot: A single auction listing.
M
Market Value: The highest price an item will bring in the open market.
Maximum Bid:
The highest price a buyer will pay for an item, submitted in confidence to our automated bidding system to facilitate proxy bidding.
Message Board: A place on The Free Auction Where you can post questions,
comments, and answers to common problems. A good place to meet others and help out the auction community.
Minimum Opening Bid: The seller stipulates a minimum opening bid, which
sets the opening price given in your listing when it first goes online and before there are any bidders. This amount should not be as high as the hidden "Reserve
Price," if you have one. Many sellers believe it works to set your Opening Bid as low as possible - $0.01.
My Page: A useful tool that can help you keep track of your trade activities all on
one page. By creating your own My Page page, you can keep track of your favorite categories, view the items you're currently selling and bidding on, and
check your most recent account balance and feedback.
N
New Listing Icon:
A New Listing icon indicates an item posted within the past 48 hours. New listings can be found grouped together as a link from the bottom of
most pages, and also on the top of category specific pages.
Neg: Short for "negative user feedback". Usually posted by a member when a
buyer or seller's transaction activity falls below expectation.
Non-Paying Bidder Policy: Non-paying bidding undermines trust within our
trading community. Bidders who win auctions but fail to complete the transaction may face certain consequences. At the same time, we automatically send an
email warning to the user who has been accused of non-paying bidding. The user receives two warnings before suspension. If the non-paying bidding continues a third time,
The Free Auction suspends the user from our system indefinitely. The Free Auction understands that users sometimes have legitimate reasons
for not being able to follow through in a transaction. They include hospitalization, family emergencies, acts of nature, and computer-related problems. Our warning
messages include directions for appealing complaints that we've received from sellers.
O
Opening Amount or Price: The opening bid price sellers set for their auctions.
Opening Bid:
The mandatory starting bid for a given auction, set by the seller at the time of listing. An opening bid should be either the maximum you would be
willing to pay for that item or the opening amount plus the increment shown on the item page
Open Auction: In an Open Auction, buyers bid until the auction ends. The item
is then sold to the highest bidder at the end of the auction period.
Outbid: To submit a maximum bid that is higher than another buyer's maximum
bid. You will be notified by The Free Auction if your maximum bid has been outbid.
P
PIC Icon:
A PIC icon indicates that the seller has included a picture of the item for sale on the item information page. Pictures can help you to judge the quality of the item for sale.
Picture Hosting: If you have pictures in your listings, they must be stored
somewhere on the Web, accessible through their own unique URL (or web address). You scan and upload the picture to your server then, enter the URL of
the picture when you create the auction. You can also upload one of your pictures to The Free Auction when you post your item.
Post: The act of publishing a listing to an online site.
Proxy Bidding: Placing a maximum bid, which is held in confidence by The Free Auction.
The Free Auction will use only as much of the maximum bid as is necessary to maintain the bidder's high bid position.
Q
R
Ratings and Feedback:The Free Auction
makes it possible to offer feedback on both sellers and buyers. This allows the whole auction community to know if a
participant has had a positive or negative experience with another member. Members may offer feedback in the form of a number rating as well as a verbal
comments from the User Feedback Page.
Registration Agreement: The registration agreement outlines the terms of use for
The Free Auction. All registered users must agree to these terms before they can place an online bid.
Registered Auction Member: A person who has registered as a member of The Free Auction.
The Free Auction requires the registration of valid contact information prior to buying and selling. Registering is free at The Free Auction. All your information is private.
Re-listing: The re-listing of an item by a seller after it has not received any bids
or met its reserve price. Re-listing on The Free Auction is free of charge.
Reserve Not Met: Reserve not met means that no one has yet bid as much as
the minimum price that the seller will accept.
Reserve Price: The minimum price a seller will accept for an item to be sold
during a Reserve Price Auction. This amount is never formally disclosed.
Reserve Icon: A Reserve icon
 indicates an item that has a reserve price.
Reserve Price Auction: In a Reserve Price Auction, the seller has the option of
setting a Reserve Price, below which the listing will not sell. The Reserve Price is higher than the Opening Bid amount. If the seller has set a Reserve Price you will
see either "reserve not met" or "reserve met" depending on whether the current bid price is above or below this.
Retaliatory Feedback: The term for retaliatory negative feedback, posted by
one member in response to another's negative feedback.
S
S&H Charges: Shipping and handling charges relating to the sale of an item.
Shill Bidding: The deliberate placing of bids to artificially drive up the price of an
item. This is also know as "bid padding" and is not allowed.
Sniping: Outbidding other buyers in the closing minutes or seconds of an
auction. This is a perfectly legitimate and sensible tactic for buyers who spot something they're interested in, but don't want to prematurely up the price early
in the auction. They wait, then pounce at the last minute. You shouldn't be upset if there isn't much action on your listing in the first days. On the last day, in the
last hour, and in the last seconds, there could be a lot of activity and rapid escalation to the final winning bid.
Starting Price: The mandatory starting bid for a given auction, set by the seller
at the time of listing. [Same as Minimum Opening Bid.]
T
Terms and Conditions: A legally binding agreement that outlines The Fee Auction
's operating policies. All registered members must agree to abide by these terms and conditions when using the service.
U
URL:
A Uniform Resource Locator is a way of specifying a resource, i.e., an Internet address. Every electronic document that is accessible via the Internet
has a unique URL. A URL consists of a protocol name, a colon (:), two forward slashes (//), a domain name, and a path to a resource (using / as a separator). For example, the
The Free Auction home page can be found at http://www.TheFreeAuction.com.
V
Virus: A program which replicates itself on computer systems by incorporating
itself into other programs that are shared among computer systems.
W
Wildcard or *.* : A character string that is used in text searches to make finding
a match easier. An asterisk (*) usually means find any character or set of characters.
World Wide Web: You're in it! -- the system by which you are viewing this
document right now! Technically it is a global (Worldwide) hypertext system that uses the Internet as it's transport mechanism. In a hypertext system, you
navigate by clicking hyperlinks, which display another document which also contains hyperlinks.
WYSIWYG: An acronym for "What You See is What You Get". What you see in
your document in a WYSIWYG HTML editor is pretty much what you'll see when you review the resulting HTML file on the Web in your browser. The HTML code
stays hidden beneath the page you create.
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