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

[sneakymagenta]

53 Stores found

5 more deadbeats gone.

Date Posted: 28 Dec 2008 23:07

WP Members,

It is just after 6:00 pm on a windy cold Sunday here in New York - and we are equally excited and exhausted from making the bulk of the changes alluded to earlier in this thread.

The office looks somewhat comical - Marcus is asleep on the waiting room couch, Chris spilled coffee for what feels like the 100th time, and I look as if I am ready to sleep for about a week straight. We continue to believe in Wagglepop and what Wagglepop can be and we hope our efforts in that regard (together with the loyal dedication to date of Wagglepop membership) are exactly what is needed as we start 2009.

In the next one or two days everyone will learn about what we have been doing "behind the scenes" to make this upcoming year the best year yet for Wagglepop and Wagglepop membership.

AP

[Alskling]

"Date Posted: 28 Dec 2008 23:07

WP Sheep,

It is sometime on a dismal Sunday evening in New York (feel sorry for us, boohoo) -- and Mr. Hamster and I are exhausted from all the mag cutouts we've been doing to populate my pathetic eBay store with items that don't sell.

The office looks somewhat comical -- not surprisingly, since it, like WP itself, is such a joke. Mr. Hamster is asleep at the wheel, and after a week-long marathon, I finished my last line of snow for what feels like the 100th time. Our Koolaid stocks are getting low, but we probably have enough to keep whatever somnambulist sheep that follow us into the new year drugged for a little longer.

In one or two days, or weeks, or months, or maybe never, everyone will learn what I've been doing "behind the curtain" -- as if it's some great secret. Those who have fled the flock know already. The answer is nothing.

AP/RR"

 

[sneakymagenta]

Date Posted: 30 Dec 2008 18:39

WP Members,

Expect the official announcements tomorrow 12/31 for changes effective starting 1/1/09.

We hope membership is as excited as we are about the announcements tomorrow and we feel confident that members can anticipate a very active 2009 and beyond for Wagglepop.

The changes announced tomorrow are substantial and timely - with an eye on expanding the opportunity that Wagglepop represents to every online seller (or buyer) that wishes to participate in that dynamic.

AP

Ooooohh! I can't wait until tomorrow! The suspense is getting to me!

[sneakymagenta]

Hi, I’m Marcus at Wagglepop

Hello Everyone,

I’m Marcus here at Wagglepop and Andrew and I spent a few days getting Wagglepop Blogs up and running. We’re still learning the system ourselves but we seem to have a pretty good ability to bounce back from disaster, like when Andrew lost his password about 10 seconds after I gave it to him LOL

There is a small learning curve and lots of different settings in your blog admin panels but don’t get frustrated with it. Once you get it you really get it

Blogs - Powered by WordPress

http://wagglepop.com/blogs/

[mandy]

December 2008

  A Message from Andrew Pittino - Director of Business Development, Wagglepop LLC
12/31/08
Speaking on behalf of the entire Wagglepop staff and ownership body, I am extremely pleased and excited to announce the following changes as noted below for Wagglepop membership and potential membership. Our foremost intention with the announcements below is to support an environment under Wagglepop focused on and supporting the goals of online sellers and buyers alike.

I have included a general schedule to go along with each announcement so that membership can have a solid idea of what to expect and when. Please allow for some unusual behaviors or appearances during the individual implementations - though we will do our very best to keep those sorts of issues to a minimum when at all possible.

Wagglepop is unique in online endeavors - built by real online buyers and sellers and supported by real online buyers and sellers. Given the chance to participate in the Wagglepop Merchant Marketplace under SmartSell Enterprise we feel will expose online sellers to the very best in "eBay alternatives" in terms of features and standards of performance. By making Wagglepop and the extraordinary features of Wagglepop more accessible to any online seller that wishes to participate, we at the same time populate the site for shoppers - a classic "win win" for all membership.

Together, we can change everything.

Andrew Pittino
- Director of Business Development

1. SmartSell Enterprise Promotions
For New SmartSell Pro Subscribers

    One-Year Free Trial Subscription to SmartSell Enterprise
    A $359.40 Value!

    Details
    Available to members or new members that sell online elsewhere at a venue or using a standalone solution (see example venues and solutions list below) and do not currently have or have not ever had previously a SmartSell Pro or SmartSell Enterprise subscription.

        * Program Promotion Period: Open Registration from 1/2/09 through 12/31/09 > one full year from date of subscription
        * Unlimited subscriptions allowable - open as many as you would like - all free for one full year from date of subscription
        * Close your subscription at anytime - new "Close Subscription" button available in My WP
        * Placement of our linked promotional Wagglepop banner offsite requested in program period trial exchange
        * Free Trial not open to previous SmartSell subscribers
        * Subscriptions not upgradeable to Featured or Showcase during the trial period
        * Stores require minimum of 10 active items in any format

For Existing  SmartSell Pro Subscribers

    A. Two-Year Exclusive Free Upgrade to Featured and Showcase Stores
        A $960.00 Value!

    Details
    Automatically applied beginning 1/2/09 as simultaneous upgrades to existing SmartSell Enterprise subscribers as of 12/30/08.

        * Program Promotion Period: 1/2/09 through 12/31/10 > two full calendar years
        * Exclusive placement - Featured and Showcase upgrades not available for Free Trial program members
        * Close your subscription at anytime - new "Close Subscription" button available in My WP
        * Applicable only to existing SmartSell Enterprise subscribers as of 12/30/08

    B. One-Year Unlimited Additional SmartSell Pro Subscriptions
        A $359.40 Value Per Subscription!

    Details
    Available to existing SmartSell Enterprise subscribers.

        * Program Promotion Period: 1/2/09 through 12/31/09 > one full year from date of subscription!
        * Unlimited additional* subscriptions allowable - open as many as you would like - all free for one full year from date of subscription
        * Close your subscription at anytime - new "Close Subscription" button available in My WP
        * Subscriptions not upgradeable to Featured or Showcase during the trial period

        *Additional subscriptions contingent upon continuing active status of all existing SmartSell Enterprise accounts opened 12/30/08 or earlier

For Previous  SmartSell Pro Subscribers

    Revolution Rewind Plus Program
    50% OFF SmartSell Enterprise Subscription for One-Year! A $179.70 Savings Value!

    Details
    Re-open inactive SmartSell accounts closed prior to 12/30/08.

        * Program Promotion Period: 1/2/09 through 12/31/09
        * Includes full Feedback Score restoration
        * Close your subscription at anytime - new "Close Subscription" button available in My WP
        * Once subscription is activated - unlimited additional subscriptions available
        * Requires one year in advance non refundable upfront payment of $179.70 via PayPal
        * Not available to ex-members suspended for non-payment
        * Subscriptions not upgradeable to Featured or Showcase during the trial period

2. Introducing Wagglepop Blogs

    Details
    Unlimited free blogs available to both Wagglepop members or non-members considering Wagglepop. Wagglepop Blogs was created as a single blogging community under Creative Commons using WordPress software - a state of the art blogging engine with a fabulous array of features and benefits.

    Wagglepop Blogs will provide all of the amazing features that come with WordPress blogs (allowing for endless customization of your blog experience), as well as some neat little additions we made such as the ability to add YouTube video, social bookmarking and email links, and spam control. Member posts to their own blogs will display chronologically in groups of up to 20 on the Wagglepop Blogs home page and all blogs will be accessible from all blog pages.

    Wagglepop Blogs is going to be a great community and the tools and features will be of great importance to all sellers looking to promote their items and Stores as well as for buyers looking to connect - Web 2.0 finally comes to Wagglepop!

    Available
    Starting 1/1/09 accessible via links in the Wagglepop header.

3. Wagglepop Community Changes

    Details
    Dynamics changes to the Wagglepop Community Forums.

        * Wagglepop Forums will be "open" to everyone for reading (including non-members), allowing for better accessibility and deeper search engine indexing. Posting to existing threads or of new threads will continue to require registration
        * New Forums - expect more specific forums and support areas
        * Board Participation Policy - it still exists, but we will do our best (we promise!) to "ease up" a bit and allow more open dialogues

    Available
    Changes starting 1/1/09.

4. We The People Portal

    Details
    The We The People portal will become a central "hub" for membership to share ideas, to post articles, to learn more about Wagglepop and buying and selling online, and to help guide Wagglepop management and ownership in the ways in which membership feels best serves the needs of membership. In addition We The People will house the Wagglepop Marketshare program, giving shoppers even more choices (in an appropriate fashion) secondary to shopping Wagglepop and acting as an important source of revenue generation for the site.

    Anticipated for We The People include:

        * Introduction of the WTP Leadership Council
        * Wagglepop Marketshare
        * Migration of the Wagglepop Learning Center to WTP
        * Migration of the Announcements Board to WTP
        * Public Polls feature
        * Reviews and Guides

    Available
    Basic functionality within January 2009.

5. Simultaneous Login Capabilities

    Details
    Wagglepop will essentially become three portals under one common theme:

        * Wagglepop
        * Wagglepop Blogs
        * We The People

    For security purposes, each of the three portals will require separate registration - ID's and passwords - ensuring compartmentalization of each portal.

    However, once logged in to each portal users may travel and browse the site leaving one portal and entering another without having to login each time.

5. Permanent Feedback

    Details
    Wagglepop Feedback Scores will no longer attach strictly to SmartSell or non-SmartSell accounts. SmartSell subscribers can terminate their subscriptions and continue on Wagglepop as buyers or casual members and retain their full Feedback Score.

6. Additional Wagglepop Stores Templates

    Details
    SmartSell Pro subscribers at all subscription levels will have more and different Wagglepop Stores templates available to choose from during the Store open or editing process.

    Available
    Additional templates available before the end of Q1 2009.

6. Other Stuff

    Details
    Just some information about "other stuff" we are working on - some big, some small, but all of it important and we will continue to work to make them all happen as we can.

        * RSS Auction Listing Feeds - we are close to putting this in production status
        * Wagglepop Checkout - testing has shown the code to be incredibly "buggy" at best. We will keep at it....
        * Affiliate Program - the parameters are in place and anticipate integration after this SmartSell promotional initiative gives us the data we need to support it

[xwpopper]

Raythink translation of all the BS...
You were right, I am a moron, please come back and make us a viable site again! We won't start taking your money until you've had a full year of no sales. We'll let you upgrade for free to make it look like we have big time sellers on the stores page that gets about 500 visitors a month. We are going to use the same broken templates sites like Plunderhere and Alsoshop used on their Rscript sites. We can't figure out how to install blog scripts, so this is going to be bad. And last, we are finally opening the "We the People" section we promised in 2006, again in 2007, and all this year... Hey, 3 years isn't that bad to figure out why we can't keep sellers around more than a month!

P.S. I wonder if I should have thought of this way back in 2006 when I had over 900 stores. Maybe I could have made this thing seem as big of a deal as Atomic Mall. 

[Alskling]

We The People will house the Wagglepop Marketshare program, giving shoppers even more choices (in an appropriate fashion) secondary to shopping Wagglepop and acting as an important source of revenue generation for the site

Is this Wagglespeak for "we're plastering the We The People portal with obnoxious, click-back, affiliate program advertising crap"?
--------------------------------------------------------------

And WTF is this?

Placement of our linked promotional Wagglepop banner offsite requested in program period trial exchange

And another  :wtf: :wtf: :wtf::

For Previous  SmartSell Pro Subscribers

    Revolution Rewind Plus Program
    50% OFF SmartSell Enterprise Subscription for One-Year! A $179.70 Savings Value!

    Details
    Re-open inactive SmartSell accounts closed prior to 12/30/08.

Now, I ask you, who, in his/her right mind, would make a NON-REFUNDABLE $179 PAYMENT (through PayPal, of course) IN ADVANCE to rejoin Wagglepoop after his/her pitiful experience the first time around?  Oh, and in case you missed it, this gracious offering is NOT available to deadbeats -- that should be about 99% of all sellers who left WP2, according to King Boinktard. The other 1% were "terminated" for bad behavior, so I guess I can rejoin, right? (hands clapping)

?
---------------------------------------------------------------

A. Two-Year Exclusive Free Upgrade to Featured and Showcase Stores
        A $960.00 Value!

So, all 53 existing sellers are magically promoted to "Showcase" -- big whoop!
--------------------------------------------

And, hey, all you sellers out there who are selling on other venues and were smart enough to not get suckered into WP2, HAVE WE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU! Get in on the "trial" subscription, list lots of stuff and sell nothing. Oh, and did we tell you that the "close subscription" button is an email link to the big hamster in the sky who will first beg and plead for you to stay (hopefully until you receive your invoice for 2010), and if you still want to leave, call you an eBay paid informant, naysayer, morally-bankrupt miscreant, and chastise you for having little faith and being a "lazy bum". Oh, and you must have 10 active items at all times. Any less and we'll kick you out and keep the cash. And what if a seller just wants to try WP and list one or two items? Hmmm. Guess I'll just have to list my $10 million mansion on another site. :'( :'(

One-Year Free Trial Subscription to SmartSell Enterprise
    A $359.40 Value!

    Details
    Available to members or new members that sell online elsewhere at a venue or using a standalone solution (see example venues and solutions list below) and do not currently have or have not ever had previously a SmartSell Pro or SmartSell Enterprise subscription

Love this addendum:

Wagglepop Checkout - testing has shown the code to be incredibly "buggy" at best. We will keep at it....

Sure, Ray, admit your checkout sucks. Successful, business-minded sellers from other venues will be pounding down your cult door after reading that, Boinktard.  arcasm1:

As is this comment, which shows the (lack of) knowledge and competency from staff:

I’m Marcus here at Wagglepop and Andrew and I spent a few days getting Wagglepop Blogs up and running. We’re still learning the system ourselves but we seem to have a pretty good ability to bounce back from disaster, like when Andrew lost his password about 10 seconds after I gave it to him LOL

-------------------------------------------------------------

Umm............... Hello, Ray. Haven't you learned by your experience at eBay, including the parade of IDs along with a store name change, that THERE IS NO MAGIC POTION TO RESERRECT THE DEAD!

[sneakymagenta]

I am really exited about ALL of it.... Free Showcase, WP Blogs, We The People, Feedback Changes... and the other things that will make WP THE place to be!

The place to be for who?  None of the announced changes are related to improving the WP buyer experience which sucks in case you forgot.

[Alskling]

[quote author=sneakymagenta link=topic=3775.msg73693#msg73693 date=1230745737]

I am really exited about ALL of it.... Free Showcase, WP Blogs, We The People, Feedback Changes... and the other things that will make WP THE place to be!

The place to be for who?  None of the announced changes are related to improving the WP buyer experience which sucks in case you forgot.


[/quote]

Buying experience at WP? Is this not the definition of oxymoron.?

[xwpopper]

Funny, just funny as heck-fire.
In fact, I am going to enjoy reading all those posts in a year asking how to close up before they start charging fees again. I am also going to love watching Andray stumble over his answers about why the fees were raised in the first place, and how a company operating at such a massive monthly "loss" can afford to host so many more stores (on the same $100/month server.) And I particularly look forward to hearing how much ownership is underwriting the entire project to help the site grow into what it could be, while paying the $70,000 grand opening advertising debt, and $50,000 custom programming debt for all that wonderful customization that Ewaey 2 and World Auctions both had almost identically at very little cost.

P.S. I guess this is Ray's way of saying that he couldn't implement Marketshare into the site, so he's going to get more sellers to do it for him.