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

[chiquita]

[quote author=thentavius link=topic=3775.msg40895#msg40895 date=1169429576]

He's attempting his best incognito disguise.

;D ;D

it's MIND BOGGLING!
[/quote]


That would be an understatement.
Poor nikkicute apologized to him.  :blinkie:

[FineThings4U]

If WP is such a trust based community, why don't they trust prospective buyers?

That is dynamically discriminatory!

[regic]

Poor nikkicute apologized to him.

If anyone's on PSU tell her I activated her membership. I don't think she received the activation email this morning. 

[chiquita]

[quote author=FineThings4U link=topic=3775.msg40898#msg40898 date=1169430537]
If WP is such a trust based community, why don't they trust prospective buyers?

That is dynamically discriminatory!


[/quote]

There is a seller on PSU who likes the system of phone verification for buyers. To prevent NPB and malicious bidders.  :blinkie:
Bad idea all the way around. Ray got in a major broohaha with WP1 wanting to require credit card verification for anyone to register. This drove lots of people away from the site. Lots of people gave him advice as to why it was a bad idea.
Even if you are phone verified that won't stop someone from being a NPB or a malicious bidder. All this is going to prevent is buyers becoming members.

[FineThings4U]

Very true, chiquita.  It doesn't take but one call to the phone company to block a caller and if, as a buyer, Ray pissed me off, blocked forever.

It's creepy, too, how they have to verify your physical location.  It's like being cyber-stalked as a customer.

When WP folds, all of that information will still be with Ray, as has been evidenced before.  Very, very scary.

Too much power in the wrong hands.

[racedream]

I was just over at PSU and saw something interesting regarding the phone verification at Pop Land. It was posted there that the phone call is made within 5 seconds of the registering party clicking next. If that information is correct, that will leave out anyone that has dial up internet service. 

Seems to me that this phone verification procedure needs to be fine tuned so all potential members would have the ability to register if they so choose. Will it be? Probably not.

[chiquita]

[quote author=FineThings4U link=topic=3775.msg40901#msg40901 date=1169431423]
Very true, chiquita.  It doesn't take but one call to the phone company to block a caller and if, as a buyer, Ray pissed me off, blocked forever.

It's creepy, too, how they have to verify your physical location.  It's like being cyber-stalked as a customer.

When WP folds, all of that information will still be with Ray, as has been evidenced before.  Very, very scary.

Too much power in the wrong hands.


[/quote]

Nice booty Fine


What is even scarier is that some of the sellers will think this is a great idea.



I like that smiley.

Do you know of any other site where the buyer has to be verified via phone before buying.

[FineThings4U]

I had to do it once when I bought an item of jewelry in St. Thomas.  I had been to the store on a cruise and saw something I wanted.  They didn't have it in the metal I wanted, so they made it.  They sent me an e-mail to let me know it was ready.  I went to the website and placed my order.  They asked for my telephone number to verify that I indeed had placed the order.  But, we are talking about thousands of dollars, not 99 cent trading cards here.

[let the truth be told]

WAGGLEFACT OF THE DAY

THE FINAL EPISODE

It's been a long time since I did a wagglefact and I feel it to be fitting for me to end it with the message I will try and bring to you within this post. Yes this will be my last wagglefact but not my last post on TT or this thread. I am sure this post will not make people happy on both sides of the WP fence but it is how I feel and I will relay my opinion on the issues no matter what anyone thinks. Please note this will be a long post.

What a journey we have taken both on and off WP, here on TT, over on PSU and many other places where WP has been discussed. Seller verses seller is what it has become as of recently on the PSU forum. Is that good business I ask? The answer is NO it isn't which leads us to the reason why it has come to that. The answer to that is for many reasons but from both the pros and the cons about WP there is only one person benefiting from the issues and that is Ray. Yes the negativity has brought business to WP as well as made Ray change his game plan slightly but most recently restate his goals for the next 5 years. 20% of eBay after 5 years lets be realistic please. It seems as if Ray is using WP today as a shock and awe tactic to lure potential sellers. My advice is it will never happen the way WP is headed or with Ray at the helm. Phone verification for buyers? You totally killed the potential sales for your customers which are the sellers. What is next FVF for buyers?

Let’s get this straight. The sellers are Ray's customers and the buyers are the seller’s customers. Ray you don't need to verify a buyer but you do need to keep the scammers out to protect your customers. Phone verification is not the way to do it. What are you giving your customers for $9.95 a month? The sellers are the ones driving the traffic to there stores. If you don't do the foot work as a seller to promote yourself you have no traffic. With no traffic that means no sales. WP has been said to be a great place to store your listings for now. That is fine but paying $9.95 a month for NO TRAFFIC is absurd. You can start your own website for less and the best part is you make the rules (ask where to do this in the forum of your choice).

Traffic:
Condemn me if you wish but there is one site that has driven traffic to wagglepop since November. WPSSU. Yes we all know Brian has worked very hard and has spent countless hours and money on his site to benefit the sellers at WP. I had a run in with Brian in the past but do to recent events we have put the past behind us. I now consider Brian a friend not a foe. I have always supported web promotion and that is what he has done for WP and the sellers there hands down.  
Recent events that have happened has caused his strategy to change from promoting one site to promoting all sites. I don't wish to know what caused these events or what information he has in relation to Ray about his WP plans. That is up to Brian to share if he wishes and not for me to judge him. Some may say that I have flipped flopped on WPSSU and Brian well go ahead and say it if you must I don't care. The fact is he has helped many people by driving traffic to there WP stores and will continue to promote sellers throughout the entire web. I can only hope that he continues to promote the WP sellers as he has for quite sometime now. As I have said before the issues are not with the sellers, it is with the site owner. Hatchet buried. Kudos to Brian and whoever works to WPSSU.

Cult:
Is WP a cult or not. I think it is best to say that WP has a cult following. That can be viewed differently by anyone but let me explain. There is a inner circle at WP. That circle may only consist of one person and that is Ray. It may consist of a few people I don't know. John Lennon had a cult following, Elvis had a cult following. Excuse the poor comparison but does WP have a cult following? My answer is yes. This can be both good and bad. The following is with the purpose of making money on the site. Large amounts or small amounts I don't care. The cult is Ray's greed. That is the way I see it however I do see it and I am in noway an expert on the issue. Can TT be viewed the same way. Yes but the cult is to help the sellers, there is no greed involved.

Where do we go from here?

I can't speak for all the posters on TT or for that matter any of them. It is up to each person to post how they feel about wagglepop. I can say that I have no problem with any sellers on WP, not even powerseller. I do have issues with the venue itself. Here is what I propose:

Free speach is a great thing and should always be protected. However there are some obvious exceptions and we all know what should and shouldn't be allowed in a forum. Legetimate business have a place in any forum including WP. First let me tell you weather WP succeeds or fails makes no difference to me, I no longer sell there nor do I ever plan to. I have been banned and my seller ID is locked so there is no benifit to me in making this statement.

1) either delete all forums and start from scratch on WP with public forums or unlock the forums that are there now.
2) allow the sellers that were there to come back with there old selling ID's
3) phone verification for buyers needs to be stopped and I mean yesterday. You shouldn't even have to register to be able to buy on the site to begin with. The buyers are the sellers customers and not wagglepop's
4) Ray I am calling you out. You must address your customers questions. Failure to continue to do so will only speed the demise of WP. You must address your customers questions. Hiding behind Karens skirt only makes you look like a coward. Be a MAN and step up to bat.
5) Sellers need to concentrate on selling rather then promotion. It seems promotion even in forums has slowed the process.  Ray it is your job to promote your customers just as if you owned a mall. If the mall isn't known your customers will have no customers and so on.
6) I can go on and on with things that WP should be doing but censorship needs to stop in the forums except for the obvious. There seems to be only one person moderating the forums. We have heard of others but where are they now?
7) Last thing is this Ray and I have already said it in this post. Come out of the shadows and address the issues. Your failure to do so only proves what we have been talking about on TT. Seller verses seller is not the answer however WP has benifited from this tactic.


I leave everyone with this last statement to Ray.

Ray I can take you on locally if I wished to. You have broken state and federal laws numerous times. Help your customers make money instead of allowing your greed to rule your site. You have profited and a few other hard working sellers have profited from there effort. The numbers you state never add up. I have proven that many times. It is time to put up or shut up. What you are running is not a revolution it is a MONARCHY. You are the MONARCH. There is no place in selling online for a monarchy. Address the issues, address your customers and former customers, address the people who wish to have an alternative site to sell on.






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

[regic]

Do you know of any other site where the buyer has to be verified via phone before buying.

Retail site: No, never.

Other Businesses: Yes.  We require it for web hosting:

The phone confirmations are annoying but they've become almost a necessity in the web hosting industry due to spammers using stolen credit cards/hijacked PayPal accounts (especially hijacked PayPal accounts).  Spammers/scammers typically only use a site for a few days at most and then move onto the next site/host so by the time the use of a stolen card is discovered they're long gone...hence the phone confirmations (many dedicated server hosts/co-location facilities are now also requiring photocopies of driver's licenses and other documentation from their clients)