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

[let the truth be told]

WAGGLEFACT #3 FOR NEW YEAR'S

THE SHOWCASE/FEATURED FUDGE

Here is something I have missed and haven't seen reported at least yet about WP on TT.

As it is stated 1/1/07 10:30AM EST by WP:

Showcase stores = 15
Featured stores  =  30

Fact:
8 stores are doubled in showcase and featured which would put the showcase stores at 7 or 15 and the featured stores at 22 or 30.

Total featured and showcase stores is 37 and NOT 45.
It's easy to check and I advise all to do so.



let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."
X-POP NATION, A real seller's network

[Alskling]

Thanks, Truth, for the FACT.

I knew there was a duplication, but never took the time to figure out by what extent. There also is a duplication in basic stores, as well, with many sellers having several stores, switching low-end items between them, and racking up feedback when they do. I don't know how to get an exact number on it, since only searches under a specific user name will bring up mutiple stores under that ID, and some sellers use several ID's and have a store under each.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an aside, the Cheerleaders are in full force on PSU, gearing up for the perennial eBay fee hike = seller exodus, no doubt. It makes me want to PUKE! 

[let the truth be told]

[quote author=Alskling link=topic=3775.msg38797#msg38797 date=1167670826]
Thanks, Truth, for the FACT.

I knew there was a duplication, but never took the time to figure out by what extent. There also is a duplication in basic stores, as well, with many sellers having several stores, switching low-end items between them, and racking up feedback when they do. I don't know how to get an exact number on it, since only searches under a specific user name will bring up mutiple stores under that ID, and some sellers use several ID's and have a store under each.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an aside, the Cheerleaders are in full force on PSU, gearing up for the perennial eBay fee hike = seller exodus, no doubt. It makes me want to PUKE! 
[/quote]

I have been watching the PSU thread for some time now. I must say you are doing a great job there Alskling & others. I also noticed powerseller was there as of today. She couldn't dispute the facts here so she moved onto PSU with the same lies. I have been keeping a watch on her store and she hasn't made any sales since she left TT so she is lying on PSU.

Keep up the good work guys & if anyone wants to post any wagglefacts on PSU go right ahead. I will post there when the time is right but not yet. Another good point to make on PSU is the lack of being able to check completed listings.


let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."
X-POP NATION, A real seller's network

[let the truth be told]

[quote author=Ladyrock link=topic=3775.msg38790#msg38790 date=1167655178]
[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg38732#msg38732 date=1167597910]

WAGGLEFACT #1 FOR NEW YEARS

MANUAL COUNT!

12/31/06 3:30PM EST

WP homepage listing count = 157,328

Manual count done by truth from view all stores pages = 148,347

WP stores count = 556 (I noticed quite a few new stores replacing older stores on many different pages)


Please note due to the sharp drop in stores there will be multiple wagglefacts today in an effort to bring you the best information as it happens.


let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."
X-POP NATION, A real seller's network
[/quote]


WP store count = 558

WP homepage listing count = 157,328

Manual count  by Ladyrock from view all store pages = 147,699

This is the weirdest math I have ever seen!

There is a 9,629 listing difference there. 

Also what is with the manual count! Wasn't is stated somewhere before that this was set to do it automatically. I believe I remember at the beginning sellers were complaining about the numbers not updating soon enough and that it was fixed.
[/quote]

There was a large store that I was contacted about after midnight my time last night that closed. They had over 900 items listed so that was the difference in our manual counts. Great job Ladyrock!!


let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."
X-POP NATION, A real seller's network

[FineThings4U]

Great Wagglefacts, Truth. 

I'm not a member, but I have been following the PSU thread closely.  I wonder if they are spamming the Ebay boards, too.  It's just a matter of time.

mileyyoyo:

[youroverheadbin]

HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!

I was 34,000 feet in the air at midnight celebrating with 168 strangers so missed sending my wishes earlier.

Thought it worth quoting these older posts from WP:

23 Sep 2006 17:45
I have been on this site for weeks and have not sold a thing. Ive looked at pages and the counters are at zero. At this rate this site will fail. Its funny how people in the other site were screaming join the revolution and shut there stores down in a leap of faith. That’s what lured me here but I’m not about burning bridges, Thank God. If waggle pop does not advertise soon this revolution will be short lived if its not dead already. They had a golden opportunity when the fee increases came about over there and the door was wide open. Talking about having opportunity handed to you on a silver platter. I feel this was the one chance any site had to really give the other people a run for there money. The door is almost shut now and it is most likely too late. wagglepop is like the butt of the joke over there because so many people were hoping for a breath of fresh air and ended up eating crow. I would think if I were to invest this much time and effort into starting a really well thought out website like this one is, I would have included an advertising budget. It should not be up to the sellers to advertise nor is it right to advertise in any other competing auction site. If wagglepop approves of this kind of business tactic then I don’t know if this is a revolution I wish to remain a part of. I may get reprimanded or completely kicked off for expressing my opinion but what the hay What am I loosing. You may not consider this constructive but I consider it constructive criticism.

My point in doing so is to outline how much the board censorship has escalated. Since this date similar postings have been made that were much softer, more diplomatic, yet this one wasn't pulled. As a matter of fact CC1 ignored it but posted further down in the thread to pat a cheerleader on the back who defended the lack of advertising.

The poster came back again to say this:

24 Sep 2006 18:36
Like I said it was constructive criticism. I have not thrown in the towel. I am sending out business cards and so forth. I refuse to advertise on eBay or use feedbacks to advertise. In business one of the cardinal rules is never start without the capital to start and to last long enough to make a profit. That can be years down the road. Like i said this is a well though out site in a lot of ways better than the competitor. But truth is truth. With out advertising it will not go forward and how long can this site operate without any income from sales? The window of opportunity was handed to waggle pop when eBay hiked the fees. I never even heard of waggle pop if it weren’t for other disgruntled store owners raving about it on the eBay boards. I came and liked the layout and went to work. Now time is run out for waggle pop bring it home. Seller on eBay and everywhere else has short memories. The fee increase is becoming a fading issue. The more sellers forget the less chance for this site to gain traction. You can be as gung ho as you want but hype and moral support only feeds the bull dog so much. Don’t be like eBay and only accept good comments and hide the bad. No body gets anywhere doing that.

And another post on the same thread by the same seller:

17 Oct 2006 14:16
I last posted on the 28th of Sept. and now it is the 17th of Oct. and still not one sale off Wagglepop. I have put the link on business cards and everywhere else I could ethically. I’ve heard wait just wait. Things will change and get better. No they wont as long as wagglepop fails to put forth any effort to advertise. I’m sorry I can not see being suckered into paying for a service no matter how much cheaper than eBay that absolutely does nothing to promote itself. All I see is someone created a great auction site lacking the startup capital to advertise it and giving it a promising launch. The difference with eBay and wagglepop is I’m making money on eBay regardless of the fee increases. I have not sold a single item here nor do I expect too as long as they don’t put forth any effort to expose itself. I gave this site the benefit of the doubt and paid another month. I still see the available listings on Wagglepop has not increased significantly so the "Lets wait for more sellers to list products" ploy does not hold water. People will not list where there is no chance on selling and the existing sellers will eventually pull out. In Wagglepop’s latest News letter I read " It's a seller and buyer market on Wagglepop" as far as I'm concerned there is no market on wagglepop if nothing is being sold. You might say your selling stuff that wont sell regardless but my stuff sells well on eBay There are 885 sellers and a 1000 sales a week on wagglepop so doing the math that comes to an average of 1.12 sales per seller per week 4.5 sales per month. I sold more than that last night on the other site. And that’s a Monday night the worse night of the week.” We continue to look for ways to improve Wagglepop" well try ADVERTIZING. you may not consider this courteous and constructive posting but if the sellers dont post the truth then how will the owners of this site see the light. and for the person that wrote "If you opened a B & M store, would you expect your landlord to do your advertising? Would you expect for the customers to beat your door down immediately just because you opened a store?" In a online format such as this YES the landlord should advertise since I am selling in his domain. You are invisible and depend on the site to create exposure and draw people in. If waggle pop were to increase the 9.95 fee to lets say 15 or 20 a month and advertised Id gladly pay it and still come out a lot cheaper than eBay and maybe sell something to boot. If advertising is a money issue with the POP then raise the monthly fee. Its crazy paying even a small fee when sales are non existent. "Would you expect for the customers to beat your door down immediately just because you opened a store?" well let me ask you this...Would you be in business with a B&M store if you had not had a single sale in 2 months? I think not. My major problem with this site is not just the issue of not advertising. Its the fact that they claim advertising in the future but wont give a date or time. Its basic lack of a business plan Stop dangling a preverbal carrot in front of our faces and tell us what the plan is. Every revolution should have a plan.

I really admire the ethics of this seller. He/she refused to spam other boards for the sake of drumming up business. They stayed within the rules of good business. 

[thentavius]

More important than 30 stores closing is that there are 30 people who can no longer buy on the site, 30 people who can no longer run auctions on the site.

If Ray seriously wants to be an alternative to eBay he needs to change the ridiculous NARU'ing of users when they close their stores.  There are sellers on eBay who open and close their stores several times a year, but their ability to buy and sell on the site isn't dependent on them keeping a store open. Fixing this problem should be at the top of Ray's list. The site definitely needs this to be fixed much more than it needs an eBay Voices of the Community clone "We the People" program.

BBH makes a serious point here that many are forgetting.

If you decide you no longer want to sell on WP, you get NARUed--thus you can't even be a buyer anymore.

Doesn't anyone else find that defeating and strange????

I've opened and closed eBay stores numerous times since 1997. Imagine if the first time I closed my store--I got completely kicked off. I'd never have continued buying there, and after all these years, I've bought a LOT from there.

[RiverRat]

[quote author=thentavius link=topic=3775.msg38803#msg38803 date=1167677751]

More important than 30 stores closing is that there are 30 people who can no longer buy on the site, 30 people who can no longer run auctions on the site.

If Ray seriously wants to be an alternative to eBay he needs to change the ridiculous NARU'ing of users when they close their stores.  There are sellers on eBay who open and close their stores several times a year, but their ability to buy and sell on the site isn't dependent on them keeping a store open. Fixing this problem should be at the top of Ray's list. The site definitely needs this to be fixed much more than it needs an eBay Voices of the Community clone "We the People" program.

BBH makes a serious point here that many are forgetting.

If you decide you no longer want to sell on WP, you get NARUed--thus you can't even be a buyer anymore.

Doesn't anyone else find that defeating and strange????

I've opened and closed eBay stores numerous times since 1997. Imagine if the first time I closed my store--I got completely kicked off. I'd never have continued buying there, and after all these years, I've bought a LOT from there.



[/quote]

And that's exactly what gives it the "cult" appearance...that whole you're either one of us or you can't be here at all attitude.

No other site bans you completely if you quit selling there or close your store.  Why would they?  It's just bad business and childish!

[youroverheadbin]

The origin of the pizza lunch:

15 Jun 2006 16:45
Hello Members,

Welcome to our very first Pizza Lunch here in the Wagglepop Today forum!

Today's subject is about the second phase of our first year strategy, the introduction of SmartSell Pro. With a $9.95 monthly SmartSell Pro subscription, sellers receive both the SmartSell Pro Unlimited Listing Pack and a Wagglepop Store with the entire suite of advanced selling tools in BusinessBuilder.

The SmartSell Pro Unlimited Listing Pack comes with unlimited FREE listings in all formats, FREE Thumbnail Gallery Pictures, and FREE Buy It Now options. Sellers will be able to list entire inventories for just the $9.95 subscription price!

If you already have a Wagglepop Store, you are receiving all of the SmartSell Pro benefits right now!

Some notes, tips, and recommendations about the integration:

1. The Store Inventory listing format does still have value. Remember, many buyers will use the "See More" link at the bottom of search results, and it's a good idea to have some Store Inventory for that gateway. Also, the Best Offer option is available only on listings using the Store Inventory format.

2. Use Listing Upgrades. With the freedom of unlimited free listings, it's a good time to use listing upgrades like Subtitle, Bold, Highlight, Category Featured, or extra pictures. Always a good value, relative to the savings you get by using SmartSell Pro, they're a tremendous value!

3. Consider upgrading your Store. Use some of the savings from SmartSell Pro to upgrade to a Featured or Showcase Store. As traffic increases, this is valuable page "real estate" to be on!

4. Open specialized Stores. We strongly recommend multiple and specialized Stores if you have a diverse product line. To build a strong presence across the Web, it's critically important that you maximize any individual Store for a single product or group of related products. With good Search Engine Optimization strategies, your entire Store could receive high rankings in search engines for relevance. The higher you rank, the more you'll be seen and visited by potential customers.

5. Convert existing inventory. To convert existing Store Inventory into listings that will display in the main site, simply end the listings you'd like to convert, and use the Bulk Relisting with Format Conversion feature in the Unsold section of My Wagglepop. Be sure to configure all fields properly before converting and listing.

We certainly hope this newest implementation shows everyone using or considering Wagglepop the depth of our commitment to create a true online alternative.

We'll be here for the next hour to answer any questions you may have, take suggestions, or just talk selling strategies.



Pizza is now served

Karen - WP Customer Care

One hour almost on the nose for this open discussion.

15 Jun 2006 17:46
At this time, we'd like to thank everyone for participating in our first Pizza Lunch and discussing the SmartSell Pro Package integration.

We will leave this thread open for members who wish to continue the dialogue.

If you found this discussion helpful, we'll be posting a schedule of upcoming discussions and workshops in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for your participation, and your wonderful ongoing support of Wagglepop.

- The Wagglepop Team

Did I miss the posting of a schedule?

However CC1 couldn't resist another response later in the day.

15 Jun 2006 19:21

xxxxx,

The Stores subscription charge shows up on your seller account the same time every month as the date you opened your Store.

For example if you open your Store on the 15th, it will appear instantly on your seller account as the subscription cost for the next 30 days. It's not due until the 10th of the following month, and every month thereafter, when seller invoices are issued.

Karen - WP Customer Care

(bolding mine) This last one actually informs that a store on WP is paid a month in advance. A point most sellers missed but have become very aware of when they choose to close their store.

[chiquita]

[quote author=FineThings4U link=topic=3775.msg38800#msg38800 date=1167675401]
Great Wagglefacts, Truth. 

I'm not a member, but I have been following the PSU thread closely.  I wonder if they are spamming the Ebay boards, too.  It's just a matter of time.

mileyyoyo:
[/quote]

One thing that will be different from the last fee hike is that many months have passed and the sellers on the bay have been looking, leaving, and testing other venues for quite awhile. Many tried WP, and have left already. There is also much more information available to sellers now regarding WP than before when the fee hike occured. The TT thread, archived OTWA thread, and various scattered posts of information are available. You can also count on the many who tried it and left to be very vocal on PSU, and the ebay boards as well.
There are not anywhere near the number of cheerleaders now that were around in July. Considering the number of stores that have closed, those sellers are also probably watching this whole fiasco and many more people could start posting about their experiences as well.

I don't think Romeo will get as much bang for his buck this time around. This thread is now over 400 pages, and that alone speaks volumes.