Auction to Benefit St. Jude's

It is among the last of its make and model to be offered to the U.S. market and tomorrow is the day some deep-pocketed enthusiast could be driving it home. It is a McLaren SLR Roadster, one of the centerpieces of the Saks Fifth Avenue 2008 Holiday catalog and the star of its very own auction, courtesy of its manufacturer, Mercedes- Benz, and LiveAuctioneers.com.

According to the site, via its Auction Central News platform, the starting bid on the car is set at $529,500, and all additional funds raised above this amount will be donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Thanks and Giving campaign.

The uber-hot whip will be offered via an exclusive online auction on November 20, 2008, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. EST. Interested parties are invited to place their bid at http://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/17643.

With special features such as carbon-fiber bodywork finished in bespoke SLR Sienna Pearl metallic paint, and a signature light brown leather interior, this is the only SLR in this combination destined for the U.S., according to ACN:

"The Mercedes McLaren SLR Roadster completes its limited production run with this unique SLR Roadster. Featuring a hand-built supercharged V-8 engine with 617 horsepower, retractable roof and top speed of 206 miles per hour, the SLR Roadster moves from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds."

(Photo supplied to ACN by Mercedes-Benz and use here without permission. But PLEASE don't make us take it down.)

Promotion allows sellers to add extra pix for 10-cents

From now through December 18th, eBay sellers can add additional pictures to their listings for just 10-cents a piece. Declaring that the Holiday shopping season "is a great time to add additional pictures" to their listings, eBay's announcement of the promotion stated that "listings that were created prior to the promotion and are scheduled to start during the promotional period (Nov 18 - Dec 18, 2008) will also be eligible for the discounted rate. This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: all eBay Motors listings (including Parts & Accessories, Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Power Sports, and Other Vehicles), as well as International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate and Ad Format."

Get more details here and get those shutters clicking!

One web site says "yes!"

With the holidays now upon us, and the world economic crisis diluting the buying power of most consumers, online auctions are being suggested in some circles as a way to get the most bang for the beleaguered buck. And when you talk about online auctions you have to talk eBay. Yet eBay's growth from folksy, egalitarian trading post to global mega-marketplace has come with a steep price, one many of its critics have carped on for years.

Gone are the days when a spirited mom-and-pop seller could stake a nice claim to the eBay buyer. Institutional sellers, big retailers and established power sellers are the bread and butter of the San Jose-based auctioneer - meaning "the little guy" is at an acute disadvantage; so much so that many of them defected to other sites back in February in response to new fees and feedback changes they claimed favored big sellers.

In an article called "eBay's Allure is Going, Going, Gone" for Smart Money, Stacy L. Bradford today notes that everyday consumer items, like DVDs, are readily available on eBay and, of course, can be supplied by wholesalers and distributors who can use volume discounting to squeeze out smaller sellers.

"But experts and veteran eBay shoppers say that when it comes to items like collectibles typically offered by smaller merchants, the deals often aren't there," Bradford writes. She points out that many buyers feel the "need to go elsewhere to find the best deals, namely other marketplace sites like eCrater, which is free, and Bonanzle
which charges lower fees."

The entire piece is worth a read and your consideration, but we couldn't help noticing Bradford's mention of eCrater. In one of our podcasts this winter - right about the time of the fee and feedback changes at eBay - we strongly recommended eCrater as an alternate site for disgruntled eBayers.

If you are looking for online auction vehicles as an alternate to eBay, please click on our Resources Page for a bunch of them. And, if you know of a great site you've used - one that helped you net a few bucks as a seller or saved you a few as a buyer - pass it along to us and we'll spread the word.

Over its objections, eBay to open books to CRA

Canadians who earn more than a $1,000 a month on eBay will have their data reported to the Canadian Revenue Agency, that country's equivalent of America's IRS. This comes despite eBay's strenuous objection to a recent ruling by the Federal Court of appeal, reports CBC News today.

Power sellers, as defined by this specific story, are those earning gross sales figures of more than a grand a month for three consecutive months. They will be subject to increased scrutiny by the CRA.

In 2006, Revenue Canada started looking into whether power sellers had reported all their eBay earnings on their 2004 and 2005 income taxes.

It's estimated about 32,000 Canadians make all or part of their income selling on eBay.

Meantime, the CBC story reports that many more Canadians are shopping online, with 2007 sales rising to $12.8 billion, according to Statistics Canada.

Like their Canadian counterparts, U.S. tax authorities at the state, local and federal level, are looking to close what has been called a reporting gap - the difference between what is earned via online enterprise and what is reported to tax agences. We'll keep it between us, but we've got to ask: Do you report all of your online earnings to the tax authorities that apply to you? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anonymous buyer pays record sum for Babe's Dodger coaching uniform

Though his name is synonymous with the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth played for several other teams in his fabled baseball career, most notably the Boston Red Sox. Before his retirement the Babe coached some. And the uniform he wore while serving as first-base coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers just proved to be a smash hit at auction. One might even say it was a Ruthian home run.

An anonymous bidder paid $270,000 for the Spalding jersey and pants that were the road uniform Babe wore in 1938 for Brooklyn. The uniform was one of 900 items of sports memorabilia up for auction Saturday at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky, according to the Courier-Journal.

More from the paper:

Hunt Auctions, a Pennsylvania-based company that handled the auction, said the price paid for the famous slugger's Spalding jersey and pants was a record for a coach's uniform.

"Babe Ruth proved once again he is larger then life," said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions. "The prices realized today for the Ruth uniform among others are an excellent indication of the resilience of the sports memorabilia market in the face of a difficult economy."

Ruth wore the uniform during one season as a first-base coach with the Dodgers. The jersey has Ruth's name stitched inside near the manufacturer's tag and shows very little wear. A 1939 World's Fair patch also is sewn on the left sleeve.

The anonymous buyer, who bid by telephone, will pay $310,500 when auction fees are included.

Other items offered at the auction included boxing memorabilia from the likes of Rocky Graziano and Louisville's most famous son, Muhammad Ali.

(Photo by Arza Barnett, The Courier-Journal)

How to profit from "crying sales"

In a piece that was posted online, today's edition of the Tacoma News-Tribune explains real estate foreclosure auctions and so-called "crying sales." If you're considering a move into distressed properties, this piece outlines a few rules you'll want to know so you're not the one left crying.

How much will fans "Cowboy up" for piece of NFL history?

While most fans of the Dallas Cowboys are likely focused on the return on the team's starting quarterback for tomorrow's crucial game against Washington, some devoted fans and collectors are looking less to how well Tony Romo's pinky grips the ball and more to what they can get their fingers on when memorabilia from Texas Stadium goes up for auction Monday.

According to the team's website and the Associated Press, fans will be able to log on and bid on everything from the lockers of team players and coaches, turnstiles with the Cowboys logo on them, directional signs and myriad artifacts that date back to the stadium's opening in 1971. In all, 500 lots will go under the gavel.

The Cowboys, who will move into a new stadium next year, play their last game at Texas Stadium Dec. 20th. The last date to bid on auction items is Dec. 6th.

Nous avons examine juste notre statistique pour la semaine et France a emerge comme notre #1 pays etranger. Presque 15% de nos visiteurs d'hors des Etats-Unis est venu de votre pays. Avec une traduction fournie par le freetranslation.com, nous vous remercions sincerement.

France has emerged as the #1 source of our international audience this week and we just had to say thanks!

100 "noteworthy" domain names soon to be up for grabs

One hundred Internet adresses, said to be "high-quality domains with substantial monetization potential" will go up for auction next week in Los Angeles. The URLs are being auctioned by L.A.-based Thought Convergence, according to a press release.

Among the domains that will go under the gavel are dentalpolicy.com, saws.com, businessfirms.com and broadcasting.com.au, among others.

The names will go under the gavel taking place at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Down Under, Nov. 20, 2008 at 8:30 AM AEST UTC/GMT +10 hours (Nov. 19, 2008, 2:30 PM PST). A complete list of the URLs up for grabs can be found at the DomainTools blog at blog.domaintools.com. The simultaneous in-person and online auction promotes significant movement, with up to 50% of the inventory at no or low reserve, according to the official release.

If you're looking for a spiffy name for your online auction biz, you might want to see if it's up for grabs here.

Auctioneer agrees to halt sale of free ducats

Heeding the call to take the profit motive out of the January presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, eBay today halted sales of tickets to the event on its web sites after meeting with the congressional committee responsible for doling out the passes, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier in the week, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had called for a ban on all sales of inaugural tickets (which, by tradition, are free to the public), even criminalizing their sale.

"This inauguration will be the major civic event of our time, and these tickets are supposed to be free for the people," Feinstein said in a statement on Tuesday. "Nobody should have to pay for their tickets," she said.

After a sit down with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, eBay agreed.

"We met with the committee yesterday, and decided we won't allow tickets to sell on any of our related platforms," eBay spokesperson Nichola Sharpe said in a telephone interview today. The San Jose, California-based company is the world's biggest Internet auctioneer.

What remains in front of eBay is what to do about all the tickets that have thus far sold on its site. A pair sold for $21,716 on EBay's StubHub.com, spokeswoman Vanessa Daniele told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this week.

FEEDBACK LOOP: So, what do you think? Would you pay for a pair of tickets to attend this historic inauguration? Would you scalp yours if a pair found their way into your possession? Click on the word "comments" below this story and share your thoughts, please.