equinux iSale express 1.2.9 User Manual

Version 1.2

Installation 3

...............................................................................................Install iSale express 3

...................................................Upgrading from a previous iSale version 3

.....................................................................................................Purchasing iSale 3

....................................................................................Activating your software 4

.....................................................................................To activate a CD version 4

..........................................................Moving iSale to a different computer 4

Getting to know iSale 6

........................................................................................................................Groups 6

...............................................................................................................Auction list 7

Creating your first auction 9

.......................................................................................Authorize iSale express 9

..........................................................................................Creating an auction 10

..........................................................................................Enabling Edit Mode 10

........................................................................................................Auction Title 10

................................................................................................................Quantity 11

...................................................................................................Private Auction 11

................................................................................................................eBay Site 12

......................................................................................................Item Location 12

................................................................................................................Category 12

.................................................................................................Product Catalog 13

......................................................................................................Item Specifics 14

...................................................................................................Item Condition 14

...............................................................................................................Facebook 15

....................................................................................................................Pricing 15

...............................................................................Duration and Smart Date 17

................................................................................................................Payment 18

................................................................................................................Shipping 19

Writing your auction 22

.............................................................................................................Templates 22

......................................................................................Modifying the Layout 24

......................................................................Editing Your Item Description 25

......................................................................................................Creating Links 26

Adding Pictures 27

.......................................................................................................Picture Zones 27

.................................................................................................Inserting Photos 27

......................................................................................Scaling and Cropping 28

............................................................................................Removing Pictures 29

....................................................................................................Gallery Images 29

..............................................................................................Supersize Pictures 29

Review and Submit 30

...............................................................................................................eBay Fees 30

............................................................................................Preview Your Draft 30

.......................................................................................Submit Your Auction 31

Running Auctions 33

......................................................View Your Running Auctions on eBay 33

..............................................................................Editing Running Auctions 33

............................................................................Group: “Running Auctions” 33

.....................................................................................Get the Current Status 33

......................................................................Observe Your Auctions in iCal 34

Finished Auctions 36

......................................................Auction Status Changes to “Finished” 36

......................................................................................................Status Update 36

Appendix: Preferences 38

...................................................................................................................General 38

................................................................................................................Auctions 38

...................................................................................................................Pictures 39

...............................................................................................................Facebook 39

...........................................................................................................Scheduling 39

Appendix: Import/Export 41

...............................................Importing Your Auctions From “My eBay“ 41

....................................................Import and Export Using Auction Files 41

.................................................Import and Export Data From a CSV File 41

Installation

Install iSale express

Before you can start auctioning, iSale express must be installed on
your hard drive.

If you have received iSale express on CD:

‣

Insert the iSale express CD into your computer

‣

Double-click the iSale express CD icon that appears on your
desktop

‣

Drag the file “iSale express ” to your applications folder

If you downloaded iSale express from equinux.com:

‣

Double-click the downloaded .dmg file

‣

Drag the file “iSale express” to your applications folder

Upgrading from a previous iSale version

Upgrading from an older version of iSale express is very similar to
installing the software for the first time.

To upgrade to iSale express, please complete the following
steps:

‣

Make sure that you have a valid internet connection

‣

Download iSale express at

http://www.equinux.com/isale/download

‣

Install iSale express

Purchasing iSale

If you have not already done so, you can buy iSale express directly
within the application. All you need is a connection to the Inter-

net and your payment details to hand.

To purchase iSale express
1 Open iSale express, and choose iSale express > Buy iSale ex-

press… from the menu bar.

2 A window will appear showing our online store. Add the iSale

express Edition of your choice to the cart and proceed to
checkout.

If you paid by credit card your license will be added to your
equinux ID as soon as your card details have been verified.

If you paid via bank transfer or PayPal, we will send you an email
as soon as we receive your payment. You’ll then be able to acti­vate iSale express using the very same equinux ID and password

you created at our Online Store.

Activating your software

If you bought iSale express at our Online Store, you can activate it
using just your equinux ID and password. You will have created an

equinux ID during the checkout process.

To activate using your equinux ID

1 Open iSale express, and choose iSale express > Activate iSale

express… from the menu bar.

Your equinux ID

Store all your software licenses under one roof with a handy
equinux ID and stop worrying about keeping those long, un­sightly activation codes safe. Create your very own free
equinux ID during the checkout process or, if you are a first­time retail box buyer, during the software activation process
and start reaping the benefits today.

2 Enter your equinux ID and password and press Login.

To activate a CD version

If you received iSale express on CD, you should find an accompa­nying “Activation Code”. Using this code you can activate iSale

express on your computer.

To activate using an Activation Code

1 Open iSale express, and choose iSale express > Activate iSale

express… from the menu bar.

2 If you already have an equinux ID, please log in using this ID.

Otherwise, create a new ID and enter the required informa­tion.

3 Finally, enter your Activation Code in the field provided.

The next time you need to install iSale express you can simply do
so with your equinux ID and password – you won‘t need the Acti-

vation Code any longer. Please store your equinux ID and pass­word in a safe place.

Moving iSale to a different computer

In order to activate iSale express on another Mac, you’ll first need
to deactivate your license on the previous computer. As equinux

licenses are bound to your hardware, they first need to be reset.

To transfer a license to another computer

1 Open iSale express on your old computer, and select iSale ex-

press > Deactivate iSale express… from the menu bar. The li-

cense is now available and you can activate the software on
another Mac.

2 Install iSale express on your new Mac.

3 Choose iSale express > Activate iSale express… on your new

Mac and hey presto!

(If you no longer have access to your old Mac, you can also visit
http://my.equinux.com to reset your license.)

Getting to know iSale

In this chapter, we will give you a broad overview of
iSale express’s user interface. After reading this,
you’ll be familiar with concepts such as the Auction
Pinboard, Groups and the Auction Details.

iSale express’s interface was designed using Apple’s Human Inter­face Guidelines and resembles the look and feel of iLife applica-

tions.

The main window consists of three areas:

The “Libraries and groups“ and “Auction list“" areas can be resized
easily.

To change the width of a column:

‣

Place the mouse pointer over the column’s right edge

‣

Drag the column to your preferred size

Groups

iSale express allows you to group auctions either manually or
based on certain criteria (like starting price, eBay category etc.).

Certain “Smart Groups“ like “Running Auctions“ or “Unsold Auc­tions“ are predefined.

To create a new group and store auctions in it:

‣

Click the “+“ symbol at the bottom left of the main window

‣

Enter a name for the new group appearing in the Groups area

‣

Drag & Drop auctions to the new group

or

‣

Hold down the Command key to select multiple auctions and
then Drag & Drop them to the new group.

To create a “Smart Group“:

‣

Click the cogwheel symbol at the bottom left of the main win­dow

‣

Select either “any“"or “all“ as match mode

‣

Choose the desired criteria for the new group

‣

Choose a sort order

iSale express will automatically add auctions fulfilling the chosen
criteria to the new group.

To delete auctions from within groups:

‣

Select the auction you wish to delete

or

‣

Hold down the Command key to select multiple auctions

‣

Press the Delete key

‣

In the dialog box that appears, click Remove from Group to only
remove your auctions from this particular group

or

‣

Click Delete to completely delete them from iSale express

TIP You can create Smart Groups to find specific types of

auctions you would like to move to your archive library
(e.g. finished auctions older than six months).

Auction list

The auction list will display all auctions contained in the group
currently selected in the group area. You can choose between a

basic list style and several beautiful themes.

Use the icons to switch

between a list view and

a Polaroid view.

Auction Status

Regardless of the chosen style and theme, the status is displayed
for all auctions.

Status

List style

Pinboard
style

Draft

Running

Finished

Sold

Unsold

Note Finished auctions switch to either sold or unsold after

the next status update.

For running and sold auctions, iSale express will also display the
(current) price, either as a separate column in the list, or as a little

price tag:

Deleting Auctions

Auctions can be removed from a group or deleted completely.

To delete a single auction from iSale express:

‣

Select the auction to delete

‣

Click the “–” button below the auction list

To delete multiple auctions

‣

Hold down the Command key and click each auction you wish
to delete

To remove an auction from a group:

‣

Hold down the Command key to select multiple auctions

‣

Click the “–” button below the auction list

Creating your first auction

In this chapter, you will learn how to set up an auc­tion with iSale express using templates, smart date
and various shipping options. Read on to see how
iSale express implements these features to simplify
the task of creating an auction.

Authorize iSale express

Before you can start using iSale express, you have to authorize the
software to use an eBay account when submitting auctions and

fetching your running auctions’ status.

If you don’t have an active eBay account yet, you will need to reg­ister on eBay.

To create a new eBay account, please do the following:

‣

Visit http://www.ebay.com (or some other local eBay website)

‣

Follow the instructions for creating a new account

Once you have a valid eBay account, you can open iSale express
for authorization.

To authorize iSale express:

‣

Click the Account button (“Authorize“) at the bottom right of
the main window

or

‣

Choose iSale express > Preferences… > Accounts and click the
“+” symbol

A browser window will open, displaying the standard eBay login
dialog.

‣

Enter a valid eBay username and password

‣

Click “Sign In Securely“

‣

Click “Agree and Continue“

eBay will now issue an Authentication Token allowing iSale ex­press to use this account for listing items.

Note eBay’s Authentication Token is valid for a limited time, so

you’ll need to request a new one from time to time.
Once a token expires, iSale express will display an eBay

error message when trying to upload an auction. In or­der to request a new token, please follow the instruc-

tions above.

After iSale express has been authorized, the Account"button will
change to display the account currently used by iSale express.

Creating an auction

Before submitting an auction to eBay, you can create a draft in
iSale express. While working with a draft, you can choose options

like starting price and shipping options. You can even add an item
description, as well as your pictures.

To create a new auction, please complete the following:

‣

Select the desired library to store your auction (if you work with
multiple libraries)

‣

From the File menu, select New Auction > With Template.

or

‣

Click the “+” button at the bottom of the Auction list.

The template chooser will open automatically so you can choose
the best design for your item (please see “Item Description“ in this

manual for details).

iSale express files all new auctions automatically in the Drafts
group. All auctions which have not been sent to eBay are filed

here.

Most of the steps described below do not require an active Inter­net connection. There are two exceptions to this general rule: the

Category Browser and Item Specifics need to communicate with

the eBay servers. When setting your auction’s category or item
specifics, iSale express will require an active Internet connection.

Enabling Edit Mode

New auctions appear in edit mode. For other draft auctions, you
can switch to this mode manually.

To turn edit mode on or off:

‣

Click the auction you want to edit to select it.

‣

Click the Edit button in the bottom part of the window.

Auction Title

After creating a new auction, iSale express switches to edit mode
and highlights the Auction Title placeholder at the top of the De­tails tab.

Click and type a title
for the auction.

iSale express will use the auction title in the auction list by de­fault, but you can manually change the list title without affecting

the auction title (see below). This can lead to confusion, especially
when using “Smart Groups“.

The title in the auctions list can differ
from the auction title used on eBay.

Note When contemplating a title, you should always put your-

self in the position of the customer and ask yourself how
you would search for this item. This is a good way to
come up with the most appropriate title.

Below your auction title, there are two checkboxes for marking
the title as bold, highlighting its background and adding a subti-

tle. These options apply to the auction as it is displayed on eBay,
and eBay charges additional fees for them.

To format your auction title or to add a subtitle:

‣

Select the appropriate options for a bold and/or a highlighted
title.

‣

Add a subtitle for the auction object if you wish.

Quantity

If you intend to sell more than one item of a kind, you can use the
“Quantity“ field to specify the quantity. For example, if you had 10
DVDs of “Finding Nemo”, you would enter “10” into this field. By

default, iSale express assumes a quantity of “1“.

Click and enter a the number of
items you wish to sell.

Private Auction

With this option, you can hide the eBay user name of your bidders
and buyers to keep their anonymity. This can be useful for expen-

sive items or items which may embarrass buyers.

To mark your auction as private:

‣

Select the “Private Auction” option next to the Quantity field.

eBay Site

With the “eBay Site” option, you can choose the region and the
target market to which you would like to sell your item. In this

way you can sell your item in a different target market. eBay has
many local websites worldwide.

Choose the eBay site
to list your item on.

TIP Don’t forget to use the correct customs and native lan-

guage of the chosen eBay site. If you list an item on the
French website, your description should also be written

in French.

Item Location

To set the location of the item:

‣

Click the small grey arrow next to “Location”. A dialog appears.
Make the appropriate changes and click OK.

Choose a country.

Enter the location’s
ZIP code and com­mon name
(e.g. San Mateo, CA).

Category

Next you need to choose the category in which you would like to
list your item. These categories are determined by eBay. To keep

these current, iSale express downloads the categories automati­cally from eBay and saves them on your hard drive.

To choose a category, please complete the following:

‣

Click the grey arrow next to “Main Category”.

New categories are automatically downloaded to your hard drive.

‣

From the appearing dialog, select the category which best suits
your item.

‣

Select the appropriate subcategories as they appear.

‣

Click OK to confirm.

Second Category

eBay lets you offer your item in more than one category. This op­tion is fully supported by iSale express.

To choose a second category:

‣

Click the green “+“ symbol next to “Main Category“.

‣

Repeat the instructions for choosing the main category

Product Catalog

For certain item categories, you can look up product specs and
other details in eBay’s Product Catalog. Once you have found your

product in the Product Catalog, those details will automatically be
displayed alongside your auction.

To look up a product in the catalog:

‣

If your category supports eBay’s Product Catalog, you should
see the corresponding checkbox appear

‣

Check the box “Use Product Catalog”

‣

Click the arrow to bring up the catalog search field

‣

Search for your product

‣

Choose “Select Product”

Now details about your product will be shown above your auc­tion on the eBay website, making it easier for potential customers

to compare specs and find your item.