imabrit
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posted on October 15, 2000 08:48:26 AM new
Bidding is terrible this week it has to be the worset I have ever seen since doing this in 97.
I have items I have ran for over 2 years almost weekly that 95% would sell with good bids.I start the bidding low to get them going as they always do very well.
This week of the 40 items only about 1/3rd have bids and they end in two days.
Makes no sense.
I have spoken to some other ebaY sellers and they have seen the same thing this week and I see others mention it too here as well.
P.S. I had an email virus I just cleared of the computer but lost microsoft notepad anyone know how to restore it.
thanks Adrian
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akamich
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posted on October 15, 2000 08:52:59 AM new
I must agree. From experience, I know that Sunday is a good closing day for me, perhaps it's the casual browsers, but today is spectacularly bad, with the regular stuff. September was much better, and I expected a steady pickup after the summer. This uneven momentum is unsettling. Do you have a theory?
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imabrit
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:04:18 AM new
I think it has to be stockmarket related though I think a lot of people like myself do not have any money it.It still affects the thinking ability.
The stockmarket is at almost a record year low and as it has continued to drop bidding has done so with it.
Oil prices maybe a concern too but I have to real theory as all I know there is no logic to what happens on ebaY.
Why bidders will all stop bidding at the same time baffles me.Its like there is something in the water that we all drink that does something to the mind and says no bidding on ebaY.
I do this full time and its getting me more and more worried.If this continues for another 60 days or so.I hate to say it I am out of business.I will have too look somewhere else as ebaY would no longer be the place to be.
Adrian
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dybr
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:07:31 AM new
Hey Folks.
Bidding everywhere has gotten sporadic. But I am not seeing the drastic drop in bidding that you are talking about. Maybe its the items you have?
Had to add:
One section of my sales has definitely dropped off. (This is the inside entertainment stuff I sell, like Movies and CDs) The new section is picking up nicely to compensate for the first. (This is the stuff like outdoor Items, Mopeds, Bicycles. Larger Dollar Items are not doing badly)
[ edited by dybr on Oct 15, 2000 09:10 AM ]
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skyscout
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:09:38 AM new
Good weather in a lot of the country and the kids busy in school, plus the stock market wearing on peoples' minds. Definitely weak the past few days. I feel that Ebay is starting to settle out. The fad has worn out and enough people have been burned that they are approaching it more cautiously. Still a lot of new 0-feedback bidders, but many of them are not intending to pay or are outright stolen scredit card con men. The large number of items means that little things which would sell great before now don't sell at all. I have a set of little brass pencil sharpeners that would have brought $8.50 each last year. Now there are 10 of each one on there and they don't sell.
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imabrit
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:11:18 AM new
No I do not think its the items I have as they are somewhat unique and very collectable too.As I said they have been great for the last 2 years.So it makes no sense it would just loose favor over night.
These are single pages from books dated between 1474 and 1641.
Hopefully it will get better,I do sell other things as well and I see it across the whole board.
However it does seem to have started when ebaY was messing around the last couple of nights so it maybe that's why.
Adrian
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dman3
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:13:07 AM new
I have stopped listing groups of items by the week and defineing bad sale by what percentage sells also what stinks to you might be great for me.
I have been listing mostly 10 day auction what I do is list 3 to 5 Items every other day every third day and watch the Items this week has been pretty good .
One or two of the 4 item I add every other day 1 or two get 1 to 2 bid in its frist three day with 7 days left to go several items before they end have many bids some of them ending for 1 1/2 x to 3x what I ever hope for since i normally sell on yahoo this isnt to hard to do.
also I am seeing that snppers are picking up a few in the end as well. What I am finding the last two weeks is payment are way slower in comeing then they have been in the last two month.
By the way to get back your notepad program simply reinstall windows or run the quick fix tool dont restore your computer HD which is different.
easyest way to restore missing windows EXE files is if your useing win98 is to find a win98 upgrade CD and run it on your computer this will restore 98 with out deleteing any exsisting files or programs.
or if this all sounds like more then you think you can do your self go to Cnet or download.com there is many other very nice and more advanced type note pad programs people swear by and like better then note pad .
good luck
WWW.dman-n-company.com
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imabrit
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:18:38 AM new
I did manage to restore notepad thanks so all is well there.
Typically my sale each week are between 1200 and 2000 or more a week.This week though I cannot even get over the 500.00 mark.
I have lots of hists over 2000 with few bids.
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abacaxi
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:19:26 AM new
imabrit -
Check the news. Most of what we sell is luxury, and with the Israelis and Palestinians at each others throats AGAIN, the stock market iffy, and oil prices up AND a national election ... people have a lot on their minds.
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snowyegret
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:20:30 AM new
The last week, bids on my items that have sold very well stink. Hits are down by at least a third. I'm also seeing a problem when I search by description-keywords, my auctions are not coming up more than 36 hours after launching.
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imabrit
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:23:58 AM new
I agree that the news overseas and the stockmarket and oil prices is probably too blame.
At this point I do not see this to be a good winter for retail sales.Only time will tell and as you said what we sell is luxury items.
I think I better start looking for another job again and just count this is as a part time income.
I hate too think that but it is getting harder each day to get items sold or decent prices for them.
I do not see ebaY's 4th quarter earnings to come close to what they are expected to be.
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rampaged
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:29:17 AM new
I may be wrong but I think a lot is related to the number of people selling on eBay. People just don't have the time to look at everything they want to see and get around to bidding.
Because of this I have started running my auctions for 10 days so that I get two weekends of exposure.
I seldom run a reserve auction. I also start my bids at what I am willing to take for the merchandis I am selling. Most items are marked up 100%. If it get a bid it's sold.
I have 148 auctions running and at present 40 are sold when the auctions end. The forty auctions have a total of 59 bids at present. That is selling only about 30% of what is on auction, but the auctions are not over yet. I usually sell 50 - 60% of what I put on auction.
I have tried several methods to get bids as I am sure all sellers have, but the way I am doing it now has worked best for me.
If someone bids on it they bought it. If the bids go over what I am willing to sell it for I am even happier.
Things have changed drastically on eBay during the last year. I think a seller has to try several methods to find out what works best. What works for me may not work for you.
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dybr
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:36:59 AM new
rampaged your analysis sounds like you have looked at what I am doing. hahaha My numbers mirror yours.
I am happy with the rate I sell. I changed a few things to make life bearable, that is for sure. I work less now and still sell the same dollare value, just not so many pieces... Much easier on the nerves.
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rampaged
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:50:37 AM new
dybr
I find it hard not to list on a daily basis, but I have also discovered that if my auctions are ending during the work week that they don't get as many bids or do as well.
I now list on Thursday and Friday only for a Sunday and Monday close ten days later. This gives me a break to get items wrapped and to do all the email correspondance. It also gives me more time with the family which is more important to me than auctions. As you said it isn't as hard on the nerves.
If I wanted to I could list an auction every 20 seconds using AAPro and I do use it to list my auctions that way, but I have limited myself to 150 - 200 auctions every 10 days.
That's my comfort zone. I do well with my auctions, so I can't complain.
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raygomez
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posted on October 15, 2000 09:52:11 AM new
My sales also stink.
I have been told that the rampant fraud is driving buyers away from eBay.
With over 10,000 rip-offs per day it amazes me that anybody buys on eBay anymore!
Since word has also gotten out that deadbeat bidding is risk-free on eBay, many of the bids that I do get have no intention of paying. . .
Something needs to be done!
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dman3
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posted on October 15, 2000 10:50:50 AM new
rampaged:
I have found listing small batches every other day or every third day works very good with 10 day auctions for sure.
since I get all involed in the buying packing and shipping of Items and I only ship on saturdays time with family isnt a problem at all.
since I have auction listed 24/7 there is no lack of visabilty or veiws at all.
imabrit does this full time and I can feel his pain in order to do this full time he need thousands of listing not only that he needs to be getting hundreds of $$$ in bids daily or at worst every other day to make a liveing for even a small family .
any thing less then $300 or $400 daily and not only are you starveing but you would never have the money to restock inventory at the rate you must list and sell it not to mention many times shipping and packageing comes out of pocket before payments can turn in to cash.
I think things will turn around for imabrit but of 40 item only 1/3 with bids still not at $500 for a week this has got to hurt my guess is he will be able to pay his credit cards to be able to list again but will go with out a paycheck this week like being out of work for a whole week with no pay been there done that I have a family of 6 and this is no fun at all .
WWW.dman-n-company.com
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akamich
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posted on October 15, 2000 11:07:48 AM new
I'm wondering (and it is truly hard to know) about the ebay levelling off concept. Many items were thought to be rare or scarce until ebay came along and more or less created a national collectibles market. The concepts of "hard to find" or "rare" then took redefinition, once many similar items surfaced. And once the prices paid get around, more items did surface. At some point the market for orange 4-pronged widgets is saturated. This will vary by category but there must be a slow and vast shift in availability of many items going on.
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bubbahyide
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posted on October 15, 2000 11:09:10 AM new
Ive had the best 3 weeks of the past year! Ive offered some incentives and the buyers have been very happy. Ive even seen a small Christmas rush .
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vorlon4
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posted on October 15, 2000 11:32:06 AM new
If you read TAG notes they detail (and I mean DETAIL) all the problems Ebay has daily- there is not a day that goes by that the system is either down or major functions simply don't work (like Search).
This would impact sales as well if your items can't be seasrched after the initial listing day then you're pretty much SOL.
It doesn't help that bidders can't get in either.
This does have an impact, debatable how much tho.
NOT Vorlon4 on Ebay.
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kathyg
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posted on October 15, 2000 11:32:38 AM new
Not to gloat, but I have been very pleased with my bids the past few weeks, other than a few items that I believe were hurt by eBay outages.
I do agree with others here who say the fad is over. In fact it lasted a lot longer than I ever thought it would. In the good old days, it seemed like most of my items would bring in well over "book", or expected value. This rarely happens anymore, but the prices I am getting still seem very fair to me.
I deal in vintage and uncommon collectibles, but I don't think it is enough to have something unusual to sell - you also have to stay on top of which categories are hot, and which are not. I list a wide variety of items and this seems to help.
However, I am just a hobby seller. I know that I could never make a living from this, because I would never be able to find enough material to sell.
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luckymonty
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posted on October 15, 2000 12:07:01 PM new
It is somewhat moronic to think that low sales are relative to the idea that Ebay is merely a fad and the fad is now over. Ebay has become a constant in many lives and will remain that way. It's like saying that TV is a fad.
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genxmike
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posted on October 15, 2000 12:12:41 PM new
We broke a record last week for total sales and this week looks like it will be a new record as well. Christmas rush is coming early for us.
For the record, number of bids were up, average final price per item was up and final total for the week was up.
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akamich
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posted on October 15, 2000 12:21:33 PM new
kathyg _ I'm curious about the good old days. have heard that everything sold! I've been on since early '99. Would you describe the evolution/devolution as you see it?
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cybercat
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posted on October 15, 2000 12:37:31 PM new
I was offline since last May and just recently returned. I used to sell and have been thinking about starting again--but have been reduced to just a buyer for now--and I thought I'd put in my two cents from my "buyer's perspective."
The recent sad world news (unrest in the Holy Land, U.S.S. Cole, national election) have had a bad effect on the stock market--and with the advent of online trading, I am sure there are many out there who did not have the forsight to build their portfolios to guard against the recent dive the market has taken and are short of spending money.
The high cost of fuel has cost people living in colder climates to worry about how much it is going to cost to heat their homes this winter--not to mention the cost of driving.
I don't watch TV (didn't care about the Olympics, not a baseball fan, don't care about the new Fall line-up and I certainly don't give a toss who wants to be a millionaire  ) So, TV is not a factor for me but it may be for others.
The thrill of eBay has not worn off for me--perhaps it is because of my long absence--but I get excited about a bargain--or even the prospect of a bargain--no matter where it is.
However, there are some things that have stayed my bidding--some are beyond the sellers' control:
1. I now use the watch feature--and then snipe. I find I get much better prices that way. Proxy bidding only lets other people spend your money all week while they have fun bidding.
2. eBay is down a lot when I am shopping. The other night it wasn't really down--but the auctions were not in chronilogical order--they were all mixed up. This made it impossible for me to shop by clicking on the "ending today" feature--which is one of my favorite ways to find things--so for me--the number of items listed on eBay is not a factor. The number of items "ending today" is a very manageable number in the categories I shop.
3. Rumors of children "playing" on eBay and making insincere bids put me off. I wish eBay would figure out how to stop this. I have recently bought two items that I was outbid on by someone who turned out to be a deadbeat.
4. Shipping cost seem high to me--perhaps this is due to the high cost of fuel. But it also seems to me that many sellers just want to ship Priority USPS--even for an item that is selling for $1.00--add $3.20 to that and it becomes a $4.20 item. I know sellers don't get to keep the shipping costs--but to a buyer the shipping cost does seem like part of the cost of the item. I've also noticed some sellers are charging a handling fee. I actually had to pay $1.50 handling fee a couple of weeks ago (I didn't read the auction well enough  )--plus the seller insisted on a postal money order--and I still haven't received my item--a bit disappointing. I expected crackerjack service with the handling fee and having paid by postal money order--which is just about cash money.
5. A lot of sellers' pictures don't show--all I see is a box with an X in it--while other pictures are so large--I end up waiting 2 minutes to see a hug picture of someone's bedspread with the item for sale just a dot in the middle. Then there are the auctions with no attempt at a picture--and not much of a description--but a full page of how they want to get paid and what they are going to do to me if I don't obey.
6. It puts me off to see a seller list their location as: "my house" or "Deep in the Heart of, TX" It looks to me as though this is a seller who is trying to be hard to find--like perhaps they don't intend on honoring the auction if I win--so I give it a pass.
7. Since my experience mentioned in #4, I have stopped bidding on auctions that accept only money orders as payment. I don't mind going to the extra trouble if I am going to get fast service in return--after all, I'm jumping through a hoop for the seller--they should try to ship quickly. Since this has never worked out for me (for some reason, every time I have paid with a money order, something happened that wasn't pleasant--slow shipping, shipped to wrong address, etc.--I've just decided not to bid on those auctions--after all, the things I purchase on eBay are not things I NEED--eBay is a fun thing for me.
8. I have also become leary of people who seem to be a real business on eBay. They are notorious for not sending emails--and if they do they are form letters, they are slow to ship, they often charge higher prices for shipping, and they just don't "feel" like eBay--they feel more like an on-line store. If I wanted to shop at an on-line store--I would do a search on MySimon and be on my way--which I often do when I have something specific in mind.
9. Oh yeah--and I also can't shop the auctions who accept Paypal only anymore. I have emptied my Paypal & x.com accounts since I have read all of the threads here concerning their renegging on "always free" and all of their new rules and fees.
I truly hope that business picks up for all of the sellers. I enjoy eBay very much--I have browsed the other auction sites--but none of them are as much fun to shop as eBay--and I feel comfortable there.
cybercat
P.S. None of the reasons for not bidding that I mentioned above were directed at any one seller--I was just mentioning trends I have observed as an eBay shopper since I returned.
--
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
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dman3
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posted on October 15, 2000 12:50:23 PM new
I agree at this point its safe to say pretty much Ebay is not a fade.
online auction buying and selling seem to become a constant and a part of daily life for many old timers and new comers as well.
its like back in the earily days of the net and IRC chat all though this to was a fade but many who were chatting in the earily 90s are still there still going strong as ever back then we called it an addiction and some doctors and other who study internet habbits try to define it as such but these things are just becomeing a part of everyday life like TV microwaves and indoor plumbing .
The instability of Ebay and its down time and some of its changes over a week will effect bidding bad because the internet is a way of life that can eat huge chunks of everyones time when its down these people take time to leave the computer and do other things in life movies other types of shopping home care redecorateing rakeing lawn mowing and sellers lose there bids for this day and every time it goes out for a hour you lose these bidder for the day some you lose for the whole week over a one or two hour outage.
and yes because of ebay and other lesser auction sites the term rare is not what it use to be any more to many items comeing out of the wood work drives down prices fast.
over the past few year the supply now out paces the demand for these once rare Items.
I dont think the high price of gas is effecting the iternet world as much as the one outside this area since.it appears that in the last two years the main Idea of owning a computer is to have it makeing income of some type and this extra income allows us more money to put out.
I dont think for smaller sellers on line with personal pages they sell on and online auction moves in the stock market effect many of our sales most trying to sell this way there business is not an IPO for one thing and second most of these people arent day trader trying to make extra buck they are makeing there extra income from internet sales.
I beleave at least 40% of all sales money spent bidding in auction was spent out of money from the persons own sales or money saved from surf for pay programs and there own online auctions and other online $$.
I know my own auction sales were started with money I got from the internet its self $20 from opening x.com account $10 I got from paypal $10 I got from payplace $75 from alladvantage $10 from jackpot.com
and a free digital camera I got for signing up for a earthlink internet account.
I use my visa debit card for my credit card number and I have built my sales from this and some older items we had for years around the house includeing but not limited to old vintage stamps coins and postcards.
think people looking at down times right now might have the wrong mix of items for christmas sales at this time.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
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dman3
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posted on October 15, 2000 01:13:18 PM new
cybercat:
Your not the frist or will you more then likelt be the last to mention these reason that put you off of bidding many auctions.
over the slow summer and still up till now I have taken this time to work on my ads listings Removed all TOS this should be basic sense and for the most part bidding is outline on all the auction site very well.
I never changed an Handleing fee ever but I found that I was useing S/H like buyer pays S/H which I removed from all my listing for a new better habbit "this item can be yours for your high bid and Just $X.XX shiping inside USA"
I have changed from saying any type shipping I dont say all Items shipped priority no longer.
I say like this all shipping is done through USPS and in my EOA buyer can Choose 3rd class 1st class priority air mail insurance DC what ever they want to pay for I give basic lowest estimated rate in the ad.
this works very well I do still offer paypal as a payment method still but it is just one of many ways buyers can choose to make payment to me.
over the summer my sales werent flat they were dead but are on the rise on ebay but still dead on yahoo I have had only 5 bid there in 5 months only 1 bid in the last 51 days and that was for $1
WWW.dman-n-company.com
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raygomez
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posted on October 15, 2000 01:38:57 PM new
But eBay WAS a fad.
In 1998 & 1999, eBay got all sorts of press, and even a used tampon would fetch top dollar.
Most folks have already "been there done that" with eBay, and have moved on to something else.
The only newbies today are the lower-class folks who are only now getting computers, and many of them are not big spenders.
Plus, the fuaud and bad-press has REALLY hurt.
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kathyg
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posted on October 15, 2000 02:25:04 PM new
The perception as to whether eBay is a fad may depend on when you became involved. In the early days, you could sell just about anything at an unheard of price. I sold quite a few items for $10-20 that I wouldn't even dream of listing now, because I know there would be no bids.
I would never state that the concept of online auctions is going to go away. I think it will stay with us until something better comes along, whether it be eBay or some other company that survives.
But things are certainly leveling out - the novelty has worn off. Those same wonderful sales we were making in 1997-98 were what brought all the media hype to eBay in the first place. In turn, the market became flooded as more and more sellers began to list with unrealistic expectations. So here we are, no surprise.
I miss the 'golden days' of eBay, altho who could have expected it to last? eBay was a nicer place, as was AuctionWatch, where the banter used to be stimulating, and people did not refer to each other as morons for expressing thier opinions.
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beatnikangel
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posted on October 15, 2000 02:29:13 PM new
imabrit, how did you restore notepad? i have done the same thing & can't figure out how to get it back.
i guess i could look for a windows 98 update cd, but have no idea where to get one.
thanks for your help.
Denise
[ edited by beatnikangel on Oct 15, 2000 02:30 PM ]
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luckymonty
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posted on October 15, 2000 03:42:35 PM new
But indeed it is moronic to think that Ebay is a fad. Whether you feel the need to express such a narrowminded opinion is another issue. Do you feel DVD
s are a fad? Perhaps, the internet, then? I don't think that individuals using ebay these days are any lower in class status than they were a few years ago. That variabe will always remain a constant.
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