bidsbids
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posted on June 25, 2002 12:41:03 PM new
http://www.bidville.com/community/messages/thread.asp?thread=225761&forum=150
Started with Sleepy ( baseball-like stats are Feedback rating was 46 with 90 postives and no neutrals or negatives, member since 1/26/01, Premium Member )
Then Koinonia threw in the towel ( baseball-like stats are Feedback rating was 201 with 985 positives and only 6 neutral and 8 negative feedbacks, member since 2/4/01, Premium Plus member )
BV lost two good longtime sellers with a lot of sales between them. And those were just the ones that posted there.They were paying BV $60/yr and $180/yr.
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kodiheglin
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posted on June 25, 2002 01:57:28 PM new
Koinonia is coming back in the fall, around October. She is on sabbatical right now. 
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caffeitalia
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posted on June 25, 2002 09:09:24 PM new
Looks like anyone trying to sell any thing or true worth is finding out what a lousy place bidville really is to post them. The deadbeat sports card sellers have over-taken that site to the point of no return. Bidville needs to accept it and make the site a niche card site. That way the card people can have their site and the person trying to sell something of value won't waste their time at bidville.
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bidsbids
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posted on June 25, 2002 09:54:38 PM new
I hope you don't set off Hap with that post. 
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paloma91
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posted on June 25, 2002 10:53:34 PM new
I am one of the ones that had been there since January 2001 and I have left. Not because there are so many card sellers but because of BV management. They really made some bad business decisions. Just when the site was getting ALOT of activity, alot of buyers and sellers, access to the site would hang up. The reason for that is that their host servers couldnt handle the traffic! They still can't.
In the beginning their CS used to be great! respond to every email sent and handled right away. Good luck getting a response from them now!
The only thing that kept me there as long as I was there was the other participants. That is the ONLY thing that is keeping this site going! IF it wasnt for the buyers and sellers creating sales every so often and supporting each other the way they have done, that site would go under for sure!
Don't get me wrong, I tried myself to initiate some needed changes but it was like hitting my head against a brick wall. I truly loved that site and would have stayed there keeping my premium membership active, if there was some response from the management at BV
Sorry to go on and on but I still feel very frustrated about the entire thing. Please don't give me a hard time about writing this, It is just how I feel. If things do change at BV, I would be back in a heart beat.
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kodiheglin
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posted on June 25, 2002 11:50:29 PM new
paloma, that was nicely stated post. we all feel that frustration to an extent, so know where you are coming from.
Best of luck whatever you do, hope things change to where you can come back someday.
Kodi
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bidsbids
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posted on June 25, 2002 11:59:24 PM new
The BV Prez and girlfriend were very much into their site in the beginning with several posts and site improvements. Apparently the Prez has a short attention span and he must have grown tired of this BV creation and moved on to other things. He has a history of a few failed web sites and a chance of career choice after many years of schooling in the medical field.
That probably only left Bryan to carry the flag or torch or banner or whatever. Bryan has the personality of a rock, and that is a compliment. I believe that he is a very self-righteous individual that lacks communicative skills. The entire fate of BV probably rest in his hands. There would be no value in trying to sell the site beyond the value of any ageing equipment they possess.
The inter-seller buying and trading is the main income for most sellers. Sellers come and setup shop and soon realise that the lack of traffic is certain death for them and only seller/hobbyists would stay and sell an occassional item here and there.
A brutal but realistic appraisal of the current BV situatiion.
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deichen
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posted on June 26, 2002 07:25:02 AM new
Paloma91,
I understand your frustration. Your post is true. BV reminds me of Yahoo in some ways...they seem unwilling to help their own site. I sell on BV, but not enough and I cannot decide on my next move! Limbo Land!
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paloma91
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posted on June 26, 2002 08:47:04 AM new
Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. You know what makes this interesting is because of BV's increased traffic quite some time ago and it great layout etc. It is on the top of the list of the 3rd tier site recommendations. It is getting exposure now more than ever now. Such a shame. Makes my heart ache. (I know, I am too emotional about this) I REALLY thought I had something great when I was so involved with BV. It was very hard to make the decision to leave. Now to find another third tier site to list my wares. Ho Hummmm. No fun. Epier looks like the only other viable site for me at this point. I wish everyone good luck and good fortune in their auctioning endevours.
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bidsbids
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posted on June 26, 2002 10:13:18 AM new
If you sell specialized items the niche sites may be your best bet. That doesn't help if you sell general merchandise. You can double list most items like books and music at both Half.com and Yahoo Used Goods. There is little chance the same item would ever sell on both sites within a few days. Both sites are picking up. eBay now has 50 million registered users and no special Half.com registration is needed for these users. Yahoo has traffic on it's Shopping portal except the Auctions.
The other third tier sites like ePier are all low traffic sites like BV and will never have a chance at decent sales unless you sell what predominately sells on that particular site.
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canvid13
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posted on June 27, 2002 03:57:36 AM new
"The other third tier sites like ePier are all low traffic sites like BV and will never have a chance at decent sales unless you sell what predominately sells on that particular site."
I think I have to comment on that remark. It's not true?
Sure there is less traffic than at ebay but there is traffic.
Some sites may be more oriented to one group of of bidders than than others but where there is traffic there is a chance of sales.
It's also up to the site to steer traffic and promote the site.
Yes, I have Auctionpie starting up soon (we are beta testing now) but we are targeting different niches and will target based on our seller base.
If we had, like Bidville, a site that was predominantly based in sportscards we would advertise to that market and build our strength and spread from there.
Sites can't grow without advertising.
[email protected]
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bidsbids
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posted on June 27, 2002 07:55:00 AM new
Note the words "decent sales" in my post. It takes time to learn a different site's listing setup and to list auctions and time to monitor those auctions, etc.
If there are is not an acceptable number of sales it is not worth the effort. The term 'acceptable number of sales' is very subjective and some sellers may be content with one sale per month for their time spent and some sellers may be only content with many sales per month.
Good luck with your AuctionPie efforts.
edited to add that I just checked the 30+ auctions that I having running on Carnaby now. The results: no bids and 1 pageview total after 5 days for all auctions. Not only is that not acceptable but that is not even worth taking the time to relist.
[ edited by bidsbids on Jun 27, 2002 08:05 AM ]
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canvid13
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posted on June 27, 2002 11:25:42 AM new
Question Bids,
What are you doing if anything to generate sales on Carnaby?
Are you emailing your customer list or advertising anywhere? Even in search engines?
You do get what you pay for in life.
There are an awful lot of people that complain about Ebay's high fees, but these fees are for their traffic.
If you pay no fees you get no or little traffic.
What are you willing to pay for traffic and/or do for it?
Even at Auctionpie, while we are confident that the nature of our product will ensure a bit more traffic than some sites, our traffic will not just show up overnight.
It takes time and a lot of hard work to build traffic.
And that takes efforts and good will from both site Management and sellers as well as good word of mouth from buyers.
Every time a good sale is made I feel it will lead to 3 more sales.
Jamie
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bidsbids
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posted on June 27, 2002 02:07:53 PM new
It takes time and a lot of hard work to build traffic.
[/i]And that takes efforts and good will from both site Management and sellers as well as good word of mouth from buyers. [/i]
You have described Carnaby to a tee. The founding sellers worked their collective hearts out by spreading the news to former buyers, etc., etc.
Carnaby itself had contests, press releases, etc. and build the best online auction site in cyberspace with the best techs and management. It's about two years old now.
Guess what? It's a near-ghost town. Everything failed to attract traffic. If they failed with the best management, the best techs, the best sellers, etc. what makes you think you can succeed where they failed? It isn't going to happen. There is no person or site or concept or secret marketing ploy out there that is going to produce even a moderately profitable site.
JMHO
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blairwitch
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posted on June 27, 2002 03:08:04 PM new
I have to agree with BB. Even when yahoo was FREE they could not topple ebay even as they kept raising their fees. The only site with a brand name that can compete in the auction business is yahoo. Ed Orlando figured it out the hard way too.
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canvid13
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posted on June 27, 2002 04:52:00 PM new
Well I'm sure they worked very hard and did some super stuff.
As to weather they failed or not it depends on their goals.
From a certain standpoint, any company that wants to mimic or use the same sort of ideas as ebay is always going to work from behind and that is never an easy thing.
You go to a restaurant where the food is good and you're basically happy.
There has to be a real good hook to get you to go to another restaurant with the same menu and service.
Better ideas and an evolution in the product is the only thing that has a chance to sway happy customers. And it takes a lot of steady advertising. It doesn't have to be in big splashes but it does have to be steady.
Just my opinion though,
Jamie
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bidsbids
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posted on June 27, 2002 05:51:15 PM new
Are you canvid13 on eBay? I find it very hard to believe that person pays $1000/month to eBay in fees like stated in an earlier post. Looks more like a buyer.
http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=canvid13&page=2&items=25
I'm not BidsBids on ebay .....
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caffeitalia
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posted on June 27, 2002 09:15:55 PM new
Bids,
One question I had for you is how did you learn about carnaby?
I found out at the boards at bidville when I still thought bidville had a chance. No where else have I ever seen an add or even word of mouth except on these boards. Not to say that they didn't advertise, what I am saying is they did not do a very good job of it. If I didn't see any adds for them, (and it is one of my interests) how would a person that is a casual auction user even be persuaded to go there if the adds aren't in plane view for the masses? We agree if a site is going to be successful, some advertising will be neccesary. But to advertise in a remote place is worthless.
As an example lets look at JB. It takes a lot of time and energy to try what he trying to get off the ground. He advertises. Personally, the only place I have seen any advertisements is in the Krause publication and it is only a link. He maybe advertising in other places, but I have not seen them. The Krause Publication is mainly read by sellers. The whole idea about auction sites is to get buyers to come and bid on the items. Just placing adds anywhere don't work. It is where you place them. That takes me back to bidville. They are always having some kind of sale. Fall sale, holiday Sale, First of the month sale, Glad to see the sun come up sale, ect, ect. These sales are designed to try and get new bidders to their site. The advertising that happens there is on their own chat boards and through e-mails to their own sellers. Does it bring in new bidders. No. Why? Because there is no outside advertising. That is why I did at least have to compliment Jamie @ auctionpie for. I do see ads for them here. That is at least a better start than I have seen with others.
Now as far as Yahoo goes, I do have a slight problem with their ads. They do advertise, but they never mention auctions. As a casual shopper, I would tend to go to the stores or other venues with the ads placed by Yahoo. If they would mention auctions in the ads, you could bet that page hits would go up.
[ edited by caffeitalia on Jun 27, 2002 10:00 PM ]
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bidsbids
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posted on June 27, 2002 11:27:18 PM new
I saw the Carnaby talk here on these boards at AW and a little at BV, but they suppressed the talk of other auctions a bit and the cheerleaders would ruin any threads there. Carnaby did some press releases and there were probably a lot of banner ads that were wasted because they had no effect. There was muchh hope for Carnaby as it was apparent that BV had no real future without advertising.
The AuctionPie ads that were here for a while were a huge waste of money as the link was to a one page site that was a powermall, a thing in the works. A nice try but the timing was bad as they sre still trying to beta test it. I think AuctionPie is going to go the way that AuctionCow and Gegy went, all hype and nothing to show for it. JMO.
Yahoo indirectly advertises everything that Yahoo has to offer. Economically, that is a much better move than promoting their very weak auction venue. Yahoo is a lot of things besides a search engine and free email service. The Yahoo Shopping is the main thing that can generate revenue but there are others including the Yahoo Personals. By simply advertising the name Yahoo they are promoting the Yahoo brand name and keeping it in the non-internet and internet users eyes, much the way that eBay is with it's TV ads and soon to arrive on the small screen .. it's daily TV show.
JB is doing it alright by doing the Krause newsletter link. Auction sites need bidders but they also need sellers that have items available for bidders.
One of the big disappointments of the dismal showing of AuctionCow thusfar is that we may never get to see that promised Secret Marketing Plan in action.
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bidsbids
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posted on June 27, 2002 11:54:20 PM new
Auctionpie is seller owned, operated, driven, and hopefully supported.
As a seller I spend almost $1000.00 per month on fees to Ebay and other sites. I don't know about you but I'd rather pay $24.95 than that.
If the Canvid13 on eBay is you, and who else could it be, then you must not spend much of the $1000/month in fees be on eBay. Looks like maybe $100 this year so far. I love your great eBay "ME" page ( default only ).
You must be very successful if your everyday car is a 1987 Acura that you have for sale on Ebay Motors for $1,250 .
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1839444563
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canvid13
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posted on June 28, 2002 05:38:33 AM new
" Ebay and other sites"
Hi Bids,
Reading is a vastly underated skill.
Please reread your own quote of myself.
Also, check out how much I SPEND on Ebay per month too as I predominantly buy on that site where I was recently one of over 200 folks bilked out of almost a half million dollars in rare videos by Barry Rieger.
Thanks,
Jamie
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bidsbids
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posted on June 28, 2002 06:54:48 AM new
What? You posted that you paid eBay and other sites $1000/month in fees. That's hard to believe. It looks like you pay eBay very little a month in fees as you certainly haven't sold much there this year.
You got bilked out of lot of money on eBay by buying a rare video? You're selling a 15 year old car on eBay that you claim to drive everyday for $1,250 but can afford to buy a rare video? Seems like someones priorites may be a little screwed up.
You're the great salesman but your "me" icon on eBay for your eBay homepage yields a blank default page? I'm sorry Jaime but I think you are a huge phoney, you're Enron and Worldcom and Mr. Haney on the Green Acres TV sitcom of yesteryear.
What "Other sites" do you spend the bulk of this possibly imaginary $1000 month on fees? A store in most of the low traffic sites is cheap, and none of them charge a listing fee for non-store items. If you spent almost $1000/month on auction fees at non eBay sites then you may be a person that most people may want to avoid for making bad business decisions with your money. That "$1000/month on fees" at first glance makes you seem like a high roller but you're just a regular schmoe trying to blow smoke up everyone's butt.
JMO
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RB
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posted on June 28, 2002 08:17:20 AM new
In fact, Bidville has the best advertising campaign of all the "auction-come-lately" venues. There's not an auction forum out there where Bidville isn't discussed.
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canvid13
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posted on June 28, 2002 08:48:52 AM new
Bids your logic is defying.
I indeed do spend over a $1000.00 per month in fees.
Like your quote says, "Ebay and other sites."
As for the car, I do believe that when you are getting a new car it's a good idea to sell the old one?
This isn't a firefly is it? I mean, even an old Acura Legend can kick the butt out of many many cars.
This sort of childish prattling on will only get you ignored.
I have never portrayed myself as a big roller, not here or in any of my other endeavors.
Grow up.
Jamie
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quickdraw29
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posted on June 28, 2002 09:13:38 AM new
I disagree that there is no marketing ploy that will work. It takes more than just saying, come visit out auction site. They have to give buyers a reason to visit. That requires marketing the site properly.
Sellers are easier to attract with lower or no fees, but thye won't stay if there are no sales or very few.
Yahoo's failure is also because of the poor way they market themselves. They are a Portal with an auction site. Imagine buying a sandwich from Chrysler!
So it is easy to gain major market share with the proper marketing. Word of mouth is great if they can offer people a reason to visit and buy.
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canvid13
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posted on June 28, 2002 01:05:23 PM new
Hi Quickdraw,
I agree with you 100%. Plus, if the customer doesn't have a good experiance their word of mouth can hurt more than help.
Word of mouth (or buzz) has been used as a weapon as much as a selling tool.
Jamie
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bidsbids
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posted on June 28, 2002 03:08:32 PM new
The "portals" all but disappeared a few years ago. When people log in to the internet, if they are not permanently on with high speed access, very few go to Yahoo to do a search or read their mail.
I simply ask people to read Canvid13's eBay feedbacks before comitting much time to his subscription based auction site that tout's listings as low as 2 cents each.
http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=canvid13
[ edited by bidsbids on Jun 28, 2002 03:20 PM ]
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bidsbids
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posted on July 3, 2002 05:43:08 PM new
Here's the latest seller quiting ( paid membership ). Looks like the BV message boards could be a factor in this latest one
gonefrombv4ever Posted 7/3/2002 7:53:35 PM
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Im right behind ya sleepy and grandma.The BS that goes on here is like watching babies fighting over a toy. BVCS doesnt even ADHERE to there own TOS on theses boards. Strawberry and nyan will be pleased LIKE I care.NYAN you will be hearding my attorney next week. Does the word SLANDER mean anything to you.............LOL look it up I`ll be seeing you in court. Yes nyan you have been blocked my harassing me anymore either as I spoke with 2 ppl from AD today on the phone. Your a miserable person I will honor bids I have placed with sellers so MAMA please email me the total I oew you. My business is going else where w/o the petty whinners that complain about EVERYTHING Waaaaaaaa WAaaaaaa WAaaaaaaaaaa
and
gonefrombv4ever Posted 7/3/2002 8:40:49 PM
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I`M SO OUTTA HERE THE WHINNERS AND PUBLIC BASHING USING screen names iS CALLED SLANDER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT LAW SUIT MEANS. Cause your getting one. nyan,strawberry(kisses) should be called strawberry Whinners will be hearing from my lawyer hope it was worth talking crap about me cause you on a heap of trouble now and im so LAUGHING@YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It pays to have a step dad whos an attorney jumping for joy
[ edited by bidsbids on Jul 3, 2002 05:57 PM ]
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bidsbids
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posted on July 3, 2002 07:48:54 PM new
and ....
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This topic has 1 page : 1
bobski Posted 7/3/2002 10:08:06 PM
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hey im back with a camera but im wondering if its now worth it. i searched my most favorite items and no one has bid on anything! or, is there a problem with the search feature not showing the bids on active auctions? no bids on: motorcycle. kawasaki, hot wheels, red lines, honda, collector dishes, etc...whats going on?
YouNameThePrice Posted 7/3/2002 10:11:15 PM
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Stuff like that does not sell here. In fact, many things seem not to sell here. I know first hand. So, it`s not a mistake.
ndtoolman Posted 7/3/2002 10:35:58 PM
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I keep trying and trying and trying......
Makes me wonder if the membership fee is worth it????
I`ve been here since pretty much the beginning and have e-mailed my 1000+ other customers but every other month and..........?????
Close to calling it quits and that would be a bummer as I like this site.
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