1.   An avid and growing assembly of collectors helped fuel hefty sales and profit for online auction company EBay Inc. in the third quarter.

2.   And Cox owns cattle and flower ranches, farming operations and the biggest used-car auction company in the world, Manheim Auctions.

3.   AOL also reportedly is in discussions to buy a piece of eBay, the popular San Jose online auction company.

4.   At times, auction companies will extend the bidding by an hour or more if they expect that this is the case.

5.   At the same time, AOL reportedly is in discussions with eBay about buying a minority stake in the popular San Jose online auction company.

6.   Both auction companies sell used cars wholesale, primarily to dealers, not consumers.

7.   A business-to-business Internet auction company, it went public in December at the height of Internet speculation, when its losses did not faze investors.

8.   But many real-estate auction companies remain cautious about launching Internet-only auctions.

9.   EBay, the online auction company, is a collector.

10.   EBAY SEEKS LARGE SELLERS In an effort to attract large sellers, eBay is designating auction software companies to help provide logistical services for high-volume sales.