posted on March 8, 2001 06:23:24 PM new
I am now doing my own auctions. Using my space on AOl (NICE quality!) and using other templates on another site. I have bought books on html and learning that quite nicely. I spent the last week "cramming".. I don't list that many auctions per day to require the scheduled launch. However, even doing them all myself, it takes about half the time(AW is SO slow) and they are ALL launched when I want them to be! I was just looking at the last few auctions I listed with AW and they are all over the place time-wise..I don't even know why I used this service!
I do think there is a mass exodus from AW. I spoke to two other people today that have moved to other services. These are not posters on these boards. The impact of this move on AW's part to charge a fvf is a terrible mistake.
One pertinent question is that since most posters here have been totally dismissed or ignored by AW, it does make one wonder what sort of customer service will be offered. I, for one, would not give my credit card info to any company that acts so cavalierly with its clients concerns.
Just my two cents worth.
I have already left the service, but I still enjoy the message boards.
posted on March 8, 2001 06:28:55 PM new
Why is it that people on AW's Yahoo! Auctions string are saying;
"...but Yahoo has been what I have been passionate about for nearly 3 years and they pulled the rug out from under me! Geez, I would go back if they would do FVF."
Is there a diference between a FVF on Yahoo! and a FVF charged by AW? This just doesn't make any 'cents' to me.
posted on March 8, 2001 06:42:50 PM new
jrodgers: My reason for not accepting the fvf is because AW is NOT an auction site and therefore not entitled to a percentage of any of my sales.
An upfront fee for their service, yes, by all means, but NOT a percentage of my sales.
Yahoo is an auction site.
That is what makes the difference for me...I don't know about anyone else.
posted on March 8, 2001 07:12:26 PM new
I agree with the group. I would not mind paying a flat fee per auction. A FVF however is going to be enough to make me discontinue using AW all together. With Ebay, PayPal, & CC charges I just can't afford another percentage based fee.
I am pleased that AW revised the cap to show they listen and sincerely hope a reasonable compromise can be found in this situation.
If anyone has a good Excel spreadsheet they use for Ebay please send me a copy. Thanks!
posted on March 8, 2001 08:02:27 PM new
Wow. I'm not a seller, so my only use of AW are these great message boards, so when it comes to the fees, I might be more objective (because I have no real stake in them). I have to say I'm amazed at the idea of charging an FVF.
Sure, AW helps create (and track, if chosen) auction items, but it is eBay who actually run the auction as auctioneers.
Excluding the tracking option, the metaphor that occurs to me is of someone wanting to get a sufficiently large piece of furniture to a RL auction, and knowing it will almost certainly sell, hiring a mover to get the piece there, only for the mover to demand a cut of the final bid value instead of a flat fee.
Other parties who get something resembling an FVF? All I can come up with at the moment are commissioned salespeople (not that the value of an individual item necessarily varies like in auctions, but total amount sold for a period of time does), who are employees of that company; lawyers; and... hmm, I'm sure there are some more, but I can't think of any (other than auctioneers, of course).
I get the feeling what's coming here is far stronger than other issues. Boycotts of eBay have run against its simply owning too much of the market. PayPal issues have gotten fairly strong responses, but there's always some begrudging "but it is so convenient" or "I don't like it but don't want to limit my customers" or "it has gotten too popular." I see enough such "begrudgement" on AW's flat fee, but I can't recall seeing one whit of that when it comes to the FVF.
From someone who doesn't have a stake when it comes to the fees, it looks like AW ought to repeal the FVF portion, and fast and in full. But that's JMO, FWIW.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
[ Edited slightly for greater clarity. ]
[ edited by dc9a320 on Mar 8, 2001 08:04 PM ]
posted on March 8, 2001 10:26:54 PM new
With what happened on Yahoo, I taught it might be usefull to have an idea of just how many auctions had AuctionWatch.com in the text. Below, is an estimation before the implementation of the fees. I also wanted to know where they were compared to their competitors. I did a search for the following keywords on eBay (see below).
AuctionWatch.com returns too many, if you search the site globally.
This is not a scientific method of comparing the different services.
Result: eBay Search for:
696000 AuctionWatch.com (estimation of at least, too many returned)
194147 AuctionAssistant
128431 Andale
_72064 GoTo Auctions
_16831 ManageAuctions
__8728 AuctionWorks
__5134 IAAP20 (AuctionAmigo)
__1191 Baypal
__1029 AuctionFlow
Breakdown of the Search for AuctionWatch.com
_24761 Antiques & Art
_36065 Books
_21950 Movies
_32805 Music
_32725 Business (Office & Industrial)
_61992 Clothing & Accessories
__9043 Coins
__8369 Stamps
159388 Collectibles
_13449 Computers | Network, IT
_11889 Dolls & Bears
_17770 Home & Garden
_25748 Jewelry, Gemstones
_18482 Photo | Electronics
_38842 Pottery & Glass
____48 Real Estate
_66726 Sports Memorabilia
_13088 Sports Goods (edited, counted exact number by sub-category)
___373 Tickets
___411 Travel
_49804 Toys
__5770 Hobbies A&C
__2983 Hobbies Trains
__2457 Hobbies Models
__7379 Hobbies Needlecrafts
___688 Hobbies Slot cars
___739 More Hobbies
_32583 Everything Else
696252 Search done on March 8, 2001
Keep in mind this is only an estimation. The total for each category changes constantly as it is searched.
It will be interesting to search these same keywords on March 25.
edited: alignment,ubb and adding corrected number for sports goods.
[ edited by AnonymousCoward on Mar 8, 2001 11:29 PM ]
posted on March 9, 2001 04:24:02 AM new
There should be NO FVF for anything under $40. We may as well just quit selling with all the fees and percentages everyone wants. This is going to ruin the auctions for the average person. What a shame, guess I am going to have to learn HTML myself.
posted on March 9, 2001 06:53:12 AM new
This has never bothered me because I don't use the service. I started out with my own FTT Pro and listed and hosted my own images. For awhile I used another service that just started charging so I quit them. Then I tried Bidbay hosting but never could get my money they were supposed to pay me for that, so I quit them. Now I am back to using my own service, it takes a little longer but is and always will be free. Plus I don't have to worry about someone accidently or intentionally dumping my images! I have never used the convenience of auction software. BTW, the Bidbay Ceo is laughing at this thread. Pot calling the kettle black maybe?
MEOW pft pft!!
>^,,^^,,^<
posted on March 9, 2001 09:08:12 AM new
Anonymouscoward .. interesting stats.
To take it one step further, I think one could 'speculate' that the MOST of the following, being lower-end items, will NOT be listed through AW if the FVF remains:
36065 Books
21950 Movies
32805 Music
61992 Clothing & Accessories
11889 Dolls & Bears
17770 Home & Garden
38842 Pottery & Glass
66726 Sports Memorabilia
13088 Sports Goods (edited, counted exact number by sub-category)
373 Tickets
411 Travel
49804 Toys
5770 Hobbies A&C
2983 Hobbies Trains
2457 Hobbies Models
7379 Hobbies Needlecrafts
688 Hobbies Slot cars
739 More Hobbies
... and let's say 50% (I think that's MORE than fair) of the following are probably not worth listing through AW with a FVF:
24761 Antiques & Art
32725 Business (Office & Industrial
159388 Collectibles
9043 Coins
8369 Stamps
13449 Computers | Network, IT
25748 Jewelry, Gemstones
18482 Photo | Electronics
32583 Everything Else
Probably in the FVF 'acceptable' range:
48 Real Estate
Hmmmm .. just my 'take' but maybe AW can become the official hosting site for real estate auctions!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five cents is fine! FVF? Forgedaboutit!
posted on March 9, 2001 10:58:00 AM new
well guess what? I just went to check out my pictures in the image hosting site. and above my pictures was a statement made by AW about the fees. What ticked me off was that in the statement, they said that if one chose to use the image and hosting only, they would have to sign up for the POWER PLAN . if i sign up for the standard plan or don't sign up period, i won't be able to access the image hosting sight. first of all I am not a power seller. i don't sell all the time. I use the old image hosting site because it's easier than all that newfangled stuff. to pay $200.00 a year for using image hosting here and there is ridiculus!! us little sellers don't have a leg to stand on!!!
posted on March 9, 2001 12:32:56 PM new
What I don't understand (among other things), if you sign up for the standard plan how can you manage your images if they deny access? Is image hosting not part of the standard plan? What am I missing here?
posted on March 9, 2001 03:39:25 PM new
AnonymousCoward
Like they aren't going to delete that add www to the front and .com to the back and u just gave eveyone a full list of AW competitors. Grab the list now guys it will be gone in the Flash.
thanks for the list there or one or 2 I didn't know about. I have decided though to use on offline program it doesn't leave me at the whims of places like this and I have been writing webpages for awhile but when I need to schedule it is a handy list to have.
posted on March 10, 2001 02:24:25 AM new
Well you people try and work it out with Auction Watch, as for me I have cleaned my room out and put out the cat. Have found several other sites I like two that I feel are much better then AW will make my mind up this weekend on what site to settle in! AW is getting to heavey handed on the messege board dont talk about this we dont like it dont say that it makes us look bad. It wont be long and they will tell you what to say almost do now. As for the fee's they make money with the ad's and by using us to advertise they just want more they look at ebay and foam at the mouth they can do so we can to milk the cow dry leave nothing for the calf. Well keep talking it will give them and the CEO of bidbay some thing to laugh at. I guess the decline of AW will be funny to some I am just sorry to see it. Hay AG & AG2 maby Wal-mart or K-mart will buy Auction Watch you think. To everone staying good luck you will need it, to everone going hope it dont take long to get back up and running on your new site.
posted on March 10, 2001 03:45:19 AM new
I'm mostly a buyer. I've read posts from other buyers that said something to the effect that they disagree with the FVF but it doesn't really affect them. I wonder who they (the buyers) think these fees will be passed on to.
IMO this fee will get everyone sooner or later. If I use the services and sell I pay it. If I buy, it will be tacked on to the opening bid.
posted on March 10, 2001 07:57:13 AM newIMO this fee will get everyone sooner or later. If I use the services and sell I pay it. If I buy, it will be tacked on to the opening bid.
Look for a good number of sellers to tack it onto their shipping price.
That should make for some lively "shipping gouge" threads.
posted on March 10, 2001 11:36:51 AM new
This is one of the MAIN reasons why others have come and gone on the net. AW, being greedy to get that extra nickle from the average Joe for a FVF, will follow suit. Beware..... Is there a charge for just logging onto their site next?
You guys developed a decent site for us to use and I'm willing to pay the small listing fee, but you will lose 25% of your current users at the start and another 25% after they get their first credit card statement. Those that hang around will find that the rates will be increased again just like eBay. Profits to be made in "volume" sales . You lose your users and you lose your business. I don't think anybody out here will really miss you. Trust me, there WILL be others.
posted on March 10, 2001 12:47:19 PM new
Try as I might, I still can't think of a single instance in which I'd be interested in paying AW a FVF. I can't think of any reason you'd think you were entitled to a FVF either.
Sorry, AW, in the future I'll be listing without you.
