User Registration

Registering to use ODAA is very quick and simple.

1. Start by going to the home page of your auction site and clicking on the register link on the navigation bar:

2. Enter your details into the registration form:

3. Click on the Register button and the bottom of the form to complete your registration.

4. You can now login to your ODAA auction site and begin buying and selling auction items:

Introduction To Members' Area

After logging in, you will be taken to the Members' Area. This gives you access to all of the main functionality of the auction system and to a list of item categories, showing you how many items are for sale in each one: The main areas of functionality in the members' area are:

• Messaging - send and receive private messages about auction items
• Bidding - this section gives you an overview of your current auction activity:
  • Current Bids
  • Won Items
  • Invoices Received
  • Watched Items
  • Favourite Stores
• Selling - Manage your selling activities
• Reputation - view the feedback you have given and received for each item you have bought and sold
• Bulk - access ODAA 's bulk listing software. This enables you to prepare multiple listings offline before uploading them all at once
• About Me - create your own "About Me" page, to enable other members to find out a little more about you and your interests
• My Store - setup and configure your own "stores" - a private shop where only your items are listed
• Wanted Ads - view your current and closed Wanted Ads and create new Wanted Ads
• My Account - view and modify your account details and carry out other administrative tasks

Messaging

The messaging section of the Members' Area allows you to read, delete and reply to all the messages you have sent and received:

Click on Received or Sent to see a list of your messages.

To read a message, simply click on the "To" or "From" user id and the message will load for you:

To delete a message, click on the Delete link to the side of the message you want to delete:

Sending Messages

You can send private and public messages to sellers from all item listings.

1. Scroll down the listing until you find the Ask Seller A Question section:
2. Type in the question you would like to ask the seller, and select whether you want it to be private or public (visible to other users):
3. Click Submit to send the message. You can see all of your sent and received messages in your Members' Area, under Messaging

The Won Items section allows you to see all of your recent purchases and bids at a glance:

Recently-purchased items are then individually listed with their payment status:

When you are ready to pay for the item, simply click on Pay With Direct Payment:

This will take you to a payment screen enabling you to choose you preferred payment method and make an instant payment for your item: Once you have completed the payment, the payment status for the item will be updated in the Won Items table - for example:

Invoices Received

The Bidding section of the Members' Area also allows buyers to see all of their current invoices:

Watched Items

If you would like to track the progress of an auction without bidding on it, you can choose to watch the item.

1. In every item listing, you will see a Watch This Item link - like this: To add an item to your Watched Items list, simply click on this link:

2. To view your Watched Items list, go to the Watched Items section of the Members' Area:

Favourite Stores

ODAA allows users to operate their own stores within the auction site. Selecting a store as a favourite allows you quick and easy access to it directly from your Members' Area, without having to search for it.

1. To access a complete list of stores or to search the store directory, click on the stores link in the navigation bar:

2. At the top of each store's home page, there is an Add To Favourites link. Click this to add this store to your Favourite Stores: To see a list of all of your favourite stores, go to Members' Area / Bidding / Favourite Stores:

Managing Your Selling Items

You can manage all of your selling items from the Selling section of the Members' Area:

Open

The open view shows all of the items you currently have listed in active auctions: The Selling Totals section provides a simple summary of the number of items at each selling status, and the Open Auctions table below lists each item currently being sold. You can sort the items Open Auctions table by clicking on the arrowheads by each column heading.

Items With Bids/Offers

The Items With Bids/Offers view shows all the items you are currently selling that have bids of offers on them: The Selling Totals table provides an at-a-glance view of all your selling activity.

Scheduled

The Scheduled view shows all the auction listings you currently have scheduled to start: The Selling Totals table provides an at-a-glance view of all your selling activity.

Closed

The Closed view shows all of your closed auction listings: The Selling Totals table provides an at-a-glance view of all your selling activity.

Drafts

The Drafts view shows all of your saved draft auction listings:

Sold

The Sold view shows all of your sold auction items: The Selling Totals table provides an at-a-glance view of all your selling activity.

Invoices Sent

The Invoices Sent view shows all of your current sent invoices: The Selling Totals table provides an at-a-glance view of all your selling activity.

Fees Calculator

The Fees Calculator allows you to calculate the listing fees for an item before you create the listing:

Simply select the fees that will apply to your listing and click Proceed. Note that this calculator excludes the selling price fee as this is variable and depends on the selling price.

Prefilled Fields

Regular sellers may find that they have certain fields that always require the same data to be entered into them. The Prefilled Fields page allows this information to be saved and automatically populated into your auction listings.

Field Name	Description
Item Title	The title for your auction listing
Description	Enter any common text that appears in all your item descriptions into this field.
Duration	If your auctions always have the same duration, you can specify it here.
Private Auction	If you always run private auctions, check this box.
Swap Offers	If you are always open to swap offers, check this box.

Listing An Item For Sale

Here's a step-by-step guide to listing an item for sale by auction, offer or buy out. Most steps are the same for all types of listing.

1. Start by clicking on the Sell link on the main navigation bar:

2. Choose whether you would like the item listed on the main auction site, in your shop only (if you have one) or in both locations. Note that shop-only items will only be visible to visitors to your store.




3. Choose a main category for your item. Each time you select a category, a list of appropriate sub-categories will be displayed until no further detail is possible. Simply click on a category to select it: Once the category has been finalized, the Next Step button will be highlighted:



4. You now need to specify the

Item Details. Once you have done this, click Next Step to continue:

Field Name	Description
Choose Listing Type	In most circumstances a full listing is more suitable. If you find that many of the options you are offered are not relevant try a quick listing.

Item Title	Enter a title for your item. This will be displayed in category listings and search results.
Description	Enter a description of your item. Generally, the more detail you can provide, the better.
Main Category	This confirms your choice of main listing category.
Voucher Settings	Include any voucher codes you may have in this field. Otherwise it should be left blank

5. The next stage is to configure the settings for your item:

Field Name	Description
Auction Type	Choose between standard (listing one item) and Dutch (listing multiple, identical items)
Currency	Choose the currency you wish to use
Quantity	Specify how many items you are selling
Auction Starts At	Specify the starting bid for your auction
Enable Reserve	If you would like a reserve price, check this box. A reserve price prevents an item selling below a certain price, regardless of how much the final bid is for.
Reserve Price	Enter the reserve price if applicable
Buy Out price	A Buy Out price enables bidders to buy your item instantly - without having to wait for the auction to end.
Offer Range	If you are willing to accept offers for your item, specify the price range you are prepared to consider.
Bid Increment	This controls how much more each bid is than the previous bid. In most circumstances the default choice will be suitable.
Item Featuring	This allows you to promote your item more widely - choose any combination of featuring you would like.
Start Time	Allows you to choose to start your auction now, or at a later time.
End Time	Choose the duration of your auction - from a standard range of options or by specifying a specific future date.
Private Auction	If you would like to hide user ids of bidders from other users, select a private auction. Bidders' user ids will still be visible to you, the seller.

Item Condition	Use the drop-down menu to specify the condition of your item. Add any specific comments into the text field above.
Images	Upload up to three images of the item you are listing. Files can be uploaded from your computer or from another website.
Media	Upload a video file of your item. Files can be uploaded from your computer or from another website.
Auto Relist	Enable the automatic relisting of your item. You can choose to have it relisted only in the case it does not sell and can specify how many times it will be automatically relisted.
Location	Confirm the location details of your item. By default, this will be set to be the same location your user is registered at

6. The next step is to specify shipping and payment details for your item.

7. Preview your listing - see how it will look to buyers and make any changes necessary using the

Previous Step button. You can also choose to Save As Draft - this will save your listing and allow you to return to it later. If you are happy with the listing, press the List button to publish the listing. You will then see a message confirming that it has been accepted and informing you of the fee for the listing:

The Bidding section provides you with an overview of all the items you have bid on lists items you have won, outstanding invoices and items you are watching. The Bidding section also provides access to your Favourite Stores list.

Managing & Placing Bids

At the heart of your auction experience is bidding on items you'd like to buy. ODAA allows you to purchase items in several ways:

1. Standard bidding
2. Proxy Bidding
3. Make an Offer
4. Buy Out

You can see detailed examples for each type of bidding option below.

Standard & Proxy Bidding

Standard bidding is the most common way to bid on an item, and is exactly the same as the process used in real-world auction rooms. You bid the minimum amount needed to outbid the current high bidder.

b. If you wish to place a proxy bid, enter your maximum bid into the Your Bid field

4. You will now see confirmation that you are the high bidder or a message telling you that you have been outbid, or that you bid is below the reserve price. You can place as many bids as you want on an item.

Making An Offer

1. If you would like to make an offer, click on the icon.

3. Click Proceed to continue and your offer will be confirmed and submitted to the seller.

Buy Out (Buy Now)

2. You will be taken to a confirmation page showing the Buy Out price, postage costs and payment methods for the item: Click Proceed if you are happy to continue.

3. Your purchase will now be confirmed and you will be able to pay the seller's invoice: