What's an online auction? It's one without the boundaries of a fixed time or place, without the inconvenience of transporting items that may not even sell, and without the tedium of having to wait for your turn to buy or sell the item of your choice. It's an auction that takes place on the Internet, and while the bidding is similar to the auctions you're used to, there are some important differences:

	An online auction is always running, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
	An online auction is available from any place that has a computer connected to the Internet.
	You can list an item for sale at any time, and when you do, your auction begins right away.
	You can bid whenever it is convenient for you as long as the item's auction is still active.
	You don't need to transport an item for auction; you simply list it for sale from your computer.
	When you buy or sell in an online auction, the buyer and seller arrange mutually agreeable payment and delivery.

Online auctions work by sellers listing items for sale in one of our categories. When they list the item, they specify how many days the auction will run, from 1 to 7. At that point, the auction is on! The item is found by potential bidders either through browsing the categories or else by searching for specific items through our seach page. Bidders then place bids on the items in which they are interested, and at the end of the time period set by the seller, the high bidder wins! The buyer and seller then make arrangements for payment and delivery via email, and thus complete their transaction. This takes the trouble out of participating in auctions, as almost all the work is done in your own home on your own computer.

Eggschange is the "auction house" that makes this all possible. It provides a convenient place where buyers and sellers can gather at any time, from anywhere.

Eggschange is free for bidders, and sellers can list an item for free as well. When an auction is won, the seller pays a percentage of the winning bid to Eggschange as the fee. A detailed list of our fees may be found here.

Eggschange serves to make buying more efficient by allowing buyers to get an idea of what is currently available in the poultry and smallholder marketplace without endless hours of phoning around to various breeders and suppliers to enquire as to the availability of the items or breeds they are seeking. Likewise, Eggschange helps sellers such as breeders and suppliers to “advertise” the goods they have currently for sale without responding to numerous individual enquiries. It also helps such sellers to determine the true market price of their goods. However, anyone can be a buyer or a seller on Eggschange.

It is easy to use Eggschange! Anyone may browse the auction categories and view items that have been listed for sale, or else search for specific items. But to buy or sell on Eggschange, you must first register to get a free personal ID and password. After registering, you may list items for sale or bid on listed items.

To list an item, you use our online form to choose the type of auction you prefer, set the starting price and an optional reserve price, enter a description and links to pictures of your item, and provide payment and shipping information for the winner of the auction. Bidders can then find your auction by browsing the categories or through our search interface.

To bid on an item, you simply select the type of bid you wish to place, regular or proxy, and submit the bid on the item. Proxy bids are especially useful, as they will automatically generate counter bids on your behalf anytime you are outbid, up to a level determined by you. This way, you don’t need to closely monitor the auction— the system takes care of monitoring it for you. Bidders can also set up a "future watch", which is a list of search terms that are run against every newly listed item. If a search term matches a word in a newly listed item, the bidder is sent an email from Eggschange notifying them that an item of interest has been listed. This allows bidders to keep abreast of new listings without checking every day.

One of the ways that the Eggschange community thrives is through member feedback. When an auction is won, the buyer and seller communicate directly to arrange payment and delivery. When the transaction is complete, the buyer and seller can then leave a feedback rating on how well the other handled the transaction, including a brief message describing any significant events (swift payment, item not as described, etc). All feedback can be browsed by any member, allowing transaction history to act as a guide as to who are the best trading partners. This way, the Eggschange community is self-policing, as poor trading partners are swiftly identified as such by community members. Everyone is incented to trade honestly, as their transaction handling will be viewable by all.