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

jojo-p · 05-07-2007, 04:41 PM,

[quote author=sherrand link=topic=3775.msg52355#msg52355 date=1178555884]
[quote author=jojo-p link=topic=3775.msg52352#msg52352 date=1178553351]

Very strange...

from zaja, in the farewells forum:

Quote:I am closing my store as well, hopefully Karen got my email from 3 days ago requesting to close my seller's account. Unfortunately the money that I am investing monthly is not turning into sales, and I cannot do it any longer. One day in the future when the stats are higher and things get better I will be back Wish everyone here the best of luck selling, and of course I will always be around to check around for some cool sales

Ciao for now!

Then, just 8 minutes later:

Quote:Actually, you know what. I think I will keep my store. I will just change what I put in it.

I guess these posts will stay,even though the first one probably crosses the "positive posts only" line - the second one more than makes up for the first one.

JoJo

[/quote]

Very strange indeed... They took the time to empty their store, have been waiting 3 days to have their store closed by KaRay but only took 8 minutes to change their mind. Icon_scratch

[/quote]

Can't wait to see the new product line - could it be... sports cards and vintage ads??
Smileytongueout

let the truth be told · 05-07-2007, 04:43 PM,

Hi princessmirandajo don't be a stranger now.

slightly OT but not really,

I managed to secure a copy of "MAKE YOUR OWN OPOLY" over the weekend, new in the box. I will be quite busy this week but will try to find the time to produce the very first prototype of "WAGGLEOPLY" to be displayed later this week in this thread.

My engineering department has arranged the funding to develope this revolutionary, new and exciting product. Stay tuned for the big unvailing.

let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."

let the truth be told · 05-07-2007, 04:48 PM,

let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."

Platzki · 05-07-2007, 05:08 PM,

[quote author=sherrand link=topic=3775.msg52353#msg52353 date=1178553718]

Quote:Advanced Selling: Wagglepop Stores - Today, Tomorrow, and Business 101

wagglepopCC1 07 May 2007 15:44

Hello Members,

After meeting with upper management this morning to discuss site status and planning, I thought I might update everyone as to the current dynamics and what we see for the future of our wonderful Wagglepop community.

After quite a bit of dialogue, we all seemed to agree that Wagglepop is primarily a reflection of our membership (current, ex, and future), and that it will evolve and grow in the ways that membership decides based on participation and activity.

While some sellers have left WP, interestingly, those of you that remain are, in general, selling more, which has actually keep our revenues at a pretty steady level, although not yet into profitability.

For every seller that leaves and has no products listed, another seller has benefitted, as sales have increased over the same period while Stores decreased.

It's simple business and market forces at work here: we have a buyer body that is steadily growing, and it's the sellers who choose to sell here that can and will benefit.

We often get emails from potential buyers asking where a seller is. They wanted to buy more!

In many ways, we cannot resolve in our collective heads how anyone would not want to list entire inventories for $9.95 per month on a site with easy to use and learn features, great exposure, and a dedicated ownership body.

Alternately, it seems apparent that some desire WP to do badly more than they want to do well themselves, and they do not participate based on that.

Interesting. Who roots against the underdog, particularly when so much can be gained?

Since that "dynamic" has nothing to do with business, and is a personal-type issue, it needs no addessing other than to acknowledge that it reflects not on our efforts, our site, or our membership, and that in the end our participating seller body will benefit most.

What we have accomplished together is nothing short of remarkable, and we believe clearly that the future holds bright and exciting and wonderful things for all of us, like any growing evolving business developing a niche.

We are working on finalizing funding for the delayed Q1 integrations so that we can hopefully schedule them as upcoming projects, and as soon as I have a firm timetable on that I will certainly post an update.

Wagglepop is very much a "real world" Business 101 test, that presents a singular ultimate question:

Opportunity is knocking. It may mean patient and hard work.

Answer the door or not?

For our incredibly bright and dedicated seller body, the answer has been and continues to be loud and clear

Karen - WP Customer Care

How about them apples? Thefinger

[/quote]

I've got two words...

ball gag... Tongue3

I want 1 2 · 05-07-2007, 05:31 PM,

at the risk of bragging, I would like to think that I had something to do with getting them all torqued up !! Happy001

eclectica · 05-07-2007, 05:47 PM,

[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg52349#msg52349 date=1178549376]

Good question and I have estimated in the past of how many acual sellers there is at WP. My new number needs some adjustment downward so here it is, 90 people who own 1 or more stores at WP.

let the truth be told
u1it4less - "it's all in the name.."
[/quote]

That's interesting in light of the fact that KaRay's latest motivational speech talks about how for all the sellers leaving, sales are increasing. I'd love to see the numbers. I'd also love to know if he's talking in percentages/ratios or actual sales.

eclectica · 05-07-2007, 05:48 PM,

[quote author=I want 1 2 link=topic=3775.msg52363#msg52363 date=1178559062]
at the risk of bragging, I would like to think that I had something to do with getting them all torqued up !! Happy001

[/quote]

It would certainly appear that way. You naysayer you.

I want 1 2 · (This post was last modified: 05-07-2007, 06:54 PM by I want 1 2.)

Quote:For our incredibly bright and dedicated seller body, the answer has been and continues to be loud and clear

Yes, the incredibly bright ones have already left.

Quote:After quite a bit of dialogue, we all seemed to agree that Wagglepop is primarily a reflection of our membership

Does that mean that soon they'll pack it in, and leave, too?

Oh BTW, where are those April sales reports? Here it is, the first Monday of the month, and not a peep !

youroverheadbin · 05-07-2007, 07:22 PM,

[quote author=eclectica link=topic=3775.msg52347#msg52347 date=1178545411]
Sherry - I've lost count lol. Out of the 248 stores, how many do you think are ghost stores at this point?
[/quote]

Good question Eclectica. They have been disappearing quite rapidly lately now that they are being exposed here. For the last few months a number of the so called delinquent accounts were in fact ghost stores. It was a clever way for KaRay to ditch them.

There are different types of ghost stores. I call the ones Ray (or his hamster) creates 'Ray Originals'. I identify them as the ones that are just slapped up and usually contain 30 day listings so no one searches too hard for them. They have no work put into them. No logo, Me page, categories, colour scheme - no nothing. And not really important but still a further sign, they are never present on the Community Boards. If I had to pay 10.00 a month for a store I'd do something with it to attract buyers. Wouldn't you?

The ones that look legit (and probably once were) I call the Hijacked stores. I identify them by their mish-mash of listing styles and information. Different layouts within the listings - some with templates, product information, terms - some not. Conflicting shipping charges - for example some listings say 1.50 per extra item and others say 2.00 or nothing at all. No consistency. A number of these have categories created but when they appear with active listings, the listings are bunched under 'All Items'. They also never post on the boards. Would you buy from someone with a disorganized store such as these? Can you believe they are paying faithfully every month while they shoot themselves in the foot with shoddy listings?

The stores that have real owners still at the helm who spruce up their stores, load some inventory and show no further interest or development I call these Parked stores. This type accounts for the highest volume of dead-weight. The number of listings never change nor does the product. Some plead with shoppers to come back soon because they will be listings a lot of new items. Some say they are new to WP and ready to build their inventory (these have been there for 6 months or more). Some are still wishing everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year! Others advertise links to other WP stores that are long gone. Let's say they had a customer who browsed through their store and made a purchase. The buyer bookmarks their store as a favourite. Two months later the buyer drops in again looking to give repeat business only to see the exact same product line as on their previous visit. Wouldn't that be a major turn-off? If that were me my next stop would be to uncheck them from my favourites list. This type of store would be understandable on a free site - they can afford to be lazy - but to pay every month for their lack of interest??? What is wrong with these people?

Currently of the stores that are active I guesstimate:

Ray Originals - 6

Hijacked - 3

Dormant of both types - 17

Parked - 130

KaRay is getting sneakier with the ghost stores. Until I brought it to his attention here on TT he was using relist so the item number never changed. Nowadays he copies it into a new listing so the number changes. Ghost stores carried one or two, usually no more than 5 items. Today they are being stocked with much more so they blend in better.

The longer a store exists that fits one of these patterns the more convinced I become that they are a ghost store. And Ray is laughing all the way to the bank but not realizing how detrimental some of these are to the overall health of the site. That's why lines from KaRay pep talk make me choke. Lines such as:

Quote:For our incredibly bright and dedicated seller body, the answer has been and continues to be loud and clear

youroverheadbin · 05-07-2007, 07:31 PM,

And like this one from today's daily chat:

Quote:wagglepopCC1 07 May 2007 15:18

Hello Members,

It's a beautiful spring day here, and we'll keep our fingers crossed for those who may have difficult weather currently or ahead for a similar day soon.

Nice weather is inspiring

Work continues on the changes necessary for the USPS rate and standards changes due shortly and we hope to have a very short changeover period to adapt to those changes.

Updated pages for May should be uploaded over the next 48 hours or so, and our established sellers continue to stock the shelves and reap the rewards of having good business sense, patience, and vision.

Wishing everyone at least one sale and one smile today

Karen - WP Customer Care