Poll: Who is to blame for sellers leaving Wagglepop en masse?

let the truth be told · 01-13-2007, 01:18 AM,

[quote author=thentavius link=topic=3775.msg40238#msg40238 date=1168648124]
[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg40171#msg40171 date=1168574983]
Hi chiquita,

I saw a listing today that made me think of you. Below is the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BANANA-PHONE_W0QQite...dZViewItem

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

People do not seriously pay that amount of money for "products" like that, do they?
[/quote]

Then,

Yes they do but most of what you spend comes back in free gifts. I have seen a bid as high as $15,000.00 for a walmart bag he had up in August. He is a genius and has been featured I think a few times on Leno. It's not about the money it's about the traffic and exsposure that he generates for his own website. There are a few others as well that are as good as him & one of the others sold a Smileykoolaid

packet for over $6000.00 I had the listing saved for a while but deleted it sometime before I started posting at TT. It would have fit right in here don't ya think?

I do the same thing from time to time and it works very good for exsposure. When I get freed up with some time on my hands I will have my next one ready to go (something to do with coffee).

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 · 01-13-2007, 01:31 AM,

[quote author=chiquita link=topic=3775.msg40245#msg40245 date=1168650453]
Truth,
I am sorry about your Dad. Spend as much time as possible with him, and also take care of yourself too.
Sending you good thoughts.
Teletubbiesred

[/quote]

Thanks chiquita. Time with him is no problem. My office is in my B&M store which is located in the bottom floor of an apartment building I own. My parents live in one of the apartments in my building so my work is here with them. Only problem is I live 20 miles away. The hospital is 2 blocks away so that is a plus. In fact he is coming home again in the next 2 hours so that is a good thing but we have been dealing with the same issues for over a year now. Back and forth to the hospital, to the nursing home for rehab, back home and then back to the hospital. It's been a cycle that keeps going. He has a long list of illnesses that keeps growing. Wensday we found out he has parkensons, I think that is how it is spelled. I knew he had it for sometime now but the Doctors never said he did until now.

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

thentavius · 01-13-2007, 01:44 AM,

Quote:Yes they do but most of what you spend comes back in free gifts.

I damn well hope so! If I spent $8,000 on a banana with Sharpie marker on it, I'd better get something GOOD along with it. And I mean, $8,000 good.

I hate to say this, but I'm in the minority on this issue. Lots of people seem to think these gimmicky ads are clever and cute. I don't.

I HATE gimmicky sales tricks like this. They're what has cheapened eBay. They remind me of late night infomercial--or snake oil on rickety wagons, with "free" bonuses.

People who work long and hard to sell respectable products, to write professional copy, and to deliver a professional appearance lose out to some guy with dancing bananas and a "sense of humor" that includes taking $8,000 for a freakin' banana.

I am all for humor. I am all for cute gimmicks that don't hurt people. This kind of CRAP (including the haunted boxes, grilled cheese mother marys, and so on) have helped to RUIN eBay.

Professional ads getting sales? Naah. Let's look at a loud, obnoxious ad that wants money for nothing.

Respectable (yes, even humorous and witty sellers) go under all the time because they're not willing to take eight thousand dollars for a banana.

Go figure.

Quote: I have seen a bid as high as $15,000.00 for a walmart bag he had up in August. He is a genius and has been featured I think a few times on Leno. It's not about the money it's about the traffic and exsposure that he generates for his own website.

Why do I get the feeling if I ran an auction for a Cheerio-box phone, not a single person would look at it and I'd eat the fees. Or, I'd get sued by the guy who shelled out $10,000 for it, because it's not really a phone afterall.

Plus--I can't imagine all of the sleepless nights I would have, knowing I was helping to drown professional sellers who provide honest, straightforward ad listings while I sold snake oil.

Whatever.

By the way, not attacking you. I just think sellers like this are amazingly unprofessional--yet they end up in the limelight. It's one of the world's most amazing things.

thentavius · 01-13-2007, 01:49 AM,

Quote:They're what has cheapened eBay.

I should say, they have contributed to eBay's fly-by-night, cheapy, crap-shoveling image.

**amy** · (This post was last modified: 01-13-2007, 02:02 AM by amy.)

Quote:People who work long and hard to sell respectable products, to write professional copy, and to deliver a professional appearance lose out

Quote:They're what has cheapened eBay.

That's why I always objected to the "lose 80 lbs in 2 weeks and grow your male member" featured auctions that used to be on eBay's home page. It cheapened the site's image.

EDIT: I'm neutral on virgin banana auctions and virgins with bananas.

let the truth be told · 01-13-2007, 02:09 AM,

[quote author=thentavius link=topic=3775.msg40252#msg40252 date=1168652962]

Quote:They're what has cheapened eBay.

I should say, they have contributed to eBay's fly-by-night, cheapy, crap-shoveling image.
[/quote]

Then,

I agree but it is marketing the idea of it. Weird Al even made a song called the eBay song. I am not sure if WooHoo has some sort of deal to post his items at a loss to attract people to eBay but I can assure you he is selling these items at a loss. Yes if you spend say $10,000.00 on that auction you will recieve more than what you spent on the auction to begin with. If you look at the bid history of the banana it looks like shill bidding, same people bidding up each item he sells. I am not saying it is though. Crazy auctions like that one bring traffic and buyers no matter what way you look at it. I can tell you this though I have sold some items this way and it does bring the traffic to my advertisers. Yes I have sold them at a loss (never sold an auction like that for more then $50.00) but because I have an advertising site it is my job to bring traffic to my customers.

WooHoo man has an advertising site as well so even though his items sell for an astronomical price it is his job to bring traffic to his customers. It all goes back to treating eBay as a marketing channel rather then a selling channel. Anyway that is for another thread.

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 · 01-13-2007, 02:15 AM,

[quote author=amy link=topic=3775.msg40253#msg40253 date=1168653521]

Quote:People who work long and hard to sell respectable products, to write professional copy, and to deliver a professional appearance lose out

Quote:They're what has cheapened eBay.

That's why I always objected to the "lose 80 lbs in 2 weeks and grow your male member" featured auctions that used to be on eBay's home page. It cheapened the site's image.

EDIT: I'm neutral on virgin banana auctions and virgins with bananas.
[/quote]

Amy,

You forgot all the I make this much and that much and so can you listings. They are a total waste of the site and peoples money. If you check the eBay pulse that is usualy all that is there 8 out of 10. Total junk auctions feeding only the person listing the auction. People who work long and hard to sell respectable products meaning tangible goods is what made eBay what it was. People who sell the total garbadge have made eBay what it is today, feebay.

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

Alskling · (This post was last modified: 01-13-2007, 03:44 AM by Alskling.)

Funny, I agree with Then, but I agree with Truth, too.

Auctions like this do cheapen the site. Or maybe I'm just a little jealous, because I work my butt off for every dime I make selling legitimate items and I sort of resent BananaMan and his ability to make a fortune doing very little.

On the other hand, this is America, and as David Bowie said, "the best thing about America is also the worst thing -- anybody can make money doing anything." I hate censorship, and although I don't particular like the auction, what he does is very inventive and I can't fault him for that.

FineThings4U · 01-13-2007, 05:37 PM,

Personally, I have to applaud the inventive tactics used to sell the banana phone. eBay is not now, nor ever will be again, what it was just five years ago. In order to sell your widget now, you have to be pretty creative. Products and good photography no longer speak for themselves. With the open floodgate of foreign sellers and scammers, attracting customers is becoming more and more difficult.

When the stores were pushed into the background, how often can a seller offer a price leader that will actually get someone into the store?

That may be some of the problem with WP, too. It is extremely similar in appearance to eBay. It doesn't offer the "fun" of auctions. Practically everyone lists at the one bid (or whatever they call it). When I was there, if it was in store inventory, it didn't show up until someone entered the store.

Anything that generates traffic to a site is good advertising. I left WP with good sales and good feedback. I just felt that if goals were being reached a year ahead of schedule by the sellers, so should the goals of the site (advertising, etc.).

Toothy2

thentavius · 01-13-2007, 06:49 PM,

As I said above, my opinion is in the minority. Most people think folks who list "haunted cardboard boxes" are clever.

Like Alskling above said, I somewhat resent sellers like this because I strive to present a professional, serious appearance that can be trusted--and some jokester makes 10 times the money I do, doing something I would NEVER dream of doing in a professional marketplace.

Quote:Crazy auctions like that one bring traffic and buyers no matter what way you look at it.

I never said it didn't work.

It does work. That's why people still run auctions like this. I just said I don't think it's professional and I think it's problematic for straight-laced sellers. I think it's one of the many issues eBay has.

In the end, I can also see where his supporters are coming form. If it works, do it, right? There's a sucker born every minute, afterall (P.T. Barnum himself did it for decades with flashy, funny crap). It's just a shame that eBay has reached a point where people have to draw on tropical fruit to make a dime.