Judy,
When it comes to any kind of marketing you could never talk my leg off. I love this stuff! It really sounds like you have your marketing act together. I also read your About US page and I have to say, I really admire your perseverance and dedication. You really seem to enjoy what you do and I think that is one of the most important things in life.
“First I use the Auction Wizard 2000 configured websites and upload after I have concluded listing for the day.. that pushes quite a bit of traffic.” I never saw the value in this particular feature in AW2K. I guess I never understood how it was different than sending someone to your eBay store. I am really curious as to how this helps you. From what I could see you don’t sell directly from this page right? The page directs them back to your store for actual purchase? Is it that the items are more organized so people can shop them better? Does it get people who have bought at auction into your store? Is it that it shows new items listed only? I always thought it was a really cool feature but could never figure out a definitive purpose for it. Of course I have been known to tear the house apart looking for my keys with my keys in my hand. LOL Maybe you could explain the value to me that I am sure I am missing?
I actually agree with you about what eBay is doing. I don’t really think they are doing anything all that “wrong”. In all honesty, the reason I referred to it the way I did is that usually if you mention it to anyone who sells on eBay they tend to get very heated about the subject. You are actually the first person I have spoken with who doesn’t think it is the end of auctions and possibly even the end of the world. :) I think it is really as simple as them wanting to change their business model a bit and grow with the times. I think they know what is going to happen to them if they just sit on their hands. Sometimes change is good. I guess we will all see soon enough. Nash