Google Apps is Google's challenge to Microsoft and the rule of the desktop application. Apps includes a word processor, spreadsheet, email, etc. It is nowhere near as powerful as the Office Suite of applications, but it is all cloud based which has some advantages over the desktop.
One of the really nice features of Google Apps is that you can have Gmail on your own domain. So if I wanted to be Paul@Selling-Stuff.com but still use Gmail I could. That means as long as you keep your domain(s) registered you can always use the same email address. You don't have to change everytime you move or change your ISP.
As a website developer I have a lot of email accounts. I can forward them all to a single Gmail account and read my mail in one place. When I reply to a message the system makes sure my from address matches the address it was sent to. Since everything is cloud based I can be traveling and still keep up with email.
In addition, Apps document can be shared between people. So employees or partners can easily keep up with what each of them are doing, what needs to be done next, etc.
Google Apps mean the same convenience is potentially available for managing online sales. I believe, but do not yet know for sure, that they will provide a free and powerful basis for managing large scale auction sales. Time will tell.
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