posted on March 16, 2001 12:31:48 PM new
"Good news" The free ride is over I just seen in very small print on the front page that Bidbay fee's will begain the first of April. They will announce in 2 weeks what they will be. Dont give people much time to make up their minds. AG2 I guess your trip did help Bidbay out good for you.
I believe it's safe to assume you have no clue what's going on. Bidbay has made no secret of the fact that they intend to impose Final Value fees as well as fees for the "extras" like bold type, front page, etc. As a matter of fact, GT and the staff have made several public notices that the fees would be imposed so everyone had plenty of warning. Oh, lest I forget to mention.....basic listings are still free! Why not try to do something constructive with your time? Perhaps something like AG2 did...pick up the gauntlet thrown down and see what happens. Who knows, you just might learn something!
I agree, I think it is good news that BidBay is going to begin to charge.
However according to that link it is only going to be for FVF's and enhancements for bold featured front page etc.
This will help clean up the site somewhat as people will be only listing items that they can make a profit on when you throw in the fvf's.
It will also help clean up the front page and featured categories where anything and everything is listed right now.
This is a definite step in the right direction. Instead of just jumping into the fray and charging for listing fees and makig the same bonehead mistake Yahoo did. BidBay is showing a bit of confidence and saying you will only have to pay if and when you make money plus giving them and their users time to help build up a stronger buying base without anyone being penalized so to speak.
Seems like a win win situation to me...it is something I wish they had implemented long ago.
Edited to add that it is true that they have made it apparent that they would be charging some time soon and have been free for I guess about a year now. So people have had plenty of time to make up their mind.
AG2
[ edited by auctiongallery2 on Mar 16, 2001 12:52 PM ]
[ edited by auctiongallery2 on Mar 16, 2001 01:01 PM ]
posted on March 16, 2001 01:05:58 PM new
LOL Why the personal attacks. All I was doing was announce the up coming fee's. I listed with bidbay when they first started! I moved alot of my listings when they did not sell to BooHoo and sold some. Bidbay has hinted for along time about fee's but never did do it. I ran accross this information just today and it is on the front page in very very small print click "here". I also think the fees are a good thing if they are not to high I am a supporter of FVF and asked BooHoo to go in that direction along with alot of others. Bidbay should be proud but like their chat room, people are not free to talk say good things or out the door with you. Well enof said go bidbay clean up you site maby you will get buyers and can put up honest numbers. (P.S. Pick up the gauntlet, Will I get the same treatment????)
[ edited by telwil on Mar 16, 2001 01:09 PM ]
posted on March 16, 2001 02:16:37 PM new
Hi telwil
I didn't see anyone attack you, but the click here for fees has been on the front page for about a month now. They just haven't decided how much to charge yet and that should be announced any day now, since that 2 weeks notice was about 2 weeks ago.
I'm glad they finally decided to charge fvf's and for enhancements. People can't have a free lunch forever.
edited to add: Perhaps it will also cut down on the outrageous minimum bids people place on their items. I have to laugh at some of the starting bids, because they're higher than book or in any store. If they know they'll have to pay a final value fee, maybe they'll consider lowering their prices a bit.
[ edited by mtnmama on Mar 16, 2001 02:18 PM ]
posted on March 16, 2001 02:47:54 PM new
"Perhaps it will also cut down on the outrageous minimum bids people place on their items. If they know they'll have to pay a final value fee, maybe they'll consider lowering their prices a bit."
The FVF may be higher but so will the profits with a higher start bid. A $20 sold item, say at a 10% cut is $2. A 15$ sold item is $1.50. The seller still gets an extra $4.50. It sure is worth paying that extra .50¢!
Bidbay is moving in the right direction, it's nice to see.
posted on March 16, 2001 04:47:17 PM new
I am sorry I took the statement "You have no clue!" as a personal attack. I was wondering why if you bidbay supporters are so happy and proud of the fee, why have you not posted something about it most of you are more then happy to post something like this when another site raises fee or start's to charge ect??? I am not big on bidbay I will say that up front. But I am for any site that try's to turn its self around. The fee's alot of people wont like them, what bidbay will do next is going to be interesting to see. Before I will put alot of my listings on bidbay they will have to change alot more then just starting to charge fees. I like the free sites but what counts most with me is that they improve and the way they treat people, also what kind of people are in charge.
posted on March 16, 2001 05:17:28 PM new
telwil since I didn't make the comment I know you are not referring to me.
But I will say this. In the past I have always supported the idea of a fee structure being implemented at BidBay including a listing fee.
To me this would legitamize the site keeping off some of the "clutter" to use and ebay word.
But I also agree with BidBay's point of view and feel they are correct in only charging a FVF at this point and time as they do not want to scare anyone off like Yahoo did.
The FVF will force sellers to rethink items they list for sale only focusing on items they know will cover any and all costs of the auction.
When eBay implemented it's new fee structure I did not complain the simple fact is I still believe it's an excellent deal at $.30.
As far as Yahoo is concerned I wasn't listing there when the new fees there were implemented but I could see why sellers were upset. I believe they should have done something like BidBay is doing and started with the FVF first then moving onto the insertion fees.
I think if anyone really has a "favorite" site and want's that site to succeed then they must understand that site is going to have to eventually bring in some revenue. If they don't then that site's life expectancy is diminished.
I think just like at eBay the sellers at BidBay will survive. It will just take a little getting used to. What they will soon learn is that this doesn't really affect them until they sell something. And if that's happening then there really isn't anything to complain about.
posted on March 16, 2001 05:48:53 PM new
AG2, You did not say it, so it was not you! I hope the sites that charge only for the special features do well most small sellers dont use them. I "repeat" I am not I against fair FVF. I do not intened this as a bad thing just a "example" but when a company can pay someone $5,000 to visite it, it must be making money right. Now some people in bidbay are saying that it is strange after your visite fee's pop up, you need to talk with them so they understand just a suggestion. I say Good for you if you can help bidbay get back on track then you deserve what ever you get when someone can work out their problems with a company to the point that they fall 100% in line with them then I am happy for them both. The people in bidbay that kickup dust about the fee's are anything neg "well I feel sorry for them" I have seen what can happen and so have you.
posted on March 16, 2001 11:37:18 PM new
First of all the *free* structure for everything, including 'Featured' listings gave a totally chaotic look to the site that depreciated its appearance and made it look even more like a carnival.
I believe that special services that engender exclusivity such as 'featured categories' warrant a charge. I believe a Final Value Fee of less than 5% is reasonable.
I do not believe that anything which adds to the vendors ability to describe or show his products warrants a charge. The 'banner' is a simple extended description. That should be free. I believe a second category should be free, but allowed only if applicable. Naturally listing fees are anathema since at any site other than eBay the Hope Diamond can sit for months at a penny.
I do however think there is something intrinsically wrong with GT and Co waiting for the last minute to make the new fees known. He's yanking people's chains and they should not tolerate it. I can see no other purpose for secrecy of this type other than manipulation. If they claim they need 'last minute' adjustments, this does not ring true since fees have been on the board for months now. So they are at it again.
Fees will not make the company solvent. I have said before and I will say again that the only way for the company to become viable is to diversify services. You have to ask a fundamental question: Why would anyone come to BidBay, or any auction other than eBay for that matter? Every time I've looked for something lately, its either ONLY on eBay or greatly overpriced on other sites.
Buyers may wish to come to 'free' auctions since they know that is the most likely place to find unusual, hard to find or rare items that do not do well on eBay. It may take its eventual owners weeks or months to find. But these collectors are in the minority. They need more hooks to get people to even use the auction. It has to be in the middle of something that alot of people will want to use. Kinda like Yahoo. Or even Amazon.
I have suggested web services, ISP services, and information services, and hopefully AuctionDiner will be prepared to go to bat for the latter. And then of course there is newsgroup services. Most ISP's, especially the big ones like AOl heavily filter their USENET newsgroups. So most people who want an uncensored view of the internet need to pay extra. Usually around $10 a month, which is well worth it for the 'free' software available in the binary groups. Or how about a fee based Napster knock-off? In other words something to get them in and stay interested, and when they want to buy somthing let the laws of inertia guide them to the BidBay auction button rather than hunting down the ebay URL. And while they are at it, they should take the BBBuck categories, and the Recipes, and $1 categories along with BBBilly and move them to snuze.com. Let *that* be the game site, and the main site only for 'quality' auctions.
I know I should be telling them this on the BB board. But in a place where its so difficult to be critical, it makes it uncomfortable to be helpful.
posted on March 17, 2001 12:41:16 AM new
Snakebait, If no one else is going to say it let me. I agree with the majority of what you said "thank you" for your input I could not have worded it better. It is to bad that bidbay does not allow people to discuse things openly and honestly and without fear in their chat rooms your ideals and thought would be worth their time.
