posted on March 14, 2001 01:11:34 PM new
"When Koogle gingerly tried to extract even a nominal fee from users of Yahoo's auction service, 90% of them disappeared in disgust."
gingerly? GINGERLY?? ROFL!!!!
More like a MACK TRUCK thinking he could bulldoze his outrageous fees on us!
posted on March 14, 2001 04:57:41 PM new
"This banner-ad Alamo brings Yahoo's entire business model into question. Unlike AOL, Yahoo has no Plan B to drive sales. AOL, a service provider as well as a content provider, collects a steady $21.95 a head per month, while Yahooligans get their Internet access elsewhere and are accustomed to paying squat for content"
Which is why I suggested Yahoo acquire the failed 1stUp.com to provide internet access and content for a flat monthly fee.
Nice article. Great chart in the article. Really shows how bad things have gotten for Yahoo (worse is that much of the $170-180 million in ads was booked from last quarter to run this quarter, otherwise it would be much less).
posted on March 15, 2001 11:09:39 AM new
Every single one of these articles says that Yahoo Auction sellers refuse to pay fees, WHICH SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE, and I wish we could get the truth across to all these analysts and journalists---that Yahoo Auction sellers are willing to pay fees, just not the fees that Yahoo is charging!!!
The saddest part of all this is that, had Yahoo management handled their Auction RIGHT, it could be THRIVING right now, with the "dead wood" listings trimmed and everyone else giving eBay a run for their money. Had Yahoo not announced the fees they chose to charge, I don't believe eBay would have raised their listing fees YET.....but if they had, can you IMAGINE just how many eBay sellers would have come over to give Yahoo Auction a try, rather than pay eGreed's higher listing fees???
It's a case of TOTAL MISMANAGEMENT of Yahoo Auction by clueless, arrogant, know-it-all, unresponsive management, and I hope they're reading this.
They consider us all to be a bunch of garage sale trash (as does Meg) who understand nothing of business and finance, so they give NO VALUE to our opinions and advice. Yet we are the very ones who DECIDE where to sell our goods for the optimal return---locally at stores, malls, shows & markets or on personal websites or auctions sites/fixed price venues, etc.; who DECIDE which merchandise to buy, how much to pay for it, how much to ask for it, when and how to sell it; who DECIDE on expenses like repairs/restoration, condition/grading, rents/fees/travel costs, packaging materials & shipping supplies, mailing services, insurance options, and on and on and on. Some of us even handle our own legal matters and income taxes, which I doubt can be said of many YaWho big-wigs.
We are self-employed entreprenuers who CHOOSE to do this because we LIKE to, and/or because it FITS WELL into our lives and circumstances, and/or because we PREFER it to other forms of employment....and we are EXTREMELY TIRED of stomaching the condescending attitudes of those who lord over us at online auction sites.
It's no wonder YaWho's foreign execs are all jumping ship. SOMEBODY at YaWho needs to learn to eat humble pie.
posted on March 15, 2001 01:37:45 PM new
It seems like all the top execs are jumping ship. That's probably because their stock options are so far under water that they aren't likely to be worth anything for a long time. I've been sort of wondering if Tim Koogle is basically jumping ship. He's wealthy already but why would you want to work for free? During 1999 and 2000 he sold 150,000 shares but was issued options for 850,000 shares at 71.91 ($36 after 2:1?) during 1999 (we'll know year 2000 in a couple of weeks). Those options are underwater now.
I'm guessing no major decisions are going to be made until Yahoo finds a new CEO. The least they could do though, is to add a free relisting.
