Wagglepop 2: Deja Vu as Auction Site That Left Sellers Stranded Reopens

[sneakymagenta]

Effective May 1st SmartSell Enterprise will (as it must) effectively double to $59.95 per month.

Effective May 1st participation will fall from 45 to 10.

In some ways I think if we can re-envision the site as a premium brand with specific categories that are filled with items and products, we may even be able to attract additional participation - not from eBay but from those that now use or would use standalone solution, such as Presto Stores, for example.

Wagglepop has a lot of traffic each month, and that traffic combined with unique and useful features within a friendly supportive community may be quite appealing for those online merchants looking for something more than a "ground up" standalone site.

What about the buyers you boinkin' moron? Would they prefer to shop at WP instead of a standalone site? Wagglepop is a Yugo not a Rolls Royce when it comes to buyer experience.

[Alskling]

what about buyers, your boinkin' moron?

Buyers? OMG, the dreaded "B" word. Since when were they even considered as part of the equation?

Oh, wait. I forgot. Ray never had those on eBay, so how would he know to factor them in.
 

[regic]

1. Technical Support Contract = $975.00/month (15 hours)
2. Server Costs = $379.00/month

Wagglepop absolutely would not even run in a shared server environment. In fact, during our first 18 months of operation we had eight dedicated servers tied together in order to handle the traffic and process code and server requests

It is difficult to relate fully exactly how complex the code is that presents Wagglepop and how closely monitored it is.

In outlining the monthly expenses, please note that I did not include the outstanding debt or investment we carry from the creation and advertising of Wagglepop - about $75,000 (or perhaps more) in investment and shortfall operating capital "to date" and about $38,000 in debt from the four month banner ad campaign

[Alskling]

It appears the cheerleaders are having great difficulty in raising their pompoms for this fee increase "KayRayAnd Gone Wild" dumb-ass move du jour:

www.wagglepop.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=8561

Edit: A particular highlight from our favorite Popper:

"Andrew, night you be able to provide us with some numbers such as:
(a) What might be the acceptable price for the site?
(b) What might be the cost to enter into a partnership?"

[xwpopper]

A lot of time, effort, and money went into trying to build Wagglepop as a site where just the barest minimum of cost would afford all or any eBay sellers the opportunity to participate. Outside of our loyal existing and a handful of past sellers, the response has been primarily one of two things: apathy through non-participation, or bad-faith non-payment of seller invoices.

He paid $500 for a script, about $2000 in customizations, and a $100/month server. That's exactly what Plunderhere uses with pretty darn near the same traffic and a much more burdensome database and script.
And it's all the fault of the couple thousand deadbeats who didn't have the right vision to go along with participation in the kool aid happy hour, or didn't pay their bill.
The only fault Ray takes himself is for believing a bunch of "blather" from a discussion board.

That is the fault of ownership and management in conception - misjudging the need for a site such as Wagglepop. It was simply discussion board blather that we took too literally and seriously.
 

The delinquent account numbers are utterly staggering - I will spare everyone the exact numbers as they are beyond comprehension - and should Wagglepop fold I'll be shopping the remaining delinquencies to collection agencies at the highest bid.

Good luck getting them turned over to a collection agency without the first detail beyond an email, phone number, and address. I'd love to see a letter arrive in my mailbox so I can send all the emails to the agency with a big note... "GOOD LUCK!"
Education time Ray. When you offer deliquent accounts to collection agencies, and typically when more than 10% are not truly delinquent and contested, you will get sued for the entire balance of every account you sold to them. Not a suit for what they paid you, but a suit for their maximum return.

Last hilarious lie:

We have Chris doing all of that working under just 1-2 hours per day (well, more like getting paid 1-2 hours per day while working twice that I suspect), which I find remarkable and have told her many times that I do not know how she does it - but I am glad she does.

Chris is Ray's wife. She gets paid whatever he gets paid.
Andrew is, and Karen was Ray. That's why he never posts anything, anywhere on the site. You never hear from him. It is always his little stooge name and those stooges never speak the name "Ray." It's always "ownership" said, or "ownership" did.

Last reason I don't ever expect to drop a tear for old Ray...
In 2008, I signed up a new account to check out the WP privacy policy statement saying that I could opt out of the unsolicited marketing (SPAM) that I would receive per my registration, I got this in an email and still have the screenshot if anyone would like to see it... including any WP members, even the ones who have bashed me over the head as a lying deadbeat in the past for mentioning it. I may even be able to still forward the email. Keep in mind, I registered with my name, address, phone, etc, and within 5 minutes (before even activating the account) had this email.

"Listen up Mother****er. Try that bulls*** here and I will hand you your head in a basket.
AP"

I simply signed up an account to find a link so I could stop receiving spam from my old selling account, and that was the response.
Bye a$$hole! Time to get a real job.

[FineThings4U]

I absolutely cannot believe that talk of a "partnership" to keep WP alive is being suggested yet again.  It's all about Ray - always has been, always will be.

The only question is how long until he turns into the primadonna that he is and slams the door on many unsuspecting sellers?

Once again, I say BACK UP YOUR LISTINGS...NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alskling]

"Listen up Mother****er. Try that bulls*** here and I will hand you and your head in a basket"

Yep, that's Ray, all right! No mistaking the eloquent and tasteful choice of words.
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And in the "well, duh" department:

P.S.:

"That (fees without upfront cost) is probably the only option now to 'start over' in a way that will allow Wagglepop to gain the traction needed to survive."

Interesting that when I suggested this at WP I was the "dillusional psychotic" old lady who got banned.

And now, even though P.S. has come to see the value of that business model, she still doesn't get it. Ray would not, nor would he EVER, have put together a site with FVFs and no subscription fees, because that would assume two things: (1) that Ray gives a crap about his sellers' success, and (2) that Ray would be willing to work for a living, since his income depends on his sellers' success.

WRONG! The whole idea behind Ray's "business model" if you can call it that, was to have a self-perpetuating site run on auto-hamster, where his sellers did all the work, and Ray did nothing but press a button to  have a computer program spit out monthly invoices-- thus assuring Ray a steady, passive income -- one that would allow  him to languish  in front of a cozy fire in fuzzy slippers, sip martinis, watch the Playboy Channel and occasionally go to the computer to buy an old muscle car off of eBay. Wagglepop was Ray's version of an effortless "get-rich-quick" scheme. He saw the eBay board "blather" and dollar signs flashed before his eyes. What Ray failed to realize was that sellers simply wouldn't stay content FOREVER with paying for nothing,  being lied to, cheated on and  blamed for  Ray's ABYSMAL business sense -- no matter how much Koolaid he mixed and cult philosophy he dished out -- SHAME ON THOSE UNGRATEFUL DEADBEATS, NAYSAYERS, TROLLS, PAID EBAY INFORMANTS, JEALOUS TYPES, AND LAZY BUMS who actually wanted something in return for the monthly fees they were paying, including the freedom to  speak their peace and help make WP a better site for it. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!


Edited because this site no longer allows me to use my editing keys in composition.

[xwpopper]

The exodus begins....

I didn`t think I would ever be saying this,but I must say goodbye.Today is the last day I could keep my store open without further costs...
 
...I contacted customer care last night about closing my store and asked them to please allow me enough time to say so long to everyone.I see that they have allowed me to do that and I thank them from the bottom of my heart...
 
...Thunder Road Collectibles is no more.
 

A 2 1/2 year member is the first to announce his departure, and will likely soon be banished as a deadbeat for posting about it on the boards.

WP Participation policy:

8. Posts about closure, impending closure, considering closure, or discussion of closure are not allowed and will no longer be tolerated. New policy. *note: updated 6/9/07
Zero Tolerance Policy. Members who violate the existing Board Participation Policy will be immediately sanctioned by either board restriction, suspension, or termination.

[FineThings4U]

where's Platzki when we need her...it's time for her to start singing Another One Bites The Dust.

Unfortunately, there won't be as many verses this time, since there are so few sellers left.

[Alskling]

The value of WP, according to AP:

"I would estimate a rough base estimated value of about $45,000 - $55,000 - plus additional discussions concerning value or assumption of accounts payable and receivable, portability of the LLC, domain and trademark licenses, etc. etc."

He didn't say if this was the estimate for purchasing the site or what "management" would gladly pay someone to get it off their hands.  

Applying Ray's notorious "perceived" value formula, I'd say the worth is ZERO.