posted on July 27, 2001 09:43:59 PM new
I see it cutting out all those people who are paying nothing, listing 100's of items with 99 relists and then most likely using those images on other sites to sell,using Bidville as their hosting site.
I am all for it...I have the premier service and it's the cheapest 10 bucks a month I spend. I am able to list as much as I want and can feature them on my site, along with a feature on the home page once in awhile.
I will more than likely look at a persons featured items than to just go thru their lists trying to read something. A picture is worth a 1000 words folks.
I like being able to list and end an item,the time of day I want it to end also.
Most are reading it all wrong, like Bidville is doing them in. They are only asking for a hosting fee, not a listing fee. And it's not easy to find a site thats not asking for a fee anymore.
Of course if you have Aol you can get lots of free space to host your pictures, and I'm sure there are other ISP's offering the same thing...
I'm saying Bravo Bidville, it's a step forward not backwards.
Ol bitty sounding off with her opinion !!!
Joan
http://www.geocities.com/justjoansetc/
posted on July 27, 2001 10:31:39 PM new
justjoan Ya Ol bitty
I have to agree with you. The amount of idems under $1 are out of hand. Many are trading cards and the computer hardrive space to store 1000's of .pic's of trading cards cost a heck of a lot more than the cards themselves.
posted on July 28, 2001 02:17:18 AM new
Yes, the site pays the same for the bandwith whether the pic is of a 5 cent card or a million $ jewel.
Since there are 354,238 trading card auctions I'd bet most card sellers have several hundred to thousands of ads each. For those using BV to host photos it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to pay $5 than to take the time & energy to move their thousands of images offsite then have to edit every auction. Many of them may already use an offsite host or don't have pics so I don't see the charge really cutting out many cards.
Joan
We're not allowed to paste from other boards here but the Prez himself called this a step backwards. You are of course entitled to your opinion of disagreeing with him.
I'm not prepared to speculate how many if any current ads would be lost over this change. I think the stronger effect could be detering new users. When they click they have a pic on their PC but get a message they must pay to upload it I doubt they'd hang around. Not many people would be willing to pay a site they haven't made any money from yet. If they already have a host with their pics set up it might not be an issue, that's difficult to speculate too. In any case, the front page numbers will be interesting to monitor.
posted on July 28, 2001 05:45:59 AM new
Well, I think it is a big step backward. What do sellers get for the membership? Increased advertising? LOL All of the sellers have worked very hard to try to bring buyers to the site. I realize Bidville works behind the scenes, but they have never advertised, to my knowledge. I will not cheerlead for them any longer.
posted on July 28, 2001 06:15:30 AM new
I personally dont see this as good or bad they are not getting even or cutting any one off there is plenty of free hsting space for photos on the net and there aree even many auction items that dont really requier a picture.
but ask your self this is they arent useing there HD space forthre auctions what are they useing it for ??!!?!?!?!?
posted on July 28, 2001 07:11:31 AM new
gmileske >
I have to agree with you. The amount of idems under $1 are out of hand. Many are trading cards and the computer hardrive space to store 1000's of .pic's of trading cards cost a heck of a lot more than the cards themselves.
Bidville right now has 702,467 listings of which there are 366,419 sportscards listings, or 52.2%.
Bidville is also "sponsoring" some sort of upcoming sale of sportscards.
Why would Bidville pull the rug out from under its sportscards auction sellers giving them little time to locate another image host, upload images, and rework all their auctions? Or have they been hosting their images elsewhere from the get-go?
posted on July 28, 2001 07:23:41 AM new
You can certainly tell when BV users talk about BV's sportscard auctions and they have not checked them out very extensively. Out of all of those 340,000+ sportscard auctions there are only a few photos posted percentwise. The average auction description including the seller's TOS is only a sentence or two.
A few of the BV seller's commented on the BV imagine hosting message board threads about the poor photo quality and size limitation there, not to mention photos to disappear on a regular basis. The image hosting at BV is nothing to brag about.
The whole BV operation is rather amateurish and bush league in many aspects.
It is a great place to make friends and have fun though!
posted on July 28, 2001 07:51:33 AM new
I'm one of the few who disagree with the Prez when he says it's a step backwards. I'm with Joan, and think it's a good thing. There's folks saying BV broke it's promise about free forever...but it's still free...no listing fees, no FVF, to me, that's free! the change in the hosting service is a minor one, it becomes a "perk" for folks who pay for the bells and whistles. If your not premier, use off-site hosting...I simply don't understand all the bru-ha-ha (whining)
posted on July 28, 2001 08:02:29 AM new
Actually Bidville never promised no one they would be free for ever.
They did offer people who register buy march of this year that there listing would be free to them for ever but never promised free selling for ever.
Back in january when yahoo started chargeing and the bidville talk started they made it very clear they were indeed planing on haveing fees to sell.
but the garentee made to people who registered by march was that there listing would be free there is more cost to selling then listing fees and chargeing for picture hosting is the wiser of the fees moves they could make at this point.
I stopped listing items on bidville for a while now because of the lack of veiws and bids I cant afford to spend time takeing picture writeing listing and relisting item for one bid every six months which is what bidvilles record with me is at this time.
posted on July 28, 2001 08:20:07 AM new
The picture hosting fee will not stop 1 cent cards they will just increase pay $5 to $10 and instead of listing 50 1 cent cards now you list 10,000 1 cent cards get more listings up to help pay for the $5 to $10 amonth charge am I the only one that see's that??? The image hosting fee was applyed to the $5 to $10 special that bidville is running like bidvilles promise to be free forever this special that saves its members between 75% to 90% will end maby today maby tomarrow maby next month maby next year but it will end what will it be costing you to have your images hosted at bidville then. Read the banner on the front page the $5 to $10 premier membership is a special bidville is offering to help members save 75% to 90% like all special it will be canceled some day and you will have to pay full price.
I doubt Bidville's 75-90% discount memebership will end anytime soon. Why would they do such a thing: the whole point is to drive in steady monthly sales. If they cancel it, people would pay as they go. Also, the only main reason why I'm already a premier member is because I get $100 credit for just $10. If they end this I would end my memebership tommorrow.
Bidvile's president knows that this hosting image thing is not a "good" thing, but somethings have to be done. Now changing the discount would be downright stupid at this time.
posted on July 28, 2001 08:49:13 AM new
This membership is not for listing on bidville, it's a membership for listing YOUR IMAGES on BIDVIlle.
You can still list away with or without pictures at no cost, you can list with pics and use your own hosting spot for the pics, and it's still FREE.
I'm thrilled to have an easy place to spend 10 bucks a month to host my pictures at.
I have a ton of items, that have descriptions and pictures in my own folder on my hard drive and I know the space they use up, and I'm always adding. So I can well imagine the space used on Bidville to host those pictures.
Before I went to membership, I had all pictures but very little looking, once I had pictures in a gallery for them to look at the hits and the buys are coming around more now.
I remember the very very lean days after E said it was only a Buck and I went to Y.
So I'm willing to work with Bidville on this, and it's still the cheapest game in town.
I'll get off my soapbox now,with cane in hand, crotchity old legs don't work as well as they used to!!!!!!!!!!!
posted on July 28, 2001 08:19:28 PM new
Something nobody has brought up in all the whining, complaining, moaning, crying or what ever you call it, is the fact that,
Now all those people that listed their items using Bidville's free hosting image spot, listed the item for 30 days, and 99 relists, and then I'm SURE went else where and sold the items using Bidville as their host, are scrambling to find a place now.
I truly feel Bidville had to do something to get all the overload of pictures off their site. As many have said, people signed up listed a ton of stuff and then just disappeared...
I still say this is GOOOOOD for Bidville and will help us all in the long run..
Those that choose to leave Bidville I think are going to be sorry...but that's their option...
And I don't think selling anyhthing under a buck or over 1000 bucks makes one diddly of a difference and shouldn't. One mans stuff is another mans cravings I think. Though I must say I would like to have those 1000 buck items to sell all the time.
I'm rambling again. You do babble a lot as you grow older.
posted on July 29, 2001 05:42:44 AM newNow all those people that listed their items using Bidville's free hosting image spot, listed the item for 30 days, and 99 relists, and then I'm SURE went else where and sold the items using Bidville as their host, are scrambling to find a place now.
I would think that only a small fraction of the 99 relist inventory warehousers even know that their long ago abandoned listings will be minus images in another 30 days.
Its been pointed out that for images uploaded before April 1 of this year are systematically deleted if not viewed in a 90 day period, so there's already thousands of red X listings there now.
Clearly, Bidville had numerous opportunities to address the 99 relist issue yet that option continues today, and as a consequence there will soon be tens of thousands of red X listings popping up all over the place.
It must be quite a business plan over there at Bidville.
posted on July 29, 2001 05:46:19 AM new
Quote: "This membership is not for listing on bidville, it's a membership for listing YOUR IMAGES on BIDVIlle."
Actually, the credits you receive when you become a Premier or Premier Plus member can be used for any listing enhancement - bold, featured category, featured, gallery, etc. Personally I feel it's a great bargain; although I'm not listing there much now, my credits do not expire so I can build them up for the busy fall & winter season.
posted on July 29, 2001 08:22:26 AM new
Thanks for the reminder, I need to get over there and list away, using my feature bucks.
Anybody who can read on the message board should read the answer the prez gave to some of the questions being asked.
He even said if you don't feel Bidville is working for you, then try elsewhere.
I like the site, really do. People friendly.
Joan
http://www.geocities.com/justjoansetc/
posted on July 29, 2001 08:30:56 AM new
I quite agree, sellers should get over there right away and upload listings like there's no tomorrow. With the number of listings in decline since the "announcement", a minor issue, it seemed pretty clear to me that sellers were just extremely busy packaging up their robust sales from last week.
I'm sure they'll all be taking piles of packages to the post office tomorrow morning.
posted on July 29, 2001 08:56:16 AM new
Yeah your right that sounds very people friendly for sure, I just love when they say if you dont like it go some where else.
posted on July 29, 2001 10:52:56 AM new
Joan, I don't use BV and I'm not criticizing you, but your argument is the same one people used when supporting Yahoo's new fees, eBay's fee increases, etc. That it would cut down on the "crap" listings. Also, I think it's perfectly acceptable to charge fees for a service. On the other hand, is this just the first hole in the dike that will end up being a flood of new fees?
Okay, I'm jaded, but when will sellers realize that nobody, including BidVille, is going to ride up like a knight in shining armor and rescue them from eBay? I'm afraid that no corporate auction site can escape the "it's only a dollar (for you) [(and a million dollars for me!)] brand of capitalist thinking.
. Internet Pioneers
posted on July 29, 2001 12:23:50 PM new
Twinsoft you say is this a new trend ???
The answer is yes it is we have seen it starting a while back Honest charges for counter and photo hoting AW is charge goto is chargeing ebay charges for hosting more then one picture.
it is a very scary trend for anyone who knows anything about how webhosting works Any one looking at the trend in the cost of hosting and internet connection which is all dropping getting less yet these people keep dreaming up new ways to charge these sites are not only chargeing fees once but they are double and triple dipping.
posted on July 29, 2001 01:36:06 PM new
I applaud your ideas of getting your own web site(s) running and believe it will give you a great education about what goes on on the other side of the fence. I imagine twinsoft could already say a thing or two about that.
I have read comments like "anyone can do it, you just get this free script and plop it on a server and you have your own auction site in 15 minutes". That's true. Now develop a central registration system that everyone can use in a distributed network. Hmmm... more than 15 minutes. And a common feedback system. And a search engine to tie it all together. And make sure you can handle a million+ hits a day. And ...
If you think that the primary expense of running a web site is bandwidth or disk space, you still have some learnin' ahead of you. It costs us more to plan and install a server upgrade than it does to buy the hardware. Hardware and bandwidth are cheap. The cost of people to make things hum and keep them humming is not going down folks.
Well it came up to 700,067. I still dont see why bidville doesnt advertise. How much can a ad cost in a paper? They should invest in a don lapre kit lol.
posted on July 29, 2001 09:02:43 PM new
Theres a difference in this charge that Bidville started, than what Yahoo or ebay did.
On Bidville, they still offer you listing for free, if you use your own hosting.
Sign for the premier and get hosting on their site for pictures, along with gallery, time of day etc etc.
Now Y just said ok you are going to pay a listing fee, no ans ifs or buts.
E said well gee it's only a buck. And if you list now on their site, they offer I lost track of a bunch of stuff but wnat a buck for every bit of it.
so I see Bidville as an easy way to do it.
And yes I'm getting more sales as the site is being found.
In fact more than on Y and I have listed there for a long time.
Off my soap box, who next wants to get on and say something.
Joan
http://www.geocities.com/justjoansetc/
posted on July 29, 2001 10:55:05 PM new
Hi, Jim. Good to see you posting again!
Internet Pioneers is no big whoop, though it has some potential. It really depends on where users want to go with it.
When we opened on July 4, we immediately discovered a bug that somehow escaped three weeks of beta testing. I had a feeling in my stomach kind of like when an elevator drops down too quickly. Whoops! But I stripped down the code and found the bug. Now everything is running pretty smoothly.
By the way, this week we had a 10% sell-through rate. More members are joining, and I hope to see more co-op discussion and people sharing their ideas. Really, the discussion is the fun part, and seeing the different, creative ideas that people come up with.
posted on July 30, 2001 07:58:58 AM newWell it came up to 700,067. I still dont see why bidville doesnt advertise. How much can a ad cost in a paper?
697,144 listings right now, so I guess that means it went back down.
I cannot find a single reason why Bidville would want to advertise an auctionsite dominated by items of which the overwhelming majority has no or little market. Perhaps if auction sellers posted some "quality" items there might be a reason to place an advertisment or two.
posted on July 30, 2001 09:18:45 AM new
Bravo to Bidville and good thinking.
I see the prez made to revisions to the free hosting of pictures.
They are going to let you have 20 free per month, so you can stay free if you want, and this helps new time sellers.
but the best is letting the pictures be bigger than that 50kb. That' is going to make a big difference in pictures for me.
I like the way this site listens and works with the sellers, and I'm sure the buyers.
And I never said CRAP listings, I said the over and over 99 times listings. I find all items listed are interesting, and there are higher end items for sale, not just crap as everybody seems to think.
Not everybody can afford to buy the big ticket items, and so why shouldn't there be low end items for them to buy also.
I'm just rambling,
posted on July 30, 2001 09:51:26 AM new
Since these news broke on friday the listings in bidville has dropped by 8,864 listings. Bidville was picking up 1,000 to 1,500 new listings a day so that is a big drop. I have not reads the offer to give the sellers 20 free images on there listings but will look into it. The Prez watches the board but he dont real care what the sellers like or dont like JMO. If he has offered some free Image hosting it is because he has watched his numbers drop and he hopes this will stop people from leaveing "Well he wanted more bandwith he is getting it" if the drop keeps going he is going to have a lot of freed up space. That drop is mainly because the sellers dont trust bidville anymore even most of the ones that are staying dont trust bidville and have said it over and over "Me being one". Bidville members were only informed about the membership charge when another seller brong it to the board after that bidville broke the news then said take it or leave it "In other words if you dont like it move" well some sellers moved and are still moveing.
It was dirty pool and if they dont email the members that dont read the board these members will not know about the charge till the pictures are deleted in September.
Bidvilles stand was You have 5 days to pay me $5 to $10 or you can't up load pictures on bidville to bidville listings after that you have 30 and if you dont pay kiss your bidville pictures goodby no problem if you only have 10 auctions to redo but if you have 1,000 to 2,000 then it is a big pain. So to me if you have alot of pictures hosted by bidville you pay the blackmail but if sells dont increase or bidville takes my money and spends it fighting paypal in court "Which is what I believe this is why they need this money in a hurry" and I see no advertiseing then I will have lost my investment and I will leave. For me now bidville is like all the other auctions site and if I am going to put money into it I better get a return. All the above is my opinion.
[ edited by telwil on Jul 30, 2001 09:55 AM ]
[ edited by telwil on Jul 30, 2001 09:57 AM ]
