posted on July 2, 2001 02:24:59 PM new
Twinsoft, I for one would love to see someone else bring some good software to BidVille--that is something I buy on occasion.
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posted on July 2, 2001 05:58:51 PM new
You see BidVille in the threads so often because BidVille is a contender in the auctions arena. Many of the threads about BidVille are not posted by BidVille supporters. With all the misinformation posted about BidVille we at BidVille do have a tendency to respond.
This thread is a good example. We don't need to be paid to reflect our belief that BidVille has great potential. We are there and we know. Everytime I see threads like this it gives me the opportunity to say great things about BidVille. The site is great (user-friendly with fast and free picture uploads), the owner's fully involved and everyone has a voice there. That's how the $1-Sale originated and what a great idea it was!
posted on July 2, 2001 06:30:46 PM new
ahh... knew you'd be here dim. Why don't you tell us? We are not the ones running around bashing other sites. Exactly what is it that you see in BidVille that makes you feel you must be on the attack continually?
Would you like for me to go hang out on the eBay message boards and report my 0% sell-thru rate when I list there? Unless you can afford to feature at $20 bucks a pop your items will rarely be seen by anyone other than last minute cherry pickers. Sorry, I don't have time. Everyone at BidVille is busy preparing orders and exchanging emails. It's a shame you have so much time on your hands. Good Luck at ePay!
You're the one who said Bidville was going to be a contender. But you don't know of what.
Interesting that you brought up eBay. Remember the 19 items I pulled from Bidville because they had been sitting there on and off for months, and put them up on the free listing day eBay had last week.
Well, have bids on four items right now. (4 bids on 19 items is 21%. First item, $4 with one bid; second item, started bidding at $4, but now at $8.50 with five bids; third item, $4 with one bid; fourth item, $8 with one bid.
In my case, Bidville was the big ZERO; eBay is now at 21% with three days to go.
posted on July 2, 2001 06:36:51 PM newEverytime I see threads like this it gives me the opportunity to say great things about BidVille.
MsCuff, in that case I suppose you'll have plenty of opportunities to promote Bidville.
I don't mean to criticize a site simply because it has a poor sell-through rate but Bidville certainly does not justify the promotion it's receiving here. Not only are there no buyers, but the pages load slower than molasses, probably because so much time is spent loading popup advertising windows and dumping cookies on my computer.
Taking a poster to task because he was off in his estimate by .5%, and calling that a 700% margin of error, tells me the kind of people I'd be dealing with at Bidville.
posted on July 2, 2001 09:51:29 PM newI don't mean to criticize a site simply because it has a poor sell-through rate
...excellent foresight there.
-gaffan-
posted on July 2, 2001 09:56:18 PM new
Let me tell you about those $1.00 auctions. I put one up, sold and item for under my cost. Put 10 out. Not one sold in 10 days. I sell this same item on eBay everyday for $4.00-6.00 and a lot times 5 of them at a time.
I got so tired of my auction software showing the purple Bidville items with no bids I pulled the itmes.
posted on July 2, 2001 10:35:00 PM new
How much did it cost you to sell your $4 to $6 items on eBay?
I sold a total of 52 items during the BidVille $1-Sale, 11 are from auctions not included in the sale. Several items exceeded my original asking price.
How much did it cost me? Well IF I'd used my entire allocation of $200.00 worth of featuring and other services (I didn't) it cost me $10 total.
BidVille does have Buyers... but you have to make yourself visible. BidVille is not responsible for your lack of sales.
And, btw... you may need to do a little computer maintenance. I don't have a problem with BidVille being slow, and in fact was immediately impressed with the picture upload speed after having used mostly Yahoo for two years.
posted on July 2, 2001 11:34:53 PM newHow much did it cost you to sell your $4 to $6 items on eBay?
Well when I sell one at a time it is .30 to list it. Normally I sell 60% at the $4.25. When the auction closes I get a 5% fee assessed by eBay or .2125 cents. I would say it cost me .51 cents. Dim, RB you may want to jump in and check my math here I purchase this item currently at $1.10 and pay about .05 in shipping costs to get it to my door. My cost would then be $1.15? Again correct me if I am wrong. So from the sale I realize a profit of 4.25-.51-1.15 or 2.59 per item. Using the worst case numbers. Lets leave PayPal out of this cause I know I would be loosing money if the person paid that way.
This item is the one I put out at $1.00 for 10 days. Now the auction I used was a simple one and it had no picture. I used AT for the first time on Bidville and messed it up. It went in where it should of and the description was correct. I left it alone cause I expected it would sell just that way.
BidVille does have Buyers... but you have to make yourself visible. BidVille is not responsible for your lack of sales
This statement confuses me. BidVille does not have the draw of the type of bidders for my type item. I sell quality new items. Was one of the few that did not sell overpriced junk in the Computer Category.
My items were actually listed at .25 cents below the starting bid on eBay. I promoted Bidville along with ePier and 321Gone in over 1500 EOA messages. I still do I just do not have items on there.
I have sold more items on ePier and 321Gone in less time than I have on Bidville. Granted this is not a lot of items since none of the sites have traffic. Why I do not know, exact same items. Same price in most cases.
This is my first time back here in the Basement for some time now. I read a few threads about Bidville being a parking lot. That might be it I don't know. It looks like if I had sports stuff or beanie babies I would be in a group with lots of listings. The computer items a meager and I can see why no one would want to come back to that.
And, btw... you may need to do a little computer maintenance. I don't have a problem with BidVille being slow, and in fact was immediately impressed with the picture upload speed after having used mostly Yahoo for two years.
You directed this at me, it was meant for someone else.
Well I can see why I do not come down here any more. I am off to the ePay side as you call it. The free auction sites are just not mature enough to talk about growth, they just defend what little bit they have.
While looking at some other messages here I think I saw where you an officer of some type at Bidville. Well good luck and one bit of advice. Don't spend all your time down here arguing with these folks you look just as bad as they do with your comments I have seen. Be more positive, instead of driving these people away invite them to come back and try it again.
One more thing and this applies to another thread actually. I do not know DimView I only see posts with stats in them and mainly in the Yahoo forum which I sometimes go into. I appreciate them right or wrong. Argue all you want about what the percentage and how it was arrived at, what counts is the methodology is applied the same every time to create a trend. Maybe that trend is not what your looking for but it is for someone.
posted on July 3, 2001 06:08:52 AM new
lanefamily >
Well when I sell one at a time it is .30 to list it. Normally I sell 60% at the $4.25. When the auction closes I get a 5% fee assessed by eBay or .2125 cents. I would say it cost me .51 cents. Dim, RB you may want to jump in and check my math here I purchase this item currently at $1.10 and pay about .05 in shipping costs to get it to my door. My cost would then be $1.15? Again correct me if I am wrong. So from the sale I realize a profit of 4.25-.51-1.15 or 2.59 per item.
Looks right to me.
To summarize:
Bidville. Listing fee is zero. Final value fee is zero. No bids so sale price is ZERO. So your profit is ZERO.
Few pageviewers and even fewer bidders.
eBay. Listing fee is 30 cents. Final value fee is some 25 cents. Get some bids so the sale price is some $4.25. Leaves you with a profit of some $2.50.
Lots of pageviews and bidders.
Yup, looks right to me.
One more thing and this applies to another thread actually. I do not know DimView I only see posts with stats in them and mainly in the Yahoo forum which I sometimes go into. I appreciate them right or wrong. Argue all you want about what the percentage and how it was arrived at, what counts is the methodology is applied the same every time to create a trend. Maybe that trend is not what your looking for but it is for someone.
I find the Bidville CheerLeaders quite comical. They they ridicule my 0.8% estimate, I asked for their outright guess, without doing any math, of what they thought the sell-through rate was. Not one ventured a guess.
Glad you also mentioned the trend. There was a thread about that as well a few weeks ago. I stated that if the "sell-through rate" trend was flat, an auctionsite was showing ZERO GROWTH.
Bidville has a flat "sell-through rate" and ZERO GROWTH.
posted on July 3, 2001 06:32:20 AM new
I am no one at BidVille other than a Seller and sometimes Buyer. My question is WHY do the smaller sites HAVE to constantly defend themselves against the same group of people here?
You are correct about the computer comment.. it's not for you.
It's disturbing to believe that speaking up against the constant misrepresentations of BidVille is considered wrong. If your auction was not represented with a picture or was messed up in other ways.. why would you expect a bid? You blast BidVille for the failure of one auction?
dimview... because you are the numbers man you have a responsibility to rise above it all. You recently came under fire for bogus information and it seems you are on the attack now. You should take your little band of Bashers and look for a new hobby because you are exposing your true nature for all to see.
Maybe the people you asked about BidVille's Sell-thru rate were hesitant to make a guess because it would be INACCURATE, much like your skewed statistics.
posted on July 3, 2001 06:53:57 AM new
cuff >
dimview... because you are the numbers man you have a responsibility to rise above it all. You recently came under fire for bogus information and it seems you are on the attack now. You should take your little band of Bashers and look for a new hobby because you are exposing your true nature for all to see.
Isn't it surprising that my estimated 0.8% sell-through rate which required making assumptions differed from the reported 1.4% sell-through rate which had the actual data. That's an error rate of 42%.
Bidville CheerLeaders are not really concerned about an error rate, but they are using it in an attempt to deflect attention from the real issue that is the sell-through rate.
posted on July 3, 2001 07:09:20 AM new
NOW you're getting it! The Sell-thru rate means absolutely NOTHING when comparing to established sites such as Yahoo or eBay. Especially when you are just estimating.
BTW... I had to incessantly relist on Yahoo for two years and I had a MUCH better sell-thru rate on Yahoo than eBay.
I would like to see some statistics showing just the smaller sites. That would be more helpful than your constant ridiculous comparison's of small sites with the existing Giants.
posted on July 3, 2001 07:18:37 AM new
cuff >
NOW you're getting it! The Sell-thru rate means absolutely NOTHING when comparing to established sites such as Yahoo or eBay. Especially when you are just estimating.
And just how did you arrive at *that* conclusion?
I would like to see some statistics showing just the smaller sites. That would be more helpful than your constant ridiculous comparison's of small sites with the existing Giants.
Now read this, I mean REALLY READ THIS.
First, put down your pompom, it might get in the way of the screen.
Okay, are you ready?
To date I have posted sell-through rates for Bidville, ePier (you might want to take a few moments and see if you can find the thread marked "Epier listings and sell-through rate - 02-Jul-2001" ) and a couple others.
Let's look at them.
ePier 1.8%
Bidville 1.4%
So the sell-through rate at ePier surpasses Bidville by
1.8 / 1.4 = 0.286 x 10 = 28.6%
Neither are impressive, but still there's more selling (as a percentage) going on at ePier than Bidville.
posted on July 3, 2001 07:36:46 AM new
The best posts to read on the Bidville site are the 'ebay must be getting scared of Bidville' type of posts. That's hillarious and reflects the posters mindset on the matter. Those 6,000 sold items per week must have ebay terrified.
posted on July 3, 2001 07:48:07 AM new
It's time for me to put my 2 cents in. I am a little auction seller who has been with Bidville since Yahoo put about their "big change". When I first came to Bidville, I was also trying out 4 other auction sites. I liked Bidville and Epier the best. Yes, it is true that the sell through rate is very very low. I have over 100 items listed on BV. The mosts "views" I ever received was during the $1 sale. I did get a few purchases of my $1 items and 2 larger items and that was it.
In my opinion, for what it's worth, Bidville is new and FREE to list. This has has brought in the sellers like myself. Bidville is where Yahoo auctions were about a year ago. Now, all BV needs to do is to advertise to get the buyers in there to start buying. The sellers try very hard to do this but it impossible for sellers to do a media campaign. That needs to come from the BV staff.
The $1 sale idea came from one of the seller. A bunch of sellers agreed and supported the idea, asked for BV management's support and they got it. (I think this was amazing) I have never seen anything like that before. THIS is one of the reasons that I want to stick with BV. It has potential. I think now is the time to start the advertising or all the hard work the sellers and BV manangement have done, might go down the tubes.
Ebay's free listing day came and I listed 6 items. One has sold so far. For right now, I think I will list on Ebay as well as BV as I desperately need to move this stuff but I am still keeping the majority of my listings on BV.
The above is the humble opinion of a small time auction seller with no website of her own.
posted on July 3, 2001 08:05:40 AM new
"Give or take a couple thousand"
Or .0417567 %
"The sellers try very hard to do this but it impossible for sellers to do a media campaign. That needs to come from the BV staff."
I commend the sellers for their enthusiasm and efforts. The BV "staff", OTOH, are not interested in promoting their own site and they have made that very clear on their own forums. Besides, advertising would require bucks and I don't think BV has any
posted on July 3, 2001 08:34:10 AM new
Lets have a storytime to sooth the tempers. I remember turning 40 and getting my first computer. I joined every chat site a going. Loved it. I had a neighbor who sold on E-Bay, he said as much as you collect and sell sportcards. You should try E-Bay. I pondered the notion for awhile, so then I tried to register. They said I needed a credit card. I apply for a MasterCard, then receive it shortly there after. I go back to E-Bay to register. They tell me my brand new, never before used credit card is no good. So after telling them to "stick it" I go to Yahoo. I register, my credit card "sales" right through. I sold sportscards for one year at Yahoo. Then they wanted listing fee's. I was spending anywhere from $40 to $60.00 a month featuring items. I keep tabs on Yahoo, the big "Power Sellers" has the place for their self. I have noticed lots of "new" seller's with very few ratings. But what the heck! So I was closing shop, and somebody sent me an e-mail telling me about "Bidville". So I go list a few items, not one measley hit in 2 weeks. Then I got my first bid, then another, and the rest is history. Do I like Bidville. Darn tootin I do. Why? Because I feel they will grow with time. Sure they ain't no E-Bay or Yahoo. But that is good. Because when you get that big "Numbers" is the only thing going for them. I know that when I have contacted C.S. at Bidville, I received a written reply within a couple of hours. What did I get at Yahoo? An automated e-mail saying the same crap each time. I look at auction sites, kind of like I do my banking. I go for the "Free Checking" "Customer Service" A bank "Prez" that will come out to the lobby and speak to me. If my account is insufficent by a couple of dollars they run it on through. And I also look for a bank that doesn't belong to a "Large" chain. Now I could go to the larger bank, where my money will draw more interest, but I also get gouged $17.50 a pop for "Insufficent Funds". And the bank "Prez" is in a New York penthouse over looking Manhatten. So I do believe "Bidville" is a contender in many ways. I have explained a few. And back to the "Warehouse Syndrome" Now tell me the big boy's don't have some "Warehousing" going on. And I'll kiss your "Grits". I love "Bidville" and I do wish they would pay me. But they don't. I know I will get Bashed! Trashed! and even Thrashed! for posting this but I can take it. I'm a BidBoy! Hillbilly
posted on July 3, 2001 08:52:18 AM new
RB >
I commend the sellers for their enthusiasm and efforts. The BV "staff", OTOH, are not interested in promoting their own site and they have made that very clear on their own forums. Besides, advertising would require bucks and I don't think BV has any
Agreed. That's why I wonder about the basis on which some are talking about Bidville being a "contender" or having "potential".
Bidville is a free site, there's no listing fees and no final value fees. There only source of revenue is from the sale of Premier and Premier Plus memberships, the payment for features paid outright by non-members, and advertising revenue.
Bidville has 660,000 listings. It also has a sell-through rate of 1.4% and a relisting rate of 93%.
So in a few pageviews and even fewer bidders environment why would Bidville's owners want to divert their cash flow into an advertising campaign for their auctionsite/inventory-warehouse-site.
posted on July 3, 2001 09:12:44 AM new
Dim, I get it! Bidville is content to be a parking lot and let the members promote the site because it's happy with the limited money that comes into the site. Could be just some "extra" money coming in. It does sometime seem that RB states in some posts ... just a hobby for the Prez and his staff. The staff may be just a few people putting in a few hours after working their regular jobs. If all the servers are already paid for the earlier web sites started by the Prez than that expense is almost taken care of, other than maintenance.
Shrewd move to get a few thousand extra dollars a month?
posted on July 3, 2001 10:05:19 AM new
The items pulled from Bidville due to their receiving ZERO bids at Bidville and moved over to eBay during their free listing day continue to do well.
Five bids on 19 items, or 26%. First item, one bid at $9.95; second item, one bid at $4.00; third item, started bidding at $4.00, but have five bids at $8.50; third item, one bid at $4.00; fourth item, one bid at $8.00.
And still two days to go.
Let me give you my $1-SALE at Bidville numbers too.
Three bids on 19 items, or 16%. All three items received a single bid, for total sales of $3.
posted on July 3, 2001 10:24:24 AM new
bidsbids ... "Shrewd move to get a few thousand extra dollars a month?"
Although that may upset some of the BV fans who are/were really hoping to get rich, or at least make a living by selling on Bidville, that explanation of the reason for Bidville's existence works for me
posted on July 3, 2001 11:22:30 AM new
gottaknow88 >
You solicited hundreds of comments over 4 days to come to the brilliant conclusion that eBay's sell through is much better than BV's. Well done.
At least you gave cuff at chuckle. She's already giggly now that Bidville reported that whopping 1.4% sell-through rate.
Had you and the other Bidville CheerLeaders actually read the threads dealing with some other "alternative auction sites" you would know that the sell-through rates rank
