A large problem that we're trying to address is the he said/she said that seems to occur when everyone relies on email. We've had so many problems as of late because of spam filters, or ISPs lableing us a spam domain, or new users not knowing how to use email - that it's become obvious to us that we need to eliminate email as an obstacle. Our answer is to contain all communications between our users to Auction Arms directly.

. As a seller, wouldn't it be nice to know that the bidder's email system wasn't the obstacle to your sending him a message about shipping information and the like? Send it through Auction Arms and you've got a time stamp you can rely on, and the comfort of knowing that all the bidder would have to do is log on to Auction Arms in order to see that message.

As a bidder, wouldn't it be nice to know that the seller has had every opportunity to answer your question? This would take some of the quesswork out of knowing whether or not to bid on his auctions. If the seller isn't willing to tell you about the item before the end of the auction, do you want to do business with that person?

We've addressed the issue of privacy. We had hoped that this would be a system whereby you - the users of Auction Arms - would keep Auction Arms the open, honest marketplace we claim it to be. But we didn't properly address the privacy issue, and so we've scaled back that initiative considerably. Now, the seller controls whatever comments the seller would like to be either private or public. When a buyer posts something - by default, it's private. If the seller wants everything private, now the seller can choose to keep everything that way. I hope that satisfies everyone's issues with privacy.

I've also heard a lot of complaints about ease of use. I think the primary thing that will alleviate that problem is a new interface that allows sellers to see all comments, and manage responses on a single page - instead having to visit each auction in question. I'm sure people will have comments about how to improve this new tool, and I'm happy to hear them.

Again, this was never meant to make everyone's use of Auction Arms more difficult. I apologize that I didn't make that clearer. But with your patience and a little help, this will solve quite a few problems that we as a company - and you, our users - have had to deal with. Thanks for your patience while we work this out.