PlunderHere and AlsoShop: A Web of Privacy Violations, Backstabbing, and Deceit

[PowerSeller]

[quote author=xwpopper link=topic=9139.msg71888#msg71888 date=1218515252]
So far with a full day, only 782 items have been edited by over 400 sellers.[/quote]

Ahem.  That would be...ummm...because the appropriate categories are not there TO edit most items into.   

[amy]

15  online users

By contrast TT is showing 60 online.  Could PH's low traffic tonight maybe be because every single PH link in Google Product Search and Google Base leads to an  "oops-  page not found" error page? It might be a good idea for Mark to take 2 seconds out of his busy board posting schedule and click the 'upload to Google Base' button on his cheap script. The PH listings in Base are from 8/9. :

Ahem.  That would be...ummm...because the appropriate categories are not there TO edit most items into.

Why didn't PH add the old categories to the new script before switching over?

Or could it be that the "fully rebuilt from the ground up" script that looks the same as the script from the last 2 years, was really just a ploy to sell more PHPProbid licenses.

The new version released on 7/28 that he's claiming is  "fully rebuilt from the ground up" is v6.04.  The old version that had so many problems was v6.03.  I've never seen a software company "fully rebuild" a script on a minor point upgrade (i.e. 6.03 to 6.04).  Minor version upgrades are usually limited to bug fixes and the introduction of a few new features/enhancements--not a complete code rewrite.

What's new in V6.04?   
http://www.phpprobid.com/v604features.html

======
I liked this phpProBid site owner's review of the script on HotScripts:

I purchased the software and it installed so smoothly straight from the box I added my SSL cert changed the logo and presto I have a fully functional auction site without even getting my hands dirty,

http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/32742.html

Make a one-time payment of  $210 (free upgrades for life!), add a bad logo, have "a friend" start a thread on PSU about your new clone site, and presto you have an eBay killer! 

[mandy]

changed the logo

In most cases the logo is the only thing that differentiates one PHP Pro Bid site from another.

[PowerSeller]

[quote author=amy link=topic=9139.msg71899#msg71899 date=1218611215]

Ahem.  That would be...ummm...because the appropriate categories are not there TO edit most items into.

Why didn't PH add the old categories to the new script before switching over?[/quote]

Right.

What's new in V6.04?

New bugs never before seen in any previous version of phpProBid.  All previous bugs were written into this "rewritten from the ground up" script for no extra charge.

[sneakymagenta]

[quote author=bargainbloodhound link=topic=9139.msg71660#msg71660 date=1217355142]

RECENTLY SOLD 
Auction Title Sold For
Lot of ... 0.89
Handmade ... 2.50
ARIZONA ... 0.25
A QUEST... 0.50
SOUTHERN ... 0.25

[/quote]

L@@K! They're twins!

      RECENTLY SOLD
Auction Title Sold For
... 2.59
0.37
.. 0.35
  -... 1.95
. 0.40

[mandy]

I've borrowed this post that sums up the long list of problems PH sellers are facing due to the script change. 

Sellers have to set up their stores again completely (and most other account information), but you can't use custom store categories and still have your items show up in the main site search. Then sellers have to edit every item to add it back into their stores, put it in the appropriate category, fix the description if your template didn't transfer properly, set all of the appropriate listing details, delete and reload the image (but some image files that worked on the original script are too big and must be resized), and put in all of the listing and shipping information again. A real picnic for sellers who have 3K+ listings, and the editing is much more difficult that on [RScript sites]

Problem #2: the appropriate site categories to edit most items into were NOT even set up on the site when the script was transferred. At first there was no appropriate category for me to put a single one of my items into.

Problem #3: For me and some other sellers, the option to put items back in our stores is greyed out and won't work. This goes for editing, 'sell similar', and listing new items from scratch. Items show up on the main site, but can't be seen in the store. The tech helped me by putting items in my store from the back end, but not all went in and the problem still exists.

Problem #4: We all got invoices when the script transferred. Some sellers had a lot of fees that showed up on their account that were not owed, and all accounts showing over $25. were automatically suspended. ]Some sellers since the change have been charged as many as 64 times for a single transaction.

Problem #5: Some sellers are losing money because some of their customers are unable to bid on auctions that already have one bid. Some items show MySQL errors when someone tries to place a bid.

Problem #6: Some sellers' items are duplicating, tripling, quadrupling themselves, etc., so the only way to make heads or tails of it is to close out everything and start over from scratch.

Problem #7: Many old closed items were put back in with recently closed items and not sorted between items that ended without a sale and items that sold. So sellers can't tell what's old news, what needs to be relisted, what's sold, what needs to be invoiced, what's paid and needs to be shipped, what's already shipped, etc.

[xwpopper]

[quote author=mandy link=topic=9139.msg71923#msg71923 date=1218791932]
I've borrowed this post that sums up the long list of problems PH sellers are facing due to the script change. 

Sellers have to set up their stores again completely (and most other account information), but you can't use custom store categories and still have your items show up in the main site search. Then sellers have to edit every item to add it back into their stores, put it in the appropriate category, fix the description if your template didn't transfer properly, set all of the appropriate listing details, delete and reload the image (but some image files that worked on the original script are too big and must be resized), and put in all of the listing and shipping information again. A real picnic for sellers who have 3K+ listings, and the editing is much more difficult that on [RScript sites]

Problem #2: the appropriate site categories to edit most items into were NOT even set up on the site when the script was transferred. At first there was no appropriate category for me to put a single one of my items into.

Problem #3: For me and some other sellers, the option to put items back in our stores is greyed out and won't work. This goes for editing, 'sell similar', and listing new items from scratch. Items show up on the main site, but can't be seen in the store. The tech helped me by putting items in my store from the back end, but not all went in and the problem still exists.

Problem #4: We all got invoices when the script transferred. Some sellers had a lot of fees that showed up on their account that were not owed, and all accounts showing over $25. were automatically suspended. ]Some sellers since the change have been charged as many as 64 times for a single transaction.

Problem #5: Some sellers are losing money because some of their customers are unable to bid on auctions that already have one bid. Some items show MySQL errors when someone tries to place a bid.

Problem #6: Some sellers' items are duplicating, tripling, quadrupling themselves, etc., so the only way to make heads or tails of it is to close out everything and start over from scratch.

Problem #7: Many old closed items were put back in with recently closed items and not sorted between items that ended without a sale and items that sold. So sellers can't tell what's old news, what needs to be relisted, what's sold, what needs to be invoiced, what's paid and needs to be shipped, what's already shipped, etc.

[/quote]

Translation: We done got BAMBOOZLED! 

From PH Mod:
I agree with you all about the categories needing some attention. Admin has been hard at work trying to fix this problem. Be assured that this is on the top of the "to-do" list.

Come on, it takes exactly 30 seconds to login, click the "Categories" link, and add a freakin category.

[Amethyst]

One more glitch to add to the mess over at PH. Stores that were closed are showing once again with 0 items.  Most of those sellers closed their stores and left long ago.  With the rscript if there were no items in your store then the store did not show up.  ??? :blinkie:

[regic]

The new Plunderhere design has arrived ---and it still looks like a phpProBid site.

[xwpopper]

[quote author=regic link=topic=9139.msg71981#msg71981 date=1219160602]
The new Plunderhere design has arrived ---and it still looks like a phpProBid site.
[/quote]

It took so long to load that I almost forgot to notice... "Page loaded in 4.379023 seconds"

It has to be the most buyer unfriendly site I have ever seen. Search doesn't work. A search for "used" produces no results when I can browse "All Categories" and see 3 on the first page. Speaking of the categories, I don't know too many broadband shoppers that will wait 5 seconds to load the first page, then start looking for a "Books" category, and stick around long enough to look for, and wait for, the "All Categories" link to come up.

And it may be a tedious observation on my part... but all the front page will attract is low dollar shoppers when they see that the highest sale was about 2 bucks. I'm really trying hard, but I can't remember ever making any money on 2 dollar sales. All the $2 sales were usually clearing out old stuff that I couldn't sell otherwise, and while I appreciated the money, a real business doesn't like having clearance prices as their storefront image.

I would point out more negatives about the site, but my eyes can't stand the obscenely, obnoxiously bright color scheme any longer. I will say this, you put a can of paint on a piece of rotten wood, you still have rotten wood. It just takes some scratching to see the holes, scum, and mold. Switching to such a widely used script guarantees all sellers one thing... Their private direct payment credentials from Google, Moneybookers, Authorize.net, etc. can easily be hacked on not only PH, but on every single PHPProBid site in a matter of a couple hours. That's what the sellers get as a reward for following boinktards like Mark and his owner... I mean, programmer.