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Latest Features!
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These new features have been recently added to the website:
New hide auction feature on items sold/bought pages (DEC 07, 2007)
Site users can now hide from view auctions listed on the sold items page and the bought items page within My Account.
Slide sellers can now easily hide from view sold auctions on the "View your sold items with bidder contact info" page using the new check-boxes beside the respective auctions. If an auction is hidden from view by mistake, don't worry, the "Show hidden items only" check-box allows for hidden items to be shown again. This new feature allows slide sellers to better manage their sold slides.
Slide buyers can now easily hide from view their bought slides on the "View your buying history with seller contact info" page using the new check-boxes beside the respective auctions. If a bought slide is hidden from view by mistake, don't worry, the "Show hidden items only" check-box allows for hidden items to be shown again. This new feature allows slide buyers to better manage their bought slides.
Change to the website proxy bid system (JUNE 08, 2007)
The website's proxy bidding system has recently been overhauled. We have changed how the system handles matching maximum proxy bids for a given auction.
If a current high bidder has a $10 proxy bid in place on a given auction, and an active bidder also places a $10 bid, the system will no longer give the message "your bid amount is the same as the current high bidder" to the active bidder.
In this situation, the current high bidder's $10 proxy bid will take precedence over the active bidder's $10 bid, as the current high bidder placed his $10 bid first. The active bidder will be informed that he has been outbid. The current high bidder will win the auction for $10 so long as no higher bids are placed.
For more indepth information on the revised proxy bidding system please click here.
Buyer Contact Info with one easy click (JAN 10, 2006)
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 new link "View your buying history with seller contact info" under Auction Management Tools - Buying (lower right side of the My Account page).
Shutter Kings page (DEC 17, 2005)
Every site member that completes their "About Me" page is now featured in the new “Shutter Kings” page, which is now on the menu bar and accessible from all pages on the website. The "About Me" page allows each site member to tell the world about their aviation photography and aircraft slide collecting interests. If you are looking for slide trading partners or would like to create a webpage showcasing your aviation photo background, here is your chance. You can use html and it costs nothing! We have over 1300 active site members, and only 40 site members have completed their "About Me" pages. There are more than 1200 AirlineHobby members who are keenly encouraged to complete their "About Me" pages.. and join the ranks of the AirlineHobby.com Shutter Kings!
Hot Auctions Page
The new "Hot Auctions" page showcases all the active "Hot Auctions" on the website in one location. An auction must have four bids in order to be considered a "Hot Auction" and appear on this page. (The “Hot Auction” requirement was recently reduced from 7 bids down to 4 bids.)
Remove Item from Invoice
Sellers can now permanently remove items from appearing on their invoices to buyers. The Invoice Page now has a new "Remove and Recalculate" button. Any item that is check-marked will be permanently removed from all future invoices when this button is clicked.
New fully-automated invoice system (OCT 16, 2005)
A brand new fully-automated invoice system is now available, which allows AirlineHobby.com sellers to invoice their buyers with the click of a button!
Instead of manually composing and sending each buyer a request for payment email from your PC's email program, which takes a lot of time, sellers can now simply click on the new "Invoice your buyers" link in My Account.
When the page loads, simply click on any buyer's nickname and a fully automated invoice page opens, where a complete list of the buyer's recently purchased items are itemized and totaled.
The seller can add a personal message and specify postage fees. Don't forget to hit the "Recalculate" button each time you change the items on the invoice or change the postage amount. When the invoice is ready to send, simply hit the "Send Invoice" button at the bottom. It is as simple as that!
All sellers are strongly encouraged to use the new invoice system, which will save sellers much time, and present invoice information to buyers in an easy-to-understand and uniform format.
New sales management tool for sellers
A brand new sales management tool is now available for all sellers. Simply log into My Account and click on the new page titled "View your sold items with bidder contact info" to see the various reports that are now available.
Sellers can now view reports of all their sales data, including all the necessary buyer info (email, telephone and mailing address) for each auction. Reports are also available for current listings, showing current value of all bids, as well as totals. Of course all reports are easily copied into excel, so sellers can now easily maintain their own spread-sheets produced directly from the website's database records.
This new sales management page also allows sellers to search their own listings based on buyer's nickname, 9-digit item number, or key words contained in the item's title field.
The website database only maintains completed auction information for 90 days after the date of close. However, this new report system allows sellers to easily maintain their own, ongoing account archives.
AirlineHobby Stores: 
All AirlineHobby.com members can now create their own exclusive online store. Simply access the store set-up link within My Account (at the very bottom).
Within each member’s store, there is the ability to include an “About Us” section, as well as upload a logo. Most importantly, each member can also create their own user-defined categories within their own store.
Each store is assigned its own unique URL, so members can easily share their store link with friends and customers, and easily incorporate links to their store from other websites.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: 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. (There are no listing fees for listing items in user-defined store catagories.)
Once a store is created, a “STORE” mini button will appear on all the seller’s website listings (beside the seller’s nickname). A click on this button takes viewers to the seller’s store. This site-wide feature automatically enables all sellers to cross-market website viewers to their stores.
Existing listings can be posted to a store by using the edit feature. On the edit page simply select the appropriate user-defined store caregory, and then click the save button at the bottom of the page.
About Me: 
All AirlineHobby.com members now have their own html supported webpage to publish “About Me” information for everyone to see. Simply access the “About Me” set-up link within My Account (at the bottom of the page).
Each member can now tell everyone about their specific interests in the hobby, how they got started in the hobby, explain what they are collecting, and share hobby-related information with other site members. This page is html supported, so users who are familiar with html can create an “About Me” page designed to their own specific layout requirements, with links, images and photos. Those not familiar with webpage design and html can simply enter a text write-up.
Each user’s “About Me” page is assigned its own unique URL, so members can easily share this link with friends and customers, and easily incorporate links to their “About Me” page from other websites.
A “ME” mini button will appear beside a seller’s nickname (on all the seller’s website listings) so viewers can click on this button to view the seller’s “About Me” page.
Proxy Bidding Upgrade
All auction bids placed on the website are now processed as proxy bids. It is no longer possible to place a regular bid. This change was made to protect those not familiar with the difference between the two bidding formats from placing regular bids at high dollar amounts, when their intention was to place a safer proxy bid. Given the history of bidders making regular bids in error (where the bidder’s first language is often not English), the webmaster decided the easiest solution was to remove regular bidding from the website. The change to exclusive proxy bidding is for the protection of the bidding community at large.
Increasing Proxy Bid Amounts
High bidders can easily increase their proxy bids (if they wish) by simply placing another higher bid on the auction.
The system has been modified to 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. (It is no longer necessary to cancel one’s existing proxy bid in order to place a higher proxy bid.)
New Aviation Collectibles Selling Categories
Several new aviation collectible categories have been added to the SuperStore. Effective immediately, safety cards, books, printed matter and other aviation collectibles can be listed for fixed-price sale on the AirlineHobby.com SuperStore!
Our no cost ($0.00) listing fee offers a terrific savings compared to our biggest competitor, ebay. On ebay, it costs approximately $.50 USD to list a $5 item with a thumbnail photo, and the listing only remains active for 7 days. A 10 day listing for a $5 item (with thumbnail) will cost $.70 on ebay. We are offering truly terrific value by allowing listings to remain active for up to 1 year, and not charging a single penny for listing fees!
On AirlineHobby.com you only pay when the item sells. SuperStore listings can be posted for durations up to 1 year, and listings can contain single or multiple quantities. Perfect for listing those 25 Holidair DC8 safety cards retrieved from the dust bin 15 years ago! Ideal for listing those 10 copies of Propliner magazine #28 you were give in 1987. Or those 18 Mid Pacific YS11 safety cards "collected" on that memorable Honolulu-Maui flight back in 1987!
This is the perfect, cost-effective way to market your unsold aviation collectibles that are collecting dust and taking up valuable storage space. Start converting those old magazines, safety cards, books, photos, videos, pins, and postcards to cash today!
We have recently heard that ebay has banned safety cards from being listed on their European websites. Similar action may follow soon for their US website. As a polite reminder, everyone is welcome and encouraged to list their safety cards on AirlineHobby.com!
We encourage everyone to start listing their surplus aviation collectibles for fixed price sale in the AirlineHobby.com SuperStore. List as much as you like... and remember the old saying ... "one person's junk is another person's gold!"
Default Settings for Sell Page and Bulk Loader
Within My Account, we have added a Default Settings page where slide sellers can set auction listing default values or Slide SuperStore listing default values. These values are retained in the database, and can be edited at any time. The default settings page within My Account can then be used as a spring-board to quickly post listings via an automatically populated Sell Page or an automatically populated Bulk Loader. This saves sellers from having to waste time setting up all their Sell Page or Bulk Loader settings each time they wish to post listings!
Edit Address, Tel and Password within My Account:
Site members can now update/edit their address, telephone, email and password details within My Account. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to send an email to the webmaster asking that these changes be made.
Phone Numbers:
Buyer and seller telephone numbers are now provided along with the address details in the end-of-auction emails to buyers and sellers. We encourage buyers and sellers to try and resolve problems in person before sending a payment request, leaving negative feedback, or involving the webmaster. If it is not possible to contact another site member by email, then please attempt to contact the member by telephone. Payment request and negative feedback should only be used as a measure of last resort.
Single item auctions only:
A strategic decision was made to create a distinct separation between auctions and fixed-price slide sales. As such, the auction page has been hard-coded to allow single item auctions only. Multiple listing BuyNow sales can no longer be conducted using the auction format. Multiple listing BuyNows can of course be accommodated within the Slide SuperStore categories. This will make life easier for buyers and sellers alike! Everyone now knows that all fixed-price slide sales are found within the Slide SuperStore categories!
No more pennies in bid increments:
Effective today, it is no longer possible to introduce pennies/cents into the bidding system. Bids on all auctions can only be placed in $1 bid increments. (Existing auctions with pennies introduced in existing bids will not be effected by the bid coding change and will de-populate from the website in the next few weeks.) This does not mean sellers cannot list slides with a starting price of $2.50. In this example, the system will only allow bidders to bid $2.50, $3.50, $4.50, $5.50 etc. Bidders cannot bid $3.54, $4.54, $5.54 etc. as the bid value must be in full one dollar increments (with no additional pennies) above the starting bid price.
Feedback Page sort capability:
It is now possible to sort the Post Feedback page by auction title, nickname, and date.
Search by 1,2,3…7 days:
On the Search page, it is now possible to conduct word searches for listings posted within the past 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 days (in addition to the non date-constrained full database searches).
Sell History Overhaul
Auction management just got a whole lot easier! By clicking on the “View your selling history” link in My Account, sellers can now view separate result pages (which includes total numbers of listings) for the following:
1) Active auctions, 2) expired auctions sold, 3) expired auctions unsold
4) Active Slide SuperStore listings, 5) expired Slide SuperStore listings
Bulk Auction Re-List
Sellers can now re-list expired auctions (sold or unsold) in bulk with the single click of a button! By clicking on the “View your selling history” link in My Account, sellers can view their completed auctions (sold or not sold) page by page, and a check-box beside each listing can allow for up to 50 expired auctions to be re-listed with one click of the button!
New Auction Search
Users can now search for newly listed auctions that exclude the re-listed auctions. This feature is available on the home page and on the search page.
Auction Watch List
Users can now remove auctions from the auction watch page.
Edit Auction Price
Sellers can now edit the opening bid price of an auction using the edit auction feature (as long as there are no bids placed or the reserve price is not met).
New Feedback Sytem
The new feedback system has been operating bug-free for the past few weeks. Each closed auction now generates a feedback report for both the buyer and the seller.
Euro conversion
All site listings now show the current bid / BuyNow price in Euros (using the prevailing exchange rate). The site currency and all listings are still in $USD, but we are showing the conversion to Euros as promised.
Bid Retractions
The Bid History page for all auctions has been modified to capture all cancelled bids for everyone to see. As per the cancel bid policy, site members are reminded that bid cancellation is not permitted except in two special circumstances:
1) The bidder made a significant typing mistake (such as placing an $888.00 proxy bid instead of an $88.00 proxy bid). If this occurs, the bidder must re-enter the correct bid amount immediately after the first bid has been cancelled. If a correcting bid is not placed, the bid retraction will be in violation of AirlineHobby's policy.
2) The description of a slide bid on changed significantly as the seller made major amendments to the auction's description, or the seller told the bidder information that caused the bidder to change his/her perceived value of the slide.
Cancel Bid Feature
High bidders on active auctions can now cancel their bids by following the steps below.
High bids placed on Slide SuperStore listings and auctions that have closed cannot be cancelled.
1) log into My Account
2) Click on the "View your bidding history" link
3) Limit results to "active auctions" on the bidding results page
4) Click the "Cancel this bid" button beside desired auction(s)
Increase Proxy Bid Feature
An auction's high bidder can now increase his bid amount without bidding against himself.
Simply cancel the existing proxy bid by following the steps above, and then place a new, higher
(proxy or regular) bid.
Slide SuperStore
This new section of the website offers fixed-price slide sales with online
listing durations up to one year!
Military Aircraft Slide SuperStore
Civil Aircraft Slide SuperStore
The Slide SuperStore allows for a single slide or multiple quantities of a slide
to be listed (between 30 days and 1 year) for fixed-price sale on the AirlineHobby
website. This is the perfect solution for private slide sellers and large volume,
retail slide sellers alike!
With multiple quantity slide listings, results to buyer and seller emails are sent
out with each slide purchase (along with a seperate invoice to the seller with
each sale). Using the edit feature, at any time during the listing period, sellers
can change the quantity of slides available (increase or decrease), as well as
change the sale price.
Edit/Cancel Auction
Sellers can now cancel their own auctions by simply logging into My Account
and clicking on the "Cancel Auction Early" link. It is no longer necessary to send
the 9-digit numbers to the webmaster.
Also, a new "edit auction" button appears at the top of auction pages when a seller
is logged into the system and viewing their own auctions. This makes editting
auctions even easier!
Bulk Loader
Within My Account, the new Bulk Loader allows sellers to list large numbers of
slides very rapidly. All large volume sellers are encouraged to look at this
time saving feature!
Block Bidder
Sellers can now block bidders from bidding on their auctions using the new Block
Bidder page, accessed in My Account. Site users with a history of slow payment or
poor communication should be aware that sellers can now block their bids!
Edit Auction
Sellers can now make the following changes to their auctions on the Edit Auction
page within My Account:
1) change image
2) edit auction title
3) change auction category
Login-Logout Module
A new time-saving login-logout module has been added to the website. When logged in,
users no longer need to enter their nickname and password when performing all site functions (bidding,
listing slides etc).
Relist Completed Auction
A "Relist This Item" button now appears at the top of all expired
auctions. Clicking this button automatically launches a new Sell Page that
is pre-populated with all the details and images from the completed auction.
Of course any field can be changed (except images) and the relisted auction
can be posted with two simple clicks of the mouse! Be careful not to relist
auctions that were initially set to relist automatically... to avoid double
listings.
Payment Instructions
Sellers can now send their mailing address, and custom payment instructions
to auction winners in the end-of-auction "congratulations" email that is
automatically sent out by the system. On the Sell Page, we have added a new text
box (titled "Payment Instructions") in which sellers can include their own
custom message for the winner. Also, at the bottom of the Sell page, there
is a new check box where sellers can select to have the system include
their complete mailing address along with the "congratulations" results
emailed to auction winners.
"New Listings Here"
If an auction has been posted to a category within the past 24 hours, "New
Listings Here" will appear beside the category name on the
Listings Page. This allows users to
see where new auctions have been posted with a quick glance of the
Listings Page.
Auction Watch
Just click on the "watch" link which now appears on all auctions to add
desired auctions to your "watch" page. By logging into My Account, you can
then access the "watch" page which presents all the auctions you would like
to keep close watch of ... all in one convenient place. Selected auctions
remain on the watch page until auction expirey.
New Search Buttons
We have re-designed the "new auction" and "ending soon" search buttons to
allow seperate searches of the Civil and Military auctions, for 24H,
48H and 72H time periods.
Account Balance
You can view your account balance simply by logging into My Account. It is
no longer necessary to run a detailed account inquirey to retrieve
account balances.
Private Auctions
All auctions posted on the website are now private. Seller and high bidder
nicknames presented on any given auction are now Nickname and Password
protected. In order to send an email to the seller/high bidder, simply click
on the seller/high bidder nickname, enter your nickname and password, and
our system will send your email message for you. This change was made to protect
user's email addresses from being archived by spam engines, and to prevent
unsolicited communications from people outside the AirlineHobby community.
FREE Image Hosting
You no longer have to link from an external web site when presenting an
image with your auction. Now, you can simply and quickly upload your images right from your
computer to our server when you post your auction. This service is completely free!
Thumbnail Images
Now you can present a thumbnail image of your auction item on the listing page to catch the
attention of interested bidders. This service is provided for free!
Buy It Now 
Sellers can now post auctions with the option of indicating a Buy It Now price. This means a bidder
can accept the seller's price and end the auction process at any time. Of course the regular auction process (and reserve
price) still applies so long as the price remains below the seller's Buy It Now price.
User Feedback
The User Feedback system has been changed so that any member can only leave one feedback comment on any other
site member. New feedback about a specific user will replace the old comments. So if you change your mind about
previous comments they can now be retracted.
PayPal is now available for International users.
Use PayPal to
settle private party transactions in $USD anywhere in the world!
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