1. What can be sold, shared, traded?
2. What is the difference between BCKS Ad and BCKS Ad Plus?
3. What is the difference between "Beginner", "Advanced", and "Expert"?
4. Would my existing ads be carried over to the upgraded account?
5. Can I operate from behind a firewall?
6. Do I need to own a computer to create BCKS Ad?
7. With which operating systems is BCKS Ad Plus compatible?
8. How long can I leave my ad up?
9. Does it matter what kind of Internet connection I have?
10. Do I need to have an e-mail address?
11. Can I share or attach a file to my ad?
12. Some search results have links of different colors. What do the link colors mean?
13. Are there risks buying and selling from the Internet?

Selling, sharing, or trading on BCKS is no different than a normal over the counter transaction. If it is not legal in a face to face transaction, then it is most likely not legal to do it on BCKS either. The difference is it is much more obvious in a face to face transaction that you are dealing with a person not entitled to purchase a certain item.

These are both free ads.

We refer to the ad for "Beginner" and "Advanced" users as a "BCKS Ad". This ad is limited to 80 characters in the ad title field, a total 180 characters for ad description, four auto-resized images, and is stored on the BCKS network. The size of images that can be submitted with a BCKS Ad is limited to 500K in size. The following message will appear upon submission if the file exceeds this size.

Expert users have available an ad we call "BCKS Ad Plus". BCKS Ad Plus is a BCKS Ad plus additional material such as images, text, or files saved on the user computer. The BCKS Ad part is uploaded to our servers as usual. The additional material is viewable by prospective buyers when the user computer is online and allows the ad to have substantially more text, larger images, and files.

These are all free ads.

"Beginner" level requires the least computer knowledge to place an ad. The only requirement is that you have an e-mail address to which buyers can respond. Registration is not required

"Advanced" level adds "MyBCKS" which is a web management tool for messages, ads and account. A "Beginner" ad would have buyers respond to the e-mail address given. You might have to sort through many e-mails to find the responses to your ad. "MyBCKS" allows you to keep all queries and responses to ads in our network sorted by the ad. "MyBCKS" has an option to forward all e-mail related to your buying and selling activities to your regular e-mail as well. Registration is required.

"Expert" level makes a available a more comprehensive ad called "BCKS Ad Plus". It helps to have some computer knowledge to use this feature which allows you to add more information about your product including photos. It requires downloading of our software to your computer and registering or upgrading your "Advanced" registration.

"Beginner" can be upgraded to "Advanced" or "Expert". "Advanced" can be upgraded to "Expert".

There is no charge for any of these services.

Yes they will be transferred to the upgraded account.

Beginner and Advanced users do not need to worry about either hardware or software firewalls. Only Expert user BCKS Ad Plus ads may be affected.

BCKS Ad Plus ads may be affected by the Windows XP software firewall. The other kind of firewall that may prevent BCKS Ad Plus software from running is usually found in a router in the home or office to which the user computer is connected. Some common brands of these routers are Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, and Belkin. For those unfamiliar with the operation or setup of these type of products, we recommend a technician make the appropriate changes. The technician should setup the router so that the user computer acts as a "virtual server" or the user computer is placed in the "DMZ".

For users who wish to try to set up the router themselves, please use the "help" link on the "Expert" user page.

No. BCKS Ads can be created at your local Internet cafe as long as you have a valid e-mail for accepting replies or questions about your ad.

BCKS Ad Plus has been tested with Windows 98SE, ME, XP Home Edition, XP Pro, and 2000.

You have a choice of how long to leave the ad up but since many users forget to remove the ad after the item has been sold or withdrawn, all ads have a time out after which they are removed automatically from the BCKS servers.

Dial-up connections, dsl, and cable connections should all work for beginner, advanced, and expert users. The only caution would be for expert users using BCKS Ad Plus software from behind a firewall such as in a router. For information about operating from behind a firewall, see the FAQ titled "Can I operate from behind a firewall?" or use the "help" link on the "Expert" user page for details.

Yes. For prospective buyers to contact you, BCKS requires that you have a valid e-mail address. Web mail addresses are available for free from any number of sources. Web mail addresses typically have a limited amount of storage. It is a good idea to check and clean out web mail accounts in the event you are getting a substantial response to your ad.

File sharing is only available at the expert level. Users need to download BCKS Ad Plus software for sharing files. To do this, go to the Expert user page and click on "How To". The first item in "How to" describes how to download this free software. You can, for example, attach specification sheets in pdf format commonly available from manufacturers to help describe the product you are selling with the aid of this software.

A blue link on the search results page means the advertiser has images hosted on the BCKS servers. A green link means that the advertiser has a BCKS Ad Plus ad. The green link takes you to more information which may be description, files, or images located on the advertiser's computer. Below is an example of both types of links.

As with most transactions, "caveat emptor" applies. This is defined as "The axiom or principle in commerce that the buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying.". BCKS provides a place for commerce but does not represent either party in a transaction much like a telephone company provides a means to talk but not what is said. BCKS cannot verify the accuracy of any representations made by either party.