Do you think there is room on the net for a niche auto classifieds site where every listing is under $10,000?

I just launched www.DirtCheapMotors.com where you can do just that for free!
Well it will eventualy include Boats, Motorcycles, RV’s and Powersports all under $10,000

Answer
When you need to buy a used car there are so many places on the Internet. The best sites that list used cars are cars.com, autotrader.com and craigslist.com. You can select by price on all these sites. What will make your site unique – that is the challenge.

If I build a travel website how do I get my site to communicate with a hotel reservation system to book rooms?

I have a niche online travel site idea and am trying to find information on how a customer can book rooms on my site with a particular hotel? Is there software that links the two? Also, if anyone has any idea as to costs it would be appreciated? I will be offering other services as well.
Thank you

Answer
Individual hotels won’t have their own reservation system, so there won’t be anything to link to. It’s far too expensive for one property to build its own system. If it is part of a chain, they will use the chain’s system. Otherwise, it will have to contract with a third-party system or keep records manually.

Major websites link to the chain’s reservation system, a third-party system such as Pegasus, or with a GDS system such as Sabre or Apollo. In some situations, there is no direct link. The website automatically faxes the hotel and the hotel manually enters the reservation into their records. (Strange, but true.)

Have you spoken with the hotel? They will tell you which system they use. Then, you’ll have to contact whoever operates the system to determine contract terms, fees, and the protocol for communicating with the system.

Is there an inexpensive way to start my own online auction site. I have Windows XP.?

I have seen several free scripts for Unix. I don’t know Unix or Perl or any of those programming languages. I just want some simple inexpensive software (under $200) for starting a small site where others can upload items for auction. Similar to eBay. I have a niche I want to develop this auction site for that I think will work out well. Thanks.

Answer
Unix is an OS, not a programming language. To host ANY website for minimal cost, you’ll use Linux or Unix as your OS, then run an Apache Web Server on top of it. You’ll need to find a website template to run on top of it, but I can’t see how this will be any east “cut and paste” task. You’ll need a little background in code or a big wallet to pay someone to do it for you.