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Web's good news for Goodwill Photos by Jim Craven / Mail Tribune Bert Bamforth, vice president of the local chapter of Southern Oregon Goodwill, displays an ornamental mask at the chapter's Phoenix store, Something Special, that sold for $42 in bidding over the Internet. The Johnson Brothers Barnyard King platter, below, went for $132 on the auction site. Online shoppers increase access to merchandise By David Preszler Online auction services have become a treasure trove for collectors and also have expanded the reach of small retail stores, who can draw customers from around the globe through the Internet. Add another retailer to the list of those hoping to benefit from the bidding binge. Southern Oregon Goodwill has joined with 20 Goodwills nationwide to offer items at shopgoodwill.com As of Friday, the Medford-based Goodwill chapter had 44 items among the more than 2,000 on the auction Web site, launched in August 1999 by Goodwill Industries of Orange County, Calif. Southern Oregon Goodwill began listing items about five weeks ago. The site is designed to allow Goodwills to showcase the rare, speciality items that they receive. The Orange County chapter runs it and charges other Goodwills a listing fee as well as a percentage of the sales to cover the costs. Southern Oregon Goodwill already showcases antiques and collectibles at its Phoenix store, Something Special. Bert Bamforth, the local chapter's vice president, said joining the Web site helps expand the market for those items. "We have an antiques and collectibles store in Phoenix that might get 50 customers a day," he said. "We have over 5,000 registered buyers (on the Web site). The exposure is pretty exciting." Not to mention financially rewarding for Goodwill's programs. For instance, a Johnson Brothers Barnyard King platter that officials said would have sold for a few dollars at Something Special went for $132 on the auction site. The bidding on a silver-washed brass belt buckle was hovering around $8 until the last hour of a recent auction, when the bids came pouring in and drove the price to $66. The items listed for auction as of Friday morning ranged from a trio of knickknacks offered for $1 to a 1930s era Singer sewing machine that had drawn a bid of $56. Among other interesting items, a 17-inch tall Garfield clock that weighs five pounds had drawn a bid of $16 and a pine cone-shaped cookie jar with a bluebird on top was going for $27.69. An antiques evaluator at Something Special selects items to be offered on the Web site. Another employee takes digital photos and types in the entry. The packaged items are then and shipped out of Medford. Bamforth said Southern Oregon Goodwill already has sold about $2,000 worth of items through the site. Combined, the 20 Goodwills have brought in about $65,000 worth of online sales. Shopgoodwill.com is among a bevy of online auction sites, led by well-known companies like eBay and Amazon.com. Consumers are expected to spend $4.5 billion this year on online auctions, according to Dow Jones. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA