posted on October 17, 2001 06:47:24 AM new
For quite some time I've been fence sitting and watching the different sites, how the PTB and the users interact, read threads here and refrained from commenting for the most part (for those that know me not commenting is definitely a challenge). I looked at stats, types of auctions, rules, and bickering between users both here and on other boards including the sites themselves. I've wondered just what it is that draws folks to a particular site. I came to the conclusion that the if a site is friendly and not out of control then users will flock. So my question in this thread is "How friendly is your site?"
I would certainly appreciate responses not be promotional but a serious discussion about the above.
posted on October 17, 2001 06:58:27 AM new
Hi Bill ...
I don't currently "have" a site where I buy and sell, but I do like Carnaby the best in terms of friendliness and user-to-user, management-to user respect. If that venue ever starts advertising and takes off, I will definitely try some listings there.
posted on October 17, 2001 08:09:03 AM new
I imagine that the best way to gage friendliness of alternative sites would be via Customer Service and Chat Rooms. Like Buzz just said, Carnaby has the best leadership and tech support and the chat rooms are controlled and not allowed to get out of control.
On the other hand, Bidville's management seems like a super liberal set of parents that allow their kids to do most anything they want on their site. That can be both good and bad at the same time. Sometimes that 'free reign' can breed spoiled kids and sometimes it can breed a great sense of community. Bidville, like it's CEO is an enigma but it can seem like a breath of fresh air after you've been on sites that rule with an iron hand.
posted on October 17, 2001 10:06:47 PM new
Very interesting topic. I don't have a site. In fact, I feel very homeless at the moment as far as auction sites are concerned.
I would say, though, that Carnaby has an absolutely excellent support team. They're always ready with an answer and work diligently to fix the problems.
Last summer I really enjoyed the 'freedom' at BidVille. However, just this evening I found out about the new 'verification' plot. This doesn't leave me feeling very good at all.
Within the next few weeks I'm going to have to start listing a bunch of auctions, both for myself and for my dad. At the moment I'm not even sure where I'm going to list them. Now that's a scary thought. I'll probably list most of his stuff on eBay because I know he'll get a decent price (and he really needs the money). I hate putting my stuff back up there but may some of it. I think I'll give eHammer a shot. I haven't heard much about it lately (haven't heard much about any auction site lately since I've been too busy with other things) but if previous reports still hold they'd sure be worth a shot.
One thing that really concerns me is all of these sites wanting my credit card number. It doesn't bother me to give it to some sites but there are many more to which I don't want to give out that info.
-----------------------------------
posted on October 18, 2001 08:36:45 AM new
Hello elecdata1,
Nice thread, thank you.
My alternate site of choice is sellyouritem.com. Their live support is very responsive, their features are just about everything I have hoped for from eBay since 1997 and their sense of community is what I first found at eBay in the early days.
They are advertising in my primary selling areas (along with other specialty areas) and, hopefully, that will increase the bidding activity on site.
Without being too promotional here, if folks are looking for a venue other than eBay, IMO, sellyouritem.com is worth taking a look at.
Phil
posted on October 18, 2001 08:47:23 AM new
The best that I have found recently is Itchybid, but all sites start out with excellent support and as they grow, all that I have used which is many, decrease their support rapidly until it is nearly nonexistant. It is quite easy to give excellent support to, say 100 users, which maybe only 10% need help from support. Most sites rely on other experienced users for the majority of help for newcomers, thus their discussion boards. I alway thought that this was the only reason for them.
posted on October 18, 2001 09:36:00 AM new
I went to Itchybid and was told I had to download IE to access the site. I think they're foolish as they're going to lose a vast number of users (sellers as well as bidders) by making that demand. I couldn't even get to the front page, but I sure did get their charity popup.
posted on October 18, 2001 10:44:40 AM new
opals4u,
How many sales have you made at itchybid?
=======================================
Based on the slapdown one of the representatives just gave another poster in the itchybid thread, I would say itchybid isn't friendly at all! Appearances are everything, especially when posting on behalf of a site.
posted on October 19, 2001 08:01:25 PM new
Support? Who cares about support?
What we really need is bidders on these alternative auction sites, not more "loving and hand holding support".
Unless I report someone on ebay, I rarely even DEAL with ebay support.
I vote for a site that offers REAL advertising dollars (conventional or otherwise) to attract BUYERS. Spending money on support, when there is NOTHING to support or very little to support makes little sense.
Sure have a support structure ready when the time comes to have something to support, but the auciton sites mentioned all have less than excellent numbers on the buyers side of things.
posted on October 19, 2001 09:26:49 PM new
I have looked at them all and we all can agree that the sites LACK bidders. Sellers JUMP on any new sites in hopes of new dreams. Buyers/bidders are a tougher breed to get over there.
Don't ask me what advertising to do. I am certainly not a marketing expert, but I do know you have to spend money to make money. You can't assume that just because we here on AW know a site exists that the rest of the WORLD knows it does.
Ebay was lucky in the fact it was one of the first in existence like itself. Sort of a grassroots build up and then WHAM a huge IPO when IPOs were popular.
Nowadays? I don't know. Seems a lot of people disagree with conventional advertising when it comes to websites, and many cannot agree on what the best unconventional method is right.
posted on October 20, 2001 08:28:44 AM new
Okay folks the topic is "How friendly is your site"? I understand how easily this thread could be derailed unintentionally, so as to not do that lets remember that even though we have many topics in this forum and the emotions can run high at times reconsider that there are many folks that DO read these threads and they may actually be interested in whether a site might or might not be friendly.
This is a serious discussion on the above topic and not about the in's and out's of auctionsites.
Bill (elecdata1 here and everywhere else)
[ edited by elecdata1 on Oct 20, 2001 08:30 AM ]
posted on October 20, 2001 09:43:08 AM new
toollady
I same amount of sales I have had on ePier and Carnaby over the past few weeks.
What sites have you done so well on lately? Maybe I should try them.
Maybe if you were not cutting down sites that you have not used people would have more interest in them. It appears to me that you have nothing good to say about any, so why are you even in the business?
I see no reason for anyone to be friendly to those that are continiously trying to tear others apart.
Just my observations.
kerrigirl:
You hit it right on the head. I think if there were only a single site, such as when eBay started, many of these sites would have no problem at all. But we can not compare today with how thing were 5 years ago and we have got to try to make the best of what we now have. What does anyone need of support, if nobody is there?
posted on October 20, 2001 11:49:46 AM new
I feel the need to clear the air here.
My questions are not to cut any site down. I believe the only site I have slammed and hard is Gegy and they aren't even a site yet. I watched that little drama unfold first hand. It was not pretty at all.
Comments are made, and I ask questions to get a sense of how others view different things about the second tier sites.
If my questions are offensive, then I'm sorry. They were not meant to be, at all.
posted on October 20, 2001 12:31:46 PM new
Sorry pattaylor,
I guess I did let myself get a little carried away, but when you are repeatedly asked questions that are obvisouly intended to agitate by the same user and you continue to try and answer them to the best of your ability - then you ask them a question and they do not even attempt to answer it does get a little annoying.
Typo:
[ edited by opals4u on Oct 20, 2001 12:37 PM ]
posted on October 20, 2001 12:51:48 PM new
I think we all understand the topic, it was just a natural progression of the subject. I think its fair to question the "support" of a site as an indicator of the "friendliness" of the site.
One thing that would be a judge of "friendliness" would be the "look" of the site and its structure. If the graphics and "feel" of the site suck, then its friendly nature is bound to be low. No one wants to sell on a badly designed site.
While a lot of them use the same navigation system (aka the same auction software scripts) their graphics are the difference in each.
Some people will agree, many may disagree with me, but HEY this is a discussion.
So let me give my two cents worth here:
Bidville.com: A total rip off of the paypal.com (we all know why) website and quite frankly bad graphics. The navigation is good however, and their discussion board is solid.
sellyouritem.com: Standard navigation system, and terrible graphics.
bargainandhaggle: Good graphics, and nice clean look. However, their navigation on the site, especially for sellers is a little awkward, it is hard to find the feedback area. They need a few more navigation options.
itchybid.com: Easy navigation, and somewhat decent graphics and look. Purple and orange... I don't know.
gegy.com: Well, they worked on their graphics looked, and I think they should have kept the green guy. I didn't see the beta auction site so I can't say on the navigation. Anyone else?
carnaby.com: Cleaned up their logo and their frontpage looks a lot cleaner. Standard auction site navigation.
auctionsaloon.com: Bad graphics, and jumbled up home page even though they are using standard auction site software. Not real great.
auctioncow.com: I like the cow graphics, and so far the look. Decent discussion board start, and excellent fraud assistance center. However, they have not opened their auction site so I don't know about navigation. I hope they don't screw up the look.
epier.com: Decent logo (though a ripoff of ebay) and graphics. Navigation is standard, but the site is too ebayish.
auctionaddict: HUGE annoying banner advertisement at the top of the site. Decent graphics, though the colors need work. Standard navigation.
bidbay.com: Standard navigation system, and a total ripoff of ebay on the look and feel. However, a decent attempt.
This is by far not all of them. I am sure I forgot a few hundred, but these are the most recently discussed ones. Several have good starts and solid foundations. However, I have to say none of them "invite" you in or have a friendly look. Even when gegy.com had that green guy, it was kinda of scary. bargainandhaggle has a good look, and is somewhat friendly, but that used car salesman smile...
posted on October 20, 2001 03:51:12 PM new
Epier - friendly people but it seems policy changes daily
Bidbay- love the site
Carnaby - too soon to tell but it has the makings of a great site. Easy listings and a great message board forum
Bidville - nice site design but ownership seems to enjoy running good sellers off the site. They want credit card info but they are not responsive to users. I would not trust them.
Auctionsaloon- a shill site for the porn industry
Auctionaddict- been around for awhile but rumor has it they offer little to no buyer protection
Pootah- probably the most friendly customer service but the site itself is useless
posted on October 20, 2001 06:58:01 PM new
I like a few sites. Particularly, ones that do not copy other sites' look & feel. I seem to get around pretty easily with eDeal Deal.com), Lycos(Auctions.Lycos.com) and Auctionweiser(Auctionweiser.com). Each of the offer a unique feature or features that the other sites just don't have. Lycos has a lot of sellers, and the format is straight forward, just like the other Fairmarket sites. eDeal is like a marketplace all in one. There support isn't that bad either. Support is live or via e-mail with Auctionweiser. They also offer a variety of different services that are an added feature.
ePier, Carnaby, BidVille, B@#B*^, and others are just copies of eBay, with no extra features or services to derive themselves from each other, or eBay.
It's just my opinion, but you guys can choose for yourselves.
posted on October 20, 2001 07:24:47 PM new
Very good question!
A few months ago, I would have said bidville was very friendly. Now, I won't go out of my way to say anything nice. I am very upset about the changes: the image hosting and now the verification. Not friendly gestures, at all.
Ebay, I have started listing a few items, not friendly at all, but at least you sell some items!
posted on October 20, 2001 07:45:31 PM new
Bidville really makes me sad. I had 600 items there at one time. Now I am down to 100 and I will not give them my credit card number. The attitude there is that the owner is beyond question. If I am going to trust him with my CC # let alone my money, I think the right to question comes with it. He seems to suspend anyone who has anything to say against him. It is his site but it is my money. Bidville is turning into Ebay without the bidders.
posted on October 20, 2001 08:14:20 PM new
pactsys you raised a great point - some of these sites have copied ebay totally. So, I don't know if they are friendly or not, I haven't tried them.
[ edited by AuctionPulse on Oct 20, 2001 08:16 PM ]
posted on October 20, 2001 10:01:12 PM new
Hello all,
I agree with some of the points that were brought up, but if is kind of difficult to tell the difference between sites that all look and act the same. Sites like, carnaby, sellyouritem, epier, bidville, etc. etc. etc. Do not really have anything to differ than the owners. It is also basically obvious that the majority of the sellers/buyers are all of us.
The worst part of the whole thing is that when they grow just a little bit, they think that they can do what ever they want, and they do not care about us... Do they know that we made them what they are? Guess not.
I like a few of sites for different reasons. The top three that I guess I would choose (besides ebay) would be haggle, auctionweiser, and ubid. I think that these sites stand out the most because of their design, relatively good to excellent support, ease of use, and overall services.
If you have not checked them out yet, take a look at them.
posted on October 21, 2001 12:36:33 PM new
You know, if ANY of these alternative sites had a good friendly graphics, solid navigation (EVEN if they copied ebay), and decent support (even just a posting board for others to help you), then add one critical element: bidders/buyers.
We would not complain if there were SALES there, or at least the site was actively TRYING to get bidders. Support can be worked out over time. As you grow, you usually add new levels of support. You can't have the top of the line CRM from the very beginning, its just too expensive, unless you have deep pockets. Instead of spending money on that, they should just plain advertise in some way.
I would support any site that didn't have some shady purpose (or seem like it) and was actively getting bidders. Quite frankly, I don't even care if they SPAMMED people. Heck, its not like we all don't get a billion e-mails a day with junk mail anyway. My opinion, just like your snail mail, bulk mail that you don't want will ALWAYS be there.
posted on October 21, 2001 02:07:15 PM new
For quite a while I visited Yahoo and Ebay before I ever bought or sold anything. I'm an older person and not too trusting to use auction sites - at least I WAS - I finally broke the ice by auctioning at Yahoo. I lasted there for about 9 months until they started with listing fees. I never really considered Ebay due to the myriad fees.
I moved to Epier simply because they were free. At the beginning of my stay in January, their staff was very helpful. Their people actually said they copied Ebay's look because James Kim (their leader) had worked for Ebay. There was no pretense about that - in fact he put up a comparison between the two E's - numbers of visits by unique individuals (their terminology).
When I was using Yahoo, I had no idea there even were chat rooms so I never participated. When I first logged into Epier, I was very surprised that people actually posted reams of stuff to the different boards. There were many people and the majority of them were VERY FRIENDLY. Over the ensuing months, it is true that Epier told some lies, added new "features" without any input from the sellers/buyers and, in general, acted really stupid from a business standpoint. They kicked off a few users and deleted the majority of the chat areas. Now, there are few posters but they are still friendly.
I considered moving back to Yahoo in the middle of all the confusion and back- biting but realized friendliness and customer service for me doesn't matter a whole lot. I just list my stuff, get bids, sell stuff and wander from one website to the next, reading a lot and posting a little.
So, for a 10-cent FVF on a $4.00 sale, I think it's a good deal.
[ edited by BobAlberti on Oct 21, 2001 02:10 PM ]
posted on October 21, 2001 03:49:30 PM new
BobAlberti said...
"I just list my stuff, get bids, sell stuff and wander from one website to the next, reading a lot and posting a little."
Very well said, and I am in total agreement. I don't need bells and whistles, or a support staff to hold my hand while I list my stuff for sale. To me, that is a waste of the website's money. Just list my stuff, get bids, and sell stuff.
posted on October 21, 2001 06:37:29 PM new
I use mostly Ebay because it has a lot of bidders. But I like Bargain&Haggle best because it is easy to use, it is a relaxing atomosphere...I do not have to be waiting for an auction to end. And I really like the sense of humor they have. I like getting their messages. And I really like the helping seervice here at Auctionwatch...thanks auctionwatch.
