An article of mine just posted on E-commerce Guide details the career of Kompolt Online Auction Agency. Jenny Kompolt runs eBay auctions for big name concerns, from The Today Show to Toyoto to Hewlett-Packard to Martha Stewart Televison. She auctioned Jay Leno’s Harley for $360,000.

These large firms aren’t using eBay to earn profits, at least not directly. Instead, Kompolt’s agency is helping them use the auctions as a publicity vehicle. Her agency is a kind of business that didn’t exist just a few years ago: a hybrid auction assistant and advertising agency, which marries charity fund-raising with corporate brand building.