Auction Sites Whose Users Are At Risk of Identity Theft By Using the Sites...

[RiverRat]

[quote author=maggie777 link=topic=17986.msg71147#msg71147 date=1215406774]
Exactly.  Why were there no objections to the listing of SSL-less sites when the names involved were Plunderhere and HiBidder?
[/quote]

Maggie...

Neither Joe nor I had any problem with the no SSL being mentioned here.  It was the implication that we had 'swept it under the rug' or in some way tried to hide this fact. 

We were very open and stated publicly when we first set the site up that it had no SSL.  Our members (whom the site was set up for) were well aware of this fact.


Sneaky...

Yes, when we were contacted by United Best, we did agree to "join" (i.e. exchange banners).  I guess some may have perceived that as us being an "alternative to eBay" site.  That wasn't the intent behind our joining nor was it implied when we were invited.

So just because an orange happens to end up mixed in with a bushel of apples, that doesn't make it an apple does it?

[BellisimaJ.]

So just because an orange happens to end up mixed in with a bushel of apples, that doesn't make it an apple does it?

The orange didn't "happen" to end up mixed with a bushel of apples. The orange chose to jump in to the bushel.  :

[amy]

Sorry. I don't understand the logic of using a free channel like insert any rinky dink name here with 1,351 monthly uniques which requires you to spend time listing indvidual items while you ignore free channels like TheFind, ShopWiki, MSN Shopping, Jellyfish, Microsoft Cash Back, and MyCoupons that collectively have several million uniques.  These free CSE's will list your entire inventory with minimal time required on your part.  I couldn't find your items on any of these sites. icon_scratch

Read the articles in the CSE forum or start a new thread if you need help using these channels. 
http://community.tuliptoo...ex.php/topic,18081.0.html

I thought of your post when I saw a thread on another forum where a buyer had paid for a premium listing in the AvidCat directory--a site with 311 monthly uniques almost all of whom you can bet are sellers. The number of monthly visitors she'll receive from that paid listing will be significantly less than 311--the number of conversions will be practically non-existent.  At AvidCat all she is getting for her money is a description of/link to her website and a thumbnail of her website. Meanwhile her products are nowhere to be found on TheFind, ShopWiki, etc--sites which will list her products (including product images) for free.  Let's just say that the number of visitors I receive for free from TheFind each month is significantly more than the 311 uniques the entire AvidCat site receives. 

Paying for a premium listing at a site like AvidCat, the WPSSU stores directory (where each store gets its own page with a site thumbnail, description, and link), the many sites that consist of a bunch of store banner ads/logos, or any of the other similar tiny directories/malls, etc is a complete waste of money for the same reason that listing at sites like YourHighBid, Milbid, etc is a waste of time--buyers have little interest in these sites and the majority of traffic is other sellers.

The sites are essentially nothing more than link farms and buyers have little interest in looking at/visiting a site where all they'll find is "a site thumbnail, description, and link".  Buyers want to see products (and guess what, the conversion rates from a clickthrough on a CSE product listing are much higher than those from a clickthrough on a directory/mall website listing).

These type of sites have been around since the '90's and have never generated significant conversions for sellers--that's not going to change. The site owners will try to tell you otherwise because they want your dollars (or traffic or want to sell you one of their other services)  but they're full of sh.it. Comparison engines on the other hand that list merchants' products (rather than just their websites)  do generate significant conversions and many of them are free. 

Why waste your time at rinky dink general auction sites general store directories/malls/etc when there are much better choices available?  Devoting time (and/or money) to the wrong channels (i.e. ones whose historical track record SUCKS) will limit your business's growth potential.

[BellisimaJ.]

Great post, Amy. 

Why were there no objections to the listing of SSL-less sites when the names involved were Plunderhere and HiBidder?

Because it wasn't their name?  tolensmiley:

[amy]

free channels like TheFind, ShopWiki, MSN Shopping, Jellyfish, Microsoft Cash Back, and MyCoupons that collectively have several million uniques.

Pronto (almost 10 million monthly uniques) also includes a small number of  free listings but they don't allow submissions.  Their crawler finds sites and then they pick the sites that are included themselves. The sites they pick tend to be established sites with traffic, a professional appearance, site seals (TRUSTe, HackerSafe, BuySafe, etc, etc).  We have about 600 free listings from 2 of our stores included on Pronto.

[bargainbloodhound]

These type of sites have been around since the '90's and have never generated significant conversions for sellers--that's not going to change. The site owners will try to tell you otherwise because they want your dollars (or traffic or want to sell you one of their other services)  but they're full of sh.it.

The site owners will also try to sell you on the SEO benefits of having a backlink from their site ("our site is ranked really high for bla bla bla obscure term..a backlink from us will drive a ton of targeted traffic your way"...never mind the fact that their site has little traffic to show for the high ranking on that term).  Ask yourself how much of a benefit you're really receiving from that link..the answer is probably very little if any.

Take a site like WPSSU that gives you your own page in their directory.  The WPSSU home page has a PR of 1 and the internal pages (the pages you'll be receiving backlinks from) have PR rankings of 0.. How much is that backlink from a PR 0 page on a low traffic site that has few (if any) quality backlinks to it really going to help your PR 3/4/5 store's rankings in search engines?

[amy]

Let's just say that the number of visitors I receive for free from TheFind each month is significantly more than the 311 uniques the entire AvidCat site receives.

I was bored and checked to see how many referrals we received from free CSE's in June.  The top 4:

9.094 Google Product Search
1,968 TheFind
823 BuySafeShopping
140 HalfValue     

[usiff]

[quote author=bargainbloodhound link=topic=17986.msg70739#msg70739 date=1213393648]
A list of Auction Sites Whose Users Are Putting Themselves At Risk of Identity Theft By Using The Sites because the site owners care so little about safeguarding their users' personal information that they haven't bothered to properly secure all registration, login, and user account pages.

If you don't mind your identity potentially  being stolen by packet sniffing hackers because the following site owners care so little about user security, then by all means rush on over and register at all of these sites.

Sites with unsecure registration, login, and user account pages
Plunderhere.com **
Blujay.com Site's checkout is also unsecure**Self-signed SSL expired on 4/23/07
BiddersNSellers.com **SSL Expired 1/29/08
HiBidder.com **SSL Expired 5/5/08
PatchAuctions.com **
UBidRight.com **
AuctionFire.com **
OvernightAuctions.com **
AtOncer.com**
DealGates.com **
BookAuctionz.com **
KaQoo.com **Self-signed SSL expired 1/26/07
Squeagle.com**

Sites with unsecure login and user account pages
AuctionQuests.com  (unsecure registration is also possible by clicking on the register link on the unsecure login page)**

Sites with unsecure login pages
DomesticSale.com **
AuctionsWorldWide.net **

Sites with unsecure registration pages
iOffer.com **
Loudfrog.com **

LEGEND
**Site owner can't afford the $15 it would take to buy an SSL certificate
**Expired SSL: Site owner can't afford the $15 it would take to renew an SSL certificate
**Site has an SSL certificate but site owner hasn't properly secured all registration, login, and user account pages

note to site owners: If you don't like having your name on this list too boinking bad.  Try taking proper steps to safeguard your users' personal information by securing all registration, login, and user account pages if you want your site removed from this list.
[/quote]


Could you add us to the list....  thanks....

USiFF Online Auctions

Please take a look and let me know if you find any SSL issues...

Take Care,

Rene
USiFF Online AuctionsUSiFF Online Auctions