[quote author=amy link=topic=3775.msg68262#msg68262 date=1203713539]
Amy (very limited selection) vs. WP top level categories (no selection)
vs eBay
Camera and Photo: 780 A vs 133 WP
vs 235,875 eBay
Computers: 149 A vs. 151 WP
vs 468,463 eBay
Consumer Electronics 5624 A vs 973 WP
vs 760,502 eBay
DVDs and Movies 1814 A vs 176 WP
vs 372,773 eBay
Music 1104 A vs 1759 WP
vs 389,890 eBay
Video Games 1474 A vs 511 WP
vs 272,449 eBay
[/quote]
Donahoe is shitting his pants in fear of Raytard.
arcasm1:
Quote:wagglepopCC2Â 20 Feb 2008 00:47Â Â Â
WP Members,
We want Wagglepop to be as absolutely user-friendly a possible, and the thoughts and ideas and suggestions offered in this thread are likely less about 10% of our own internal wishlist.
In fact, we had several significant projects (the majority about 85% completed - including Wagglepop Checkout) in active development when the participation realities forced reworking of our budgets. Correspondingly, many projects are either "queued" awaiting funding or closed for future review.
When participation increases and supports the costs of new features and function, we will be absolutely responsive to that. In the interim I have the task of running Wagglepop with fiscal responsibiity - namely, to be sure the site reflects those who participate and understand the User Agreement.
If there are two things I have come to understand specifically about Wagglepop in my time at the "helm" they are:
a) Participatory revenues do not come anywhere close to the cost of operating Wagglepop, and
b) Ownership has (after considerable initial and ongoing expense and patience) issued a mandate to management that the site must start to reflect participation
Wagglepop was and is designed for participation roughly 10-15x current participation. While we have made some concessions for dimension, the bulk of ongoing expenses are difficult to limit such as Customer Care, technical support, or legal retainers, as examples though there are many others. Not to mention the investments that made Wagglepop possible or single-event expenses such as the banner campaign.
I would ask that members consider this:
We ask $9.95 per month as the base cost of participation. Conversely, Customer Care and care-related costs exceed $10 per hour, and technical support under contract exceeds $75 per hour.
With 3,000 Stores, it is a model that makes sense. With 7,500 Stores (which was our internal projection to this point) it is a model that works for true growth.
However, with 250 or 300 or so Stores, it leaves us in a difficult position, with only the financial support of ownership giving us the means to continue to operate at our high standards while we wait for online sellers to seize the opportunity and participate.
Changes? There is nothing that we here would all like better - Wagglepop was projected to be a very different and even better site by today, but we simply have not had anywhere near the volume of support we need to be able to do that.
We will continue to wait, having faith that in the end sellers and buyers alike will finally have had enough of the mistreatment "over there" and are ready, in numbers, to support fully an ownership, management team, and staff here and ready to support them and whatever tools they need to succeed online.
AP
It's all about the money.
Speaking of which:
Quote:Hello Wagglepop Members,
For the majority of merchants the following reminder post is not necessary and we thank you for your participation, on time payment and respect for the User Agreement and our 100% trust-based community.
Notice:
Seller invoice email reminders for February invoices have been issued. Payment is due by 2/15 or (with the grace period) no later than 2/19.
Accounts left unpaid by the end of business on 2/19 will be locked by 2/21 at the latest and require a reactivation fee as per the Billing and Account Information seller invoice guidelines. No exceptions.
Payment can be made through:
a) The sitewide "Pay Now" link
b) The "Transactions" link in My WP
c) The "Pay Seller Invoice" link in My WP
Ownership is watching, Wagglepoppers. I would like to be able to report that we are building the dedicated seller body that Wagglepop was designed for and not repeating recent issues.
What Wagglepop can become and support is absolutely riding on it.
2/19.
Andrew P.
WP
That's his story and he's sticking to it. :cinqo2:
Quote:We will continue to wait, having faith that in the end sellers and buyers alike will finally have had enough of the mistreatment "over there" and are ready, in numbers, to support fully an ownership, management team, and staff here and ready to support them and whatever tools they need to succeed online.
A buyer "succeeds online" by finding what they want. After they get sick of eBay they are more likely to go
http://www.google.com/prdhp?hl=en&tab=wf or here
http://shopping.yahoo.com/ or here
http://shopping.com/ or even here
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en than WP. Search is the new venue Ray--it's the buyers' "eBay alternative".
AndRay:
Quote:a) Participatory revenues do not come anywhere close to the cost of operating Wagglepop, and
b) Ownership has (after considerable initial and ongoing expense and patience) issued a mandate to management that the site must start to reflect participation
. . .
We ask $9.95 per month as the base cost of participation. Conversely, Customer Care and care-related costs exceed $10 per hour, and technical support under contract exceeds $75 per hour.
. . .
with 250 or 300 or so Stores, it leaves us in a difficult position, with only the financial support of ownership giving us the means to continue to operate at our high standards while we wait for online sellers to seize the opportunity and participate.
And the purpose of this little announcement is? (vote for your favorite)
1) Try to make members feel sorry for the poor, beleaguered staff. Get all teary-eyed and hold a "save the site" telethon to solicit funds for staff or vote to increase their dues.
2) Blame members for piss-poor participation by failing to properly spam boards and recruit more "disenfranchised" eBay sellers.
3) Provide notice to members to not expect any feature enhancements or anything else that might help sellers get business any time in the foreseeable future (this lifetime anyway), in a way that doesn't make staff look like complete incompetents, idiots, and liars.
4) All of the above.
5) Other
Quote:Conversely, Customer Care and care-related costs exceed $10 per hour
All customer care does is write whiny woe is us we need money posts.
Why pay AnRay $10 per hour to whine for dollars when PayPal Donations buttons placed on every page can do the same job for free?
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr...es-outside
FIRE CUSTOMER CARE! FIRE THEM ALL!
WP will save thousands of dollars per year.
Quote:[cult member's name removed]Â 23 Feb 2008 02:18Â Â Â
Hi [sucker's name removed], don't worry about those fools. They have been at that for years. It doesn't matter. They are just jealous because they don't have enough confidence in themselves to accomplish what we are accomplishing here.
Imagine the things I could do if I was a big Wagglepoop success story selling $73 daily: live in a van down by the river, dumpster dive for half eaten food and gently soiled inventory. I'm so jealous! I wanna be a PowerPopperSeller too! I wanna be her!
arcasm1:
[quote author=sneakymagenta link=topic=3775.msg68279#msg68279 date=1203799377]
Quote:[cult member's name removed]Â Â 23 Feb 2008 02:18Â Â Â Â
Hi [sucker's name removed], don't worry about those fools. They have been at that for years. It doesn't matter. They are just jealous because they don't have enough confidence in themselves to accomplish what we are accomplishing here.
Imagine the things I could do if I was a big Wagglepoop success story selling $73 daily: live in a van down by the river, dumpster dive for half eaten food and gently soiled inventory. I'm so jealous! I wanna be a PowerPopperSeller too! I wanna be her!
arcasm1:
[/quote]
Oh, and me too!
Fool that I am to have over half as many items in my BUSINESS INVENTORY than Pooperville has on its ENTIRE SITE, and have a SUBSTANTIATED sell-thru of over 80% of listings (and that's just on one venue) when the #1 WP store can verify a sell-thru of .0005%. I am S0000000000000 (as in a line of zeros) JEALOUS of not being able to accomplish such a feat.
Yep, shame on me for being such a pest that I was banned from being able to take further advantage of the "Grand Opportunity" at WP.
And now, a solemn moment of prayer.
WERE'S THAT "INSERT SARCASM" SMILIE?
Edit: P.S. From the Auctionbytes thread:
Quote:I personally starting paying Wagglepop the extra $30./month for a Showcase store. Not because I needed the extra exposure, but because I know that the site needs more revenue and I want to 'give back' to the site that has done the most for me and my business.
I wonder if we all donate to WP like P.S. if we could write it off as a "charitable contribution" on our taxes?
We The People Strategy:
Quote:Â Â Â Â 1. Submit an Article
      Write a short article about Wagglepop and why you think it's a great place for sellers or buyers. Be sure to include a link back to Wagglepop. This is a fantastic way to get the word out to thousands of potential members! We have linked to some of the very best article sites below:
      www.ezinearticles.com
      www.goarticles.com
      www.articlesbase.com
      www.articledashboard.com
    2. Contact the Media
      Get the word out! Contact radio stations, television stations, newspapers, online blog sites ....wherever you think news of Wagglepop can spread to thousands or millions, do it!
    3. Tell Everyone
      Use that address book. Email everyone you can about Wagglepop and ask them to do the same. Tell your barber, your mailman or anyone else you think might be interested.
    4. Social Bookmark
      One of the absolute best ways to let the internet world know about Wagglepop is through social bookmarking. Bookmark Wagglepop through the links below and be sure to review Wagglepop when others have already done so.
      AddThis Social Bookmark Button
    5. Promote Wagglepop in Groups and Forums
      Do you participate in groups and forums? Tell everyone and anyone about Wagglepop and our opportunity!
    Do the above Steps #1 through #5 every single day!
      It's up to you.
Bet your patooie it's up to the seller. Can you spell
SPAM?
And what is the site owner Himself doing to support his paying customers? Just sending the flock out to do his bidding - and his work for him.
The rush of newbies on WP has tapered down. With this mornings culling of the herd they will be striving for 300 by the end of the month. A setback from the SEO expert's opinion that 1,000 would be reached by the end of the month.
It's been deja vu of the growth spurt we witnessed (and many of us participated in) in 2006 but I feel this round will be much shorter lived. Damn those non-paying accounts and the lousy sellers with no patience to stick to it for the long haul. They just have no patience or business sense.
One seller who signed up Jan 31/08 opened a store. An original artist with just adorable product. She listed 8 items in the following weeks. Sold every one (100% STR) and is the only seller I've ever witnessed on WP that had multiple bidders on her items that were not BIN. Those, the BIN, were gobbled up within minutes. The buyers I suspect she brought with her from eBay. Good marketing. Yesterday she closed her store and is now selling on OLA. I thought she'd be the new poster seller for WP. Sold every item, feedback left for every sale; a beacon for the discouraged. So why did she leave? This one has me intrigued.
[quote author=sneakymagenta link=topic=3775.msg68282#msg68282 date=1203821333]
Ray's Sock Puppet Wrote:WP Members,
Account processing for February has now concluded.
42 accounts have been suspended pending review for termination for non-payment (and subsequent referral for collection), of which 23 represent Stores with inventory.
Those members and items and products have been purged from the Wagglepop Marketplace as is customary for non-payment under the User Agreement.
Alternately, we would like to thank our remaining Marketplace Merchants for respecting the User Agreement and our 100% trust-based community with on time payment for February.
[/quote]
I counted 53 closed of which 24 had inventory. :blinkie:
Purged; they have no idea how lucky they are.Â