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How the PrePaid Paging service worksWhen you
need to leave your computer but still want to stay on top of an auction, just activate
your eBay a-go-go™ auction alerts at this web site. When eBay sends you an outbid,
end of auction, or Personal Shopper Email notice, you’ll also receive a shortened
version of the message on your eBay Pager. When you no longer need the auction alerts,
just return to this site to turn off the auction alerts until next time.
Your eBay Pager is powered by SkyTel PrePaid Paging service. The package comes with an
eBay Pager and a beginning balance of 2,000 message units.
What is a message unit?
Message units work like the tickets you buy at a theme
park—At the park, you start with a supply of tickets and then trade them in to play
games and go on rides. Different rides require different amounts of tickets.
Message units work in the same way. For example,
a message on your pager of up to 10 characters
uses one message unit, and one message unit will
be deducted from your balance.
You’ll always know how many message units
you have left. Each time you receive a message
or auction alert on your pager, your new message-unit
balance is shown at the end of the message.
eBay a-go-go auction alerts vary in length. The first 25 characters of the description
will always be sent, along with the entire price. Remember, you’ll also receive the
full Email notification on your computer.
eBay News does not count against your message-unit balance.
How are message units used?
Your PrePaid message units are good for the term of your
service (e.g. 2,000 units or 6 months of service, whichever comes first) from the day you
receive your eBay pager.
Each time an eBay a-go-go auction alert or a personal message is sent to your pager, we
deduct a certain number of message units from your balance for every ten characters you
receive (a character is any letter, number, punctuation mark or space). The number of
message units we deduct depends on the type of message and where you are when you receive
it. The following chart illustrates:
| Type of Messages |
Metro Service |
Nationwide Service |
| Auction Alerts, Words & Numbers |
10 characters = 1 message unit |
10 characters = 5 message units |
| Voice Mail |
5 message units per voice message |
10 message units per voice message |
| Operator Dispatch |
Twenty (20) message units are deducted for
each Operator-dispatched message, plus the normal charge for Words & Numbers. |
| Caller ID |
One (1) additional message unit deducted |
Five (5) additional message units deducted |
| Pay Phone Surcharge |
Ten (10) additional message units will be
deducted for calls originating from pay phones. Pay phone calls can be blocked at your
request. |
Message
units deducted are subject to change.
| Message Unit Examples: |
| Example
1: |
| Mary is in her Metro service
area and receives the following eBay-on-the-go-go auction alert: Outbid!–Cinderella
PEZ dispenser-$5.00 |
That’s a 38-character
message, therefore, Mary’s message-unit balance would decrease by 4 message units. |
| Example
2: |
| John is in his Metro service
area and receives the following numeric message: 8005523100 |
That’s a 10-character
message, therefore, John’s message-unit balance would decrease by 1 message unit. |
| Example
3: |
| Mary is roaming nationwide and
receives the following eBay a-go-go auction alert: End–Cinderella PEZ
dispenser-$22.00 |
That’s a 35-character
message, therefore, Mary’s message-unit balance would decrease by 20 message units. |
| Example
4: |
| Susan is in
her Metro service area and receives the following word message sent via the SkyTel
website: Running Late, Will Be Home Around 6:00 |
That’s a 38-character
message, therefore, Susan’s message-unit balance would decrease by 4 message units. |
| Example
5: |
| John is in his Metro service
area and receives the following Operator-assisted message: Can you meet me at
Nick’s at 7:00? |
That’s a 34 character
message, therefore, John’s message-unit balance would decrease by 4 message
units, plus 20 message units for the Operator Dispatch service. Therefore, John’s
balance would decrease by a total of 24 message units. |
| Example
6: |
| Susan is in her Metro service
area and receives a voice mail notice: |
Susan’s message-unit
balance would decrease by 5 message units. |
| Example
7: |
| John is roaming nationwide
and receives a voice mail notice with Caller ID: |
John’s message-unit
balance would decrease by 10 message units for a nationwide voice message, plus 5
additional message units for Caller ID for a total of 15 message units. |
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