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

[FineThings4U]

I'm still temporarily "working for the man" so no website plans here. 

DB, I like the separate category idea.  If I need something special (or any of my peeps do) I know I can just pop you a message and you will make recommendations.  You have an awesome reputation for customer service.

[bratpack]

[quote author=Designers Bargains link=topic=3775.msg50264#msg50264 date=1177251269]
Thanks, Brat.

Oh, well. I guess that's part of the price one pays for not being smart enough to get one's own site together. 


[/quote]

[quote author=Platzki link=topic=3775.msg50265#msg50265 date=1177251478]
That's one of the reasons that I closed my crater store.  No sales since January (only 2 then) and no way to track traffic coming in.  Blujay is still up for now but all is on hold and directs everyone to my website... Its coming up in a lot of searches so I don't want to close it...

I read the boards some when I was over there and it doesn't look like HTML will ever be an option there. 

[/quote]

No problem DB~I am in the same boat as you with the website thing and I am too cheap to pay to get it done right now.  I may just pay someone when I have the extra cash.

Platzki~Sorry to hear crater did not work out for you.  I am doing quite well there with my toy store.  I even have 10 feedbacks that I just noticed, I was surprised by that.  This is the first time I have been able to get my toys selling good besides ebay. 

I just started filling my consignment boutique and have had 2 sales.  Everything I sell on there is bonus money cause its things I have had around the house for quite a long time.  I have got a lot of looks on what little used clothing I have listed on there so far.

I do not mind so much about the HTML because its  not something I am very good at anyways but it would be nice to at least have a counter.  I also would like to have inventory control & a button to mark items shipped.  I put up with those inconveniences because its free.  One more thing about ecrater is I am getting more people using google checkout to pay rather than paypal or money orders.  I love that!

[Nikkicute]

I think this is a great post by Chris12331 at PSU.
Thread title:An unbiased observation from some one new

With so much happening of late, here’s a view from the other side of the fence.

Whilst many site owners will not come out and say this, I am not the only one who
Feels this way. And many I have talked with feel even stronger than I do.

The general feeling amongst many site owners is, “Is it all worth it” Is it worth all the effort and expense to provide a service that is generally abused by many.

Now I am stating here much of what is happening at this time is down to many auction site owners. In there willingness to please they are losing sight of there ambitions in order to please a growing band of sellers who are quite frankly very amateur in there approach. And who are to a large degree aware that they can make or break any auction site they choose.

I don’t blame the sellers for this as much as I do the site owners. If they laid down there guidelines and approach and stuck to them, there wouldn’t be all this continual aggrivation on various open and in house forums.

I think now is the time all site owners should have there guidelines and stick to them, come what may. These will please some sellers and not others. But sellers have to be made to understand a service is offered under the providers terms and not their’s. If those terms don’t please some, they will please others. It’s that simple.

In order to learn I have watched and kept up to date with many other auction site forums, and the open ones too. There are cases when I have thought to myself. Are these really serious sellers and business people or just rank amateurs trying to make all believe they are what they are not. I have seen site owners treat these people in the manner they deserve, only to relent and take them back later. How can any business thrive and grow with such inconsistencies and lack of strength.

How can any business grow with a lack of purpose and vision. How can any auction site succeed when the owner (s) themselves don’t really know where there going. How can sellers succeed when they too are more interested in what others are doing for them, rather than what they should be doing for themselves. It seems to me many are more interested in matters that are not relevant to there own business.

I am appauled at the reaction now showing against “Tazbar”. Less than a few weeks ago they were the best thing since sliced bread. Now they are the focal point for many to abuse and criticise. In many cases just because they are’nt operating to what they want or being pampered and nursed Tazbar wont fold or go into oblivion. It will find its true level supported by those who accept the owners are providing what suits them best. Those that will eventually go are the ones who continually join what they believe is a bandwagon. The chancers in life who grab all they can only to move on to what they believe is the next quick buck. This by the way applies to both site owners and sellers. It also applies to the sites that use gimmicks as a means of promoting there site.

Auction site selling, the sites themselves and the sellers are becoming a laughing stock for millions by the shear number of tirades and petty squabbling that is going on. Isn’t it about time we all put on our thinking caps and took a different approach to how we conduct our business.

This is my own observation which is supported by more than many will think. Its also my observation that maybe onsite forums should close altogether, and that open forums should be creating a more attractive view of on line sales instead of continuing and depressing negativity.

It’s a big world out there, with plenty for all to share and enjoy. If only we could all see that.

[Nikkicute]

Another great post by Lurky Lou in the same thread.
(She's one smart cookie).


I absolutely agree, chris12331 about both vendors and sellers being responsible for what’s been coined "alternative" to eBay venues.

I believe you've hit the nail on the head regarding the crux of the issue. But from my observation, when vendors do not cater to the demands of the vocal majority of members at their site, members abandon the site. It's a "no win" situation that plays out regularly, degrading the reputation and business of both alternative sites and sellers.

For that, and many other reasons, I agree wholeheartedly that onsite forums should be discarded, at least during the initial establishment of a site - probably the first couple of years. The fact is: personal and business are a volatile mix and should be prohibited in favor of business interests. Without a forum, sellers will be forced to kiss-kiss, gossip and argue somewhere besides the business platform.

Forums should not be staffed using sellers as mods, customer care, or anywhere else. Except for very, very few instances, personal agendas shape policies and "special interest" groups rule communications under these conditions. The venue looses valueable negative feedback, often disallowed because it is not "properly" phrased in sweetness and light.

Under seller staffed conditions, we experience bias, favoritism and cliquish mentality. This is what drives the "love-you-this-week / hate-you-next-week" ups and downs many sites experience, and which has actually destroyed others.

Sellers who’re talked down to by “helpful” members, told how to speak or what an appropriate is, and/or told they don’t have a “right” to ask a question or make a suggestion is detrimental. This behavior is rampant on eBay and Overstock forums, and I see it much too frequently at various venues. Defined, professional assistance is necessary. Assisting a customer requires only to: answer questions, ask if you can be of further assistance and thank them for their business. The way it's done in the real world.

A site that's providing sales should charge more than 2% - 5% for a sale. NO business can survive on a 3% profit margin. It's not reasonable for vendors to expect their site to sustain itself on such a lousy profit margin. It's backward and selfish for sellers to expect any auction site will survive or thrive under these conditions. Low end auction software runs $500.00. The vendor would have to have $16K in sales w/ a 3% closing fee, just to pay for the software, never mind hosting, bandwidth or their time investment. What's needed is a "back end" fee. But just try it, and see if most sellers don't run away like their head is on fire.

Mid 2005: I stopped dragging my customers from venue to venue. It was hurting my reputation. I'd get them to buy from me somewhere, they'd go back weeks/months later and the place would be gone. I'd get a "...what happened to the site?" note and feel pretty stupid for having suggested they join, especially when the next note was, "...what happened to my account information?" Bad for me and bad for the alternatives, to have security questions dangling.

Mid 2006: I stopped carrying links to alternative venues in forums, and removed them from e-mails. I was attaching my reputation to businesses that probably would not succeed because of much of what's being discussed here. I was promoting the business of another ahead of my own. It was an endorsement of sorts, an endorsement of the site and other sellers. Since none can be relied on to present top notch professionalism or even be around next week, it was not in my best interest. BTW, when I say Top Notch Professionalism, I'm talking about the whole package: security, functionality, presentation, and the way it "carries" itself or it's "personality" - which is given by sellers/items and forums.

Early 2007, I stopped participating in venue forums. It's where I work. Personal and business is a volatile mix. It takes only stating the truth, or someone misunderstanding your words, or another member actually have the gall to put words in your mouth, to put your business on the decline or destroy it altogether. If you don't "pretty up" stuff for a lot of people, they don't know how to deal with it. I left the politics and two-faced bullsh!t in the corporate world. It's incomprehensible that I would willingly subject myself and my business to the low level manipulation of people that I don't know, like, or care about.

I’m not the only seller making adjustments to working with alternative to eBay venues. We have the same questions we had in 2004. Valid questions in regard to seller/vendor relationships. Security, business/marketing/promitional plans - stuff that effects our businesses, seemed to be a priority to sellers. Lately, we hear those concerns a lot less. Priorities have shifted to populating/promoting the darling "site of the week". We see the same vocal majority populating site after site. As well as off-site "water cooler" forums, one after another. It's become cliquish. We have three fairly defined groups. Three years ago, we had more of an "all for one" effort among sellers.

If alternative to eBay auction sites don't make adjustments based on their business goals and needs, and factor in the history of the past 2 - 3 years, then the landscape will not change. I suggest that a venue will have to lead the way without counting on sellers to make adjustments, and certainly not as a group, anytime soon. No one site works for all sellers, but a majority of sellers will find a way to work with a site that consistently provides sales.

Alternatives will come and go like an ebbing tide where sellers make new foot prints, get bored, and wander down the beach to see the new shell that washed up…

[bratpack]

Mid 2005: I stopped dragging my customers from venue to venue. It was hurting my reputation. I'd get them to buy from me somewhere, they'd go back weeks/months later and the place would be gone. I'd get a "...what happened to the site?" note and feel pretty stupid for having suggested they join, especially when the next note was, "...what happened to my account information?" Bad for me and bad for the alternatives, to have security questions dangling.

This has been one thing I have really been concerned with.  How can you build up a good customer base if you keep closing & moving?  Its hard because you test the waters somewhere hoping it works out but can only stay so long without sales unless you sell as a hobby and do not depend on online income.  Customers can google you, but how many sites are they going to want to register with??

[Platzki]

Brat... I think it's awesome that your getting sales at crater... I definitely think that what we sell has an impact on sell thru at certain venues.

I also LUV to sell stuff that I find around the house... I agree... it's like FREE money!!  LOL

Best of luck!! 

[sneakymagenta]

[quote author=bratpack link=topic=3775.msg50295#msg50295 date=1177259598]

Mid 2005: I stopped dragging my customers from venue to venue. It was hurting my reputation. I'd get them to buy from me somewhere, they'd go back weeks/months later and the place would be gone. I'd get a "...what happened to the site?" note and feel pretty stupid for having suggested they join, especially when the next note was, "...what happened to my account information?" Bad for me and bad for the alternatives, to have security questions dangling.

This has been one thing I have really been concerned with.  How can you build up a good customer base if you keep closing & moving?  Its hard because you test the waters somewhere hoping it works out but can only stay so long without sales unless you sell as a hobby and do not depend on online income.  Customers can google you, but how many sites are they going to want to register with??

[/quote]

SNEAKY'S SOLUTION

CENTER OF SNEAKY'S UNIVERSE
my website

ORBITING PLANETS USED FOR CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
eBay, Ubid, Amazon

ORBITING PLANET FORMERLY USED FOR CUSTOMER ACQUISITION UNTIL THE #^&@*!(%!! BOINKTARD MANAGEMENT LOST ITS MARBLES AND DESTROYED THE SITE IN DECEMBER 2006
Overstock

[maggie777]

Its also my observation that maybe onsite forums should close altogether, and that open forums should be creating a more attractive view of on line sales instead of continuing and depressing negativity.

Positivity is created when an auction site has buyers.

If an auction site doesn't have buyers and I say it sucks that isn't negativity it's reality.

Low end auction software runs $500.00. The vendor would have to have $16K in sales w/ a 3% closing fee, just to pay for the software, never mind hosting, bandwidth or their time investment. 

If an auction site doesn't have $16K in sales it should close.

[bratpack]

[quote author=Platzki link=topic=3775.msg50317#msg50317 date=1177271606]
Brat... I think it's awesome that your getting sales at crater... I definitely think that what we sell has an impact on sell thru at certain venues.

I also LUV to sell stuff that I find around the house... I agree... it's like FREE money!!  LOL

Best of luck!! 
[/quote]

Thank you Platzi.  I agree with you on what we sell doing better on some venues than others.  I have tried quite a few places and finally something took off.  I thought for awhile that ebay would be the only thing that would work.

SNEAKY'S SOLUTION

CENTER OF SNEAKY'S UNIVERSE
my website

ORBITING PLANETS USED FOR CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
eBay, Ubid, Amazon

ORBITING PLANET FORMERLY USED FOR CUSTOMER ACQUISITION UNTIL THE #^&@*!(%!! BOINKTARD MANAGEMENT LOST ITS MARBLES AND DESTROYED THE SITE IN DECEMBER 2006
Overstock

Maybe one of these days I can get a website going but it will be awhile.  I was never too impressed with overstock, they never did much to promote the auction side of the site in my opinion.  I did read a bit about all the crap going on there, what a joke that place turned out to be!  Glad I did not invest too much time over there.

[chiquita]

Forums should not be staffed using sellers as mods, customer care, or anywhere else. Except for very, very few instances, personal agendas shape policies and "special interest" groups rule communications under these conditions. The venue looses valueable negative feedback, often disallowed because it is not "properly" phrased in sweetness and light.

Under seller staffed conditions, we experience bias, favoritism and cliquish mentality. This is what drives the "love-you-this-week / hate-you-next-week" ups and downs many sites experience, and which has actually destroyed others.

Sellers who’re talked down to by “helpful” members, told how to speak or what an appropriate is, and/or told they don’t have a “right” to ask a question or make a suggestion is detrimental. This behavior is rampant on eBay and Overstock forums, and I see it much too frequently at various venues. Defined, professional assistance is necessary. Assisting a customer requires only to: answer questions, ask if you can be of further assistance and thank them for their business. The way it's done in the real world.

Excellent points Lurkey Lou