CREATING A SUCCESSFUL LISTING

The best tip for success? Email everyone you know in our area to tell them we exist. Ask them to email their friends, as well. The more people who know about this website, the better your chance that your listing will be successful!

YOUR USER PANELS
Until you become familiar with how it operates, it may be a little confusing to some who first see it.

A video has been created that gives the basics of your User Panel. It will take about a minute to download if you have a high speed Internet connection. Take a few minutes to watch the video and you will understand the navigation a bit better.
MAC Users: My apologies to MAC users, as I believe the video can only be viewed by those with the Windows Operating Systems.
If you have a MAC, or are unable to view the video, please click HERE for text instructions that should assist you.

LISTING DID NOT SUBMIT

An Example Of An Error Message When Trying To List An Item

Your registration information should be up to date and your email address should be your primary one. Some people register using "throw-away" email addresses. Doing so will severely limit your success in some areas, as our website uses it's own email system allowing residents to contact each other. Using an email that you do not check frequently may result in your listing being unsuccessful. If an interested party does not receive a response in a timely manner they will move on to their second choice. We do not send spam mail, nor do we send "updates" on new posts added by others.

Provide a picture of the item (pictures sell items!), an accurate description, and be honest about the condition. You may want to add whether the item can be picked up, or if it is a mailing only item. Let people know if the cost includes shipping and ,if not, how much extra the cost will be. Keep in mind that anyone who can avoid mailing charges by picking up the item may be more apt to make the purchase and it saves you the trouble of packaging it safely and mailing it. Remember, your "For Sale" category is used for those items on which you are firmly setting a price. You are not required to answer any emails from those offering less, or trying to negotiate.
NEW SELLING FEATURE!
Now you can do more than just email 1 item at a time. Using this url: "http://poconosbay.com/a/your-username" (your-username being your login name) you can send a link to friends in emails or post the url to the Internet. Clicking on the resulting link will display ALL your items you have listed under your "For Sale" category and each will have it's own link to that particular item. Be sure to include the "s" in "poconosbay.com" when creating the url.

List your city first and then your yard sale generalization. People interested in yard sales are usually more concerned with location and doing this makes it much easier for people in your area to recognize the traveling distance.
Example: Kunkletown - Moving Sale
You can give directions to your yard sale in the box provided for location.
To expand on the numerous items you may have, use the space available on the listings form.
You can provide all dates and times in either box provided.
Remember, this is not your local paper. You have plenty of room to provide directions. Make it easy for people to find you.

Offering: List your item first and then where the item(s) is located. Those who are interested in a particular item are not usually concerned with distance - especially if it is free.
Example: Colonial Couch - Kunkletown
If someone wants the item a link is provided that will generate a mail form that the person can send you. It is your decision, as to who you give the item to. Be wary of resellers, those who take free items only to sell them.
Wanting: You may list an item you need. You must place the word "WANTED" in capital letters before the item you list.
Example: WANTED - Colonial Couch
You may also state why you need the item, the town where you live and how far you are willing to travel to pick up the item, when you place a Wanted listing.

Provide a picture of the item, an accurate description, and be honest about the condition. Auctions are conducted the same as those on eBay. The heading you use for your listing will be displayed to those looking through the Auctions area. Be simple, but precise in the title. This are also offers visitors a search feature that can find your item if they use a keyword that relates to your item. An extended description can be provided in the description box provided. Choose the length of the auction, put in all the details and submit the listing. If the item is available for pick-up, make note of it in your listing. The rating system we use for registered users is similar to that of other auction sites.
You will notice the Auction listings offer greater flexibility in how your listing can appear using the WYSIWYG editor (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get). For those who are familiar with it, you can create some unique and eye-catching listings.

Please keep in mind that both parties have entered into a binding contract if an item is offered and a purchase is completed. If the item is sold through Pocono Bay and you have listed it elsewhere, those other ads should be cancelled immediately and other offers to purchase refused. You will maintain your listings and remove any listings of free items that are no longer available or no longer needed.

OFFERING PAYPAL

For those familiar with Paypal, you are aware that Paypal uses the email address you provided them for payment processing. Our database uses the email address you gave us as the default, so if the two do not match payment will not be processed.
To set the correct email for Paypal only, without affecting your PoconoBay login, perform the following steps:
1. Login to your PoconoBay.com account.
2. Click the "Auctions" tab.
3. Click "Auctions Management"
4. Click "Your Payment Details"
5. A)Enable Paypal Support. B) Place your Paypal email address into the space provided. C) Ensure currency of USD is selected.
6. If you wish to offer other details to the buyer, the large box provided is for that purpose.
7. Click "Save Changes".
If you dont have a Paypal account and would like to offer it as a form of accepting payment, click HERE. Users who buy and sell on our website will only require the "Premier" account with Paypal (most do not need to upgrade to the "Business" account). Setting up a Paypal account is a simple process. Be aware that Paypal (not us) charges a fee for using this service of convenience.
Pocono Bay does not earn any money from your transactions, so read Paypal's terms for complete details of fees imposed (as of 10/01/09, the fee to the seller is 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 for each transfer USD).

OFFERING GOOGLE

Google payment is a bit different than Paypal and should only be offered if you have a Google checkout button hosted somewhere else that relates to your items. After completion of your auction you can inform the winner of how to pay using Google as an option.
Google also charges a fee for their service and, again, Pocono Bay does not receive compensation from Google (as of 10/01/09, Google charges 2.9% for total sales below $3000/mo + .30 for each transaction).
If you would like to add Google as an option for buyers, click HERE.

PHOTO UPLOADING/SIZING/PROGRAM

Hopefully the follwing information will be of assistance. It was provided by our member, SimonPhotoGraphics, who has graciously allowed us to copy it (saving us time and trouble).
Simon's own sale items listing website is, CoalRegionClassifieds.com. For anyone living in that area, you can certainly list your "For Sale" items again on his site. We only ask you do not list any items on other sites that you have listed in the "Auctions" section of our own.

A FREE PHOTO EDITOR

If your camera did not include one there is always Adobe Photoshop. It will do everything, but it also costs $695, so we won't discuss it. Instead, download an absolutely free image editor program that will do those functions required for our website (and a lot more!)...

Once you downloaded Picasa3, working on your digital camera's pictures is fairly simple. Do not run Picasa3 just yet. Only download it.
First you'll need to make a separate folder where you will put the pictures you've finished.
"Right-Click" on the desktop with your mouse. Pick "new", and the "folder". Name the folder something like "Ready to Place Ad Photos", or whatever you like.

After you have done this, you can start up the Picasa3 software. The first time it runs, it will take some time to make a pretty exhaustive menu of all the photos in your computer. Believe me, you will find this feature VERY useful, and will use it all the time.
Now that it is running and you are ready to work, make sure to click the button (like in the picture below), so that your photo are listed in the way Windows lists the folders in your computer. If you don't, you will see all your photos displayed in list the shows them listed in the YEARS the photos were taken, and NOT in a list showing what folders they are in. Very confusing.

When you see the picture you are going to use in your ad, double click on it. By doing this, you will then be able to work on that picture itself. You will be able to safely click buttons to instantly adjust your pictures, contrast, brightness, color tint, etc. Very high quality tools, but not as good as if you click the tab that says "Tuning" (see picture below)

You can then really get the picture perfect. Even if your picture was shot in a light-bulb lit room, there are very good tools to "white balance" your shot so it looks studio perfect in color. (And did we say, the software doesn't cost any thing?)

Now that it looks the way you want it to, You need to get a copy of the picture into the folder you made for your advertising. On the bottom of your screen, find the "Export" button.

Next will pop up this screen. This is where you will pick your photo size. Please set it at nothing larger than 400 if you intend to use it for items on our website. Larger images will often be rejected, as they exceed maximum allowed file sizes on our site.

The "Browse" button will let you pick where on your computer you want to store these resized versions of your digital pictures (remember, they are copies).
As for image quality, choose the "Normal" setting. This will let your picture look its best while keeping it a reasonable size.

The directions above will give you a fantastic piece of software that costs nothing, and is legitimately yours to keep forever. If you follow the simple steps you can easily "prep" a picture to upload in the classified ad you are placing. I would HIGHLY encourage you to use the software to organize, view, and otherwise experiment with your pictures. You will be thrilled with the results!

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