posted on April 6, 2001 08:45:00 PM new
Is there any way to get a winning bidders e-mail address? Between not being able to contact my winning bidders and LowestBids stripping my HTML, I'm really wondering if the site is even useable....
posted on April 6, 2001 09:04:01 PM new
Hi there. I am a customer service representative for LowestBids.com. I'll try to answer your question as best I can in two parts:
1) Winning bidders e-mail. As the seller, you can e-mail any of your bidders by clicking on the link next to their bid that says "E-mail bidder". Also, keep in mind that our system sends e-mails to the winning bidders once a bid is accepted.
2) HTML: We do allow HTML, however our system only allows straight HTML. Meaning, it does not accept editors like Microsoft Front Page as it is not considered standard HTML. We also do not accept any hyperlinks in auctions as we are unable to guarantee where the link goes. Now, that's not to say that you are unable to type in your URL, which you can do.
posted on April 6, 2001 10:19:06 PM new
Thanks for that information...it is the most backward thing I have heard of...but we'll see how it goes.
As far as the HTML...the information you provided is helpful, but 1 more question...Why does it change all of my capital letters to lowercase?? I'm not talking about YELLING (those I would love to see all turned to lower case) but we're talking proper grammar here. The way it is now makes the descriptions look sooooo unprofessional.
I am curious about your rapid increase in the number of unique visitors to your site as posted by Top9.com. To what do you attribute this monumental popularity surge?
posted on April 7, 2001 09:40:58 AM new
I'll answer both of those questions here as best I can.
1) I do know that some people are able to get capital letters in their descriptions. I even tried with a real basic HTML code in a test and got it to work. But, I can inquire about it and see if there is a certain way it needs to be done.
2) Top9.com does show us as being the #2 auction site in the month of February. I can say that we have done some advertising to get our name out into the general public. We have also seen some people come in through word of mouth.
posted on April 7, 2001 10:26:35 AM new
Advertising....I see. You may not have read any of my other posts so I'll warn you. I'm a statistics hound. Love 'em. I've also posted in other threads that LowestBids receives a PHENOMENAL amount of visitors according to Top9 and PCDataOnline. This has fascinated me ever since I learned about it.
Well, coincidently, I happen to know why you get the traffic. I found the answer by accident while browsing a completely different site. I considered this a gift from above since I wasn't even looking for the answer. Here's what happened:
I was at another site. I saw a LowestBids banner advertisement on that site. So I thought "Well, that's why they get traffic! They're advertising! Good for them!". A few seconds later, a funny thing happened. A new browser window automatically opened on my computer. The new window had the LowestBids site in it!
The verdict: Your banner advertisement forced a new window on my computer with LowestBids in it. I became a unique visitor even though I had no intent on clicking your banner. PCData will count me as a unique visitor along with the millions of other people that probably ignored your banner.
For the future, please realize that:
1. Most people hate pop-up banners.
2. Most people do not like exaggerated statistics. (especially me, the stats crusader)
posted on April 7, 2001 10:43:01 AM new
Gottaknow, we do appreciate the concern that our users have with regards to the advertising. However, as a site, we don't have control over where the ads go, or what type of ads are shown. We have seen that for the most part, the ads are going to sites that are free to use. If a user wishes not to see the ads, they would need to contact either their ISP or the website they saw the ad on to see if they can remove them.
posted on April 7, 2001 12:05:36 PM new
You're either ignoring, or failing to see the point.
LowestBids pays for "pop-up" advertising, forcing unsuspecting visitors at other sites to become "unique visitors" of LowestBids. This occurs whether the person wants to visit LowestBids or not. Then, you advertise that your site receives "millions of visitors per day".
posted on April 7, 2001 12:21:08 PM new
What I am saying is what I know about the situation. If you have further questions about it, feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].
posted on April 7, 2001 01:06:16 PM new
Lets see.
Bidville uses pop up windows on their site.
They make money from these so called unwanted ads.
LowestBids.com as far as I know does not show pop ups on their site.
I guess what is good for the goose is not good for the gander.
Thanks for the hypocrisy though
posted on April 7, 2001 01:07:52 PM new
As I said, that is all I know about the subject, and all I am at liberty to say about said subject. If you wish to inquire about it, you are more than welcome to contact us at [email protected].
posted on April 7, 2001 01:23:30 PM new
greatdays-
I have been using Bidville, since mid January when they were Auxpal. I have NEVER seen a pop up ad on Bidville. Though I have heard others say they have.
This is strange, as I spend a lot of time there?
posted on April 7, 2001 01:34:52 PM new
Another person missing two points. Stop. Listen. And think.
1. I am not a Bidville cheerleader so the reference to Bidville is meaningless.
2. I am not saying that LowestBids has pop-up banners on their site. As far as I know they do not have pop-ups on their site. What I've said is LB places their banner on other sites. The banner they place on other sites is a pop-up banner for LowestBids.
Each time LB forces their own pop-up banner to an unwilling visitor at a completely different website that visitor statistically becomes a visitor of LowestBids. Even if they did not want to be.
Hence, the statistics shown on Top9.com showing LB with 2+ million visitors are completely wrong.
I can't explain it any better than that and won't attempt to. If you don't get it by now, maybe you belong at LowestBids.
Personally, I don't mind pop-up banners. If sites need to make money using them...so be it.
But what I find annoying is the front page propaganda on LB that claims it gets so much traffic. "Second Ranked according to Top9.com". These stats are wrong. Worse than that, they are fake.
Popping your banner up on 1 million people per day hardly qualifies as getting 1 million people to visit your site per day.
So LB - the popups are one thing. But displaying the data to further your position in the auction industry is pathetic.
) but we're talking proper grammar here. The way it is now makes the descriptions look sooooo unprofessional.