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

[youroverheadbin]

yyna,  I'm so sorry I wasn't around to respond to the last email you sent me.

You hit the nail on the head. Many seller who left eBay in a panic and put their misplaced trust in Wagglepoop are now regretting their initial decision. Please don't walk down the path that all is lost because WP didn't work out. There are other venues, other auction sites, where you can and will find success - you just have to discover the one that you have faith in and that will suit your product best.

The weight WP was holding over your head to pay your fees before your store could be closed was at the least intimidating and at the most totally unprofessional. You were being held for ransom. If I had been around I'd have strongly recommended that you post an eye-opening finale, go down in a blaze of glory, to see your store closed within seconds. Because KaRay will not tolerate defiance. No gobblygoop email exchange would have followed or have be required. It worked for me. 

[chiquita]

Dedicated to Truth, and all seekers of the Truth:

The following are excerpts from Fast Company who asked 11 plainspoken business leaders to provide advice and techniques to help people tell - and hear - the truth.

Of course, words count too. My first rule of communication - whether it's an email, a memo, or a half-day briefing - is "Tell me in the first sentence what you would have told me in the last sentence." So much of corporate life is about spinning the facts. I don't want to be spun. That simple rule helps stop the spin.

The further up I was promoted, the less my former colleagues trusted me. I was now one of "them," and "they" never tell the truth. And in fact, my fellow "thems" expected me to become less candid and more polished - to be realistic about "the compromises we make at this level." What most disappointed me, though, was that I stopped hearing the truth. People who had once told me everything assumed that I couldn't be trusted anymore.

But the more you avoid the truth, the steeper the price that you are likely to pay in terms of wasted effort, frustration, and even cynicism. It's a vicious cycle. Here are a few ways to break it.

Face the truth about the truth. Be honest with yourself about how good (or, more likely, how bad) you are at having difficult conversations. That's the first step to getting better at them.

Have sympathy for the devil. Encourage people to play devil's advocate. Even good ideas can be improved through critical, truthful give-and-take.

Don't ask for what you don't want to hear. If you invite people to offer a "warts and all" version of events, then you'd better listen. If messengers of bad news wind up stacked like cordwood outside your door, survivors will learn to censor themselves.

Honesty requires subtlety. Speaking and hearing the truth are acquired skills. Blunt questions can force people into corners where they feel compelled to shade things - even to lie.

We are building a company in which everyone tells the truth every day - not because everyone is honest but because everyone has access to the same information: operating metrics, financial data, valuation estimates. The more people understand what's really going in their company, the more eager they are to help solve its problems. Information isn't power. It's a burden. Share information, and you share the burdens of leadership as well.

Tell the truth. All the time. About everything. What's the alternative to radical honesty? Waste. Wasted time, wasted money, wasted possibilities - a wasted life.

Sure, the truth hurts. But it inspires too. People spend too much time calculating the risks that come with being honest - and too little time thinking about the rewards.

Now, there are a few areas where absolute truth is mandatory: When it comes to customer service, never tell me even a little white lie. But in general, I care more about the big picture: Are we being honest with ourselves about the condition and course of the company? I don't want private, closed-door meetings. That's why our headquarters is one big open space. We don't have secretaries - and my own office doesn't even have enough room for somebody else to sit in it! If we're honest about the big things, the little things will take care of themselves, even if that means telling an occasional white lie.

[youroverheadbin]

STORE COUNT

637

Dec 4th I captured the list of all WP stores. I erred in not recording the number at that time but I can add them up manually and compare it to today's statistic.  But maybe I shouldn't as this info could send the lurkers into shock and I don't want to be accused of contributing to anyone's decline in health.

[Alskling]

CHIQUITA, again 

Where on Earth did you find those words of an obvious business sage? How I would love to plaster those quotes on every forum on WP, although it would probably zoom over most fools' heads -- assuming, that is, they were ever allowed to see it, which, of course, we all know they would not.

SOOOOO, for all you lookers out there, read those quotes and see if you can apply them to your esteemed WP.

[regic]

[quote author=youroverheadbin link=topic=3775.msg36400#msg36400 date=1165892759]
STORE COUNT

637

Dec 4th I captured the list of all WP stores. I erred in not recording the number at that time but I can add them up manually and compare it to today's statistic.
[/quote]

quotes from December 4th:

His post Sept 4th states 28 Showcase stores. WOW
Today Dec 4th 19 Showcase stores. MORE WOW

677 stores this morning.

There are 15 showcase stores today.

302 stores now closed.

[RiverRat]

40 closed stores in one week?!?!  :blinkie:

Not looking too good for ole Ray is it?

[racedream]

chiquita
Excellent post! 

Maybe that post will open some eyes. Or at least get them to start thinking.

[youroverheadbin]

Race, I hope you are right. But me thinks it will take a few more doses of truth serum before some of these good people kick-start into believing that there is a lucrative life to be had for an online seller outside of WP.

Yes banana, GREAT POST!! Kudos. 

[racedream]

If we keep posting the truth and they keep reading it, eventually they will realize the truth. After all, most of us are ex-poppers, and we learned the truth from this thread (and others). The number of lurkers rises daily, so we know that some from Pop Land are reading at least some of this thread.

[RiverRat]

[quote author=bargainbloodhound link=topic=3775.msg36344#msg36344 date=1165879910]
Uh oh, we're twins.  I have four sites running ZenCart too. 
[/quote]

I love my Zens!    

I'm looking for a new host for my three older sites, so I'll definitely have to check out the TT hosting now.