posted on January 29, 2002 09:43:01 AM new
Get ready to anty up more money for EPIER if you are a bidder who wants to ask a seller a question that includes your email addy.
A poster (buyer) at the epier chat boards posted this just recently (sentiments of the same were also posted by alto*3, but the poster below wrote out most of the info. in his/her one post):
QUOTE:
Posted by: amorakvisions 1/29/2002 8:56:49 AM
Just to give everyone a sense of how BADLY this was implemented - I saw an item I liked yesterday, but needed more information. Like I always do, I used the yellow tab to ask a question, included my e-mail address to take the e-mail private in case I had more questions, hit enter, and received the screen to become a registered member at $25.00 with an area to put in my visa number, etc. There was NO NOTE as to why I got that screen - nothing saying "if you go back and remove your e-mail address your e-mail will go through" or "this is because you added your e-mail addy - direct contact in future will require you to pay this $25.00" - NOTHING! I didn't even know if the message I sent went through or not to the seller, and what this screen was all about at all! I have no interest in a web page, so backed out of the screen. I went to the announcement area and there was nothing about e-mails through the site there, and then came here to find another user had encountered the same thing. I did further investigation and read posts at mootropolis on the topic and finally got to the bottom of it. EVERYONE - what about buyers who don't read these boards? They won't have a CLUE what is going on!! You sellers are going to be loosing buyers who thing you have got their message or question but you have not! This is a downright SCAM and every seller here should be fighting this nonsense tooth and nail. It is bad for everyone. You do all know this $25.00 is in ADDITION to the $20.00 verification fee, right? They are charging you AND YOUR BUYERS for something that is accepted as a buyer/seller right at every other auction site."
END QUOTE.
So it appears that they are making a grab for money from bidders now, just to be able to talk to the seller in private. Check out the chat board at epier for the latest information and talk regarding this.
This link was also provided on the chat board - apparently this is a page from the epier site from a year ago:
Interesting, eh? Such a big change of philosophy in such a short time!!! I'm interested to hear comments from others about this $25.00 for the priviledge of private e-mail.
posted on January 29, 2002 11:33:27 AM new
I have just read at the "Moo" that the poster I have quoted above (amorakvisions) has now been banned at epier for expressing his/her opinion about the $25.00 money grab.
Along with this banning, the link he/she posted at epier chat, of the old epier page, was removed from the epier chat board and a new "copyright violations will not be permitted" in red suddenly popped up at page header. Ironically, the link was requested for proof by madscientiscoll, who may be an employee of that site? (suspected but not proven) The link is in my first post, above.
I guess they have silenced one voice of decent about their latest money grab. Hopefully others don't back down in fear, but instead take up where that one left off.
I also hope the other sellers get wise and leave epier before it is too late (i.e. once epier has all their money and folds which some predict will happen SOON).
[ edited by oxford on Jan 29, 2002 12:30 PM ]
posted on January 29, 2002 12:22:43 PM new
Sounds like Bidville during their McCarthy red scare period. "Round all them submersives up and shot em."
That's the way the cowboy bars operate too. If someone is mean-mouthing the place or the owner they take you out back and beat the crap out of you. On the plus side, you do get a nice peaceful place to drink your beer.
posted on January 29, 2002 12:35:50 PM new
I saw the post before it was deleted and she was banned for posting a link that went to a public archive that shows ePier's own homepage archived 4/01...notice the No Big Brother Ad...click on it and it takes you to their policy...
http://web.archive.org/web/20010405093610/http://epier.com/
Here's their exact policy words on their No Big Brother Policy that everyone that has been there 9 months or more for signed up with (not to mention the NO COMMISSIONS EVER Promise).....
So, once again another user is banned without warning or notice for questioning the never ending change in policy...she was also ASKED by another user to produce the proof of the page she was quoting (with the same user I was debating with at the time I got banned I might add)...then AFTER the fact they post the message..."Copyright Violations Are Not Permitted." What is copyright about posting a link? And why wasn't she told that BEFORE hand. And WHY has there always been the post "Please refrain from advertising on these forums for the enjoyment of others; appropriate pages will be established for advertisers." yet that is a common practice and nobody is even warned about doing that?!?!
Well, I tried to warn folks it could just as easily happen to them as it did us and now it has! The truth is in the pudding as they say and all the smoke screens by their cheerleaders can't keep it burried this time
posted on January 29, 2002 12:44:10 PM new
Wasn't someone saying they did this to avoid off e-mail sales? At mootropolis I think it was. epier was never my favorite place anyway, so it won't break my heart if they disappear.
bidsbids! What got BidVille on your nerves again? The last couple times you posted about BV you sounded a bit peeved.
posted on January 29, 2002 01:02:47 PM new
Hi Kodi!
Nice to see you! I'm doing ok, and you?
The stuff about off-site sales is bogus - if this was really their concern, they wouldn't allow the e-mails to be sent regardless... but it is allowed IF you pay $25.00!! Tell me THAT's not a money grab, lol!!
And regarding copyright violation charge - How quoting the site ON the site itself can be considered copyright violation is beyond me... very strange.
On their announcements about the $25.00 "home page" offer, they also say this:
"This service also does another very important thing that is to encourage everyone to become a registered member. We all know how a single bad apple, seller or buyer leaves a bitter taste for a long period of time. Although over 98% of transactions on ePier are successful, we want 100% of transactions to be successful. By becoming a registered member, you become an important part of the ePier community. It says that you are serious about presenting your items, and that you are willing to put your appropriate resources behind your venture on ePier."
This is full of oddities. Here they are saying the $25.00 is to encourage all to become "registered members". I always thought registration was free at epier. And, by paying this money, you are proving you are a serious seller. Color me dumb, but I thought that was what the $20.00 registration fee was for (which, by the way, is separate and in addition to this $25.00 fee)
But here is the other area where this makes no sense - BUYERS must pay the $25.00 to e-mail the sellers and expect private e-mails after the first contact through epier.
"and that you are willing to put your appropriate resources behind your venture on ePier"
Now, that is a spooky sentence - goes well with their calls for DONATIONS (of all things) towards their advertising fund. They expect people to anti up money to keep the site going above and beyond what is and should be expected from the buyers and sellers, to "show their committment". What is this guy - a site owner or an evangelist asking for prayer money?
posted on January 29, 2002 02:14:33 PM new
Kodi, you are relatively new to BV and missed the real wars that went on there. When you first arrived at BV you were having a tough time adjusting but if you had arrived a few months earlier you may have quit in disgust or been thrown off the site for the sin of having an open mind. The BV of today is like a psycho ward were are the patients are heavily sedated and harmless. Just what the BV management ordered.
posted on January 29, 2002 02:31:39 PM new
I mean it when I say that Bidville is the best place to warehouse auctions. Cost-wise it's very cheap and a lot cheaper than any internet auction-site store. Show buyers of your items on other auction sites your entire large inventory based at BV and tell them not to bid. The perfect setup. If you get very lucky and get a sale or two a month from actual BV bidders than that is a bonus.
