WatchCount.com is gaining prominence as a new, helpful website to identify popular items on the internet’s largest trading platform, eBay. With the doors closed on 2008, WatchCount.com recognizes its accomplishments throughout during the year but especially in recent months where it forged a partnership with a major ecommerce trade association and garnished several accolades and distinctions. In looking at its growing user base throughout the year, WatchCount.com noted a distinct category of users that were drawn to the site: purveyors of a wide range of collectibles.

What makes the site particularly unique to eBay users is its ability to retrieve Watch Count data on many listings — a proprietary metric typically unavailable on the eBay site. While both sellers and shoppers in many niches find usefulness in WatchCount.com’s increasingly popular services, collectors of various kinds have been particularly keen to use the site to “spy” in on how many people are secretly watching their favorite eBay items. With this additional number at hand, buyers have more information at their disposal as they scout out hot items and unique, in-demand collectibles.

Unlike a simple page view count, the Watch Count on an item only accumulates when a registered, logged-in eBay user explicitly clicks an eBay-provided Watch Link to effectively “vote” for the item. As an example, during 2008 the site had witnessed regular visitors keeping an eye on certain collectible coins, Griswold cast iron items, and Reborn dolls. In comparison, an item’s Bid Count is of course a fantastic measure of item popularity as well, but it does have its shortcomings. Usually bids only accumulate close to the end of a listing’s duration, while the number of watchers (and viewers) builds over time. Many collectors already frequent the eBay marketplace plying their trade, but until now haven’t had a solid, tangible means to quantify the popularity of their favorite items until the last minutes when bidding activity culminates. With this new ability to see how many others are actively but tacitly keeping tabs on an item, both buyers and sellers can make more informed decisions in their respective eBay activities.

The site offers other Watch Count related services to visitors, such as advanced search capabilities to dig even deeper into live eBay data, allowing specific keyword and category choices. Moreover, the WatchCount.com Widget is used by some sellers to publicly flaunt their items’ Watch Counts to potentially increase perceived value and stimulate bidding activity.

eBay has certified WatchCount.com as an “eBay Compatible Application”, approving its use with the eBay platform. All services are currently offered free of charge.

About WatchCount.com
WatchCount.com (http://www.WatchCount.com/) offers a collection of helpful tools and services for eBay users, including unique marketplace search capabilities unavailable on the eBay site. Sellers can avail themselves of automatic listing enhancements, such as the WatchCount.com Widget, to publicly flaunt their item’s Watch Count, and both buyers and sellers find it helpful to lookup Most Watched eBay items in real-time to better help them frame their buying and selling activities on eBay.

The Utah Grizzlies, who will be wearing New York Islanders jerseys tonight when they host Idaho, have announced that the team will also be auctioning off a #62 Kevin Colley Islanders jersey in a one week auction on eBay.

The Grizzlies are proud to be the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders and their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.

Grizzlies Head Coach Kevin Colley played 16 games with the Islanders during his rookie season in 2005-2006, before sustaining a broken neck, which subsequently ended his career. “Kevin has a very loyal and supportive following in the hockey community and we wanted to give them a chance to bid on a special Grizzlies/Islanders jersey that we have had made for him,” said Grizzlies CEO Kevin Bruder. “It will also give us another avenue to raise money for our charity for the evening.”

The Grizzlies will be wearing Islanders jerseys Saturday that will be auctioned off live after the game with all proceeds going back to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Coors Light is the presenting sponsor for the evening, while Salt Lake’s B98.7 FM is the media partner.

The Utah Grizzlies, of the ECHL, celebrate their 15th anniversary season in 2008-2009. Owned and operated by the Elmore Sports Group, the Grizzlies enter their second season and sixth overall as an affiliate of the New York Islanders. South Jordan resident and former Islander Kevin Colley enters his first season as the Grizzlies Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations after serving as Jason Christie’s Assistant Coach in 2007-2008 as the team advanced to the National Conference Finals. The Grizzlies play all home games at the E-Center of West Valley City, which hosted hockey during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

A piece of American musical history is going on eBay: one of the multi-track master tapes from Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album recorded at Columbia Studio A, Nashville, Tennessee on February 14, 1969.

This original master contains five never-before-heard outtakes of “Lay Lady Lay,” along with banter between the musicians and Dylan. Also found on this session tape is an impromptu jam session of “Going Back To Chicago” which also was never released by Dylan.

The tape itself is a Scotch 3M, one-inch, eight-track analog tape. Running time is twenty-seven minutes and five seconds (27:05). In its original box with “Bob Dylan #3″ handwritten on the side, the tape was stored in a warehouse in New Jersey for nearly eighteen years.

Bob Dylan wrote “Lay Lady Lay” for the sound track of “Midnight Cowboy,” however it wasn’t submitted in time to make the final cut. Dylan also pitched the song to Phil & Don Everly who met with Dylan backstage after an Everly Brothers concert at the Bottom Line in New York. Bob broke out his guitar and sang so quietly that the Everlys thought the words were “lay lady lay, lay across my big breasts babe” and declined to record it. Months later, they heard Dylan’s version on the radio and realized they’d misunderstood the words. They later recorded the song on their album “EB 84.”*

In 1969, Dylan, against his label’s judgment (Columbia), decided to record a country album using Nashville studio musicians. Dylan even fought Columbia Records on the title of the album “Nashville Skyline.” The album however, produced one of Dylan’s biggest singles, “Lay Lady Lay” (number 5 on the American charts), and contributed to a resurgence of country music.

The auction for this unique, one-of-a-kind item will be held on eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace with a presence in 39 markets, including the U.S., and approximately 84 million active users worldwide.

The web address is http://tinyurl.com/6y5xul - or go to http://www.ebay.com and type in item number 2503426422990.

You can find additional details at http://www.geocities.com/rbirms or http://www.nycsightseeingessentials.com/Bob_Dylan.htm

The consortium of Ampersand Records USA / Lake Carmel Music / Navybob, LLC is procuring additional one-of-a-kind original master recording tapes of some very famous artists and musicians. It is dedicated to bringing these unique recordings to the public.

eBay will no longer be conducting live auctions as of January 1st, 2009. Land for sale auctions will continue at Landbidz.com (the Online Land Auction Community). Online Land Sales LLC and other online land sellers will conduct land auctions at Landbidz.com as well as at Liveauctioneers.com.

The president of Online Land SalesLLC/Landbidz.com, Brian Quilty, said “We are excited about the opportunity to fill the void that is being left in the demise of the eBay Live Auction platform. Land sellers who would normally use the Live Auction function at eBay, are free to use the free auction listings at Landbidz.com.” Mr. Quilty also mentioned that “85% of the live auctions on eBay went through 1 company, Liveauctioneers.com, and that company will continue to offer live auctions on an independent platform. Recently many smaller auction sites have been gaining popularity as eBay seems to be splintering a little bit. I think the trend will accelerate now that eBay has dropped the live auction platform. Now sites like Landbidz.com can better serve the public by offering exactly what is wanted.”

About Online Land Sales LLC

Online Land Auction Community. Landbidz.com is the premier land auction community on the internet. Online Land Sales LLC and other sellers offer discount land for sale in the online auction format daily.

Buy online at Landbidz.com or contact Online Land Sales directly at (530) 725-8671, (866) 878-8334.

Sydney based abstract artist Greg Gillespie hopes to raise more than just a few eyebrows around the globe.

What started out as one painting in his inaugural series of ten works, and for this artist a totally new genre, the former commercial artist is using as an opportunity to create a world’s first, a $1 million-plus price tag of an unknown artists’ first abstract painting.

The painting is currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of $1 million AUD and Greg is prepared to wait until someone is found who is willing to pay his high premium. Some would say he is dreaming and that art only appreciates with time and across the expanse of an artists’ career and breadth of work. This one artist begs to differ.

“This painting is a total once in a lifetime painting and I believe it is worth every cent. Whether I created this painting after a full career of abstract works or whether it was one of my first, should not determine the value of the piece,” said Gillespie.

He is calling this the “Younique Project”, as to the best of his knowledge nothing like this has been attempted before. There is a lot of hidden information regarding the painting, titled “balancing act” that the artist feels best withheld. The size of the painting is not displayed in the auction description, to retain focus on the contained imagery.

“I don’t want to reveal the size of this work, either large or small to the general public, as I don’t think that size should matter. The work has been created by the abstract expressionist method of ‘automatism’ and it’s entire value lies within what it is saying to me, to everyone, about restoring balance to a world in turmoil,” he said.

Central to the aim of the Younique Project is the fact that the artist is giving all the proceeds to charity and keeping just one dollar for himself. Gillespie and his family have been active sponsors of children in poverty through the Compassion International organization for over 20 years.

“I may be successful in finding a buyer or not, but if just one child is released from poverty by my efforts then the project will be a success that is well worth a million dollars, as no amount of money can bring a life back once it is lost,” he said.

The artist currently has paintings hanging in two Sydney galleries, Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern in Paddington and Newport Artworks on Sydney’s northern beaches and hopes that the auction is successful before he sells any gallery works, to set a world precedent.

Gillespie is prepared to keep re-listing the eBay auction until a buyer is found.

More information can be found on www.gtgart.com.au/abstract

Online at

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=130274507563

SHOPitLA is offering for sale a titanium fuel tank designed for spaceflight on the Saturn V missile. It is the attitude control fuel tank that provided fuel for the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo to the moon.

In 1970, NASA announced that it was canceling Apollo missions 18-20 and that Apollo 17 would be the last manned mission to the moon for the foreseeable future.

The remnants of the canceled missiles intended for the moon were declared scrap surplus and sold off. An astute naval captain saw the opportunity and purchased all of the Titanium for 10 cents a pound.

Today, many of these pieces adorn the gardens of the Captain’s Southern California home. This magnificent tank is the largest and most audacious of them all.

Once a member of the Mercury Astronaut Program himself, the Naval Captain was roommates with astronaut Gus Grissom and briefly with Apollo 13’s Jim Lovell. He saw the heroism and struggles of the NASA Space Program first hand and has kept these pieces as reminders for the last 40 years.

Vist www.shopitla.com for more information.

eBay has launched a service to help large merchants sell thousands of fixed-price products via eBay.

The new program, Large Merchant Services, is still in beta, according to eBay. It “provides an efficient way to process large numbers of transactions within the eBay Trading Platform.” It also offers inventory management based on SKU numbers.

“EBay is acknowledging the strength of Amazon’s model and clearly they’re making changes to target the same enterprise branded-seller market upon which Amazon has built their third-party seller program,” said Eric Best, CEO of Mercent, a Seattle-based company that helps retailers take advantage of eBay’s new service.