Social Enterprise Alliance 8th Annual Gathering

Last week we joined over 600 people interested in this relatively new concept called Social Enterprise at the 8th Annual Gathering of the Social Enterprise Alliance. The Social Enterprise Alliance is the largest, and maybe only, trade group for advocates and practitioners of social enterprise. The movement of nonprofits toward social enterprise is very much alive and well as this was their biggest conference ever.

The conference included people not only from nonprofit organizations, but also had a strong representation from foundations, consultants, and specialized media. It seemed to me that the support group for nonprofits interested in developing earned income activities is growing very rapidly. In the early days of social enterprise, a large portion of enterprises ended up failing or dropping off to insignificance. The support group that we see forming is the missing link holding social enterprise back, in our view.

We are very excited about being an integral part of this infrastructure that is helping nonprofits become sustainable due to earned income. We spoke with quite a few nonprofits at the conference, and all seemed very excited about the program we have developed. Stay tuned for more on this exciting new concept.

Over the past few years, online video has become the new craze, with new and exciting ways to capture your attention every day. Most recently, user created videos on sites such as YouTube, MySpace, and AOL have become increasingly popular, and more importantly, simple. Streaming video is a much easier way for an internet user to share information, rather than using plain text. eBay has noticed this, and is doing something to keep up with the times, as well as provide a better all around experience for the millions of buyers and sellers out there. Starting April 16th, eBay will be allowing sellers to link from their listings to videos that describe their items. Now, instead of reading endless paragraphs of descriptions of every detail of an item, you can see it on video right from the listing! Does it work? Check out the video to see. What is the sound quality? Check out the video and listen. This is a huge step for eBay, breaking down one of the largest barriers between buyer and seller. And no need to worry, Auction Inn isn’t falling behind on this one! Click HERE to see our first video auction, with many more to come!

As you may remember, in our past issue, we introduced eBay’s new feedback system. eBay has now tested the new program in eight pilot markets worldwide (Australia, Belgium, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom). In the past eight weeks, eBay researchers have been evaluating any changes in adoption rate, possible impacts on bidding and listing, and the general reaction from the community on the new addition. Overall, the results were very positive. People have been adopting to this very well, and there have been no signs of the new feedback system causing problems with selling or listing. Many small businesses and individual sellers were concerned that the additions would have a negative effect to their sales, when in actuality the response has been resoundingly positive, from both buyers and sellers.

Based on these results, eBay has announced that starting the week of April 30th, 2007, they will be releasing Feedback 2.0 to the remainder of their markets around the world. Some of the key features are as follows:

• Detailed Seller Ratings – In addition to the current positive, negative or neutral comment, buyers will be able to rate their sellers on specific aspects of a transaction -- Item Description, Communication, Shipping time and Shipping & Handling Charges. Scores are based on a conventional 1 to 5 scale, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the being the highest rating. The average score for each rating will be displayed on the seller's Feedback Profile page.
• Item Title and Price – To give buyers more information while they are evaluating the reputation of a seller, the transaction's item title and selling price will display beneath each Feedback comment on the Feedback Profile page for 90 days.

As a reminder, Detailed Seller Ratings and the other changes do not replace the current Feedback system, rather they augment it. This additional information will enable our best sellers to differentiate themselves from other sellers and enable buyers to make more informed decisions prior to purchasing. We here at Auction Inn are very excited for this release, and we hope it will help us provide a better service to all of our buyers and partners everywhere!

On April 13th the several members of the Auction Inn crew had the opportunity to tour Manheim Auto Auction. This was Edgar “Gizz” Santiago’s first time at Manheim since he entered the training program. In the very near future, Gizz will have the chance to go through a week of training on Condition Report Writing. Condition Reports are through inspections of cars that take place before sale day. Auction Inn has modified this condition report to use on vehicles that we sell on eBay.

Because of Auction Inn’s hope to become increasingly involved in eBay motors, touring Manheim is an exciting experience for everyone from Auction Inn, in both the Lancaster and York locations. Highlights of the tour included seeing the quick pace of the 33 auction lanes while walking between moving cars. “It was terrifying to walk in between all of those moving cars, but overall it was an informative day,” said Crystal Scearce, Customer Service rep from the York location. If you would like more information on Auction Inn’s motors program, feel free to give our Lancaster or York location a call.

News Item: Investors bankrupt as the #1 seller on eBay turns business into franchise nightmare.

eBay drop off store franchisor iSold It has grabbed a number of headlines in the online auction industry in the last few days, as they have basically acknowledged that their business is broken, laid off most of their employees, and has stopped taking on new franchisees. They are the second high profile drop off store (Auction Drop) to change their model or have serious problems in the last couple of years.

For quite some time now, we have positioned Auction Inn against the eBay drop off store industry, as we believed that there were inherent flaws in their model, and they would struggle to sustain their business. We are a lot different than them, but we often get painted with the same brush. We have spoken with many drop off store owners and have chronicled many of the problems that they have been facing. The results that they have experienced were very predictable, but definitely not unavoidable.

This is, in our view, another example of a pattern that we have seen many times over, there is sort of a life cycle of a new industry, particularly one that catches the attention of investors and the public the way the eBay drop off store business has. There is an almost immediate rush into the space, with every Tom, Dick, and Harry finding all different ways to participate, with dozens of small variations of different models. Everyone sees this get rich quick opportunity, and people come out of the woodwork to participate. Remember the Ready, Fire, Aim mantra of the early days of the internet? Then as the marketplace explodes, inevitably the emerging industry is not ready to support it, growth somewhat levels off, and then some triggering event causes the entire system to collapse. At that point, the businesses that took their time, thought things through, and had some dry powder begin to rebuild the industry. This takes much longer, but in the long run is much more sustainable.

The Internet companies that began life with a revenue model tied to advertising revenue, monetizing “eyeballs” were roundly criticized and ridiculed, and their detractors took great delight in the crash of the internet bubble. No one will ever make a profit with an advertising model on the internet, nearly every one said. Message boards were overloaded with people saying, see, I told you this would NEVER work. But out of the ashes many very strong companies evolved, and then Google came around and all of a sudden its’ one of the best business models anywhere. This same scenario has repeated itself over and over again to varying degrees in different industries.

Now I certainly would not compare the “selling things for people on eBay” business to the core internet/ecommerce, but the analogy is valid in a smaller degree. There is definitely a “there” there, in that there is an industry evolving and there is clearly a need for the core competency of processing secondary merchandise and conducting online auctions. The vast majority of people and businesses that have this merchandise that we talk to, and we talk to quite a few, don’t want to have anything to do with doing this. The fact that a number of people rushed in without thinking through all of the problems and issues that they might run into, and sunk a bunch of money into marketing and selling franchises without building a solid business, doesn’t change the value proposition.

There are clearly challenges to this business, as there are with any business in a new industry that has to figure out exactly what the customer wants, and how much he/she will pay, how to obtain the necessary expertise, and how to streamline and automate some of the unnecessary costs out of the business. We are meeting these challenges every day, making improvements in our platform on a regular basis, and are seeing some very encouraging results. We have taken the low road, preferring to carefully develop a strong foundation that will be sustainable for many years. At the end of the day, our partners deserve nothing less. We are very bullish on this industry and our prospects, more so than ever, as we see the need in the marketplace and are discovering the keys to success. And as the market really arrives and the industry becomes mature, we will see the fruits of our labor.

Brandon Long first started at Auction Inn Lancaster in August of 2006. He has come to us from the Janus school, where he currently working on getting his diploma. His favorite part of the training program is the shipping department, because it allows him to ship items and learn the ways of the trade. When Brandon is not at school or work, he enjoys playing video games, drawing, and hanging out with his friends and family. He is 18 years old, and currently lives in Harrisburg. After Brandon graduates from the training program and the Janus school, he would like to go to college to learn to design video games. Good luck Brandon and we are glad to have you on the team!

As we mentioned last month, Auction Inn will be continuing to offer eBay training classes every week for those interested. Each session will be approximately 2 hours long, and all will start with ‘the basics’ on buying and selling things on eBay. Then each week the trainers will focus on a different specialized area of eBay, this way every session you attend will give you more knowledge to become a better online buyer or seller. The classes are completely free, and open to anyone that is able to attend. The sessions will begin Monday, April 16th, from 6pm-8pm, and run every Monday for the remainder of the year. For more information, or to register for a session, please contact Brandon Weese at bweese@auctioninn.com or call 888-TO-THE-INN.

In April at Auction Inn Lancaster, we were very happy to have had the opportunity to list a collector’s dream. This month’s residential item was a 2003 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson special edition truck. The owner of the truck lives locally, and has also consigned other vehicles with us. The mint condition truck sold for a whopping $30,008.00 to a Harley Davidson enthusiast out of Canada. Both were very happy with the sale and we couldn’t have been happier to make the transaction happen for both parties involved.

With the warm weather coming, people are eager to renovate their homes. With that said, most often the simplest solution to home décor problems is the best, and Finley Products Inc. has come up with that simple solution. Originated in 1979, and founded by the current president, Finley Products Inc. has manufactured and nationally marketed a line of lawn and garden related products through their own mail order company. In 2001, Finley Products introduced their 2x4basics® line of DIY products. Just a few years ago, Finley Products sold the mail order portion of their business in order to focus on the 2x4basics line in the higher potential retail marketplace.

Presently, they have built 2x4basics into an internationally recognized brand while continuing to develop unique and practical products for the do-it-yourself consumer. Most recently, they have added the Carpenter’s PAL® Multi Tools, 2x4basics Shed Kits, 2x4basics ProBrackets™ sawhorses, and the Dekmate™ line. Finley Products Inc. will continue to introduce high quality items into the marketplace, increasing the selection to their customers. They are dedicated to enhancing the sales and profits of their customers through superior packaging and point-of-purchase merchandising, while maintaining superior customer support and service.

We are very proud to announce that the Water Street Rescue Mission fundraiser was a success! There was a great turnout on Friday and Saturday, and the extra publicity from 101.3 The Rose couldn’t have been better. We received many interesting items from this fundraiser, and we hope that all the items donated will bring in enough money to help the Mission continue with their work.

On a related note, we are also happy to be working with 101.3 The Rose on a more permanent basis. Every quarter, the radio station will be doing a spotlight on one of Auction Inn’s fundraisers, helping out with free airtime and following items through the auction process. We are very excited about this new way to get our ideas out to the community, and hope it will result in more people helping out great causes in the future!

Update from Jeremy Meeks, Store Manager of Auction Inn York

Hello from York! Again this month Auction Inn has seen a LOT of growth and interest in our programs. We've been working hard to get our consignors items up on eBay and we've seen a pretty big jump in the amount of items we've been able to put up for auction. If you check out our auctions HERE, you will be able to see a greater variety of items, not to mention a greater number of items in general. Have a look around, there are plenty of interesting things to research and bid on at Auction Inn York.

This past month has also seen the conclusion of our second round of trainees! Simon, Christina and Derek completed our Work-Able training program and have learned and grown from all the different aspects of our business from Simon snapping digital photos, to Christina working on taking in new items, and Derek helping out immensely during our grand opening. We've learned a lot from each other, and have all had a really great time selling different items on eBay! I'd like to publicly congratulate them on their hard work and accomplishment, and thank them for their help!

We're doing a lot of truly amazing things in York, and you'll see plenty of new developments in the next few months as we move into our busy season. GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY BIDDING!

Simon Weatherly is one of the newest additions to Auction Inn York, coming to us about 2 months ago from Bell Socialization. Simon enjoys collecting antiques such as vintage Royal China, Fenton, Miniature Oil Lamps, furniture, linens and other old things. His favorite part of Auction Inn is the photography studio, where he gets to take pictures of all the items that are brought in to be sold on eBay. He enjoys seeing the odd, rare, and unusual items from the past that are brought into Auction Inn. He says he becomes more knowledgeable every day in the world of collecting, and there are always items that he sees here that he never knew existed. Simon thinks that Auction Inn is a fun place to work, and we are so happy to have him on the team!

April has brought many interesting items to Auction Inn York, however by far the most unusual and, of course, interesting, has to be this item. These Kevin Stevens practice and game jerseys were consigned by a York county local, and sold for $521.00! The autographed Pittsburgh Penguins jersey was worn during Game #4 of the Stanley Cup Championship in 1992, and has never been washed. Stevens' autograph is on the back of the jersey, along with a few small spots of blood from the game! Congratulations to the new owner of these great pieces of memorabilia!

Recently, Auction Inn York has been working with local church organizations to help them with fundraisers, as apposed to conventional yearly auctions. Their ongoing efforts landed them a spot in The York Daily Record, a local newspaper. Click HERE to read the article and see what York is doing to help congregations around the county easily raise funds for their causes.

Auction Inn York is hosting a fundraiser for the Easter Seals on Thursday May 17th from 5PM-9PM at the York Fairgrounds. This event will be in conjunction with the Office Olympics, a successful and large annual fundraiser for the Easter Seals. Approximately 200 people will be in attendance for this fun event that includes office chair races and other inventive office games. If you would like to donate items to Easter Seals, stop by the York Fairgrounds on Thursday May 17th! Feel free to contact Auction Inn for any further information on our fundraising programs.