Harrisburg Auction Inn!

Auction Inn is proud to announce the opening of our third facility in Harrisburg, PA. Even though we have only been open for 2 weeks in Harrisburg we have already had over one hundred items brought in for us to sell on eBay. We are averaging over $100 per item sold, with almost 99% of these listed sold within 7 days! We now have 12 positive feedbacks and have just opened our eBay store for this location.

Following Auction Inn’s business model, we have just partnered with our first large commercial account, where we will liquidate nearly 2,000 high-end telescopes and accessories worth nearly $200,000, along with some very nice watches. Auction Inn Harrisburg also sold their first vehicle for Auction Inn Motors, a 1972 International Scout II with less than 50,000 original miles. All this was accomplished with a staff of only 3 full time employees. We are very excited to have Auction Inn Harrisburg as part of the ever growing team! We are expecting a lot of exciting things out of this new store and they are off to a great start, fitting in with the Auction Inn Family of quality eBay stores!

Recently eBay has been doing many things to enhance users’ experiences with their platform, and within the next few weeks, they will be adding them to their website for users to test and review.

The “Front Door” to eBay
The first, and most noticeable enhancement eBay will be implementing is the aesthetic changes to their homepage, eBay.com. This first page is what everyone sees before doing any shopping, and it is becoming more user friendly. With a new, simplified interface, as well as quick access to featured items, My eBay information, and your recent views/activities, this new front door to the eBay business is focused more on the users, what they want, and what they like.

The Old “Bid History” is History
Many of the more competitive buyers on eBay rely heavily on the “Bid History” page that eBay has provided, showing information about specific bids and bidder purchasing history. eBay has streamlined this page, making it easier to navigate and more informative. You will be able to bid directly from the Bid History page, and there will be much more transparency on items over $200.00.

Making Searching For That Right Item Easier
Probably the most functional change that eBay is working on is their updates to the Search results pages when you are looking to buy an item. Everything is less cluttered, with subtle color changes to make surfing that much more pleasurable. The search area on the left of the screen has been enlarged, making it easier to adjust your search criteria or narrow down the items you are looking for. The biggest change eBay has come up with is the ability for Buyers to essentially “Window Shop” for their items. Just choose “Picture View” at the top of your search results, and your items are now listed with larger pictures and shorter titles. This makes the eBay experience more like ‘real’ shopping, and less like a research project.

eBay will continue to work on these enhancements, as well as implement others, in the upcoming weeks. Auction Inn hopes to utilize these changes to our benefit, giving our Buyers the best experience possible when purchasing an item. For more information, or to get a sneak peak at what is coming up with eBay, visit www.ebay.com/sneakpeek.

The AI Work-Able Trainees and staff have had the pleasure of visiting several of our commercial vendor’s locations this summer. On July 27th, the Work-Able Trainees were able to visit Keystone Quality Products. Keystone makes beautiful country furniture for every room in the home. The team was able to see some new products that Auction Inn can have available for auction in the near future including vinyl pergolas, gazebos and trellises. The trainees were able to see the assembly of the pieces as well as the multi-step process of painting and finishing the furniture. Auction Inn would like to thank Keystone for their hospitality and an enjoyable tour of their facility! To view Auction Inn’s current Keystone Quality Products auctions please visit www.auctioninn.com.

Our featured Work-Able Trainee this month is Ciara Pagan. Ciara began at Auction Inn in June for the Work-Able 6 week summer program. Ciara enjoyed working at AI so much that she decided to stay on the rest of the summer. Ciara most enjoys doing Customer Service and Photography at Auction Inn. Ciara is 17 and will be a senior at McCaskey High School this fall. Ciara is always active and involved and loves to get things done. She is a member of her school’s basketball team and also runs track. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and family and also volunteers for the Boys & Girls Club and for school activities in her spare time. Ciara’s last day at Auction Inn was Tuesday August 28th, as this busy girl doesn’t have time to work while concentrating on sports and school! Ciara is looking at several colleges to attend after gradation including Penn State, University of Deleware, Towson and many others. She is planning on majoring in Pre-Med. Everyone at Auction Inn wishes Ciara the best in her future plans! We know she will continue to be a shining star in everything she does.

With all of the items the Auction Inn sells, one of the biggest tasks we have is getting all the items to their new homes. Thanks to our shipping department, that has never been a problem! Desmond Deeter, our shipping manager, has been working with Auction Inn since July, 2006. Des is there to make sure that every item purchased is packaged correctly and arrives at its’ destination unharmed, and has been doing a great job! He also coordinates our local pick up service for all community buyers, as well as recently becoming an integral part of Auction Inn’s commercial and motors sales divisions. Des believes that working with the city youth through our Work-Able training program is one of the many highlights of his job. “Growing up in a single parent family, I would have been a perfect candidate for the Work-Able program, had there been one. Working with the kids never gets boring, and it’s great to be able to be a role model in their lives”. In his spare time, Des enjoys watching his son play football, as well as spending time with him. When not working Des also plays and referree’s street hockey tournaments in the Northeast, areas such as Philadelphia, New Jersey, Boston, and Long Island.

With vacation season coming to a rapid close, Auction Inn Lancaster is seeing the increase in residential items, with many new and unique things coming through our doors. This month we were very fortunate to have auctioned a complete set of Franklin Mint 100 Greatest Masterpieces Coins and Display case. This First Edition set went for a whopping $2250.00! We were all very excited to see this item sell, and look forward to listing more top of the line items very soon!

Friendship Community had a very successful first fundraiser with Auction Inn on August 18, 2007. Friendship Community is a Christian ministry whose mission is to support people with developmental disabilities with programs located in Lancaster and Lebanon counties in South Central Pennsylvania.

Since 1972 Friendship Community has affirmed the worth of persons with developmental disabilities by providing residential services and support services for individuals and their families who desire a Christian program. Friendship Community offers a variety of services in keeping with the needs of the whole person. Activities are planned to provide stimulation for the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of each person. The developmental and residential programs are designed around the needs of each resident. As a faith-based organization, a Christian life-style is encouraged for both staff and residents at Friendship Community.

Please click here to view the Friendship Community items we currently have up on auction!

Love INC September 15th

Transport for Christ November 8

Parish Resource Center December

If you belong to a local nonprofit group in either the Lancaster or York, PA areas, and would like more information about our fundraising options, please feel free to contact us at 888-TO-THE-INN!

Residential sales have been picking up here at AuctionInn York. Some of our featured items include 56 Pieces Gorham Lyric Sterling Silver and Stainless Steel Flatware which sold for a commanding price of $534.88. It’s been quite the equestrian week in our store with several vintage Hartland and Breyer toy horses stampeding to the top of our sales charts. We had one rare Hartland Col. MacKenzie and Horse from 1959 sell for $331.00 and a lot of 18 vintage Breyer horses, bulls, deer and more sell for $202.51. The Force was strong with us as we sold a mint on card vintage C-3P0 and R2-D2 for $205.00 and $202.50 respectively. Waterford Crystal was the name of the day as we watched a beautiful set of 8 wine glasses reach a fetching figure, $203.90. A set of brand new, still in the box Studiophile audio speakers jump up to $312.17. Sewing enthusiasts rejoice! A vintage Singer Memo Matic knitting machine left us in stitches as it sold for $217.50. And last, but certainly not least, the Masons are coming back into the limelight, or at least their swords are. Two Masonic swords sold for $229.06 and $241.38. All told, it’s been a busy week in the residential world. Last, but certainly not least, we had a Stomps-Burkhart gothic lion face chair which sat at $52.00 all week and jumped to an astounding $622.50 in a matter of hours. Bring your treasures in and see what we can do for you!

-Cory McClain
Residential Account Manager

Debbie Rainey joined the Auction Inn York team in late July as a Customer Service Representative. Debbie, 24, graduated from Yorktown Business Institute in 2003 with her Associate’s Degree in Business Management, and is putting her skills to good use at the front desk. Her favorite part of her job is working with the consignors; she loves to see how thrilled consignors become when their item sells for more than they anticipated. In her spare time, Debbie enjoys spending time with her fiancé, singing, dancing, and scrap-booking. She also has a lot of fun with her four pets: 2 cats and 2 ferrets. In the future, Debbie looks forward to getting married, raising a family, and continued success in her career path. We would like to welcome Debbie to Auction Inn and hope she is as happy with her new home as we are!

Auction Inn York is holding its second eBay class on Thursday, August 30th with a resounding estimated turnout. While 40 people came out to the last class, we decided to stop accepting students at 60 people, not thinking that we’d reach that number within four days of announcing the class! So it has been decided that we will host an eBay class in our York store on the last Thursday of every month, educating the people of York in the ways of eBay. There is a 60 person limit, so please sign up soon. If there is a larger interest, however, this may change in future months. The next class is scheduled for September 27th, so if you or anyone else you know is interested, please sign up early and secure your seat for the most informative eBay class in York county!

-Cory McClain
Residential Account Manager

Christina Lawyer, 23, started with Auction Inn York as a Workable trainee in March of last year. A Bell Socialization client since 2003, Christina welcomed the chance to learn new skills and challenge herself. She enjoyed the Workable training program; she particularly liked working with Training Manager Kristin Burkhardt and felt that Kristin was a great teacher. Some of Christina’s favorite tasks at Auction Inn include shipping, intakes, and listing. Currently, Christina is employed as a part time employee at Auction Inn, where she performs intakes and research, helps handle request seller pick up, and mails out consigner checks.

In her free time, Christina enjoys shopping and playing Sega. She describes herself as “a pretty active person” who likes all kinds of activities. We appreciate the great job Christina does; her enthusiasm for her work is infectious. “You know you’re working at a great place when you leave with a smile on your face,” she said. We wish Christina continued future success!

Click the flyer to the left to view the full flyer for York's upcoming fundraiser with St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church on Saturday, September 15th.