All -
The following are instructions to make it easy to copy and paste a garbaged up URL but valid eBay item number in only a couple of steps (once you've set thing up to easily do it, of course).
Some of you might want to save the following instructions (the rest of you power-users will have to be patient with my hopefully clear & step-by-step directions and explanation).
Do this FIRST: Click on the following URL (or copy & paste the whole line to the address bar in your web browser):
which will open the eBay Invalid Item web page. Now click on your Favorites menu. Choose "Add To Favorites" and then type in ...
~eBay Invalid (add =number)
....and click the Okay button.
You have just created a short cut that will directly open the eBay Invalid Item web page. Good.
Now all you have to do when you want to view an item number shown in the CR list (even one that was all garbaged up as a URL by your particular email server) is
1. highlight the item number in the CR post (email me if you don't know how to easily do any of this) 2. copy the highlighted item number you can right click the highlighted number and choose copy or you can highlight the number and press CTRL-C 3. open your web browser, and click the Favorites menu and choose ~eBay Invalid (add =number) (or whatever you originally named the link from above) 4. press the <end> button on your keyboard (you have to be in the URL address list bar when you do this) 5. type an = [equal sign] and <CTRL V> (hold the CTRL key and press the letter V key ...this pastes the item number copied in step 2 6. press the ENTER key (or the go button in IE5 or later)
What you're doing here is purposely adding a link to the eBay Invalid Item page in your Favorites list, and naming it something that makes sense to you (you can type in whatever name you want in the FIRST section, of course). The purpose of adding this as a link is so you only have to copy-and-paste (with a couple of easy mouse& key clicks) ONLY the valid item number from a garbaged-up URL CR link to the eBay Invalid Item URL (the link is usually garbaged up by your email server, and so typing <...> does NOT always work to keep a link together, as that sometimes depends upon the email server settings which you as a user usually have no control over).
You end up only typing the single = [equal sign] in the whole process, because you have the Invalid Selection link already saved ...well, you have to copy & paste the number, of course.
The steps above take you through adding the item to Favorites in the browser, highlighting and copying just the item number, clicking the Favorites menu link to open the eBay Invalid Item page, clicking AFTER (or the end) the Invalid Item URL (which will "un"-highlight the whole entry), typing an = [equal sign], and pasting the correct number.
This is a LOT harder to explain then it is to actually do (it's really, really easy to do once you go through it even once and translate the geek-ese into something you can see works), and will probably save a lot of you (that like to check out the eBay stuff that other listers mention) a bit of work, when the given URL has been all garbaged up.
CTRL-C will copy something highlighted to the "Windows clipboard" CTRL-V will paste the last item copied to the "Windows clipboard" Both these mean to hold down the CTRL key while pressing the C or V key once and then letting up on both keys.
Let me know off-list if you have any specific questions or difficulties with any of this.
--- brandon davis --- -- sacramento, ca --
============================================
> Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 12:27:07 -0800
> From: "C. Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Subject: [CR]ebay question
> Message: 3
>
> Am I missing something, or it is not not possible to search
> ebay by auction number only? It seems ebay has removed that
> search function.
>
> So, if you post an auction, please post the verbatim auction
> title, and country, so we can find it, if we'd like to see
> it..
>
> Charles Andrews
> Los Angeles