QUICK START GUIDE

Registering Your Software

What follows is a quick walk-through on how to register your program.  This walk-through assumes that you have already installed the product.  Once you have installed your program, you will need to register it.  Your program may have run immediately after installation, in which case it would have asked you to register right away.  If the program is not currently open and displaying the registration box, go ahead and run it (either from the Start menu, or from the directory you installed it in).

The registration window looks like this:

Enter in the registration code and unlock code you received when you purchased the program.  These codes were displayed on the order confirmation screen you saw when you purchased the program.  As well, they are in the e-mail you received after purchasing the product:

Once you have entered in your registration code and your unlock code, like so:

Click the "Register" button to register your product.

Please wait for the software to register (this may take a few moments).  You'll receive notification when the software is registered - a box will appear that looks like this:

Your program is registered and ready to go, click OK and the software will now open up automatically.

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Adding Your eBay Login Details

After registering you will be prompted for your eBay login information.  This is required by AST as eBay will not show auction details, bidding prices, etc. unless you are logged in.  By entering your eBay login info it will allow AST to gather the required details to generate reports.

If you feel uncomfortable adding your REAL eBay login information it is RECOMMENDED that you setup a test eBay account for use with AST.

To open an eBay account visit http://www.ebay.com and at the top of their website is a link that says "register".

Once you have your eBay login information you are ready to enter it into AST.  Below is what the AST eBay login screen looks like:

Enter in the registration code and unlock code you received when you purchased the program like shown below:

Once entered AST will open and you are ready to rock :-)

NOTE:  Your eBay login information can always be changed in the future by clicking Options as seen below:

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Finding eBay Seller IDs

Finding the eBay seller IDs of the sellers you want to spy on is easy.  Browse eBay until you find a seller that sells products you are interested in spying on.

When viewing an auction the seller ID is shown right on the listing as shown below:
 

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Downloading Seller's Data

When downloading a seller's information for the first time you simply add the seller's ID into the AST field that says New Seller ID and click the Get Data button as shown below:

Check Classifieds - Only use this option if you want to AST to report if a seller uses eBay's Classified ad feature.  You cannot reveal any revenue or reporting from Classified ads as they are just ads, not auctions.  It is strongly RECOMMENDED that you ignore this option as by checking this option you will also decrease AST's speed performance.

Once you have clicked the Get Data button you will see AST start gathering the information on the seller you selected.  Depending on the number of items the seller has will determine the speed of how long it takes AST to gather all the information.  Below is what AST looks like when downloading date:

TIP:  If you are spying on a seller with a lot of items listed (over 500) you might want to go grab a coffee while AST is gathering it's data. 

If you want to spy on multiple sellers that have many items it is suggested that you use the Load From File option as explained below:

Load From File - The Load From File feature allows you to enter multiple seller IDs into AST at once.  This is great if you want to spy on several sellers and/or your sellers have too many items listed to sit around and wait for AST.  I personally like to surf eBay collecting several seller IDs.  You must save the seller IDs in a text file on-per-line.  Then when done I load the list into AST before I get to bed.  In the morning I wake up to find all of my eBay research done and ready to find my next money maker :-)

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Using the AST Software

Using AST is very easy.  Below is an explanation of each feature in AST:

Options - This options feature allows you to add/edit/delete your eBay login details.

Load From File - The Load From File feature allows you to enter multiple seller IDs into AST at once. This is great if you want to spy on several sellers and/or your sellers have too many items listed to sit around and wait for AST.  I personally like to surf eBay collecting several seller IDs.  You must save the seller IDs in a text file on-per-line.  Then when done I load the list into AST before I get to bed. In the morning I wake up to find all of my eBay research done and ready to find my next money maker :-)

About - This where you can check for AST updates and find links to our online support desk.

Help - This links you to our online help guide.

Exit - Clicking this exits you from the AST program.

New Seller ID - Here is where you enter the eBay seller ID you want to spy on.

Get Data Button - This is the button you click to download the seller's data from eBay.

Check Classifieds - Only use this option if you want to AST to report if a seller uses eBay's Classified ad feature. You cannot reveal any revenue or reporting from Classified ads as they are just ads, not auctions. It is strongly RECOMMENDED that you ignore this option as by checking this option you will also decrease AST's speed performance. Once you have clicked the Get Data button you will see AST start gathering the information on the seller you selected. Depending on the number of items the seller has will determine the speed of how long it takes AST to gather all the information. Below is what AST looks like when downloading date:

Existing Seller(s) - This allows you to store all sellers data so you can view research at a later date. This also allows you to update their data without re-entering their seller ID.

Show Report Button - This will show all the auction items and report for the seller selected.

Update Data Button - This will connect to eBay and update the selected user with new data. This is a great feature as you can then spy on sellers over a long period of time.  Simply update the seller's data once a month and generate reports with month's of research data.

Delete Seller Button - This will delete the seller from your AST database.


RESULTS:

Start Date & End Date - This allows you to show items and a reporting using a selected data range. The default date range is the last 30 days.

Price Range - This allows you to show items within a certain price range. For example let's say a user sells thousands of ebooks, but you only want to view the listings and report for ebooks he sells for less than $1.00. Simply set the price range accordingly and click GO.

Total Items Listed - This shows the total # of Auctions listed for the date range selected. The default date range is the last 30 days.

Total Items Sold - This shows the total # of Items sold for the date range selected.

Total Amount Made - This shows the Amount of revenue this seller made for the date range selected. Please realize these amounts are gross revenue. To figure out net profit you would have to factor in the cost of the product (if any), eBay fees, PayPal fees (if any). A cool website that allows you to calculate eBay & PayPal fees for your auctions can be found here: http://www.ebcalc.com


DISPLAYING AUCTIONS:

Start Date - This column shows the start date of when this auction was listed.

End Date - This column shows the end date of when this auction will end.

Item # - This column shows the eBay item number AND links directly to this auction. This allows you to visit that particular auction and see study what the user did and didn't do right.

Title - This column shows the actual title of the auction listing.

Status - This column shows the status of the auction. Below I explain what each status means:

Open: This means the auction is still open and accepting bids. AST adds the following color to Open rows: Ended: This means the auction ended and was NOT sold. AST adds the following color to Ended rows: Sold: This means the auction sold. AST adds the following color to Sold rows: Classified: This means the listing was a classified ad and not a normal auction listing. AST adds the following color to Classified rows:

Qty Sold - This column shows the quantity of items sold for this listing. For example someone might use eBay's dutch auction listing and offer multiple quantities of the same item using a single auction listing.

Amount($) - This column shows the TOTAL amount his auction listing had made.

Prev 15 - This button allows you to view the previous 15 items.

Next 15 - This button allows you to view the next 15 items.


ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Sorting - You may sort the AST results by clicking on any of the displaying titles. For example if you want to sort the items by revenue made then simply click the "Amount($)" column title.

Group by this title - When right-clicking on a auction title you can select "Group by this title". This allows you to see ONLY the auctions with the IDENTICAL auction title.

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Software Updates

On the About tab in AST you will find a link where you can check for AST software updates making sure you are using the latest version of AST.  The About tab looks like:

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Support

If you need further assistance please visit our online support desk at:

http://www.Customer-Help-Desk.com
 

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