The system saves old lots that haven’t sold so that you can “batch†post those in a relatively quick manner.
I am currently in the process of getting some stuff scanned for a bunch of my own lots, and I was just thinking the same thing, that it would be cool to be able to get the lots built online and queued up for one big “batch†posting.
---Pat
Andrew and Pat,
Would this approach work for you? As you are posting an auction lot it currently goes through two stages: when you first enter the information on the first screen that information gets saved and the auction lot record at that point is given a status of "Inactive", then on the third screen when you confirm the auction lot is ok the status is changed to "Active". How about on the bottom of the third screen we add the option to confirm that the auction lot is ready for posting but place it in "Hold" status. I would add an extra flag in your membership profile to say what the default position of this flag would be, either "Hold" or "Active". In doing this you could decide which way you would want the status flag to work.
So now, you have posted a dozen new auction lots and they are all sitting in "Hold" status. I would add an extra function to the auction menu which would allow you to take all the auction lots that you have created that are sitting in "Hold" status and make them all "Active" in one go. If we introduced this feature, I would have to think through how the Auction Edit program would handle these new "Hold" status auction lots.
Please give me your thoughts.
Regards ... Tim.
Tim,
I think that is well thought out. It sounds like a it would work. I'll speed up my scanning so that I can test it out when you are ready.
---Pat
Ditto! Thanks so much, Tim! If you need a tester let me know - I'm pretty much free, on and off through to the end of the weekend.
not sure why you need a flag?
when you enter an auction and takes you to the confirm screen, you have two ways to proceed, "hold" or "activate". then you just need a UI for going to your "held" auctions and given the option to edit/delete/activate them.
are you sure you need a "hold" button at all? by the time it goes to the inactive status, isn't that already a "hold" state? at that point where an auction item is entered but is still inactive, you could just leave it there and post a new one. from a UI POV, all you would need is a UI for going to "inactive" auctions and edit/delete/activate.
wodjathink?
Hi George,
You might be right about not needing an extra flag on the member's profile. I'm assuming that the seller would be using the "copy from previous" function so that you'd assume "active" as a default but if "Hold" what chosen on the first lot posted, it would be copied to all subsequent lots the same as the other data is copied from one lot to the next.
Regards ... Tim.
This sounds like a really good idea. I prefer listing a lot of "related" items at the same time, so people can bid on multiples... "save on postage fees" only makes SENSE when you have multiple "something related's" to offer.
I like this. A lot.
Cheers,
Peter
I have implemented the requested change that allows you to place an auction lot on hold as you post it. You will see at the bottom Post New Item Confirmation screen the Activation Status drop down:
Unless you change this field to "Place on Hold" it will default to "Active" so that the posting process will work the same as it always has. If you want to build up a batch of lots and activate them all at the same time, change this field to "Place on Hold". If you do this, it will remember that setting for the rest of your session, unless you change it.
Now, once you have built up your batch of "On Hold" lots, you can activate them all at the same time. Go to the Sellers drop down menu and select "Activate On Hold".
The Activate On Hold function will require you to confirm that you want to activate all your On Hold lots, then it will go through and change the status of all your On Hold lots to Active. You can take your time in building up the On Hold batch, it doesn't matter if the closing date has expired. The program works out the number of days that you intended the lot to be open on the auction and will apply it from the time of activation.
Please let me know if you have any problems.
Regards ... Tim.
Tim Does the program allow us to pick out which lots we want activated, or would ALL the lots on hold be activated at once.
In other words 'All or nothing'
Liz
It is everything that is on hold gets posted together. I haven't done it yet, but I could make it so that you could relist lots to your On Hold queue.
Regards ... Tim.
Ok so we don't put more in the queue of lots than what we want posted all at once. I was thinking that it would be nice to be able to prepare a bunch of lots for listing, have them on hold and then pick out which ones I wanted listed on any particular day, i.e. say all lots from one country one day and ones from another country the next day, etc. etc.
I guess that's not possible from what you are saying.
Liz
Hi Liz,
Anything is possible (well almost). Try it for a few days and see what other thoughts you have. In the mean time I'll ponder on your suggestion.
Regards ... Tim.
Just tried it and it works like a dream. Nice one Tim A.
Tim2.
Tim,
THAT WAS AWESOME!!! I was able to get my batch ready during work in between answering people's questions this morning. Thank you so much for this feature!!!
---Pat
I can't wait to try it, Tim! Thank you so much.
I tried it; and I like it so much my name should be Mikey...
I like how we can default to place auction lots on hold; and then how we can activate them either en masse or individually through our Sellers menu. Way to go, Tim!
And also, thank you to all of you who took my fledgling idea and improved it in very practical ways that hadn't even dawned on me. This is great!
Andrew
Missed using it on last night's listings, because I didn't feel sure how to "group" new things I was listing to end at around the same time as things I'd listed earlier in the week...
But it'll be very useful for the next time around... look forward to trying it out!
Thanks for the constant effort to make SOR a better place for us all.
Cheers,
Peter
Tim,
I guess the best way to reciprocate and to test the new function is to post some pre-1900 cover penny auctions ;) -- Well I am currently travelling, but let me see what I can find when I get home next week ...
Arno
Thanks Arno, I'll keep an eye out for them.
Regards ... Tim.
Tim,
Have used te place on hold feature and found it failed to do something I hopef t would. Lots end based on the time posted rather than the time activated. I had hoped it would keep my lots together evev if I took a coule of sessions to enter them. Would it e possible for the activation time to overwrite the posting time?
Not a real big deal but would bve helpful in keping members lots together when posting in the midst of one of the 100+ posters.
Roger
Hi Roger,
The "On Hold" facility works off both the posting and closing times and the activation time. When you run the "Activate On Hold" function, for each lot that you have in On Hold status it works out the amount of time that you said that you wanted the lot to be in the auction, i.e. the number of days between the posting time and the closing time, and adds that number of days to the activation time to become the new closing time. The posting time is then set to the activation time.
I hope this explanation helps.
Regards ... Tim.
Wizard Tim,
Is there a way that we can allow sellers to upload our auctions at our own pace, save them in draft or inactive status, and then activate them when we're ready to post them? I poked around and couldn't find a straightforward way to do it. I'm not talking about mass uploads or anything fancy like that (I don't think that we want this to turn into a site for folks to dump their auctions in by the hundreds) - maybe just an option in the review screen to save our lots and set them as inactive (for later activation). That way, we could take our time in getting our lots together and post them when we're ready to go forward. That would still put the onus on sellers to go through the effort of activating their lots; but it would speed up the "final" posting process. Also, this would avoid having to wait for hours for a set of auctions to close before sellers can action their invoices and get in contact with buyers.
With my other commitments, I find it hard to put in the solid time at the computer to post all that I want to at any given time. I think it's a win-win for everyone involved - sellers can take the time to accumulate a body of lots to offer to the rest of us and then get in quick contact with purchasers; and buyers have a chance to peruse an even greater amount of stamps where postage and shipping costs might lessen the blow by being spread out through multiple purchases.
If I'm missing something in the uploads, please let me know. Otherwise, I'd like to hear if others think this is a good idea as well.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
The system saves old lots that haven’t sold so that you can “batch†post those in a relatively quick manner.
I am currently in the process of getting some stuff scanned for a bunch of my own lots, and I was just thinking the same thing, that it would be cool to be able to get the lots built online and queued up for one big “batch†posting.
---Pat
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Andrew and Pat,
Would this approach work for you? As you are posting an auction lot it currently goes through two stages: when you first enter the information on the first screen that information gets saved and the auction lot record at that point is given a status of "Inactive", then on the third screen when you confirm the auction lot is ok the status is changed to "Active". How about on the bottom of the third screen we add the option to confirm that the auction lot is ready for posting but place it in "Hold" status. I would add an extra flag in your membership profile to say what the default position of this flag would be, either "Hold" or "Active". In doing this you could decide which way you would want the status flag to work.
So now, you have posted a dozen new auction lots and they are all sitting in "Hold" status. I would add an extra function to the auction menu which would allow you to take all the auction lots that you have created that are sitting in "Hold" status and make them all "Active" in one go. If we introduced this feature, I would have to think through how the Auction Edit program would handle these new "Hold" status auction lots.
Please give me your thoughts.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Tim,
I think that is well thought out. It sounds like a it would work. I'll speed up my scanning so that I can test it out when you are ready.
---Pat
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Ditto! Thanks so much, Tim! If you need a tester let me know - I'm pretty much free, on and off through to the end of the weekend.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
not sure why you need a flag?
when you enter an auction and takes you to the confirm screen, you have two ways to proceed, "hold" or "activate". then you just need a UI for going to your "held" auctions and given the option to edit/delete/activate them.
are you sure you need a "hold" button at all? by the time it goes to the inactive status, isn't that already a "hold" state? at that point where an auction item is entered but is still inactive, you could just leave it there and post a new one. from a UI POV, all you would need is a UI for going to "inactive" auctions and edit/delete/activate.
wodjathink?
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Hi George,
You might be right about not needing an extra flag on the member's profile. I'm assuming that the seller would be using the "copy from previous" function so that you'd assume "active" as a default but if "Hold" what chosen on the first lot posted, it would be copied to all subsequent lots the same as the other data is copied from one lot to the next.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
This sounds like a really good idea. I prefer listing a lot of "related" items at the same time, so people can bid on multiples... "save on postage fees" only makes SENSE when you have multiple "something related's" to offer.
I like this. A lot.
Cheers,
Peter
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
I have implemented the requested change that allows you to place an auction lot on hold as you post it. You will see at the bottom Post New Item Confirmation screen the Activation Status drop down:
Unless you change this field to "Place on Hold" it will default to "Active" so that the posting process will work the same as it always has. If you want to build up a batch of lots and activate them all at the same time, change this field to "Place on Hold". If you do this, it will remember that setting for the rest of your session, unless you change it.
Now, once you have built up your batch of "On Hold" lots, you can activate them all at the same time. Go to the Sellers drop down menu and select "Activate On Hold".
The Activate On Hold function will require you to confirm that you want to activate all your On Hold lots, then it will go through and change the status of all your On Hold lots to Active. You can take your time in building up the On Hold batch, it doesn't matter if the closing date has expired. The program works out the number of days that you intended the lot to be open on the auction and will apply it from the time of activation.
Please let me know if you have any problems.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Tim Does the program allow us to pick out which lots we want activated, or would ALL the lots on hold be activated at once.
In other words 'All or nothing'
Liz
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
It is everything that is on hold gets posted together. I haven't done it yet, but I could make it so that you could relist lots to your On Hold queue.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Ok so we don't put more in the queue of lots than what we want posted all at once. I was thinking that it would be nice to be able to prepare a bunch of lots for listing, have them on hold and then pick out which ones I wanted listed on any particular day, i.e. say all lots from one country one day and ones from another country the next day, etc. etc.
I guess that's not possible from what you are saying.
Liz
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Hi Liz,
Anything is possible (well almost). Try it for a few days and see what other thoughts you have. In the mean time I'll ponder on your suggestion.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Just tried it and it works like a dream. Nice one Tim A.
Tim2.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Tim,
THAT WAS AWESOME!!! I was able to get my batch ready during work in between answering people's questions this morning. Thank you so much for this feature!!!
---Pat
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
I can't wait to try it, Tim! Thank you so much.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
I tried it; and I like it so much my name should be Mikey...
I like how we can default to place auction lots on hold; and then how we can activate them either en masse or individually through our Sellers menu. Way to go, Tim!
And also, thank you to all of you who took my fledgling idea and improved it in very practical ways that hadn't even dawned on me. This is great!
Andrew
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Missed using it on last night's listings, because I didn't feel sure how to "group" new things I was listing to end at around the same time as things I'd listed earlier in the week...
But it'll be very useful for the next time around... look forward to trying it out!
Thanks for the constant effort to make SOR a better place for us all.
Cheers,
Peter
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Tim,
I guess the best way to reciprocate and to test the new function is to post some pre-1900 cover penny auctions ;) -- Well I am currently travelling, but let me see what I can find when I get home next week ...
Arno
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Thanks Arno, I'll keep an eye out for them.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Tim,
Have used te place on hold feature and found it failed to do something I hopef t would. Lots end based on the time posted rather than the time activated. I had hoped it would keep my lots together evev if I took a coule of sessions to enter them. Would it e possible for the activation time to overwrite the posting time?
Not a real big deal but would bve helpful in keping members lots together when posting in the midst of one of the 100+ posters.
Roger
re: Placing Auctions on Hold Before Submitting; allowing for Bulk Uploads
Hi Roger,
The "On Hold" facility works off both the posting and closing times and the activation time. When you run the "Activate On Hold" function, for each lot that you have in On Hold status it works out the amount of time that you said that you wanted the lot to be in the auction, i.e. the number of days between the posting time and the closing time, and adds that number of days to the activation time to become the new closing time. The posting time is then set to the activation time.
I hope this explanation helps.
Regards ... Tim.