The applicant approval process is broken down into three steps.

The first step being getting your foot into the door by meeting a minimum requirement.

The second step consists of the approval process, what OLASA considers when reviewing an application.

The third and last step is the approval or denial of an application. These steps are further explained below.

Step One: Minimum Requirements

In order to qualify for OLASA membership, there are two minimum requirements that need to be met before an application is accepted.

1. You must have had at least 6 months of selling experience at your auction site, and
2. In those six months, you must have had at least 20 positive selling transactions (represented in your feedback).

Step Two : Applicant Review

Once the chairperson of the membership committee has established that those factors have been met, your application is sent to the membership committee for further consideration.
All membership applications are reviewed by the OLASA Membership Committee. Each application is judged on its overall merit. The committee consists of nine members who:

• receive the application
  
• review the information
  
• check the seller's feedback history
• cast a vote in favor or against

The membership committee scrutinizes all facets of the applicants selling practices. Information is obtained by investigating several areas, including, but not limited to..

• Feedback History
• Shipping and Handling
• Other Data

Feedback History: The committee is looking for a proven track record for being able to complete transactions and safely ship items. The committee looks at any neutrals or negatives and does its best to sort through what may or may not have been a warranted complaint. The committee also tries to determine whether there are trends in the type of complaint.

Shipping and Handling: The committee reviews the shipping charges of a sellers items. They should be reasonable. Handling charges (if any) should be enough to cover the cost of packaging materials and not venue to derive profit or avoid final value fees.

Other Data: Other data, including information provided on the application, current auctions, recent auctions and "About Me" page are reviewed. This information is used to determine whether the seller seems committed to providing the kind of service spelled out in our guidelines. The Ebay "About Me" page is not a requirement for membership, however the membership committee does consider the information obtained there, when reviewing a candidates application.

Step Three : Approval or Denial

After this review process each committee member votes whether to accept the new member. Honesty, effort, willingness, a commitment to customer satisfaction, and fair trading go a long way in impressing the committee. The committee does not make its decisions haphazardly or without regard for the seller. We look forward to adding new members, and always offer a big welcome.

Unfortunately we are unable to accept every seller who applies. We have dedicated ourselves to making the OLASA logo a symbol of assurance to our customers, and are very proud of our association's guidelines and the members who strive to provide exemplary customer service.

If five or more vote "yes", an invitation and instructions are sent to the seller.

If the vote results in a "no", the seller is notified, and offered constructive criticism on how to improve his/her chances of being accepted at a later date.

We hope you'll join us!

Member Participation

Membership in the OLASA is free upon acceptance. There is no paid staff. All work done by the OLASA is performed by volunteers.

Members are encouraged to participate in the association by:

• participating in discussions and posting information at the private OLASA site
• contributing material for the public OLASA website
• serving on a committee and/or providing other voluntary services