I'm so glad you came to your senses and decided to offer a flat-rate plan that's affordable. Just wondering, what exactly is included with my monthly fee? And is my bill going to be the same amount every month, or are there "hidden" charges?
—Leery in Long Beach
Smith: There are no hidden charges. The $9.95 plan comes with unlimited listings, scheduling, eBay templates and more. You can see a full list of what is included on our pricing page and in our terms of service.
I am a very occasional online seller: I put up about a dozen things a year. I haven't done any listing for six months, but I hope to list a bit in July and again in November. Do I have to sign up for a month-by-month plan, quit and rejoin each time?
—Casual in Cambridge
Smith: The best thing for you would be to select our $2.95 plan when you're ready to list some items. This plan allows you to post up to 15 listings a month for one flat rate. When you're done with your listings, simply go into your account and change to the free plan. This change will take effect the beginning of the next month. So you can continue using the same account, and just alternate between the $2.95 plan and the free plan based on when you do your listings.
I heard a rumor recently that eBay bought Auctiva. Is there any truth in this, even partially?
—Inquiring in Invercargill
Smith: I'm not sure how these things get started, but this rumor is completely false. CEO Jeff Schlicht the sole owner of Auctiva Corp. and has no plans to sell the business. Instead, he's focused on growing the company and continuing to improve our existing tools as well as developing new services that make e-commerce easier and more profitable for our customers.
Auctiva Commerce is now open to everyone and all you have to do to get started is log into your Auctiva account
I put my name in to receive an invite for the new Auctiva Commerce store. I don't mind waiting and being patient. I just want to make sure that I am in fact on the list. I'm very excited about this opportunity.
—Enduring in Evanston
Smith: I'm glad to hear you're excited about Auctiva Commerce. We're very excited about it as well. You'll be happy to know that you don't have to wait any more to get started with an Auctiva Commerce store. When we first launched the product several months ago, the demand for stores was so high that we had to put people on a waiting list. However, we are now open to everyone and all you have to do to get started is log into your Auctiva account. Here is a tutorial that will help you get started.
If I decide not to continue my Auctiva Commerce store past the free introductory period, will my Auctiva Store and all my eBay listings disappear?
—Worried in Waco
Smith: Not at all. If you are on one of our paid Auctiva plans, then we will continue scheduling, listing and re-listing your eBay listings as always. Even if you aren't on a paid plan, we continue storing your listing data, so the listings wouldn't disappear.
How do I pass on my suggestions for improving Auctiva?
—Helpful in Halifax
Smith: We welcome suggestions from the Auctiva community for new features or improvements to existing ones. You can log into your Auctiva account and navigate to the Auctiva Feature Center under the Home tab. There you can enter new feature ideas, vote on other users' ideas, see what's on our to-do list and take a look at the new features we've rolled out. Or post your ideas on our community forum under the Suggestions heading for either Auctiva.com or Auctiva Commerce. We'll review them and those that are feasible will be considered for a future release.
You can ask Auctiva management your own questions by e-mailing "AskAuctiva" at the Auctiva dot com domain. Not all questions will be answered, but those selected will be published with responses from Auctiva's top managers in future Ask Auctiva articles. Due to the volume of mail we receive, it will not be possible to reply to you personally.
Please do not submit inquiries requiring an immediate response. If you need a technical issue resolved right away, please use the online form to file a support request and your case will be addressed by our customer support team.
For additional insight from Auctiva, visit the Auctiva Blog and follow Auctiva on Twitter.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
Other Entries by this Author