As many of our users know, for a brief period we encountered a high rate of non payers amongst "free" email addresses, and at the time we took the step to ban the registration of people from those email addresses.

Lately we have had quite a few registrants who would've like to join but don't have a regular email address, concurrently we have also been very effective at selling our listings and our users are following through on all sales.

Therefore we have decided to relax the free email address policy and provided we do not not see an increase in non-payment, they will stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Lately there has been a huge increase in buyers and sellers performing "offsite" trades.

Rather than using the actual auction facility, the site is being used merely to give a buyer access to a sellers phone number or email and the trade is being completed away from the site.

Despite the obvious fact that the seller is rarely going to get maximum value by not allowing the auction to run full course, it also avoids the buyers small 2.5% end of auction fee.

This small fee is only payable on completed sales and is so small it does not go anywhere near covering the costs of the site.

Unfortunately if the trend continues, we will have no option but to change the fee structure and have the sellers pay an upfront fee to list their items.

From today (7th August 2008), no contact information such as email addresses or phone numbers are to be made available on any listing and all communication is to go through the auction site's inbuilt messaging system only.

Anyone found to breach these guidelines will be removed form the site.

All Australian Racing Greyhound.com users now have a choice of two different free offers from either Sportsbet or Betfair. All our users you can choose either one or the other or both offers if they wish.

To access your free $50 bet just click the Sportsbet or Betfair banner in the header or any of the Sportsbet or Betfair links on this page and set up a new account.

You do not have to deposit any money to get your free bet with Sportsbet and need only make a small $30 deposit with Betfair to get your free $50 bet.

About Sportsbet
Sportsbet is Australia's oldest licensed bookmaker and accepts wagers on Australian and international horse, harness and greyhound racing as well as all manner of local and international sporting, political and entertainment events. City Best, Country Best, Fixed Odds, Top Fluc, SP, Quinellas and Trifectas are available for thoroughbred racing and harness and greyhound are paid at Home Tote. Racing All-Ups and Sport Multibets as well as Racing and Sport Mulitbets are laos available up to 10 legs.

Sportsbet offers win/place, quinella and trifecta betting on all Australian and international greyhound races as well as fixed price pre-post betting on selected major greyhound events.

About Betfair
Betfair is the world's leading betting exchange, a concept it pioneered.

All bets on Betfair are placed there by users who either want to bet for a selection or outcome in the normal way (back), or bet against a selection or outcome (lay). Bets are matched between people with opposing views. You also have the option to place your bet through the bet exchange or place it with a more conventional "tote" system.

Betfair and TOTE Tasmania have entered into an agreement which enables Betfair punters to place bets with TOTE Tasmania from their Australian wallets. This will provide customers with the opportunity to bet on both the betting exchange and the tote on win and place markets on Australian thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing. Furthermore, it will enable customers to bet on markets previously unavailable at Betfair, including 'exotics'.

Sometimes auctions get passed in just below reserve, or our circumstances or opinions change and upon reflection a seller might have accepted a lower price for a sales item.

Well now you can.

If your auction closes without a winner but a bidder has bid an amount that you're happy to accept, you can log in to your Members Area and got to Selling >> Closed. You'll find all your closed auction listed there.

But now you'll see a small caption below your auction titles saying [Assign winner manually]. By clicking that option, you will be taken to a new screen that shows all the bids received and the bidders names. By then clicking the [Accept Offer] link next to the bid you are happy to sell at; you are selling that item to that bidder for the bid amount, regardless of your reserve.

A new feature and one I'm sure will help both seller and the highest under-bidder.

Australian Racing Greyhound.com is proud to be associated with the Warrnambool Seaside Carnival.

Country Victoria's best racing carnival is one of the longest running greyhound racing carnivals in Australia and is in its 27th year.

Featuring a staggering 88 races held over 16 days from December 23rd until January 9th, the carnival provides an enjoyable and relaxed family focussed getaway for thousand's of racegoers each year.

This years carnival features kids activities and appearances by Brisbane Lions star and home grown AFL talent Jonathon Brown.

Camping sites are available on track and caravan hire can be arranged by contacting the club on (03) 5561 2766.

This years feature races include :

• The Vic Breeder's Maiden Series over 450m


• The Jean Walsh Memorial Grade 5 over 570m


• Grade 5 1-2 win heats over 332m


• The Flying Star Sprint over 332m


• Grade 5 1-6 win heats over 450m


• Grade 5 open heats over 450m


• The Brendan Robb Memorial Grade 5 dog heats over 450m


• The Merryfield Kennels Grade 5 bitch heats over 450m


• The $2000 Warrnambool Stayers Cup mixed 4/5 over 665m


• All maiden meeting on Sunday January 6th

Visit the Warrnambool Greyhound Club website for more details.

As a special thank you for the overwhelming response we have had since launching just two weeks ago; we have organised for free $50 bets for all site users from SportsBet.

To access your free $50 bet just click the SportsBet banner in the header or any of the SportsBet links and set up a new account.

You do not have to deposit any money to get your free bet.

SportsBet is Australia's oldest licensed bookmaker and accepts wagers on Australian and international horse, harness and greyhound racing as well as all manner of local and international sporting, political and entertainment events. City Best, Country Best, Fixed Odds, Top Fluc, SP, Quinellas and Trifectas are available for thoroughbred racing and harness and greyhound are paid at Home Tote. Racing All-Ups and Sport Multibets as well as Racing and Sport Mulitbets are laos available up to 10 legs.

SportsBet offers win/place, quinella and trifecta betting on all Australian and international greyhound races as well as fixed price pre-post betting on selected major greyhound events.

Buyers and sellers please be aware that all new frozen semen auction listings will now require the following information to be listed.

• Breeding Unit Number
• Storage Location
• An Indication Of Whether The Sale Item Is An Original Or Replacement Straw
  
• The Refund Or Replacement Policy Regarding The Straw
  
• An Indication Of Whether The Seller Or Studmaster Is Responsible In Case Of Refund Or Replacement
  
• An Indication Of Whether A Written Agreement With The Studmaster Regarding Refund Or Replacement Exists

It has become apparent that the buying and selling of frozen semen is an exercise which is likely to increase in activity. In fact, it is highly likely that many industry participants may be inclined to purchase frozen semen as a speculative investment; banking on the fact that a sire may be in high demand in the future.

Unfortunately, the AGRA and the state authorities have not as yet designed regulations to govern the "trade" of frozen semen effectively. They have introduced the "Breeding Unit Number" which is a huge step in the right direction and allows a buyer to ascertain the origin and history of a straw. However, when it comes to the purchase, sale and resale of frozen semen, they have not yet introduced regulations regarding liabilities for refund or replacement in the event of a "missed" insemination.

Common sense would suggest that whatever the current refund or replacement policy was at the time of original purchase would then transfer on each subsequent sale and resale. However, many of these agreements are verbal, or "as advertised" and specific written agreements between studmaster and original purchaser do not exist.

Problems can also arise where, a sires frozen semen market value has risen dramatically since original purchase and there is a large discrepancy between the price someone may pay for the frozen semen and the price the studmaster is prepared to offer a refund at; or where a stud dog changes studmasters and the liabilities for refunds or replacements transfer to the new studmaster.

It is a case of buyer beware as our authorities have not regulated to protect either buyer, seller or studmaster in these circumstances.

Our advice is for any prospective buyer to always check with the seller and the current studmaster what the refund or replacement policy is regarding that particular frozen semen unit.

All communications and any agreements should be in writing for the protection of all parties.

The best way to sell effectively is to be very clear about what you want the buyer to bid on.

While listing multiple pups in one listing would seem easiest, it may not be the most effective way to attract bids.

For instance, if a bidder only wants a male or only wants a black one; it would make sense for them to be able to bid on just that pup and having to put in a general bid might make them refrain from bidding at all.

My advice is to make a separate listing for each pup. It is free to list so there is no additional cost for listing each pup individually.

While this would sound time consuming, it is very easily done.

Just place the first listing as you normally would and then got to the "sell similar" option link on your first listing.

All the fields will be pre-filled using the data from your first listing. Just edit to suit each individual pup.

Including the pups ear brands is also advisable. We are working on making this information compulsory on all pup listings and providing an input area for the ear brand.

Unlike many other sites, registration on Australian Racing Greyhound.com is completely free.

Users will need to register to list items and to make bids on live auctions.

Registering will also make you eligible for exclusive members only offers that we will be able to make from time to time.

To create your account choose the “Register” link on the header navigational bar or use any of the links available on the home page.

Should you encounter any registration difficulties please contact us.

What is a Buy Out ?

A Buy Out feature is a Buy It Now option.

It allows you to set an amount you are willing to sell the item for – straight out. If someone uses the Buy Out function to purchase a sale item, they will be buying the item immediately without going through the bidding process.

Buy Out's cannot be retracted by buyers - they are final.

That said, a Buy Out price is an extremely useful tool to use when listing your sale items and is used extensively on most auction sites and is a very popular way to buy and sell.

You can also list buy out only auctions, these auctions remove all bidding options meaning the listing can only be purchased for a set amount. To set a buy out only auction you need to set the buy out value to be exactly equal with the start bid.

If you have a question regarding any listing you can ask the seller the question directly by either using the messaging service in which case your question will remain private between you and the seller.  Or you can use the Ask Seller A Question function. In this case your question will be displayed on the seller's listed item and their answer too will also be displayed publicly there too.

The chances are that many others would like an answer to your question too and it also demonstrates the seller's commitment to their sale item.

We are proud to announce the launch of  Australia's first ever Live Greyhound Auctions Website
.
During the launch period everyething will work as normal, however, we expect that there may be small errors we'll neeed to correct.  In appreciation of your help in testing the website, you will be able to list sale items and buy without any fee.

The site is running completely free!!

Even once we are up and running properly, we will still only be charging avery small end of auction fee that will be paid by the buyer; so even then it will still be free to register and list your sales.

Registration is completely free, so click the "Register" icon and participate in this unique beginning!!