posted on November 3, 2001 01:21:26 PM new
Just a rumor, or unconfirmed information, but their new auction site is slated to launch in December.
I have talked with several others, and we all agree they have good customer service and an solid community area. The fraud center is pretty cool to help people.
What do you folks think, just another auction site or something different?
posted on November 4, 2001 12:01:11 AM new"I have talked with several others, and we all agree they have good customer service and an solid community area. The fraud center is pretty cool to help people"
yep, if there's one thing more true than the opinions of *several others*, it's that sites that are yet to launch as an auction venue have "good customer service"
posted on November 4, 2001 11:25:24 AM new
Carnaby only has a the Cash Cow sweepstakes which is a joke.
I will say one thing on the advertising, I was using google.com and a link to auctioncow.com came up in one of those little side boxes that companies have to pay for. I know the top line is reserved for companies with MEGA bucks, but the side boxes aren't cheap either.
As for the customer services was for the message board area. It is REAL hard to judge the customer service for the auction part when it hasn't officially launched yet.
posted on November 4, 2001 11:52:10 AM new
Toollady:
I have not been spending much time over here on AW lately, sorry about that.
Fees - Fees have not been announced, but I can comment on them. Fees will be pretty standard. There will not be a listing fee for basic auctions, but for featured and specical listing auctions there will be a reasonable fee. We primarily are counting on the FVF which stands at 3%, which is subject to change. We have created a fee structure that means if we don't come through with bidders, we don't make much money either.
User Agreement/Privacy Policy - This will be posted upon launch, but is pretty standard, with a few exceptions. One, Auctioncow will NOT give out information to third parties. Two, our listing policies are a lot more flexible. We want the sellers to build their business up along with ours. Keep in mind that Auctioncow is made up of previous and current ebay sellers, some of us have been doing it for 4 or more years.
Seller tools - We are offering support to third party services. Our site plans to return to the basic auction structure. We are forgoing store fronts, and such. Many sellers are happy with their own Auction Management such as AW or Andale. If those services plan to support Auctioncow (we cannot comment at this time) then we will support them. We also agree that checkouts, forced payment systems, and other services that ebay is offering is the wrong direction for us. While ebay is a global "marketplace", we plan to be an "auctionsite".
Advertising - We have already started. Obviously the contest is an advertising ploy that gives back to the customer. It helps promote our site. That is not the only thing we are doing from (like YD states) google searches to other online advertising. The one thing that makes us TOTALLY different is the marketing strategy. We are geared towards getting bidders/buyer to the site, not sellers. If the buyers come, the sellers will surely come. We already have some top ebay sellers that are ready. Our marketing strategy is the key to our future sucess and we have worked nearly a year on it. It is hush hush for the very reason that it has been successful in some other areas, and will translate over to our auction site.
We believe that marketing and promotion of the site is the key, and are working harder on that than anything else besides getting the site stable and working smoothly.
No, I don't plan on trolling the boards and advertising in that way. One, it only gets sellers, and not many buyers. We want more buyers than sellers. However, I do enjoy reading the various boards and WILL post comments, as I still like discussing. I lurk a lot more than I post though.
Now to some other comments:
Our name - It is really a matter of marketing. Auctioncow (much like Gateway, which we cannot make any comment on any affiliation other than they do NOT sponsor our contest) has good marketing capabilities. From a recognizable logo, to a million things we can make a cow do. (that sounds bad ) If you don't like the name, well we can't please everybody, but the name is easier to remember than say... Carnaby.
posted on November 4, 2001 12:12:59 PM new
Sounds impressive to me, especially the advertising to get bidders and not sellers. If you can get the bidders to come the sellers will come in droves.
Of course we've heard all of this before from sites like Gegy and Carnaby so we will have to take a cautious optimism approach to your spiel.
Good luck and a do hope you have a lot of success.
posted on November 4, 2001 12:38:25 PM newUser Agreement/Privacy Policy - This will be posted upon launch, but is pretty standard, with a few exceptions. One,Auctioncow will NOT give out information to third parties. Two, our listing policies are a lot more flexible. We want the sellers to build their business up along with ours. Keep in mind that Auctioncow is made up of previous and current ebay sellers, some of us have been doing it for 4 or more years.
I find this interesting. The user agreement and privacy policy will be posted upon launch, yet you have a chat board already in place and no user agreement and privacy policy in place.
You also make it seem like it is standard practice for auction sites to give out information to third parties.
Okay, more questions:
Are you going to use "out of the box" software, or do you have a programming staff in place?
You mention that you will support 3rd party providers.
Isn't this the other way around?
Don't they have to choose to support you?
Afterall, doesn't a script need to be written by the auction management provider to make their software compatible to auctioncow, if they choose to do so?
If it were the other way around, I would think every auction site out there would be writing code to enable the use of the various seller tools out there.
How is auctioncow going to set itself apart from the rest of the pack scrambling for sellers and buyers?
posted on November 4, 2001 12:41:30 PM new
I think our difference is the lack of hype on our part. We are not making any promises either way, not that we have to do so. Time will tell, and we are business. Our job is to make money, not to give it away.
The only comment I should make on marketing is that we are going to do so and that our focus is different. How? That is the secret. (yea, right sure, heard it before)
To be honest, I have to agree. Other auctions sites have made promises and did not deliver. They claim to be marketing, and are not.
I fully understand the cautious acceptance on these boards and other like them. Promises made, and promises broken. When promises should not have ever been made, since business isn't promises, its business.
posted on November 4, 2001 01:05:45 PM new
Toollady:
Our chatboards (mootropolis.com) is not really a part of auctioncow auction site and it has its own policy. It supports a wide range of auction sites and is slated to be moved to its own domain and servers in the next few weeks, as well as a major upgrade to its features.
If you read the majority of user agreements, yes, a lot of auction sites give out information to third parties.
"out of the box software? Interesting considering I didn't even know you could buy an auction site at COMPUSA. Keep in mind that nearly all third party auction sites built their scripts from everyauction cgi scripts. Many companies have built their software around that very core.
My comment is on this part is that we are not here to re-invent the wheel. If a set of code is solid and does what we want it to do, then we will use it.
Most auction sites are built on cgi and perl scripts, and some on asp. I cannot comment on which way we will be going at this time. ASP does offer more robust abilities in the future, but our goal is just a solid stable site.
We don't write scripts to make other software work with our site. Actually, that is against a lot of license agreements. Most software does not allow for modification of the code. We cannot write a script to force AW to work with our site. AW has to set out and do it for themselves with or without us.
Let's look at this part though. Ebay didn't write the scripts to make third party software to work with their site, it was the other way around. Third party software developers saw a NEED and wrote software that would interface with ebay.com. Ebay has since, either enveloped them, or has tried constantly to stop certain companies from interfacing with their site.
We are saying that if third party software developers want to make their software work with our site, we welcome it. We will even cooperate to whatever extent we can. Again, another area I cannot comment on whether any have already stepped up to the plate.
As far as having on staff programmers, yes we do have a team working with us. The most experienced has 22 years of computer programming experience. I don't want to make it sound like we have a HUGE corporation going on here, though, that would be misleading.
As far as setting us apart, we have already started. One, we are building a community first through mootropolis. Second, we have started a Fraud Assistance Center (FAC) on our site that not only supports Auctioncow but even ebay itself. This FAC will get more extensive and helpful as time goes on, and we have already started setting a standard against fraud on our site. We would like the buyers to see trust building. We also have from the beginning designed some new stuff that allows us to detect possible fraud and its variations.
"How is auctioncow going to set itself apart from the rest of the pack scrambling for sellers and buyers?"
Scrambling for sellers is not our goal. I think most sellers agree if they see activity and bids on a site, they will try it out. Sellers also have several places to share ideas and news.
Our primary focus is on bidders and buyers. We will not be "scrambling" for them, but we shall provide a solid marketing plan. Again, we have been working on this very part of the business operation for over a year. Our very thoughts were from the beginning, "if we built an auction site, how do we get buyers there?" From that is what we have worked on.
posted on November 4, 2001 05:33:48 PM new
I always thought most small auction sites used out-of-the-box software like that found on http://www.bidder-network.com/html/software.htm. ( promotions be damned in this moderator-less era )
Auctioncow has indeed learned from some of the errors of auction sites that have started before them. The 'I make no promises' is a good move to make as some site founders had clung to a 'no fees ever' or 'no hidden fees' promises and are now force to eat those promises. Other sites have promised 'multi-million dollar ad campaigns' but then say they need large listings numbers to justify the expense of the campaigns.
I can see the lure of a startup auction site as ebay has been perhaps the only internet venture that has had succcess and made money for the owners and shareholders. Success breeds competition.
We have all been waiting for an auction site to find the magic formula that will attract the bidders to their site and I'm certain everyone is hoping that you have found it. I admire your courage in undertaking the vast challenges and obstacles that await you and wish you the best of luck in your quest.
posted on November 4, 2001 05:55:08 PM new
bidsbids:
LOL! I never even heard of the site you just mentioned, but thanks! I thought I checked them all out, but apparently I have not.
And thank you for the good luck, I am certain we are going to need it considering the negative attitudes towards "new" auction sites lately.
AuctionCow.com
posted on November 5, 2001 06:46:37 AM new
auctioncow
Sounds Great to me, especially the part about ex-eBay. I am an eBay outcast, or at least feel like one ever since the "clutter" issue. How is your stand in that respect? I sell "Opal Rough" mainly and used to start all my bids at $1.00 on eBay, but when the fees were raised and auction length reduced to 7 days unless you paid an additional $.10 charge - "Watch & Forget" this item reduced sales and "Buy it Now" turned it into a fixed price site, I felt that I could no longer make any profit at eBay.
Also since you an experienced auction user yourself must realize that it helps sales if your username is related to the type of item you sell. Makes it easier for buyers to remember what seller an item was bought from. I sell not only Opals but also Navajo Jewelry. Is there any way possible for a seller to have two user names that are directly linked together,so Navajo Jewelry can be sold under one username and Opals be sold under another, but have them linked together for Feedback - Fees - searches etc.?
Are you going to have a pre-registeration period so those that are serious about selling on your site can get their usernames in advance a prepare early for listing on your site. If so please give a date for pre-registeration. Thank you and hope your site is a Great success!
posted on November 5, 2001 07:17:59 AM new
I don't have the same selling experience as many of the folks who are here discussing this new venue, nor do I have a business degree.
But, I do know that I would not want to invest a lot of time and/or money to set up a fast food hamburger joint on Main Street, where McDonalds and Wendys have already got several outlets in operation.
For the same reason, I don't think I would want to spend much effort on creating and operating yet another "free" auction venue. There doesn't seem to be enough for the ones that are already out there.
I believe that the on-line auction world has changed from it's initial concept. In terms of the big venues (venue?), it's becoming more and more like an on-line retail shopping mall now, and in termns of the small venues, there's nothing there to attract enough sellers or buyers to make a decent go of it now.
What makes you think yours will be different?
I'm not "bashing" here ... just wondering what kind of bank would back a new dot.com type biz these days, especially an auction venue.
posted on November 5, 2001 08:20:19 AM new
I hear what you're saying RB. Auctioncow has said they will try to get buyers to their site first so maybe it will be like a mall with traffic but few stores. Easier said then done. If I was a store owner in the town I'd wait till I actually saw all that promised mall traffic over a fair amount of time before even considering moving into the mall.
So now we have another player with promise and let's see how this one fares come audition time. It's a tough crowd out there to please.
posted on November 5, 2001 10:02:54 AM new
opals4u:
I do believe they are working on a pre-registration period, but I don't know the status of that. I am gonna check on that.
Several of us are not ebay outcasts, we still openly sell on ebay and are "powerseller" status (not that it means a darn thing). Obviously, we can't say who, otherwise ebay may not be real happy.
RB:
If you compare the auction industry to the fast food industry RB, then let's go with that. Ebay is like McDonald's let's say. So you are saying that Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy's, InandOut, and every single other sucessful fast food joint should have never opened just because McDonalds is already there? It is our belief there is room in the auction industry for a new site. I don't think people are tired of online auctions, but are being forced from plain auctioning into ebay's fixed price marketplace. This is evident in the introduction of BIN, Storefronts, and now checkouts.
We all like Yahoo (Burger King), but they are just dropping the ball. They are being too many things to too many people. They have the portal to run, the search engine, and literally hundreds of other venues.
Amazon (Taco Bell) sells books, and a million other things in fixed price arena that competes with its own auctions. We all can agree Amazon has a nice site, but never really "got into" auctioning.
The other alternate auction sites are like the mom and pop's throughout the country, which MANY survive for decades. Though decades online is like weeks. I have seen several who just throw up sites, and then sit there waiting for the money to roll in. Doesn't happen that way, but I wish it did.
What makes us different? Simplicity and the return to auctioning. We do not aim for storefronts, forced checkouts, force you to use a certain payment service, or anything that we feel takes away from auctioning. BIN is not a bad idea for sellers, and we are considering allowing it. That is as close to fixed price as we want to get. We are looking to a clean and uncluttered interface.
Now, a lot of you are going to say, well doesn't other auction sites already offer that? Yes, they do. I do not know why they are not as successful as they should be, and many sellers have thrown their support behind their choices. I find a lot of their sites cluttered and with bad graphics (I won't say who), and sort of a "we don't know which direction to go" look.
Auctioncow knows what we want it to look like, we have worked on the graphics and a clean look, and have clearly defined our marketing goals. Sure, while we will be working on getting buyers most of all, that doesn't mean we plan on neglecting our sellers. We want to work with them to offer unique products, and several online auction sellers have agreed to come on over when we open to at least get us some content. Not to mention those of us that still sell on ebay.
This isn't gonna happen overnight, then again neither did ebay. We are prepared to market and keep marketing for years. We may never achieve the success of ebay, but that doesn't mean we will not achieve success at all.
I have read the boards long enough to know that a lot of folks are saying blah blah blah, same old thing. I agree. I probably sound like the same old thing. I am the same. I am old. I am a thing. So there you go.
posted on November 5, 2001 10:26:08 AM new
auctioncow
Thank you for checking on pre-rigisteration! Now as for my other questions that I asked.
Also since you an experienced auction user yourself must realize that it helps sales if your username is related to the type of item you sell. Makes it easier for buyers to remember what seller an item was bought from. I sell not only Opals but also Navajo Jewelry. Is there any way possible for a seller to have two user names that are directly linked together,so Navajo Jewelry can be sold under one username and Opals be sold under another, but have them linked together for Feedback - Fees - searches etc.?
And do you intend to ruin an auction by adding "Watch & Forget" or "Buy it Now" features. The watch & forget drastically reduced bids because MANY forgot they had an item on their watch list. YEAH!! I know that many sites offer email reminders, but if a person had forgot they had an item they were watching, what is going to remind them to check their email for the REMINDER?
As for "Buy it Now", if I wanted to sell it NOW, I would list in a store or classifieds. I am an auctioneer and is all I do. What I am looking for is a TRUE auction site and I think that there are many bidders that are looking for the same.
posted on November 5, 2001 10:40:34 AM new
Hi Auctioncow ...
If you compare the auction industry to the fast food industry RB, then let's go with that. Ebay is like McDonald's let's say. So you are saying that Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy's, InandOut, and every single other sucessful fast food joint should have never opened just because McDonalds is already there?
Absolutely not. But, using the same comparison, I wouldn’t include Bidville, epier, Carnaby, sellyouritem, bid-whatever in the same category as Burger King or Taco Bell. I would, instead, compare these venues taken singly to "Joe’s Grill". Joe’s not going to get rich, but he does have a steady stream of regular customers who prefer the home made burger to the slab in a piece of bread type. He’s probably not going to make enough to advertise, hire more staff, or increase his business either. But, in spite of this, he’ll do OK because his burgers are good and he has a clientele.
Joe will do great until John, Bill, Martha and Mary decide to open up their little grills on the same street. The number of burger buyers isn’t going to change, but the number of burgers that Joe sells probably will.
Joe’s street becomes saturated with small grills. McDonalds, down the street, isn’t hurting a bit.
Joe could offer a chance on a draw to win a free computer, but what the heck does a burger eater care about a chance to win a computer when s/he’s hungry?
What the heck does a seller care about a free computer when s/he wants to make some sales? (Chances are, s/he's already got a PC anyway!)
What the heck does a buyer care about a free computer when s/he wants to buy something other than a home made craft or have to pick from a gazillion nickle and dime sports cards? (Chances are, s/he's already got a PC anyway!)
I don't think people are tired of online auctions, but are being forced from plain auctioning into ebay's fixed price marketplace.
What do you think is "forcing" these people to pay the eBay fees? Could it have anything to do with a rule structure, albeit too complex, that is actually enforced? Perhaps the fact that there are millions of different items available to purchase there? Maybe it has something to do with the number of potential customers every seller has access to?
Or, maybe it’s because they were the first. They invented the Pet Rock and every pet rock that came after that has been struggling to find the secret and has failed.
With the typical item prices going up to the wholesale (even retail and higher) level, the added costs to ship the item, the fees required to sell the item, and the number of scam artists and deadbeats permeating the on-line auction world, why would anyone new want to get into this buy and sell business?
What makes us different? <snipped>
With all due respect, we’ve have heard this all before. Besides, most of the negatives that you cite apply to the one big site only. The unsuccessful smaller sites aren’t doing the storefronts, aren't forcing checkouts, aren't forcing you to use a certain payment service, or anything like that.
I find a lot of their sites cluttered and with bad graphics (I won't say who), and sort of a "we don't know which direction to go" look.
Again, graphics have very little to do with buying and selling. I, for one, don’t need a cute little picture that I can click on to help me buy something. As long as the site is intuitive, who cares about the colours? I haven’t found a site yet where I couldn’t easily figure out how to register, how to list, and how to buy.
[i]So there you go[/]
You too ... absolute best of luck in your new venture. I hope you can prove me wrong ... I’ll be watching.
posted on November 5, 2001 10:52:57 AM new
opals4u:
I apologize for missing your other questions. :/
Currently I do not see a way that we can link two or more seller accounts. While we could combine their feedback (much like ebay can do) we haven't really concentrated in this area. You are welcome to link the two accounts in your own auction listings, or even link to your own website. If this feature becomes more wanted by sellers in the future, we can certainly look into it and see what we can do.
We are considering BIN as the majority of sellers have stated that they have had good success with this feature. Watch and forget has not been implemented.
BIN is the impulse buyers dream and even in auctioning there have been policies that if an offer of X amount comes it, it will be sold at X amount immediately. This is true of like of some auto auctions and such.
------
We thought about making everyone to even look at our auction site use a credit card for access, and charge them a dollar for each page. They would also have to give out their DOB, SSN, and send in a scanned copy of their birth certificate.
posted on November 5, 2001 11:02:18 AM new
Interesting to see both of these comments from the same poster on the same page of the same thread:
I can make ONE SOLID promise to everyone:"I make no promises."
I am joking on the last one, of course
Gotta love this type of fun attitude!
Auctioncow guy ... if you run your venue with the same spirit, you can certainly count me in as a member. As soon as you get your registration and rules thing figured out and posted, please let us know. I've got a bunch of DVDs and tapes that need to be sold
Rob
Canada
[ edited by RB on Nov 5, 2001 11:03 AM ]
I have got to agree with you there. Not on the lot of DVD's for sale, but about attitude.
Although this is a serious business, many like to have a little humor and fun along with it. This is missing on most sites - TOO darn serious and NO fun. I see so many bidders saying, this used to be fun - but now???
posted on November 5, 2001 12:12:52 PM new
A nice set of responses from AuctionCow.
I personally believe that the fixed price structure is not being forced on users by ebay but it is the other way around. Bidders want to buy the majority of common auction items and have it sent immediately. The only exception is rare or hard-to-find collectibles, and those are almost the only items suitable for the auction format. If you exclude all of the reserve auctions, the VAST majority of auction items on most auction venues receive a lone bid ( or no bid at all ).
America is a nation of impulse buyers and their TV stations are filled with QVC setups as well as infomercials. The auction thing is fading away and ebay knows it is better than anybody and is making all the necessary moves to survive the change of selling formats. I believe that the checkout concept is to try to make ebay appear much more like Amazon or Half.com than a seedy flea market or bazar marketplace that is sometimes seems like.
posted on November 5, 2001 12:33:27 PM newthe VAST majority of auction items on most auction venues receive a lone bid
Ever try to win a truly rare Emmy Consideration tape on eBay I've seen single tapes get over 50 bids and end up going for $450.00. I've seen others go right away with BIN prices that are stupidly high.
I figure that's why you'll never see these on the wannabe auction sites (even Yahoo) ... the sellers will only go where there is competitive bidding. It's a shame for me as I have hundreds of these that I would like to sell and I don't play eBay anymore (they banished me for 14 days for retracting a
bid that I placed in error on a "US only" listing, and I retaliated by telling them to put their entire venue where the sun don't shine forever and ever. And, that's the one time they actually did something right!).
[ edited by RB on Nov 5, 2001 12:37 PM ]
[ edited by RB on Nov 5, 2001 12:39 PM ]
posted on November 5, 2001 04:36:58 PM new
bidsbids wrote:
The only exception is rare or hard-to-find collectibles, and those are almost the only items suitable for the auction format.
(((Bidsbids, I am trying to understand what you are saying. What are you saying, that an auction site alone could not be profitable, without all the Wal-Mart type items? If this is what you are saying, I have to disagree with you. Auctions are not a thing of the past, just the opposite as eBay will soon find out when all the collectables sellers are drove off. Many, Many people LOVE auctions and the reason that bids dropped on auctions sites is because they are no longer fun because of all the features. There are still millions of people that LOVE auctions, it is just that they have gone back to where they can find love - the live auctions!
As much as some may disagree, what ruined online auctions are the snipers because they took the FUN out of auctions - the thrill of bidding AND EVEN BEING OVER BID and winning the item back. I know this for a FACT, because I am an auction goer as a BIDDER myself and have gone back to live auctions as a buyer for the thrill. Some actually enjoy it - not just go to win a item. Many people go to auctions and even bid and win and pay (of course) for items that they will never use. JUST FOR FUN and THAT IS WHAT MADE EBAY WHAT IT IS TODAY, too bad eBay forgot (OR NEVER UNDERSTOOD) why people went to auctions in the first place. FUN!!!
For many this WAS A SOURCE OF ENTERTAINMENT which was available from their livingroom or Den. NO MORE, because of snipers, Watch & Forget + Buy it Now!
I could almost write a book about the demise of the online auctions because there are so many other reasons that most don't even realize or even understand about the auction goer because most never went to auctions before the online auctions came to their livingrooms.
However, I do enjoy reading the various boards and WILL post comments, as I still like discussing. I lurk a lot more than I post though.
I've seen single tapes get over 50 bids and end up going for $450.00. I've seen others go right away with BIN prices that are stupidly high.