Yes, you do need to register to buy products. You can browse, but in order to bid on and purchase products, you need to create a free membership. We do recommend that you Register with AutomotiveXS.com so you can take advantage of features such as "Keywords Watch" and "Watch an Item".
Registering is simple:
Start by going to the Home Page (http://www.automotivexs.com) and click on the "Register" link on the top navigation bar.
Enter your details into the Registration form (note: Date of birth must be entered in the format DDMMYY, with no other characters - this is required because Members must be age 18 or older):
Click on the Register button and the bottom of the form to complete your Registration. You will now be sent a confirmation email.
Check your email for the AutomotiveXS.com confirmation email - be sure to check your SPAM folder and add info@automotivexs.com to your address book to prevent emails being filtered as SPAM.
Buyers - Just click on the link in your registration email to complete your free membership setup.
Sellers - AutomotiveXS.com staff will review your Registration information and activate your Membership within 72 hours. You will receive an email when your seller account has been activated.
You can now login to AutomotiveXS.com and begin buying automotive accessories.
Registering as a Seller with AutomotiveXS.com is simple:
Start by going to the Home Page (http://www.automotivexs.com) and click on the "Register" link on the top navigation bar.
Enter your
details into the Registration form (note: Date of birth must be entered
in the format DDMMYY, with no other characters - this is required
because Members must be age 18 or older).
Click on the
Register button and the bottom of the form to complete your
Registration. You will now be sent a confirmation email.
Check your
email for the AutomotiveXS.com confirmation email - be sure to check
your SPAM folder and add info@automotivexs.com to your address book to
prevent emails being filtered as SPAM.
AutomotiveXS.com
staff will review your Registration information and activate your
Membership within 72 hours. You will receive an email when your
Membership has been activated.
You can now login to AutomotiveXS.com and begin selling automotive accessories.
AutomotiveXS.com allows you to purchase items in several ways:
Standard bidding
Proxy Bidding
Make an Offer
Buy Out
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.
A Proxy Bid means that you bid an amount that is higher than necessary. AutomotiveXS.com's software will raise your actual bid to the minimum necessary bid, but will remember your maximum. If someone else comes along and tries to outbid you, our software will automatically place additional bids on your behalf up to the value of your Proxy Bid. This means you can stay on top of the bidding without having to be near a computer. Here's how you do it:
Find the product you'd like to bid on - either by browsing the Categories down the left of your screen, or by using the search box just below the navigation bar.
To place a bid, enter your chosen amount into the "Place Bid" field in the item listing: Click the "Place Bid" button to continue.
The Bid Confirmation screen will display the minimum bid needed (Standard Bid) and will allow you to adjust your bid accordingly:
If you wish to place a Standard Bid, adjust your bid to match the Minimum Bid value shown
If you wish to place a Proxy Bid, enter your maximum bid into the "Your Bid" field
You can place as many bids as you want on an item.
The Messaging section of the Members' Area allows you to read, delete and reply to all the messages you have sent and received. When you are logged into your account, you will see the Messaging section on the left navigation menu.
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.
Some Sellers allow Buyers to make an offer to buy their items, to avoid having to wait for the auction to finish. If a Seller is open to offers, you will see the "Make Offer" logo in the item listing.
The Make Offer section of the listing also contains information about the price range in which offers can be made. If you would like to make an offer:
Click on the Make Offer icon.
On the Make Offer page, enter the amount you would like to offer (Remember - your offer must be in the Make Offer price range specified by the Seller).
Click "Proceed" to continue and your offer will be confirmed and submitted to the Seller.
Some Sellers allow products to be purchased instantly at a fixed price, regardless of any auction bidding that has taken place. This feature is called "Buy Out". You will see the "Buy Out" logo in product listings if the Seller has offered this feature. The Buy Out price will be stated directly below the Buy Out logo.
To purchase an item with Buy Out:
Click on the Buy Out logo.
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 would like to continue.
Your purchase will now be confirmed and you will be able to pay the Seller's invoice.
If you have Registered with AutomotiveXS.com, you can view the "Won Items" section to see all of your recent purchases and bids at a glance.
Recently-purchased items are individually listed with their payment status.
To pay for an item, simply click on "Pay With Direct Payment". This will take you to a payment screen enabling you to make an instant PayPal payment for the item.
Once you have completed the payment, the payment status for the item will be updated in the Won Items table.
If you would like to track the progress of an auction without bidding on it, you can use the "Watch Item"feature. PLEASE NOTE: You must be Registered with AutomotiveXS.com to be able to use this feature.
To watch a product you are interested in:
In every item listing, you will see a "Watch This Item" link. To add an item to your Watched Items list, simply click on this link.
To view your Watched Items list, go to the Watched Items section of the Members' Area.
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. PLEASE NOTE: You must be Registered and approved by AutomotiveXS.com to post products for sale.
Click on the "Sell" link on the main navigation bar.
Choose whether you would like the item listed on the main AutomotiveXS.com 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 Shop.
Choose a Main Category for your item. The active category list is indicated by an orange border - 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.
You may select an additional Category for your item if you wish. Some items fit naturally into more than one Category, and having an additional Category can help more Buyers find your item.
You now need to specify the Item Details. Once you have done this, click Next Step to continue.
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.
Additional Category: This confirms your choice of additional listing category (if any).
Voucher Settings: Include any voucher codes you may have in this field. Otherwise it should be left blank.
7. The next stage is to configure the settings for your item:
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.
Member of Group: If you are a member of a listed group, select it here. If not, disregard this section.
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.
8. The next step is to specify shipping and payment details for your item.
Shipping & Payment Details: Specify whether the Buyer or Seller should pay for postage. Specify the postage and insurance costs. Indicate whether you will post the item overseas.
Direct Payment: AutomotiveXS.com requires that you use PayPal for all payment processing.
9. 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. PLEASE NOTE: IF THERE IS A FEE ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR LISTING, YOU MUST PAY THAT FEE TO AUTOMOTIVEXS.COM BEFORE YOUR PRODUCT LISTING WILL GO LIVE.
As a registered Seller with AutomotiveXS.com, you can manage all of your products from the Selling section of the Members' Area.
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.
Regular AutomotiveXS.com 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.
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.
Shipping Conditions:If your shipping conditions are always the same, indicate them here.
Accept Public Questions:If you have a fixed policy on public questions, indicate it here.
New Bid Email Notifications:If you always wish to be notified of new bids by email notification, check this box.
Yes, if you wish to block certain users from bidding on any of your items, you can add their usernames to the Block Users page. Click on the "Add User" link to block a user. You can also specify the reason you have blocked them, and previously blocked users can be deleted (unblocked).
Your Reputation provides an indicator of how much trading you have done on AutomotiveXS.com and allows other Buyers and Sellers to get an idea of your trustworthiness and experience. For each transaction that takes place, the Buyer and Seller can award each other a Star Rating from 1 to 5.
1 STAR/Very poor - Your reputation is reduced by 1
2 STARS/Poor - Your reputation is reduced by 1
3 STARS/Neutral - no change to your reputation
4 STARS/Good - Your reputation is increased by 1
5 STARS/Excellent - Your reputation is increased by 1
Wherever a user id appears, that user's Reputation is visible. Click on the Reputation to see full details of that user's Reputation.
You can see full details of your reputation and the comments you have received in the Members' Area of AutomotiveXS.com.
Leaving comments for other users of AutomotiveXS.com is a simple process:
After you have completed a transaction, go to your Members' Area, and click on the Reputation link.
Click on the Sent link, and you will see a list of auctions for which you need to leave comments. To leave a comment, click on the Proceed link at the right of the screen.
Select a suitable Star Rating - from 1 to 5 - and enter any comments you would like to make into the Comments field. When you are finished, click on Leave Comments to store your comments and rating:
If you now return to the product listing, you will be able to click on the other user's Reputation and see your comments in their Reputation information.
The "About Me" feature allows users to provide a little information about themselves to other users. For Sellers, this might be information about their business and a link to their own website. Buyers may want to provide some information on their hobbies and interests - especially if they are the main reason for their auction activities.
You can set up an About Me page like this: 1. Click on the About Me link in the Members' Area. 2. Enable the About Me page. 3. Enter some suitable information into the text field. Use the toolbar at the top of the text area to format your text.You can also include hyperlinks - just click on the symbol and enter the target URL and the link text. 4. When you have finished, click on the Proceed button to save your About Me page.
