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Check out Auction Items: All, New, Hot, Ending Soon

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The Eddie Kieger on-line auction site is a group effort by many people whose intent it is to bring financial assistance to Eddie above that provided by other agencies. All proceeds from the auction activity go directly to the Edward F. Kieger III Charitable Trust Fund. A small amount is used for expenses but none of the people involved are compensated for their time and labor.

The auction site is quite easy to join and use. A simple registration page walks you through the steps needed to post and bid on items, and there are several help screens and on-line assistance is available for such things as lost passwords and reviewing closed auctions. If you are a frequent item poster you can create your own "store front" which provides you with a URL pointing to your auctions which you can place in your emails and other correspondence. Comments can be applied to buyers and sellers just as in other auction systems, and "Star" ratings may be earned.

All items posted to the auction are donated - the donor is not compensated. Bidding is very similar to other auction sites and is referred to as proxy bidding. This method allows a bidder to bid an amount equal to the maximum they feel the item is worth while commiting only the amount needed to achieve high-bidder status. The balance is held in reserve and automatically bid by the auction as required to maintain high-bidder status until the reserve is depleted or the current high-bidder becomes outbid.

Email notification is provided to bidders and donors whenever the status of the item changes. If a user is out-bid, an email will let them know immediately so they can opt to up their bid. To prevent "Sniping" (sending a winning bid at the last possible second), the bidding window extends for 5 minutes beyond the closing time, providing an opportunity for a counter-bid.

Once an item closes the donor and seller exchange information for such things as shipping expenses, addresses, etc., and the buyer forwards the bid amount to the auction treasurer. The treasurer lets the donor know the payment has been made and that the item can be shipped to the buyer. The donor does not have to be a part of the payment process and the auction is not a part of the shipping process.

The auction software is a highly modified version of a publicly available package written in Perl. Execution time for the auction is generally less than 2 seconds. A transaction, including email, is generally completed before the screens have refreshed. The system is running on a Sun Netra server and is managed by volunteers. Bugs, should they appear, are corrected within 2 working days.

On behalf of the team that makes this site possible and the people who make this site valuable to Eddie Kieger, we thank you for your support and interest.