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

[let the truth be told]

[quote author=regic link=topic=3775.msg53768#msg53768 date=1179499208]
[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg53763#msg53763 date=1179496866]
244 stores found
8 showcase stores
16 featured stores

[/quote]

A blast from the past:

Back on topic:  WP stores now count 916.  That breaks down monthly to:
   916 Basic x $10 = $9160
   46 Featured x another $10 = $460
   28 Showcase x another $30 = $840

Total monthly income right now on Store fees alone:  $10,460

yep.. they've had a strong recent growth in featured stores.. that cost 20 dollars a month...56 and soaring...

wagglepopCC1   13 Feb 2007 16:25       


Hello Members,

Just a quick addition regarding any questions or curiosities about the depth of the campaign and our expecations on how it will affect the marketplace that I thought might be worthy of discussion.

Our projections for January 1st 2008 are:

1. 3125 Stores
2. 1.5 million listings in all formats

Imagine the effect that will have on our already active marketplace

Karen - WP Customer Care

[/quote]

It's makes you wonder how someone (Ray Romeo) can be so business stupid. A good rule to follow when setting up a website or selling online would be to do exactly the oppisite of the WP business model.

In the dictionary under complete failure it should say Wagglepop as the definition.


I mean it is unreal, the lack of business skills Ray has.

With all the posting and information that has been posted and revisited just in the last month I can truthfully say I am lost for words.

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

[Platzki]

Truth... It's really very simple... his fear of failure was stronger than his will to succeed.

When you fear something very strongly, you tend to take such severe actions to keep it from happening, that the actions themselves cause it to become a reality.

If this isn't making sense, let me tell you more.

In May 2006, when WP opened it's doors the second time, Ray had already failed once and the thought of failing twice was first and foremost on his mind.  Incidently, I truly believe that the timing of WP's opening last spring and the onslaught of sellers due to the eBay fee increase was simply a coincidence.  I don't believe the owner of WP has the foresight to see this coming.  The reason I don't is because he certainly didn't have enough business sense to keep us there once we got there.

Through this onslaught, angry sellers came badmouthing ebay and I certainly am able to lay claim to that myself.  Many stores opened, sometimes 20 a day, sometimes 10 a day but the numbers kept climbing.  The forums were all abuzz about this idea and that idea... relationships began forming and friendships were made. I feel like I am one of the lucky ones because I got to keep my friendships here on TT that I made there.  It probably seemed to Ray to be 'too good to be true' but the sellers kept coming, the forums kept buzzing, the spammers kept spamming and Ray got TONS of free advertising.

During this rapid growth, seller to seller sales were made and only a handfull of sellers noticed that there was a definite lack of buyers that were not if fact, sellers.  Certain sellers started questioning this and many got slammed so hard by fellow sellers that either they left quietly, stood their ground and argued and stayed, or fought til they couldn't fight anymore and left.  Cheerleaders (myself included) were blinded by $9.95 because compared to eBay this was a real bargain.  But where were the buyers?  Ray was getting paid so he didn't care if buyers came... and he still doesn't... but he should have... and he should now.

When advertising questions came up, the poster was told that they didn't want to advertise an empty venue but compared to now, the shelves were VERY full.  These questions at first were dismissed by other sellers in Ray forums as one would flick a crumb from their shirt.  Then the posts began disappearing and constant reminders of forum etiquette began being posted and emailed to the offenders.  To make myself clear... the post asking the "business" question was deleted and the poster was reprimanded... the posters that replied and told them that they sold junk and that was why they had no buyers were not reprimanded... they were agreed with by the owner of the site.

Ray feared criticism and feared that these questions would lead to others questioning him so he started deleting posts.  By doing this, he lost the real business minded people on the site first.  Those that refused to give money to someone who clearly had no interest in their concerns whatsoever.  Then to be chastized for wanting to know their business plan and advertising timelines was ludicrous.  What business-person wouldn't want to know that information.  He lost the "fence sitters" next.. those sellers who wanted to be sure that leaving WP was the right thing to do and it took them longer to decide.  Some of those people are now here posting on TT and are upset that they stayed so long.  Those that are left on WP now are staying for either of two reasons... one, they are making money with sales or two, they just don't get it.

By fearing criticism, Ray created it in abundance... this TT thread is clear proof of that.

Deleting posts and reprimanding customers is not the way to build loyalty and trust.  WP has always claimed to be a trust-based community but the one person making the claim has proven himself to be the least trustworthy of them all.  Ray fears failure and because of this fear, he has treated his customers with disrespect, rudeness and fingerpointing. He always claimed that anyone asking these questions was breeding negativity.  The cheerleaders still make these claims that we are negative... we are not negative as those of us who have started our own sites will tell you.  WP was a stepping stone.  For some of us it was our first experience of selling online out of the ebay realm.  Now we have our own sites and want others to follow suit so as to put more money in their own pockets rather than someone elses. How can that possibly be negative?

A much more advantageous and trustworthy way to deal with questions of all types is to first, acknowledge the question, repeat it back to the questioner to be sure that you understand it, answer the question if possible and say you don't know if you don't know.  I asked an advertising question and was sent a nasty email about forum etiquette.  To this day, I don't understand why this was such a big deal.  But I was not treated as a business owner, I was treated like a child who had just stolen a piece of candy.  That made me mad and I left and took my inventory with me.  He could have acknowledged my concerns and given me information.  He chose to ridicule me and any other seller that he felt was being "negative". 

Ray created failure because that is what he feared the most.  He still doing it today and he probably will continue to do that until WP closes it's doors forever.  Now his sellers are leaving, he's deleted posts and censored his forums almost to the point of extinction and he's probably only a couple of months away from the culmination of his fear of failure... the failure itself.

Sorry this is so long... I don't usually carry on so much but it needed to be said.

Oh and Ray... thanks for being such a nimrod... I wouldn't have my store if you weren't. 

[UniqueSeller]

Well said Plat!!! Here's some Karma for ya!!!!!




~Patti~

[amy]

The early results from the Yahoo closing:

eBid: 430K to 511K listings
Ecrater: 480K to 510K
WP:

Why is KaRay spending his time whining on the WP forums about non participating naysayers instead of going after Yahoo's 1 million listings (now 910K) ?  eBid is offering Yahoo sellers free lifetime memberships and feedback transfer while WP is offering them nothing.

[bratpack]

[quote author=Platzki link=topic=3775.msg53761#msg53761 date=1179492394]
[quote author=bratpack link=topic=3775.msg53743#msg53743 date=1179445286]
You know your out of shape when you just to go out to pull weeds and plant flowers and the back of your legs are in extreme agony for 3 days after...lol  I still will not sacrifice taste for beauty, its real sugar and no fat free garbage for me....I will just walk the dog a little longer when I think I have overdone it.  
[/quote]

Well... I don't consider it garbage... actually, I like it.  I hate sugar in my coffee and have used sweet & low forever.  The girlish figure thing was a joke... to add sugar is sacrificing taste to me... but to each his own.


[/quote]

Sorry Platzki , Did not mean to offend.....I can not stand sweet & low, it has a bad aftertaste in my opinion.  But like you said to each his own.  I am going to slink back into my corner now....

[racedream]

Platzki, Very well said! 

Karma for you  ^-^

[Platzki]

[quote author=bratpack link=topic=3775.msg53804#msg53804 date=1179517661]
[quote author=Platzki link=topic=3775.msg53761#msg53761 date=1179492394]
[quote author=bratpack link=topic=3775.msg53743#msg53743 date=1179445286]
You know your out of shape when you just to go out to pull weeds and plant flowers and the back of your legs are in extreme agony for 3 days after...lol  I still will not sacrifice taste for beauty, its real sugar and no fat free garbage for me....I will just walk the dog a little longer when I think I have overdone it.  
[/quote]

Well... I don't consider it garbage... actually, I like it.  I hate sugar in my coffee and have used sweet & low forever.  The girlish figure thing was a joke... to add sugar is sacrificing taste to me... but to each his own.


[/quote]

Sorry Platzki , Did not mean to offend.....I can not stand sweet & low, it has a bad aftertaste in my opinion.  But like you said to each his own.  I am going to slink back into my corner now....

[/quote]

I'm sorry too... I didn't mean to come off nasty... I have thing about people calling what I eat crap or garbage.  I had a person in my life who used to say things like, "Ew, that looks like cat food." or "Are you really gonna eat that crap?"  It just struck a nerve... sorry.  :oops:

[Platzki]

[quote author=racedream link=topic=3775.msg53805#msg53805 date=1179518182]
Platzki, Very well said! 

Karma for you  ^-^
[/quote]

Thanks all... 

Race... nice to see you my friend.  Sorry that you've been having a tough time... but I'm glad you're back!! 

[youroverheadbin]

Now here's a contradition. On May 3rd I reported a new post in the Buyer forum made by someone who was not getting a response from their seller. It had sat unanswered for 3 days. Remember that one? A popper posted in the Advanced Selling forum alerting everyone. At that time KaRay added to the thread with these words:

wagglepopCC1  03 May 2007 18:35     


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,

As much as we would like to, it's simply not possible to watch all of the individual boards at all times looking for questions.

The absolute best way for any member to get answers to questions is first through the Help Center, and secondly direct through Customer Care.

The boards are intended more for questions of a general nature, and member interaction in a friendly and conversational environment, but not intended as a Customer Care contact point in design and nature.

If a question needs an answer from staff, always send it directly to Customer Care.

We're usually pretty quick

Karen - WP Customer Care

Today the subject of this buyer was brought up again by the same popper who alerted the sellers to check their orders. This time the response from CC1 was:

wagglepopCC1  18 May 2007 18:00     


Hello Members,

I just thought it might be important to clarify something posted in this thread regarding management of the Community boards.

We try to monitor each and every board and near every post to the very best of our abilities, but as Advanced Selling board is by far the most active, it naturally receives more attention.

Also, the vast majority of buyer questions are actually sent to us directly in Customer Care in addition to being posted on the boards, so we generally will answer them via that email communication and not the board post, when redundant.

So, what appears to be an unanswered post has, in most cases, already been answered via Customer Care.

I thought it was important to set the record straight on that point, as it seems to be a general misconception and we work very hard to make sure that all members get the help they need when they need it

Karen - WP Customer Care

WHICH IS IT YOU TWO-FACED BOINKARD!!! 

And do you honestly expect us to believe that you get all these emails from potential buyers - the same buyers that can't be bothered to leave feedback most of the time?  Does a buyer have to qualify as Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde to purchase?  Geez but that one is a whopper! 

[Platzki]

Breathe Sher!!  In with the good air... out with the bad air... 

I guess we should be used to this but I just never get used to someone blowing air up my patootie...   I'm curious to hear the responses on this one... I'd love to hear someone call him on it.