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

[scoop]

[quote author=Riverwood link=topic=3775.msg57038#msg57038 date=1181837140]
[quote author=bratpack link=topic=3775.msg56941#msg56941 date=1181781343]
I really think/hope that this months round of store closings will be quite hefty.  I think the ones that our left sell as a hobby and must not need to make income off their wares or they are just staying because of the false sense of family amongst the members.  I think after the announcement of Karen departing and Andrew's bad cop routine, the feeling of belonging to an on-line "family" will be gone and thus many hard core poppers.  Anyone who stays after all that nonsense must be beyond the realm of help.  Its really very sad.
[/quote]

Morning All!

As a soon-to-be ex-koolaid drinker, I have a question for you folks that have been around this block a few times.  I know there's a million auction sites out there, many of them doing quite poorly with no traffic, some better than others, some of them charge, some of them don't, some of them advertise, some of them have virtually no advertising budget....very few of them seem to have the highly charged emotional impact that WP has had - neg. & pos.... (that I'm aware of).

Initially, WP seemed to be one of the auction sites that could be quite successful; it had numerous ebay refugee sellers, a similar set-up to ebay and lots of hype. Myself and many other sellers spent months & months promoting & promoting, only to find it extremely difficult to lure our customers over to buy there, or to get new traffic onto the site. I can tell you from my own perspective that getting even my regular customers to make purchases there was like pulling teeth without the novocaine, not sure why.  WP ballooned up to over 900 stores, only to dwindle back down to barely over 200. 

This is my question: What do you think is the one biggest contributing factor to the gradual decline of wagglepop?...is it Ray's treatment of sellers? is it bad karma from the first failed go-round? poor public perception of the site? lack of advertising? ebay being the place to buy? the efforts of nay-sayers? something else??? Just curious as to what people think
:cinqo2:
[/quote]

I don't think it was the failure of WP1 that is causing the failure of WP2.   I beleive that it's Ray's fault.  He had many sellers willing to give WP2 a shot.  He in turn did nothing but make bad decissions every step of the way as some of the people who were around for WP1 said he would.  He had a chance to prove them wrong and he failed.

His treatment of sellers is bad.  His heavy finger on the delete key is bad he does not listen to anyone's opinion at all.  He did things like implement  adsmart instead of fixing things such as the invoicing to allow for instant payment from buyers.  Then implemented the phone verification which I and many other sellers thought was a bad idea.  

But as usual our opinions did not count.  Then there is the marketing he really did nothing.  I think he could have done things to market the site.  If I'm not mistaken I believe BBH posted a list of things he could have done that would not have cost him a whole lot of money. Then there are the many lies which have been told by him.  Lies about marketing, implementation of certain features and so on.  

Even if he had done all these things when there where over 900 stores there it still would be hard to get buyers away from ebay.  But I think WP would be a better position than it is right now instead of going down hill like it is.  If the sellers had been treated better and if they had seen some effort on his part to do the right things I think more would still be there right now.  I see WP2's failure as Ray's fault and no one elses.  He had his chance and blew it.

[let the truth be told]

[quote author=sherrand link=topic=3775.msg57043#msg57043 date=1181839002]
I am about to share with you some research I've done on our dearly beloved Karma Gremlins. Although it is not conclusive it is quite damming. I'll let you all be the judges.

During the day of June 10th a number of TTers asked with tongue in cheek where PS and user could be, that they were missed. An assumption here is that a lurker alerted them to this conversation and that brought them scuttling over here. Or perhaps they decided to drop in of their own volition but the timing of last log-in for the pair suggests they showed up in tandem.

Profile for user391:
http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...file;u=405
Last Active:  June 10, 2007, 10:54:39 PM


Profile for PowerSeller:
http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...file;u=352
Last Active:  June 10, 2007, 10:56:21 PM

On the morning of June 11th two of the first TTers to log in made these comments:

[quote author=meowsnbarks link=topic=3775.msg56570#msg56570 date=1181562397]

Yeppers, the Karma Gremlins were out en masse last night.
[/quote]

[quote author=UniqueSeller link=topic=3775.msg56573#msg56573 date=1181563304]

Also doing the Karma round. Just noticed that my karma was lower this morning too. Awww, come on PS, you can come in to steal karma but not stop in to share your opinions?

~Patti~[/b]
[/quote]

And later in the day these:

[quote author=njr55 link=topic=3775.msg56664#msg56664 date=1181584658]
I see the karma gremlins have been at it again.  How do they do that when I'm not online?  What pages were mentioned before that we could go give them a "visit"?
[/quote]

[quote author=Designers Bargains link=topic=3775.msg56743#msg56743 date=1181648471]
Attention, attention: GREMLIN ALERT!!!!!!! Big hits reported among TT's referring to PS, "T", the "divine Boinktard", "Pooper" and/or use the "C" word.

[/quote]

Three of the four posters who mentioned the hits made the top 10 list. The fourth hasn't been around long enough to hit the charts:

[quote author=mandy link=topic=3775.msg56873#msg56873 date=1181736250]
:turkey2:  Karma Gremlins Hit List Scoreboard  :turkey2:

1. YouGuysSuckAss -148
2. Let the Truth be Told -115
3. PowerSeller -88
4. Designers Bargains -78
5. Bargainbloodhound -50
6. PrincessMirandajo -26
6. NJR55 -26
8. The Pet Guy -23
9. SneakyMagenta -22
10. Mandy -20
11. Flying High -19
12. I Want 1 2 -16
13. Scoop -15
14. Karma -11
15. UniqueSeller -9

[/quote]

I rest my case.   
[/quote]




I think I might change my name to click here so the karma gremlins won't get confused. i am proud to be public enemy #1 from the karma gremlins.

Oh did I forget to say CULT?



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

[let the truth be told]

<------- click here







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

[Riverwood]

[quote author=scoop link=topic=3775.msg57051#msg57051 date=1181842348]
But as usual our opinions did not count.  Then there is the marketing he really did nothing.  I think he could have done things to market the site.  If I'm not mistaken I believe BBH posted a list of things he could have done that would not have cost him a whole lot of money. Then there are the many lies which have been told by him.  Lies about marketing, implementation of certain features and so on.  
[/quote]

That's the kicker, isn't it?  Thinking he knows all & having no interest in listening to anyone else.  I'm not saying management's every move should be dictated by it's members, but when you've got intelligent people telling you the same thing over & over again, a smart person learns to listen, otherwise those same mistakes are going to kick you in the ass time and time again!
:turkey2:

[Platzki]

[quote author=Riverwood link=topic=3775.msg57054#msg57054 date=1181844315]
[quote author=scoop link=topic=3775.msg57051#msg57051 date=1181842348]
But as usual our opinions did not count.  Then there is the marketing he really did nothing.  I think he could have done things to market the site.  If I'm not mistaken I believe BBH posted a list of things he could have done that would not have cost him a whole lot of money. Then there are the many lies which have been told by him.  Lies about marketing, implementation of certain features and so on.  
[/quote]

That's the kicker, isn't it?  Thinking he knows all & having no interest in listening to anyone else.  I'm not saying management's every move should be dictated by it's members, but when you've got intelligent people telling you the same thing over & over again, a smart person learns to listen, otherwise those same mistakes are going to kick you in the ass time and time again!
:turkey2:
[/quote]

I had a boss once say to me... "The best way to run a business is to only hire people who are smarter than you, and listen to them."

THAT just about says it all.  I was too young to realize that he was giving me one hell of a compliment at the time but it has stuck with me.

Ray could learn a lesson from that.

[UniqueSeller]

[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg57053#msg57053 date=1181844294]
<------- click here







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

             

~Patti~

[racedream]

[quote author=let the truth be told link=topic=3775.msg57053#msg57053 date=1181844294]



<------- click here







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

[FineThings4U]

I, personally, left WP because at first it was a helpful place where people were willing to share ideas and answer questions.

I left because there was a thread about selling where I, among others, asked questions about advertisement and promotion.  There was name calling, disrespect and just plain mean words exchanged.  I looked back and it had happened to another seller in the first pages.

I sent my friend to WP.  Designers Bargains was the ONLY person who helped him.  He was called a troll and banned for asking questions.  I was no longer selling, but I still knew many sellers there.  His name is Red and WP sellers missed a wonderful opportunity.  Only one was smart enough to take his questions seriously and offer CUSTOMER SERVICE above and beyond.

Those are my reasons....my leaving didn't cause the demise of WP.  It only showed me what a site should NOT be.

I don't even remember my first post here...lol.

[Karma]

[quote author=Riverwood link=topic=3775.msg57054#msg57054 date=1181844315]
[quote author=scoop link=topic=3775.msg57051#msg57051 date=1181842348]
But as usual our opinions did not count.  Then there is the marketing he really did nothing.  I think he could have done things to market the site.  If I'm not mistaken I believe BBH posted a list of things he could have done that would not have cost him a whole lot of money. Then there are the many lies which have been told by him.  Lies about marketing, implementation of certain features and so on.  
[/quote]

That's the kicker, isn't it?  Thinking he knows all & having no interest in listening to anyone else.  I'm not saying management's every move should be dictated by it's members, but when you've got intelligent people telling you the same thing over & over again, a smart person learns to listen, otherwise those same mistakes are going to kick you in the ass time and time again!
:turkey2:
[/quote]

So true. I thought it was a place were the Sellers actually had a say. It soon became apparent that was not the case.

I still cannot figure out how someone complaining about no traffic is any different than someone complaining about neutral feedback..............a complaint is a complaint but still should be allowed on the boards...

It is not like we often wrote Wagglepop Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited to Add: Not really WP just the owner and all his personalities!!

Hey Ray 

[bargainbloodhound]

I thought it was a place were the Sellers actually had a say. It soon became apparent that was not the case.

He did the same thing during WP1.