posted on March 7, 2001 01:24:54 PM new
New Community/Message boards up on Bidville.
Even includes a category for "Other Auction Sites". Nice change from all the sites who forbid discussing other sites on their forums. Everyone should take a lesson from Bidville and lighten up.
posted on March 7, 2001 05:48:51 PM new
RB "used angel wings and halos laying around?"
Nope the are in use I hope. However, I'd bet you got them already. Check storage.
Keep smiling and looking on the sunny side.
posted on March 8, 2001 04:42:04 PM new
About the "Why BidVille?" question:
- The look and feel of the site isn't a second-rate eBay ripoff like some of the other auction sites.
- The initial idea for the site (AuxPal) was innovative and would have been great if they'd cleared it with PayPal up front, LOL.
- The site owners seem genuine and responsive.
I'm impressed with BidVille's rate of growth and hope it keeps on going! It would certainly be worth future fees if its user base becomes large and reliable like eBay's.
posted on March 8, 2001 05:42:06 PM new
From what I have read on this board from the BidVille CEO, things were agreed upon by Paypal and they backed out of the agreement in the midnight hour. They are innovative and they will continue to grow. At least they aren't buying a PT cruiser to cross the U.S. passing outs balloons and such! LOL
My motive? very simple. Discussion and debate. If you were wondering if I have some sort of hidden financial ties to another auction, or something like that, rest assured I don't.
posted on March 9, 2001 06:08:33 PM new
The question is not whether Bidville will eventually start charing fees. Of course they will.
The question is whether they will charge listing fees. And that would be about the stupidist move that they could make. Not because they "owe it" to their users to provide free listings, but because the Yahoo experience has dramatically proven that this is a sure-fire way to kill an auction site.
Bidville already charges for featured auctions (though they've given lots of free credits.) They will eventually start charing an FVF. It's no more possible to run a free auction site forever than it is to build a car based on perpetual motion.
posted on March 10, 2001 08:09:42 AM new
<<<"If you were wondering if I have some sort of hidden financial ties to another auction, or something like that, rest assured I don't.">>>
Now there's a thought that never actually crossd my mind. Of course, NO FINANCIAL TIES, would mean that you don't list auctions anywhere that may sell for $$.
I never did mean to imply that you were in the employ of another auction site, or any company with anything to do with internet auctions.
I stated the questions I did because I was genuinely puzzled, still am.
posted on March 10, 2001 12:47:43 PM new
jim: "NO FINANCIAL TIES, would mean that you don't list auctions anywhere that may sell for $$."
No Jim, you missed the KEY word: "hidden". I have no HIDDEN financial ties. Of course I sell (a few) things in auctions, but those are easily and publically visible (and in any case have no impact on my behavior here, since they are but a tiny portion of my net disposable income). The rather OBVIOUS interpretation of what I said was that I was not an EMPLOYEE nor STOCKHOLDER of an auction company, such that I would somehow directly benefit from being critical of a potential competitor.
In any case, I don't know what else to say to help you understand that I like to "discuss and debate" issues here, which is clearly evident in my prior postings here.
posted on March 10, 2001 02:26:44 PM new
captainkirk writes:
>>No, don't list elsewhere just because bidville *might* impose fees. However, consider in advance the "more likely than not" possibility of bidville imposing fees of some sort, and whether you can live with them or not; if not, is it worth your while to establish yourself elsewhere or not?<<
Ofcourse it would depend on the type of fees and the rates. Bidville looks very promising and I don't know of any other sites that would be less inclined to charge fees in the future or are not already charging fees. I'm not sure what your point is. Are you trying to recommend another site or venue. I'm always open to new ideas.
posted on March 10, 2001 06:11:31 PM new
Thank you Sasoony. You obviously have found the words that I was unable too. These are the questions I am wondering and am not trying to make this confrontational between Captainkirk and myself. I am really just trying to figure out exactly what his/her message is.
posted on March 12, 2001 06:40:35 AM new
My message:
Some givens:
The owners of bidville have stated they intend to go public (IPO) this year.
IPOs require a source of revenue to succeed, otherwise investors won't buy the stock.
My question:
What is bidville's source of revenue?
If it will be fees, can bidville succeed as a NON-free auction, competing against ebay? So far they are doing ok as a FREE auction, but will sellers flee at the first sign of a fee?
If not fees, where will the $ come from? Advertising has disappeared as a viable sounce of funding.
I'm surprised you are having difficulty discerening my "message", since I've been essentially saying the same thing over and over. I'm almost getting bored of it myself!
Its a very simple question, really: what is bidville's business strategy to succeed in the online auction business? If you can't summarize it quickly and easily, that's often a sign of looming trouble.
Of course, this question is only important if sellers are looking for a long-term home. If you are a "gypsy" seller that can quickly move from auction to auction, to take advantage of the latest available venue, then no big deal. You'd just want to have contingency plans in place.
If anyone out there has the answers to these questions, please post them here. I'm dying to know.
posted on March 12, 2001 06:47:38 AM new
Cap'n ... I don't have the answers, but your questions are certainly not hard to understand. I believe many of the BidVille Charter Members (not the sports cards traders!) are asking themselves the same questions ...
posted on March 12, 2001 08:23:55 AM new
Just to help combat my perceived "pessimism", one role I can possibly see for bidville would be as a leading purveyor of items such as trading cards, stamps & coins, romance novels, etc. Attack a few categories, contentrate on getting buyers of these items, offer no listing fee (but probably have to have a largish FVF), but perhaps in these categories many sellers have a large inventory and can afford to relist for awhile until an item sells, counting on sales from items listed awhile ago to keep them going until the next item sells?
That's the kind of business strategy that might be both financially viable as well as not just attacking ebay head-on as yet another underfunded "me too" clone, destined for eventual demise (or perpetual mediocrity).
posted on March 12, 2001 09:29:55 AM new
"If it will be fees, can bidville succeed as a NON-free auction, competing against ebay?"
I'm reasonably sure Bidville (or Yahoo) can compete and attract eBay sellers who sell items in the $2 to $25 range.
I'm assuming Bidville can charge a flat monthly fee, or 5 cent to 10 cent listing fee, or FVF's only, and generate enough money to advertise and make a profit.
posted on March 12, 2001 09:52:01 AM new
That may be their best market niche to go for. Work on attracting higher-volume sellers who sell lower cost commodity-ish items like trading cards. Perhaps then the issue of fraud might not be important (let the scam artists inhabit other auctions and prey on computer and antique buyers), thus eliminating the need for a costly fraud/safeharbor organization. Low or monthly fees might mean lower billing/customer service costs, as well - less work on refunding individual auction fees, for example.
There's probably a market for bidville to inject itself into, as long as it focuses on achieving same.
It would be an interesting exercise if we had ebay's cost structure to design an effective business strategy. For example, how much do they spend on national advertising...and if you went primarily after a subset of categories (books, stamps, etc), could you substantially reduce that cost and still attract a lot of buyers and sellers in that market?
posted on March 12, 2001 01:00:47 PM newI'm reasonably sure Bidville (or Yahoo) can compete and attract eBay sellers who sell items in the $2 to $25 range.
I'm still willing to give BidVille its chance, it deserves it. I even posted a few new items today in that price range.
However, due to lack of shelf space, I've had to pull several of my auctions that have been just sitting there with no hits the last 3 months and relist them elsewhere. I've sold 2 of those items since yesterday on Yahoo after being absent from that site since they started charging (I have none of the credits many have).
It would be an interesting exercise if we had ebay's cost structure to design an effective business strategy. For example, how much do they spend on national advertising...and if you went primarily after a subset of categories (books, stamps, etc), could you substantially reduce that cost and still attract a lot of buyers and sellers in that market?
So far, I can't see that anything is attracting the book buyers. I have a link in my emails that go out to customers, but 6 sales last month out of about 100 items available just doesn't cut it.
I too was attracted to BidVille because of its ease of use and responsiveness of the staff. But the bottom line is, while I'll continue to support BidVille, I'll keep posting my auctions first where they move the best for me, which has always been eBay. Yahoo is starting to show some promise for me again, but it's too early to make a call on that one.
It doesn't make good business sense to have merchandise sitting on an auction site for 3 months when no one is looking at it. And if you take that same merchandise off BidVille, post it at Yahoo or eBay or (fill in the auction site of your choice here) and it sells within 24 hrs., well then, it just means your audience hasn't gotten to BidVille yet.
Under those circumstances, I would not pay fees of any kind to BidVille. Not until I start seeing those counter numbers go up and have some sales.
Keep smiling and looking on the sunny side.