As you know, many of the bottle auctioneers use the same online auction format created by a company called Real Time Auction Method. Their auction presentation is rather basic and somewhat dated, but it works well, and I believe auctioneers and buyers alike benefit from using a common format. One key shortcoming however is the inability to get or send a link of a particular page of listings, a particular auction item or search results. Some times it is helpful to be able to send such links to friends.
How to Create Links to Specific Auction Items
The auction links begin usually with http://www.rtam.com/
Specifically, Glass Works Auctions often has the auction URL of http://www.rtam.com/glassworks/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi
In this same auction, the link to ANY given individual item would be http://www.rtam.com/glassworks/cgi-bin/SHOWITEM.CGI
The problem is how to send someone a link to a particular lot. Let’s say you want to tell a friend about lot number 35. Here is a little secret to show you how it is done. Add “?itf=” followed by the lot number. So, for example, we have:
http://www.rtam.com/glassworks/cgi-bin/SHOWITEM.CGI?itf=35
for lot 35. Not too difficult. Make sure not to leave out the question mark and do not include spaces.
Creating Links to a Keyword Search Within An Auction
If you are still with me (you are, aren’t you?) then here is another example of a convenience link. You can also send someone a link to search results within an auction. The link structure is similar. In this case, the URL begins with:
http://www.rtam.com/glassworks/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI
Notice that CATALL.CGI is all capital letters, just like SHOWITEM.CGI. It is essential to keep the link exactly how the same including caps.
If you want to send someone the search results for “mineral water” then the link would include ?mch= followed by your search words (without quotes) Here is an example
http://www.rtam.com/glassworks/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI?mch=mineral water
Creating a Link to a Specific Page of Items Within an Auction
Lastly, we might want to create a link to a specific page of auction listings, for example, lots 121 through 135.
In this case, we would create a link like this:
http://www.rtam.com/poletop/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI?st=121
We call the same page, CATALL.CGI, but pass a different parameter called “st”. You can use any number from 121 to 135 to call this page. Regardless of the number in the interval, it will always take you to that page of listings.
— Created 09/09/10
— Updated 09/20/10