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FAQ
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Q) How do I register?
A) It is fast and easy! Simply click here to go to the
registration page. All you need is a valid credit card, your street address and a working e-mail account.
Q) As a seller, what are the costs and commission fees?
A) The fees associated with using this website are detailed on the
Fee Schedule.
AirlineHobby.com invoices are e-mailed to sellers at the end of
the auction. Payment is due when your balance reaches $10, and you can
conveniently pay using PayPal or Credit Card, or send cash or money order payment by mail.
Q) What is the web site currency?
A) All web site transactions are in US Dollars.
Q) How long do auctions run for?
A) Any period of time up to a maximum of 21 days. The auto-relist feature automatically relists
your auction up to two times if the initial auction listing closes with no successful bids being placed.
The auction duration is set on the Sell page when a seller lists an auction on the system. Once an auction has
been entered into the system, it appears online and is open for bids and viewable by everyone within seconds.
Q) How do sellers and buyers settle accounts once the auction is over?
A) We suggest using:
PayPal is now available for International users.
Use PayPal to
settle private party transactions in $USD anywhere in the world!
Successful bidders and sellers settle accounts privately between themselves.
The auction system will send both parties e-mail notifications as soon as
the auction finishes advising of the results and asking both parties to
contact each other as soon as possible. The buyer pays the seller using PayPal
or some other method of payment as per
the terms agreed to in the auction. Agreements between buyers and sellers
cannot be enforced nor is the responsibilty of AirlineHobby.com.
We merely provide the worldwide venue to bring aviation collectibles
buyers and sellers together.
Q) How do sellers set and communicate payment terms to bidders?
A) All pertinent payment details are entered into a the Sell Item Page when a
seller lists an auction on the system. On the Sell Item Page there is a
seperate "Accepted Payment Methods" section where the seller can specify
exactly what forms of payment are acceptable (PayPal, credit card, check etc.) The
seller can provide even more details on terms of
payment within the Auction Description box.
Q) What is the website's non-paying bidder policy?
A) Auction winners must contact the seller within 7 days of auction close. All auctions must be paid for within 14 days of auction close. In situations where the auction winner does not comply with these rules, sellers should follow these steps:
1) Send a second email to the winner if one week passes after the end of auction
and the winner has not responded to the initial request for payment email. Check the Holiday Notification Board (click here) to make sure the winner is not on holidays.
2) If the winner does not respond to the second email and two weeks have passed without response
from the winner, log into My Account and click on the "Send a Non-Paying Bidder Payment Request" link. Our system will automatically contact the auction winner and request that the payment be made immediately.
Auction winners that do not comply with the website's payment policy risk having their accounts suspended.
3) If the seller does not get a response from the winner within the first 14 days, the seller can elect to sell the slide to the next lowest bidder (if there is one) or relist the slide. If the slide remains unsold and/or is relisted, the seller can ask for the auction commission fees to be credited back to their account.
Q) What happens if a seller does not receive payment sent in the mail?
A) It is the buyer's responsibility and risk to make sure his payment
reaches the seller. If the buyer sends cash by regular mail and it does not reach the
seller in a reasonable time frame (2-3 weeks regional, 4 weeks overseas), the payment will have to be resent by the buyer at the buyer's loss.
We do not recommend risk sending large amounts of cash by regular mail. Instead, buyers
should send larger payments by Postal Money Order or via Registered Mail. Even better
is to avoid sending payment by mail. We strongly encourage the use of PayPal (see above).
Q) What happens if the buyer does not receive mailed goods?
A) Unless the buyer pays for his letter to be sent via Registered Mail,
any losses or delays are entirely at the risk of the
purchaser, not the seller.
As such, we strongly recommend that buyers pay for their high value
purchases to be sent by Registered Mail. It is entirely up to the buyer
to determine what level of risk he wishes to accept when committing
valuable purchases to un-registered mail.
Q) How can a buyer check a seller's reputation?
A) Check out a seller's Feedback reports for information on the seller.
These reports are filed by previous auction users that have dealt with
the seller in question. Click on the bracketed number beside
the seller's name to view their Feedback reports, and follow the prompts
if you would like to leave a report of your own. It is recommended that buyers and sellers take
the time to complete a Feedback report on each other. The numeric rating
is a good indication of the user's site rating by his trading peers. A high positive number means
many people have left positive feedback. A large number of negative feedbacks is not good.
If a problem cannot be fairly resolved, negative feedback can be left. We ask that everyone be certain
of the feedback they wish to leave. Although feedback can be amended at any time, negative comments left
in error or haste can damage a member's reputation. We reserve the right to cancel the registration of any
site member that conducts their auction dealings in an unfair manner.
Q) I placed a bid of $10, but the auction only shows $6?
A) The auction system uses a default of proxy bidding. By placing a proxy
bid you are specifying the maximum amount you are prepared to pay for
an item. The auction software automatically bids on your behalf at $1
increments until your maximum proxy amount is reached. When another
bidder's bid exceeds your bid, we will advise you with an e-mail
so that you may submit a new bid. For an example of how this works,
click here.
Q) When I bid it says Outbid by Other User. How is this possible?
A) This means the previous bidder placed a proxy bid which is higher
than your bid. The proxy bidding system automatically bids on the other
bidder's behalf at $1 increments until his maximum proxy amount is reached.
The system will only accept your bid when you increase it to an amount
greater than the current high bidder's proxy bid. For an example of how proxy bidding
works, click here.
Q) How do I prepare an image to be shown with my auction?
A) The auction software allows for images to be easily
included in all auctions. Our system enables you to upload your
images to our servers for free when you post your auction. Our system accepts .jpg and .jpeg images and images
must be no larger than 800 pixels wide. Please
visit the How to prepare an
image page for complete instructions on scanning and placing images
in your next auction.
Q) How do I upload images from my PC to the web site server with my auction?
A) On the Sell Page, there are is a browse button beside the Image Upload box.
By clicking on this button, you can browse the drives on your PC to find the desired image file and then upload
it from your PC to our server. Our system will automatically produce the thumbnail for your auction from this image.
Once an auction is posted to the system, it is not possible to add or edit the images.
Q) How come the thumbnail/ main image does not appear with my auction?
A) Your auction image was not successfully uploaded to our server from your PC. If you do not see your auction
main image and thumbnail on the Item Preview page, do not proceed with listing the auction!! The images were not uploaded and you
must go back to the Sell page and re-attempt to upload your image. On the Sell Page, there are is a browse button beside the Image Upload box.
By clicking on this button, you can browse the drives on your PC to find the desired image file and then upload
it from your PC to our server. Our system will automatically produce the thumbnail for your auction from this image.
Once an auction is posted to the system, it is not possible to add or edit the images.
Q) How come my thumbnail image does not resize on the auction preview page?
A) All images must be saved as a standard baseline jpg. Our system cannot yet resize
optimized images (for accelerated web page downloading) or images saved in progressive format.
Some images created by Unix or Macintosh machines do not work with our image resizing
software on first attempt due to their image header formatting which is different from Windows-Intel
image formats. Other reasons can account for occassional problems for users of IBM comatible
systems. If your image does not resize on the auction preview page, follow these steps:
a) Do not proceed with listing the auction. (Otherwise we will have delete it as it will corrupt the web site).
b) If your image has been optimized or saved in progressive format, it must be re-scanned as a
baseline standard jpg image.
c) If your image is a standard baseline jpg, click the back button from the Item Preview page
d) Click your Refresh button on your browser, and attempt to relist the auction
e) Usually the thumbnail software will be successful in resizing the image on a second or
third attempt.
f) If the above steps do not work, try re-scanning your image.
g) If you actually posted an auction to the web site with a non-resized thumbnail image,
please advise us by email to customer_service@airlinehobby.com
so it can be removed.
Q) How do I re-list expired auctions?
A) It is easy to re-list expired auctions. Simply select the "Relist Auction" link
when you log into My Account. This will bring up a page where you can
easily select expired auctions for re-listing and make any necessary changes
if required. All expired auctions have a "relist" button at the top of the page. Just click this
button and follow the steps!
Q) How can I close an auction once it has started?
A) Simply login to My Account and click on the "Cancel Auction Early"
link. You will need the auction's 9-digit number.
Q) How do I manage My Account, change my email address or postal address?
A) My Account is a password controlled area where each auction
user can view their site activities and update their account profile (such as email address or mailing address).
Expired auctions can be re-listed, other users' feedback can be viewed, changes can be made to existing
auctions, and account status can be viewed. My Account is easily
accessed from the links bar at the top of each page on the website.
Q) Can changes be made to existing auctions?
A) Additional information can be added to the item description in the form of
an additional comment. Changes can also be made to the auction Title field, and the image can be changed
by logging into My Account and selecting the "Edit Auction Item" link.
Please note that no other information can be changed once an auction is started.
Q) How do I monitor all of my existing auctions?
A) Log into My Account then click on the "View your selling history" link.
This will bring up a list of all your auctions that are presently running, and by clicking on any auction you
can see its current status, or edit the listing.
Q) How can see all the auctions I have placed bids on?
A) Log into My Account select "View your Bidding History."
This will bring up a list of all auctions you have ever placed a bid on. Completed auctions show
end date and time in red, and active auctions show end date and time in black.
Q) How can I see the final results of my expired auctions?
A) Slide sellers can contact auction winners by following these steps:
a) Log into My Account
b) Select the "View your sold items with with bidder contact info" link
c) Select the appropriate radio button at the top of the page
d) Click the Refresh button
e) Click on any 9-digit auction number link on the page to view the auction results
f) Click on the winner's nickname to send the winner an invoice requesting payment, or click the winner's email address to send an email.
Q) How can I see the final results of any expired auctions?
A) There are two methods to view an auction's final results.
Option 1) Enter the auction's unique 9-digit number into the Item ID number
field on the Search page. This will bring up the completed auction
where you can see its closing results.
Option 2) Sellers can view their auction results by following these steps:
a) Log into My Account
b) Select the "View your selling history" link
c) Select the appropriate radio button at the top of the page
d) Click the Refresh button
e) Click on any auction link on the page to view the auction results
f) Click on the winner's nickname to send the winner an email requesting payment
Option 3) Bidders can view auction results on auctions they bid on by following these steps:
a) Log into My Account
b) Select the "View your bidding history" link
c) Select the appropriate radio button at the top of the page
d) Click the Refresh button
e) Click on any auction link on the page to view the auction results
f) Click on the seller's nickname to send the seller an email requesting payment instructions (if you won the
auction and have not heard from the seller)
Q) I did not get my end of auction email results. Now what do I do?
A) There are several reasons why our system may not be 100% successful in delivering all of
your end of auction emails to you. Sometimes email networks don't work and emails are
returned as undeliverable. We get hundreds of "non-deliverable" emails each week. It is simply too labour intensive for
us to manually follow up each "non-deliverable" email with each customer. Very rarely our ISP email server goes down
and emails are not sent. Maybe your firewall or spam filter blocks our email from reaching you. Maybe your ISP is blocking our emails
(which are server generated) thinking they are spam. Some ISPs block all server generated emails from reaching their customers to protect them
from spam. This might be the case with your ISP. It is a good idea to ask your ISP if they filter server generated emails.
There has been an ongoing problem over the years with our site being falsely blacklisted by UK-based ISPs (btinternet and yahoo) as well as other ISPs as a propagator of SPAM and our site was not whitelisted. This means that any bulk emails sent by the site were being blocked and were not reaching customers of UK-based ISPs! We have been told that our site has now been whitelisted so the problem should go away, although we have seen this problem re-surface many times.
Ongoing email delivery problems from this website are a result of spam filters at work at your ISP. The one and only immediate solution is as follows: You must switch your email account for site use to gmail. You must make sure the spam filter within the new gmail account is de-activated. Gmail offers a great service that can be set up within your PC's email client (Outloook or Outlook Express) and gmail will not filter your emails unless you tell them to! Gmail is the one and only email service that is 100% reliable for long-term use of this website.
As all emails sent by the website are server generated, we do not have a means of re-sending them. Our server will make
three attempts to deliver your emails, and if they cannot be delivered on the third attempt, the emails are cancelled.
Any of these situations may result in auction result emails not reaching your email in-box. Not to worry, as slide buyers and slide sellers can easily view end of auction results within My Account as explained below.
Slide sellers can contact auction winners by following these steps:
a) Log into My Account
b) Select the "View your sold items with with bidder contact info" link
c) Select the appropriate radio button at the top of the page
d) Click the Refresh button
e) Click on any 9-digit auction number link on the page to view the auction results
f) Click on the winner's nickname to send the winner an invoice requesting payment, or click the winner's email address to send an email.
Slide buyers can contact the sellers of slides they have won by following these steps:
a) Log into My Account
b) Select the "View your buying history with seller contact info" link
c) Select the appropriate radio button at the top of the page
d) Click the Refresh button
e) Click on any 9-digit auction number link on the page to view the auction results
f) Click on the seller's nickname to send the seller an email
Q) How does the FutureWatch Feature work?
A) The FutureWatch feature will send you an email notification when new auctions are
listed that contain key words you select.
For example, if you are looking for slides/safety cards of Singapore Airlines,
Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air Jamaica, Viscount, Tu-154, L-188, French, Canadian, and
British registered aircraft... you would enter the following key words into your
FutureWatch page:
Singapore, Lingus, Canada, Jamaica, Viscount, 154, Electra, 188,
F-, C-, CF-, G-
Each expression must be seperated by a coma.
Do not enter the world "Airlines" with Singapore, or "Air" with Canada or Jamaica.
Otherwise you will receive emails each day for every auction listed that also contains
the word "Air," which there are dozens.
To set your FutureWatch settings...
1) Log into My Account at
http://www.airlinehobby.com/personal/index.cfm
2) Click on the FutureWatch Setting link
3) Enter all your keywords into the Keywords field
4) YOU MUST CHECK THE ENABLE BOX!!
5) Click the Update button at the bottom of the page
If you wish to stop receiving FutureWatch emails, simply de-select the check-mark from
the enable box on your FutureWatch page.
Q) How come I cannot get my FutureWatch emails to work?
A) Please be aware that some ISPs block certain forms of server generated email
(such as FutureWatch emails), and email delivery is never a 100% sure thing (due to internet
traffic irregularities and other reasons). As such, there is no gaurantee that the
FutureWatch system will catch and deliver every single auction that is a possible match.
At the very least, this feature will give you advance notice on some auctions that are likely
to be of interest.
Q) My main auction image has been removed. What happend?
A) All main auction images that are over 60 days old are removed from the database. Thumbnails
are deleted after 90 days.
This means if you list an auction for 21 days and select 2 as the number of times to
relist, the main image will be deleted on day 60 even though the relist auction runs
for another 3 days. The thumbnail will remain for 90 days.
This is necessary to conserve server space, otherwise our image hosting fees would be
prohibitively expensive. Unfortuantely we cannot add images once they have been
deleted from the database.
Q) How can I tell al my website partners I will be on holidays?
A) Simly post a notice on the Holiday Notification board by clicking here.
Q) The buyer/seller will not answer my emails. Now what do I do?
A) First check the Holiday Notification board by clicking here.
If the other party is on vacation, send a follow-up email if you do not get a response within a day or two of their
return date.
If you are the buyer and the seller is not on vacation and more than a week has passed since the auction completion date, send us anemail along with the member's nickname, the 9-digit auction number, and the auction completion date. We will send a warning email to the non-communicating seller. If the matter is not resolved within 7 days, please send us another email so that we may suspend the non-communicating seller's account.
It is a strict website policy that non-communicating accounts will be temporarily suspended. Repeat violators risk permanent membership cancellation.
If you are the seller, auction winners must contact you within 7 days of auction close. All auctions must be paid for within 14 days of auction close. In situations where the auction winner does not comply with these rules, sellers should follow these steps:
1) Send a second email to the winner if one week passes after the end of auction
and the winner has not responded to the initial request for payment email. Check the Holiday Notification Board (click here) to make sure the winner is not on holidays.
2) If the winner does not respond to the second email and two weeks have passed without response
from the winner, log into My Account and click on the "Send a Non-Paying Bidder Payment Request" link. Our system will automatically contact the auction winner and request that the payment be made immediately.
Auction winners that do not comply with the website's payment policy risk having their accounts suspended.
3) If the seller does not get a response from the winner within the first 14 days, the seller can elect to sell the slide to the next lowest bidder (if there is one) or relist the slide. If the slide remains unsold and/or is relisted, the seller can ask for the auction commission fees to be credited back to their account.
Q) When I bid at the last minute why does the auction go into overtime?
A) This is a design of the auction system called Dynamic Bid Time, which is activated by the seller
when posting the auction on the system. The Dynamic Bid Time default is
set to 2 minutes. This means if bids are placed during the last 2 minutes of auction, the auction
end time is extended another 2 minutes to allow the previous high bidder to place another bid. This
mechanism protects maximum bidders against snipe bids, which are bids placed at the last minute. The
end time is postponed as long as bidding activity takes place within each 2 minute time increment.
The auction will close at the end of the first 2 minute period which passes with no bids being placed.
Q) What is Dynamic Bid time?
A) This is a design of the auction system which protects bidders against sniping, which are bids placed
at the last minute. It is activated by the seller when posting the auction on the system.
The Dynamic Bid Time default is set to 2 minutes. This means if bids are placed during the last 2
minutes of auction, the auction end time is extended another 2 minutes to allow the previous high
bidder to place another bid.
The end time is postponed as long as bidding activity takes place within each 2 minute time increment.
The auction will close at the end of the first 2 minute period which passes with no bids being placed.
Q) How do I sell several identical slides with one listing?
A) Use sales Method 2 (for listings up to 21 days) or Method 3 (for listings between 30 and 360 days) as detailed on the Selling Methods page.
Q) How do I get my Mac to work with this website?
A) A Mac will not work with this website using Internet Explorer. Macs only work
with Netscape or Omniweb browsers.
Q) I lost a member's email. How can I get in contact?
A) Simply click on the nickname of the seller or high-bidder on any auction to send that
person a message. Our system will automatically send that person your message, along with your
email address so they can respond. To protect the privacy of our members, we do not provide
member's email addresses.
Q) How can I change an auction image once the auction is started?
A) Log into My Account and select the "Edit auction items" link to access
the "Edit Active Auctions" page. Highlight the desired auction from the list, click the Edit button to
access the "Edit Item" page. Click the Browse button to the right of the the New Image field, and then
select the replacement image file from your PC. By highlighting the desired image file, the upload path
will appear in the New Image field. Click Save button at the bottom of the Edit Item page.
Q) How can I change the listing category of my auction?
A) Log into My Account and select the "Edit auction items" link to access
the "Edit Active Auctions" page. Highlight the desired auction from the list, click the Edit button to
access the "Edit Item" page. Change "Categories Auctioned In" as required.
Q) How can I change the auction title?
A) Log into My Account and select the "Edit auction items" link to access
the "Edit Active Auctions" page. Highlight the desired auction from the list, click the Edit button to
access the "Edit Item" page. Change the Title field as required.
Q) I am always getting error messages when trying to use the website?
A) In order to use this website, you must use an Internet Explorer browser. DO NOT use Netscape or other
browsers which will result in page view errors. Also, PC browser settings must be enabled to accept cookies with medium or
lower security. Users who experience problems should follow these steps:
1) in browser select Tools / Internet Options / General tab
2) delete all temporary internet files
3) delete all cookies
4) select the Privacy tab within Internet Options
3) reduce privacy to medium (or lower)
4) click Apply/OK tab
5) re-boot computer
Q) Can I cancel a bid that I placed?
A) It is not possible to cancel bids placed on this auction website.
Q) How can I increase my proxy bid without bidding against myself?
A) High bidders can easily increase their proxy bids (if they wish) by simply placing another higher bid on the auction.
The system will recognize that the current high bidder is simply increasing a proxy bid, and the system will process the higher proxy bid without the bidder bidding against himself and raising the current bid price.
Q) How come I cannot post listings to only my store categories?
A) It is necessary to list items in an AirlineHobby.com auction or SuperStore category in order to
additionally list the item in a member’s user-defined store category. Listings cannot ONLY be posted to
a member’s user-defined category within a store. Items posted in a member’s store do not get charged the
$0.25 secondary category listing fee.
Q) How can I add my existing website listings to my new store category?
A) Existing auction and SuperStore listings can be posted to a store category by using the edit feature.
1) go to the auction or SuperStore listing you wish to add to your store category
2) Click the "edit" button at the top of the listing page to access the edit page
3) Select the appropriate user-defined store caregory on the edit page
4) Click the save button at the bottom of the edit page
Q) How come my auction has not been posted to the home page yet?
A) The home page is a cached page. This means it is updated by the server every twenty minutes. Therefore, auctions posted to the home page can take anywhere between 1 and 20 minutes to appear on the home page.
Q) How come my auction did not stay on the home page for long?
A) The front page feature service allows sellers to list their auctions (not SuperStore listings) on the home page for a fee of $1.00 per listing. The most current 18 auctions are listed on the home page. As new auctions are listed on the home page, older auctions are forced down the page and then to page 2, 3, 4, etc. The duration of a particular listing on the home page and its position on the home page, is entirely dependant on the volume of auctions that sellers post to the home page. For example, if a seller posts an auction to the home page, and then no other sellers post auctions to the home page for three days, the seller's listing will remain in the top position for three days. When three more auctions are posted to the home page, the seller's auction will get bumped down to the number 4 position. As soon as 18 newer auctions are posted to the home page, the seller's auction will then be bumped to page 2, and so on. Therefore, it is impossible to determine how
long a seller's auction will remain on the home page. It could be a matter of hours, days, or even minutes, depending on the volume of auctions posted to the home page.
Q) How come another bidder won the auction for the same price as my maximum bid amount?
A) For example, let's say the auction closed with a $10 final price. This website's proxy bidding system gives the current high bidder's $10 proxy bid precedence over the active bidder's $10 bid, as the current high bidder placed his $10 bid first.
For more indepth information on the proxy bidding system used on this website please click here.
Q) I lost the end of auction email with the seller contact details. Where can I get this information?
A) Buyers can now view online their 90 day buying history along with the seller contact details all on one page.
Simply log into My Account and click on the link "View your buying history with seller contact info" under Auction Management Tools - Buying (lower right side of the My Account page). All the seller information for each transaction is right there for you.
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If you have questions not addressed on this page, please contact customer_service@airlinehobby.com
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