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MG TD TF 1500 - New eBay Website

Hi chaps,

As I've moved on from developing the T Register website now, I thought I'd turn my efforts to something else MG :) I've heard a few people in the last few months say it's hard to browse eBay for general MG stuff, so I've written a website to specifically list MG auctions of interest in sensible categories.

The website lists general MG auctions of interest (such as MG grille badges, period adverts, licence plates) and also specific items for each of the individual MG models - such as cars for sale, spares and books & manuals. The idea is not to replace eBay, but rather offer a "companion" site through which to casually browse auctions of interest in a simple fashion. I've offered the service for all the main English-language eBay sites (US, Canada, UK, Australia) so within a few clicks it's possible to see, say, all the T-Types offered for sale on those sites - handy for registrars or the like.

Hope you find it useful, and would be interested to hear your feedback: the URL is http://www.mgauctionwatch.com

cheers
steve
Steve James

Well done Steve....
gblawson (gordon)- TD#27667

Extremely useful. Thank you.
Geoff Love

Put this immediatly on my desktop. Thanks. Very helpful. Any you even have a chrome bumper, MGB GT in primrose yellow with chrome wires on the page. Looks just like mine.

Thanks Steve.
Bruce-C

Wow...nice job, I do good just to turn on my computer.
Thanks.


B Moreland

Steve,
Very nice...thank you too much!
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Wow... I'm impressed. Thanks Steve!

dave
Dave Braun

Thank you for all the positive comments, and so glad it will be of use. I have a few other websites to make to keep me out of trouble for the next couple of months, but after that, if anyone has any bright ideas for MG websites they think would be useful, let me know and I'll get on it!

cheerio,
steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

>Any you even have a chrome bumper, MGB GT in primrose yellow with chrome wires on the page. Looks just like mine
Yes, this was my uncle's (V8) - I even had the pleasure of driving it to Silverstone one year, wonderful!
Steve James

Hi Steve... seems to be an error in the page....!
gblawson (gordon)- TD#27667

Thanks for spotting that Gordon - I had made a couple of changes to the MMM category (adding items tagged with "PREWAR") based on someone's suggestion and have been uploading the changes from a terribly slow connection here in Poland - seems as if it cut off halfway through the transfer and only uploaded half the page. Should be working normally now.

All the best
Steve
Steve James

Steve.

V8, I an impressed. When I purchased mine, that was my intent (to make a V8). Car was in such good original condition (78,000 original miles in 2004 for a 67), that I did not have the heart to change it. We refreshed the paint, put in a new interior and new wires.

I love the primrose yellow
Bruce-C

Just to let you know, I have completely rehauled the way the category "counts" are calculated, so you should find the figures to be far more accurate now. I've also tweaked some of the searches based on people's recommendations (such as including Sprite parts in the midget listings). Thanks for all the feedback and happy browsing!

cheerio
steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

Great Job Steve! Wish I'd been smart enough to think to search this way :-)

One comment. I have always had to use separate searches, for example MG TD and MGTD as the only way to find all the TD items. Doesn't happen much on eBay.uk, but there are lots of listings this way on ebay in the U.S.

I don't believe your search finds the items without the spaces (MGTD rather than MG TD). For example, these item aren't shown on your list, as well as others (unless I didn't use your list correctly)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3ASS%3AUS%3A1123&viewitem=&item=140203648088

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MGTD-Custom-Intake-Manifold_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34198QQihZ004QQitemZ140203394334QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Is there any way for your search to capture items listed ONLY as MGTD or mgtf? Or, did I miss them on your list?

Thanks

Larry
Larry Karpman

Hi Steve,

This is a great tool that you have created. I was wondering if you could add a Key Word search box? This would be really helpful if you are looking for something specific and don't want to browse 200+ items within a category.

Thanks,
RT
R Thadani

RT,
Since Steve's search gives you a single page of results, it is quite simple to hit CTRL-F in your browser and search for key word(s) on the page. Works in both IE and Firefox.
David "no TD yet..." Lieb
David Lieb

Larry... thanks so much for that - you were spot on! The T-Type spares filter was pulling up those items labelled MG TA, MG TB etc - as most are labelled - but not those with without spaces (MGTA, MGTB etc). I've updated the filter and it is now correctly listing those two items you mention. Given the differing ways people list things on eBay, there may be more items that have slipped through - please let me know if you find any!

To RT... yes, a keyword search tool is a great idea and has just been raised by some of the Midget owners - so it's on the list of things to do! As David cleverly suggests, using Ctrl+F to search in your browser will get you by until the feature is in place. I think the handy thing about a keyword search is that would allow you to search for a part - e.g. "distributor" - and display all of the parts for offer on eBay, allowing you to compare and contrast - and pick the best bargain!

Will let you know when I've made some more progress on the site. The first thing on the list is to add support for any "Deutsche"'s out there... ebay.de listings!

cheerio
steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

Steve,

I am indeed grateful for such an enterprising web-site. Congratulations.

I hope you will continue to develop this to include MG parts.

I do however, have one question. Because I live in Canada, the default eBay I get is eBay Canada (www.eBay.ca) which is very limited, and I almost never go there. Is it correct to assume everything MG is lumped together? I get no assurance that MGs from all English-speaking countries, are included on the www.eBay.ca site.

For the record, and because some of Canada is bilingual (English/French) I have strong French, so I often look in the Benelux countries and France for MG stuff. I also look in Germany.

Early MGFs will soon qualify for entry into Canada and you can be sure many MG enthusiasts in Canada, will be looking for 15 year-old LHD MGFs, in non-English speaking European countries

I use Mozilla Firefox which performs rudimentary but adequate translation, and its often enough for me to get a good message.

Thanks for you much-appreciated work.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Gordon,
Thanks for your comments. For MG Parts, I believe there is a free spares listing service offered by this MG Cars site which you could use - however, it is something I am considering setting up nyself in the future as a separate site - stay tuned!

You're correct that not all MGs for sale across all eBay sites will appear on eBay Canada. However, all MGs *available for purchase by a Canadian citizen* should appear. You won't see the T-Types for sale in the UK listed as mostly the people selling them have explicitly stated in their auction that they will only sell to others in the UK - mainly due to the hassle of shipping a car internationally, I guess. So these listings do not appear internationally. eBay thinks if you can't buy it, you're not interested in seeing it!

However, this is where MG Auction Watch comes in. If you go to MG Auction Watch, you will indeed be defaulted to eBay Canada. However, you can easily switch between eBay USA, eBay UK and eBay Australia as well just by clicking on the countries' flags. This will show you cars/items available to buy in those countries.

You will be glad to hear that on MG Auction Watch support for viewing items available on ebay.de is on its way, and France, The Netherlands and Belgium will follow close behind!

All the best,
Steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

Just to let you chaps know I've updated the site to include searches from ebay.de (Germany) and to add a filter at the top by which you can filter the results (handy under the Spares link if you are looking for a specific part). Finally, there's a "global" icon (the globe in the right hand corner) which will display all items from UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Germany on one page. So for instance, click the globe and then the T-Type Cars For Sale category and you will see all the T-Types listed on the above sites on one page together.

cheerio!
Steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

Steve,
I don't think it is so much the hassle of international shipping (although that IS significant), but rather an attempt to eliminate the scammers who want to send you a "cashiers cheque" for two or three times the sale price so you can remit the overage, etc etc.

It can be difficult to tell the honest overseas enthusiasts from the low-life scum so many of us try to avoid the question entirely.
David "not a scammer this week" Lieb
David Lieb

Great work again Steve! I love to scour the world for spares :-)

I noted on the global list, that many items are repeated (i.e items on ebay.ca are also on ebay in the US, etc.). Is there any way that the global list could be filtered to eliminate duplicates? The item numbers are the same.

Once again, I love this! Thanks so much.

Cheers

Larry
Larry Karpman

Steve,

I wish again to appeal to you to list ALL available MGs and not restrict those that appear to not be available only to Canadians.

Moreover, I would estimate that most pre 1980 MGs imported into Canada, come from the US. In my own case, I happen to live a virtual stone's-throw from the US border, and go there almost daily to do my groiceries, etc. I also maintain a US post box, as well as a legal civic address (for percels, etc), and a large proportion of Canadian also live near the US border. Its not uncommon, to drive 500 Kms just to look at a car.

Unfortunately, when I click on MG Auction Watch, I am isoltaed to eBay Canada, which is a big mistake as I miss most of the deals that APPEAR to not be available to Canadians. If I could default to eBay.com, then I would be happy. So for me, and I expect many other Canadians, defaulting to eBay.com, would be a preferred solution, and your excellent project would be of significantly greater value.

Canadians form a good part of regular contributors to this BB. I wish it could be changed. Am I alone, fellow beaver-huggers?

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Larry,
I'll look into isolating duplicates - but I won't be able to get round to it for a few weeks yet.

Gordon,
Using the new "global" search as described above WILL list all available MGs. You click on the globe icon in the top right hand corner. Then any category you click on will display all items from all countries on AuctionWatch.

Equally, you can get Auction Watch to default to ebay.com if you prefer by clicking on the US flag.

As long as you have your browser set not to clear cookies each time you close it, Auction Watch will remember your last choice of country and display that next time you open your browser. By doing this you can get the site to default to eBay.com as you want to do.

If your browser is set to clear cookies every time you close it, Auction Watch has no way of remembering you last choice and so it defaults to the location of your computer, i.e. Canada in your case.

Hope that's clear - let me know if you have any trouble getting the site to default to eBay.com or using the global feature.

cheerio
steve
http://www.mgauctionwatch.com
Steve James

Steve

I haev tried to view your new website with Mozilla Firefox but none of the entries appear. Using Explorer works fine.

Cheers
Stuart
Stuart Duncan

Do you have Ad Block Plus - ABP - installed? People have reported that it blocks the eBay listings as you describe. Here's some correspondence from a visitor to the site which if you follow should sort out your problem:


Posted 08 February 2008 at 11:32:06 UK time
Mike BGT, UK

Yes, it was down to Adblock Plus Steve. I removed the filter rule for ebay from the filterset and it now renders perfectly under Firefox.

Cheers.
Steve James

This thread was discussed between 27/01/2008 and 09/02/2008

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