Items Screen

Introduction

This screen is shown by default when you start AuctionPrime. It will start out showing an Item List view of any auction items you've saved, for which the auction ends 'today'.

You can resize the width of this screen any width you desire, and AuctionPrime will always remember the size you set it to.

Menus

File Menu :

gives you access to the Auction Setup, and the Categories dialog boxes. It also has some delete options to let you 'clean up' your database by getting rid of various type of closed auctions that may no longer concern you. From this menu you gain access to your Saved Searches and Missions. Missions is an extremely convenient way for you to keep track of things you're in the process of trying to find at the right price. We'll discuss them in detail later. (Parts of this menu are available in all AuctionPrime windows, except the Alarm window.)

The Show Deleted Items menu selections will display a list of items you have Deleted using the Delete button. If you deleted an item by mistake, you can UnDelete the item while viewing this list (the Delete button will change to UnDelete while you are looking at deleted items). After you select Show Deleted Items, a Purge Deleted Items menu selection will appear. Use it to permanently banish the deleted items in the list (just like emptying your 'trashcan' in Windows.)

The Show Deleted Items menu selection appears only when you have the Item List Tab selected.

To stop viewing Deleted Items, just click the Go to Today's Auctions button, or make view selection from the Select Tab.

Auctions : For the eBay only version, this will only give you a menu item which will launch the eBay home page. in AuctionPrime Pro, you'll see an entire list of supported auctions that you can go to.

Settings : The Settings menu provides a convenient place for you to save and load customized (or default) Item List settings, and customized or default color and font settings.

This menu also has an option which allows you to set your system time from an atomic clock. In fact, it tries one clock server which we've found to be very reliable. If, however, it doesn't get a response from that server, it randomly tries 14 other reliable time servers up to 30 times. If you don't get your time set correctly when using this, you're probably not connected to the internet! AuctionPrime also attempts to set your clock automatically every 10 minutes, and also when launching any AutoBid alarm

Windows: AuctionPrime uses a Multiple Document Interface. The Windows menu will show you all currently opened windows, for easy access. (This menu is available in all AuctionPrime windows, except the Alarm window.)

Help: Since you got here, you probably know what this is for! ;-) Easy access to LeisureSoft web pages, and AuctionPrime version information, is also available under this menu. (This menu is available in all AuctionPrime windows, except the Alarm window.)

Buttons

Date:

depending on the particular view of items you have selected, this button will either show the date for the items currently shown on the list, or will read "Go to Today's Auctions". In either case, clicking this button will take you to a view of the auctions closing 'today'

Date Scroll Bar: When you have day views selected, this scroll bar lets you move back and forth a day at a time.

Calendar: The Calendar Button shows as a small icon just to the right of the Date Button and Scrollbar. Clicking it turns a calendar display on and off. When you see the calendar display, you can click a date on the calendar, and the list will change to show the auction that close on that date. Double clicking will show auctions closing on the date you double click, and will automatically close the calendar.

Go There: if you have an item in the list selected, click this button to go to its web page.

Search: Left clicking goes straight to the Auction's Search for Items page. Right clicking the button showed AuctionPrime's Saved Searches screen.

Save Item: saves any changes you've made to the currently selected item (like the My Bid value you just entered to let AuctionPrime AutoBid for you.

Delete: Deletes the currently selected item. AuctionPrime will ask you to verify the deletion so that you don't get rid of one by accident. Items deleted using this button go into a 'trash can', and may be recovered. When you selected the Show Deleted Items menu item from the File menu, the button will change to an UnDelete button while you view the deleted items. Note that the trashcan picture on this button will be 'empty' if you have no deleted items, and 'full' if you do have deleted items available to view.

Refresh List: redisplays the current group of items. For example, if you're looking at a list of Purchased/Unpaid items, and changing the Status of each item for "Paid For" as you write checks, using the Refresh List button will update the list to show only the items that you haven't paid for yet.

AutoUpdate: when you click this button, AuctionPrime will automatically navigate to the web page for each item currently displayed in the list, and will update the current bid price, status, etc, for each item.

Tabs

Item List: displays a list of items depending on the settings you choose on the Select Tab.

The Item List just gives you a quick view of what's going on in your auction world. You get to view items in any way you can imagine, just by using the Sort and Select Tabs to customize your view.

The list defaults to a view of items grouped by day. The scrollbar in the upper left corner of the screen moves forward and backward through days when this view is selected.

Click the icon on the right side of the Item Name column to display the Item Detail view for that item.

Double clicking on any item name in the Item List will cause that item's information to be automatically updated from the auction's web site. Note that you may have to click one time to select the item's row, and then double click to automatically update the item. Your cursor will briefly change to an hourglass as the item is updated.

If a column heading in the Item List has a Blue Down Arrow, then a drop down selection list is available for that column. When you click in that column in an item row, you'll see a 'drop down arrow'. Click on that arrow to display the selection list.

The Item List's appearance is very customizable. Read the section titled "Customizing" for complete details.

Item Detail: displays complete information for the currently selected item in the Item List. Right clicking almost anywhere on the Item Detail tab will take you back to the Item List.

Sort By: displays a list of several predefined ways to sort the items you've saved in AuctionPrime, or you can define a custom sort order and apply it to your list.

Select: allows you to define exactly which items you want to see in your list. Several predefined Selection views are available to choose, or you can customize by any combination of Category, Status, Auction, and Tracking Purpose.

Settings: helps you to customize what information you want to see in the Item List, among other things. Full information about using the Settings Tab is included on the Tab itself. You'll want to take a few moments to look through it just to know what Settings are available and where to find them.

Note that the Miscellaneous option gives you access to several useful items:

AutoBid Time: This is the number of seconds before the close of an auction that AuctionPrime will make an AutoBid for you. We include this setting to let you allow for the amount of lag time you experience in sending or receiving information over the internet. Under most circumstances you will not want to change this setting.

Alarm Display Option: allows you to select whether or not you see Alarm windows for items you are not AutoBidding on.

Automatic Login Option: will cause AuctionPrime to lauch a browser window and log you in to eBay when you start the program.

Save Seller Option: saves information about the Seller's location in the Item's notes when you Remember an Item.

Automatically set status to AutoBid: If you Remember an Item that is associated with a Mission, and you have a Target Price set in the Mission, checking this option will cause AuctionPrime to automatically set the Status to AutoBid as the item is remembered.

Automatically set System Time Before AutoBids: if this item is checked, AuctionPrime will set your system clock each time an Alarm Window lauches for an AutoBid.

Automatically set System Time every 10 Minutes: if checked, AuctionPrime will do just as described.

Item Detail Field :

Auction link: takes you directly to the auction's home page.

Item Number (#) link: takes you directly to the web page for the item's auction. This link is identical in function to the Go There button.

My Bid: This field is very important to know about. If you enter a value in this field, AuctionPrime will make every effort to buy the item for this price or below! Entering a number in this field triggers AuctionPrime's AutoBid function, so do not enter a value in this field unless you want AuctionPrime to try and buy the item!!!

When you change the value of My Bid from 0 to any number, the item's Status is automatically changed to AutoBid . You can enter a number in this field, and then change the Status to something other than AutoBid, and AuctionPrime will not make an attempt to bid.

Complete details can be found in the "AutoBidding" section.

Seller button: takes you to a list of the Seller's other auctions.

Seller ID and High Bidder ID: depending on if you are the Seller or a bidder for the item, one of these fields will turn into an Email link. (If you are bidding on the item, then the Seller ID will become an Email link). If you were logged in to eBay when you Remembered the item, then the correct Email address will have been saved, and AuctionPrime will launch an Email using your default Email program. Otherwise, AuctionPrime will launch a browser window for the item, and find the Email address in the item's web page. Note that you will need to be logged in for this to work properly.

If you access the Internet and Email using AOL, the above Email features will not work if you only use AOL's internal Email facility. AOL's Email does not conform to the standards used by all the other Email servers.

Quantity: this field is displayed when the auction is a Dutch Auction. Just enter the number items you want to bid on, and AuctionPrime will enter this information correctly when it AutoBids for you. There are actually three fields that apply here. You'll see a "For Sale" field, which shows how many items are available in the auction. In the "Qty Wanted" field, you enter how many you wish to bid for. If you win some items from the Dutch Auction, the number you actually won will show in the "Qty Bought" field.

Leave Feedback button: This button only shows up for auctions you have won. Clicking it will take you directly to a Feedback form for the Seller and Auction, and fill it in for you. All you'll have to do is click the type of Feedback you are leaving, and of course type your comment ... everything else is taken care of for you!

Feedback link: the Seller's feedback displays as a link which takes you directly to the Seller's Feedback screen.

One of: 'One of Groups' is a revolutionary feature of AuctionPrime that you'll come to love.

Let's say you want to buy a particular VHS tape, and there are five auctions selling that tape which close while you're at work the next day. You could set up an AutoBid for one of them, but if you don't buy that one, all the other opportunities are lost ... or are they?!?

By typing, in this field, your own name for the group of items, you can then set AutoBids for all five auctions. For each of the other four items, use the drop down list to set their "One of" field to the group you just named. When AuctionPrime buys one of the items for you, it automatically turns off the AutoBids for the rest of the auctions!

See the "One of" section for complete details.

Status: one of AuctionPrimes most useful features, this lets you keep track of exactly what's going on with an Auction. When you win an auction, AuctionPrime will automatically set this field to "Bought". You can then use the Select Tab to give you an auction view of all items you've bought but haven't paid for yet. When you pay for an item, set this field to "Paid for", and you can then get a list of items for which you've paid, but which you haven't received yet. When you receive an item, set the Status to Received. Then you can get a list of items you've received but haven't yet left Feedback for! Using this in connection with the standard selection choices on the Select Tab make keeping track of your auction items a breeze.

AutoBid Time: This is shown only if the item's Status has been set to AutoBid. You use this field to set an individual AutoBid time for a single item. The value you enter here is the number of seconds before the Auction's Close that AuctionPrime will place your bid. This field is useful, for example, if an item's Auction Close time is during peak internet use periods, and you want to make sure the bid gets made early while internet response may be slow. You then just enter a greater number of seconds in the AutoBid Time field, and your AutoBid time is increased for just that one item.

Other information: The other fields, both in the List and Item Detail views, are very self explanitory. You'll notice once you buy an item that a new group of fields will show up at the bottom of the screen in Item Detail view. Those fields will let you enter detailed information about what shipping cost you paid for an item, what payment method you used, if you had to pay a premium for that payment method (for example, the fee to buy a money order) how much this premium was, etc.

You can track every penny you ever spend, for any reason, for your online auctions.