posted on June 9, 2001 12:28:45 PM new
I wanted to let anyone who might be reading here know that a bunch of us sellers are going to be hosting a $ sale over at BidVille from June 18 to July 2nd. There'll be many auctions listing with a $1 opening bid price, no reserve.
BidVille's going to put a special announcement during that time on their home page.
If anyone wants more info, go to BidVille's Community board and click on BidVille Auctions.
posted on June 9, 2001 07:25:16 PM new
I love this idea, and like the idea that the site is so working with the sellers.
I'm joining in, have it on my alarm to be ready to list.
Joan
http://www.geocities.com/justjoansetc/
posted on June 10, 2001 01:53:25 AM new
I'm not sure I understand the point of a sale like this on a site with few bidders. Is the idea that people aren't looking and bidding due to regular high prices? I had the impression that most items that sell are already very low-priced.
Also, it's nice that the BV owners are advertising this on their web page...but are they advertising it anywhere else to attract people TO the site?
posted on June 10, 2001 06:28:02 AM new
"I'm not sure I understand the point of a sale like this on a site with few bidders."
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I think the point is to attract a few more buyers and sellers. Generate a bit of excitement, and have a little fun along the way. From what I've been reading in the BV threads, at this point, there's going to be somewhere in the neighborhoood of 75 participating dealers, and there should be close to 500 items listed for the $$$sale.
Will it be effective? who knows, but it certainly can't hurt...I plan to be a part of it, and if only one person clicks...bids...buys...then I'll consider it a success.
As far as advertising is concerned, doubt there will be any by BV, but they have been very supportive of Wallypog and the hard work she's put in to make this successful, and their adding a logo to the home page for the event is indicative of that support and I think the logo going to help a lot. I'm an e-mailing fool, and my "Tag" line has been ammended to promote the sale...if every one who takes part in the event did the same, we could very well end up with a very successful event!
I definitely applaud her, too, and all the sellers who are taking such pains to make BV viable. But I'm really fed up with what - to my eyes - appears to be no effort on the part of the site owners to promote this auction venue. How does having a sale do anything to bring in new customers?
For myself, I definitely want an alternative to the "big name" sites I use, meaning ebay, Amazon and half.com. I'm waffling back and forth between Yahoo and BV. For some reason I like BV...though it's brought me no sales. Yahoo annoys me...but I've sold there before, and I believe they have a customer base.
I"m just a small seller but my loyalty is right out there ready to be won...if the sites would just earn it.
posted on June 10, 2001 03:09:41 PM new
"How does having a sale do anything to bring in new customers? "
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Actually, probably not much. But it does give smaller sellers a sense of accomplishment that they are doing what they can collectively given their limited resources. Those resources being the ability to pull together as a team with a goal of offering an introductory value to any new potential buyers who may visit BV (and hopefully stay). It gives them the opportunity and a reason to e-mail previous customers from other sites with an invitation to visit a new user friendly auction site. Word of mouth can be a very powerful tool indeed, and while some may prefer to sit back and wait to have their loyalty won, some of us would rather take a pro-active stance and bring em in with sale, a bumper sticker, a license plate or a flyer.
Keziak, I invite you to check out the thread about the sale, join us with a few listings, you really have nothing to lose except a bit of time...
As for advertising by the site owners... as we all know, it's basically nil. But building a great auction site takes time and I'm a patient and optimistic kind of guy...When the BV threads were on fire a while back about the lack of advertising, the Prez responded to everyone's questions and he made a lot of sense. The site still needs a lot of "tweaking" and it is not to it's advantage to spend tons of money on advertising until all the little problems are solved. A lot of categories still need to be cleaned up (and I see progress being made in this area). They (BV) just opened the automotive category, they are about to release a new bulk loader, and are in negotiations to bring in an on-line payment service -- So, I think the advertising will come and soon, and like I said, I'm a patient guy.
posted on June 10, 2001 04:14:04 PM new
I will definitely be telling all my friends about the sale. And that will bring buyers. And once in, they might stay. And how did Ebay get started?
posted on June 10, 2001 06:05:21 PM new
Hhhmmm.......this is interesting.
A bunch of sellers over at sellyouritem.com started a sale over a week ago.
They decided to promote their auctions being "at cost". Currently there are 252 auctions with the "at cost" keyword in the title, with a banner running on the home page rotation.
They've been having alot of fun with it and have been getting lots of exposure for their listings.
From what I understand, reading at other places, club99 is also trying to organize to do an event there as well.
posted on June 10, 2001 07:19:19 PM new
I think a lot are forgetting the early times and you have to get started someplace.
I can remember in Jan of 97 seeing on message boards on compuserve, about being out bid and that ebay is something else and etc etc.
Went and investigated and they were smalllllll then. And I do not remember seeing or hearing any advertising, it was word of mouth. Heck I think it was a good 2 yrs after that they advertised on AM radio stations.
So what's being said is lets have some word of mouth and get it started.
And to call the site a place for cheap items, is a bit insulting. I don't think items going for 2 and 300 bucks should be considered cheap.
I think the crew that's running Bidville is working over time to get things going for us, and been overly helpful.
So I'm all for the SALE and I will stick with Bidville for the EASE of listing there.
The majority of my items.
Sorry didn't mean to sound so strong, just this ol bitties opinion.
posted on June 11, 2001 12:02:32 AM new
I am one of the sellers that is "in" on this event. I am gathering together my $1 items around the house and will have them prepared to list. Hey! It can't hurt! I listed 4 things on Yahoo (just to see if things had changed any) Featured 'em for 2 weeks. Only one, I mean only one sold! Lots of looks but no buys. Well, atleast I didnt list 100's there. I know that BV is growing and I plan to stick with it. $1 sale should bring some bidders over atleast to look around, which can't hurt. I just HAD to put in my 2 cents worth
posted on June 11, 2001 05:55:34 AM new
Hi, Im in on this sale as well. I've been gathering up items to go on this and Im hoping we can attract a few more buyers. That's what this is all about. BV has alot of potential and a large seller base, but just needs the buyers. Perhaps a few buyers brought in by the sale will stay and will spread the word.
posted on June 11, 2001 06:07:05 AM new
Hope you guys are selling items valued around a buck cause there sure isn't any bidding activity going on at Bidville. I'd love to see a FREE site succeed and I hope Bidville is the one but they really have to find a way to advertise. The site's missing half of its intended clientele --- BUYERS!
posted on June 11, 2001 11:12:30 AM new
Good afternoon!
I've been reading through all your posts and want to thank everyone on the positive side for their enthusiasm and support!
I'd also like to thank everyone on the negative side because I think you all bring out very valid points.
Yes, BidVille doesn't have many bidders. True, there isn't much advertising going on at the moment. If it was me I'd be doing it differently, but it's not me so for the moment I'm just using the site and hoping to sell a few things.
One thing I might add about starting the bids at $1.00 for the sale. All of us will be listing some nice merchandise--not just $1 items. And we're fully willing to accept the fact that some of our stuff will close at $1.00 when it may be valued at much more.
There are already several sellers who start all their auctions at $1.00 bids--and I've seen several of their auctions with multiple bids. The other day I did a search for something and came up with some insulators. I was really surprised to see the high bids on some of these at over $30. The seller knew his business--he had reserves placed on all of his auctions, and some had met the reserves. I went over to eBay and did a search for the same things. They were selling for between $5 and $15. So, that tells me that there is bidding on BidVille, though not as much as elsewhere.
Toollady, I've done quite a few searches on BidVille and haven't run into that problem so it might've been just an intermittent thing. When I have run into it on other sites (just haven't on BidVille yet) I do the search over and generally it works fine.
Hey, in reality I know we may very well not get many bids on our auctions, but what the hey! As some have said here, at least we know we've tried. And I bet there will be at least some regular bidders on BidVille who walk away with a nice bargain in the end and be very happy in the process.
I am gathering together my $1 items around the house and will have them prepared to list.
I may be wrong, but isn't the purpose of $1 no reserve sale to start items at $1?
Hopefully, it doesn't mean you're all going to be selling dollar store items. Club99 promotes .99 auctions, but most sellers list items worth more in value.
How did the "at cost" auctions fare? I looked around the site at that time and saw one seller had a common used widget "at cost" $15.00. Somehow, I don't think so.
posted on June 11, 2001 12:48:43 PM new
mtnmama..."Hopefully, it doesn't mean you're all going to be selling dollar store items."
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Truthfully, I hope that doesn't happen either. I wouldn't presume to speak for other participating sellers, but I will tell you that for this sale, I plan to offer widgets that I would normally list with opening bids in the$2-$25 range.
posted on June 11, 2001 12:55:29 PM new
"How did the "at cost" auctions fare? I looked around the site at that time and saw one seller had a common used widget "at cost" $15.00. Somehow, I don't think so,"
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I don't know how that event went, but I'd sure like a little feedback about it, all I know about it at this point is there was "one seller" who apparently had "one item" listed higher than you think it should have been. How about an overall commentary...did the majority of the sellers list at cost? was it good? Bad? were there bidders? Success stories? failures? I'd really like to know.
re: below..I hope you are right, and I always appreciate a positive attitude. But the curmugeon in me keeps saying "excuses excuses". I honestly applaud the sellers who are proactively advertising BV on their own. I also have no proof that other advertising is effective.
But jeez Louise, it's NOT the same environment as when eBay first came into being. Right now there are several well-established venues for buying online, either as auctions or fixed-price. Folks know what they are all about. They need to (A) hear about a new site and (B) be shown a good reason to register.
As I mentioned, I am listing there...some..but there is a certain investment in my time that I can't afford until the site itself does something to bring in lookers. I keep hoping...
keziak
"As for advertising by the site owners... as ..When the BV threads were on fire a while back about the lack of advertising, the Prez responded to everyone's questions and he made a lot of sense. The site still needs a lot of "tweaking" and it is not to it's advantage to spend tons of money on advertising until all the little problems are solved. A lot of categories still need to be cleaned up (and I see progress being made in this area). They (BV) just opened the automotive category, they are about to release a new bulk loader, and are in negotiations to bring in an on-line payment service -- So, I think the
advertising will come and soon, and like I said, I'm a patient guy."
posted on June 11, 2001 01:24:00 PM new
"...but there is a certain investment in my time that I can't afford until the site itself does something to bring in lookers."
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I hear ya, but the curmudgeon in ME keeps saying "Keziaks making excuses excuses." In the time you spent to read all these posts and reply, you probably could have gotten a couple books prepped to feature in the upcoming sale, and then you would be a pro-active seller as well.
posted on June 11, 2001 05:31:38 PM new
Hi Rob, right you are, but I already have a box full listed...won't you go bid on some of them..or just look? oh lonely me..
posted on June 11, 2001 06:04:06 PM new
Rob, uh oh, we're talking about Bidville LOL! I was looking at SYI at that "at cost" sale. Is my face red!!!
I hadn't heard about the Bidville one even though I'm registered there. I would think they do quite a bit of business through their chat boards. I know that when I read the threads, I also look at the auctions.
posted on June 12, 2001 04:58:55 AM new
Hi, just a follow up. I plan on listing alot of items almost all of which will cost me more than $1.00.
I will not be listing dollar store type items. I also believe most of the other participants will not be listing dollar store type items. Some of what you will see are hand crafted items that would sell for hundreds of dollars at craft shows. These people have put their time and effort into their craft and are willing to sacrifice some return on investment to help out the site.
Yes Im hoping we get some exposure because alot of us are taking a great risk to get some buyers into the site.
Im willing to take that risk to promote a site which I believe has alot of potential, and great customer service.
I would encourage everyone just to drop by Bidvile anytime, but especially during the
1$-sale.
posted on June 12, 2001 05:53:36 AM new
mtnmama...Still the serman was great, it brought up a good and valid point..I appreciate the unintentional advice...LOL
posted on June 12, 2001 06:10:12 AM new
I don't mean to be rude, but putting up $100+ items during Bidville's $1 start auctions when they will have minimal traffic without continuous advertising? Are you guys crazy?????? I wish you all luck but I'd set my expectations low on the effectiveness of this promotion unless there's relentless followup advertising!
posted on June 12, 2001 07:04:12 AM new
eSeller004...There's a difference between rudeness and pessimism. I don't think your being rude, and I for one, appreciate your comments, but I don't think we're crazy and I don't think our expectations are all that high. The participating sellers though quietly optimistic, are realistic. We don't expect a massive buying frenzy (although that would be nice). All we're trying to do is introduce ourselves, hopefully gain a little exposure, offer a few bargains, and perhaps impress a few folks with our friendly attitudes, variety of goods and decent opening bids enough to buy, or at least bookmark us for future reference.
Thanks for the wish of good luck...but I'm in Houston, and I've had all the rain I can stand...please don't rain on our parade...
respectfully, Rob (who now thanks to flood water has a new Olympic size swimming pool in the back yard)
posted on June 12, 2001 11:48:20 AM new
When I was at Golds in the early days, a bunch of sellers organized an end of summer blow out sale, complete with a connecting webpage, etc. Much like you guys want to do at Bidville for .99.
It was announced on all their chat boards including the support board and we had Golds blessings. Despite this, there was a lot of ill-will created because not everyone saw the announcements and not everyone could participate. Those that wanted to sign up too late could not be added to the page. (We would be sitting there day and night trying to add people at the last minute.) A deadline was set and they missed it. But it mattered not whose fault it was, the organizers were blamed.
Hopefully you gave everyone on Bidville the chance to participate early enough. It's not good enough to make one announcement on the front page during the sale, which BTW, Golds people were supposed to do for us, but never did. You have to keep telling people on the site.
I do wish you luck, however. I'm registered with BidVille, but haven't heard a thing about it because I don't go to the chats anymore.
Edited to take out SYI! I did it again! LOL!
[ edited by mtnmama on Jun 12, 2001 12:23 PM ]
posted on June 12, 2001 12:03:25 PM new
FYI, this sale is on Bidville, not on SYI. We have been working on this sale for quite some time and Im sure that everyone who wants to participate will be included. Our sellers are quite active and cognizant of everything going on at Bidville.
I'd love to see a FREE site succeed and I hope Bidville is the one but they really have to find a way to advertise. The site's missing half of its intended clientele --- BUYERS! 
