posted on August 29, 2000 01:51:15 AM new
I had some old unsuccessful auctions that I hadn't bothered to relist -- but I planned to one day. Now many of my old auctions are gone! The pictures, the descriptions, everything. And I have no record now which ones they were since I thought I could keep them on stored on Yahoo until I relisted them. Has anyone else had this problem? How do I contact Yahoo about it, do they even have an email address? Why didn't Yahoo tell us about this change!?
posted on August 29, 2000 03:51:44 AM new
myopinion - don't bother contacting Yahoo, it is not reasonable for you to expect them to store your auctions and pic indefinitely, we are talking millions of auctions here.
posted on August 29, 2000 07:20:22 AM new
VeryModern
You are completely correct. Before I started using an automatic auction creation program, I used to do all my auction writing in Microsoft Word, and kept them stored there. I would suggest to "myopinion" that in the future you keep a copy of all your auctions in some folder on your own computer, you can't expect for Yahoo to keep such records forever......think of the massive amount they are holding just on recent auctions, and they hold them MUCH LONGER than eBay.
I use AuctionAssistant to create my auctions, and just leave all my auctions stored there for future use, or for use in creating a new auction which may be of a similar product. You can't directly post your auctions from AA to Yahoo, but I just copy the html and drop it in.
posted on August 29, 2000 11:12:11 PM new
I didn't expect Yahoo to hold the old listings forever. But I do expect them to warn me of an CHANGES they are going to make. They used to hold the older listings basically "forever". But they just changed the policy and deleted many older ones without any warning.
posted on August 29, 2000 11:58:16 PM new
myopinion,
Yahoo used to hold closed auctions what seemed to be indefinitely, then this spring they cut the time back to 6 months, but auctions OLDER than that were still available to me on my "Closed Auctions" list, as long as I didn't delete them. (They were for new books that I had no more copies of but do obtain sporadically at my sources, so I relist every time I get another copy.)
Then Yahoo started deleting those older than 6 months from my "Closed" list, TOO. Fortunately, I read about it on a thread here, and relisted, then closed all my oldest auctions so their closing dates would be recent.
I don't know what happened, but all those auctions I had relisted and closed TO SAVE for future use ARE NOW GONE. I'm in the same boat YOU are!!!
I don't know why everyone's reaction here to this problem is so CALLOUS. We aren't BLAMING Yahoo for not holding our old auctions, only for NOT LETTING US KNOW before changing policy and DELETING them, so we could save them somewhere else.
posted on August 30, 2000 05:52:03 AM new
granee - I figured someone would think my response callous and I am sorry for that, but I stand by it. Yahoo has millions upon millions of users. How should they notify and who should they notify? Should they send the entire user base an email that is irrelevant to probably 85% of the them just so no one gets left out? Would anybody READ it?
I know some people want to see an announcement board from Yahoo, but I disagree because I think if would have very limited value. For starters, you have to see the board for it to work, and would this user have seen the board? He/she states basically that they abandoned some auctions for some period of time, so it does not sound like they were hanging around yahoo waiting for a sign to go up to keep them informed.
The other problem is that Yahoo is vast. I use their shopping, their wallet, paydirect, email, clubs, and I am most entrenched in their stock boards. Now.
Should they put up a board for each of these to post changes, or just one that scrolls?
I hope you can see the point I am trying to make. I was not trying to be rude to the poster (am I am not trying to be rude to you). He/She thought something and they thought wrong. *If* Yahoo had announced this - the announcement would have been long gone by now, when this information became relevant to this user anyway.
Last, Yahoo tweaks something every day, if not every hour, but I have yet to see them do anything devastating to the community at large, so I call that great management. Tweak here and a % have to adjust, most user just carry on with no affect at all. The 1000 auction limit is are like this. There are a few non-spammers who are going to be hurt by this and need to make adjustments but overwhelmingly the user base will see no affect individually, but collectively it will manifest an improved auction base. I feel we were given adequate warning, but be assured that there will be people posting on these boards in 6 months saying "HEY! What the heck! I used to be able to..." To these people coming back from whatever hiatus, the announcement did them no good at all.
posted on August 30, 2000 08:50:38 AM new
VeryModem, very well said. Sometimes we ask for things not knowing the gravity of it all. I remember not too long ago when some buyers were complaining to eBay about Reserve auctions & when eBay started implementing fees nearly everyone was at an uproar. We are all users here & the system is in place so just abide by it. The system cannot cater to one person needs.
If you are keeping an auction for over 6 months thinking, oh maybe I will post it back in 9 months, you are taking up space of over 2 years. Yes its free & yes Yahoo is making money but there comes a point when regardless of free or wealth, you are just plain taking advantage of Yahoo at the other user expense.
I am glad Yahoo doesn't reply to e-mails to a certain extend. Look how eBay has just gone from a business site to a political agenda site. Everyone has something they are against & start e-mailing eBay for every single thing they dislike. People are forming personal relationship with eBay customer care. Too much time on your hands or the excuse, 'Well I care'.
posted on August 30, 2000 09:37:54 AM new
I agree comic.
>> Everyone has something they are against & start e-mailing eBay for every single thing they dislike. >>>
I see Yahoo as internet for grownups. It is the end of the road, not the beginning (AOL). No hand holding, and a certain level of knowledge is assumed.
For example, by the time you get to Yahoo you should know that answers are found best and quickest on the boards. As a matter of fact it is ludicrous for someone to think that Yahoo, or any other large operation can hire enough staff to compose a personal response to every query someone might send, yet this is the expectation, so of course these people are disappointed.
Just imagine how many truly stupid questions that Yahoo is asked a day.
Now add the number of truly Newbie questions that get asked.
Now add the number of questions people to lazy to use even one brain cell ask.
Now add the number of.. ...well you get the idea.
It is not Yahoo's job to teach internet/email/message board/auction 101 (although I do like there help section - short and to the point). It is their job to be excellent and they are, but what I really appreciate most is that in spite of being HUGE they don't hose down the user. Whether it is Ebay and their incessant fees, AOL and their restrictions and controls (can't post Yahoo on one of their boards), or MSN and their spyware so profound I cannot even log on - Yahoo stands head and shoulders above the rest, and I have complaint NONE. I've said it before, but it bears repeating...
Yahoo auction sellers - WE HAVE IT MADE!
I do YAHOOOOO!
[ edited by VeryModern on Aug 30, 2000 09:40 AM ]
posted on August 31, 2000 03:00:58 PM new
VeryModem, I can only imagine what kind of questions, Yahoo & all online customer service get. In a sense that's their job to help the users. I am guilty of asking questions or help myself.
Now that I am doing a business, I get e-mails weekly about some of the darndest things. From how to do a wire transfer to how to bid on a auction, I mean its mind boggling but you do what you can.
Have you ever noticed how people behave. Just look at the eBay & Yahoo rooms here. Take this for example, user tries to get into Paypal, can't get in & immediately post in AW...'Hey Paypal you guys stink cos I can't get in'. 90% of the time, its not even the site fault. eBay down, Yahoo down...geezz whatever happened to a little bit of patience. Let me tell you this, the only reason why we don't get so much negativity about Yahoo is because its FREE.
The day Yahoo start charging a penny, we will get a trash load of discontent users. 'Ohh Yahoo's color sucks', 'Ahh can't get in Yahoo', 'Want money back cos Yahoo down for 5 seconds', 'Want money back because its more profit for me', 'Isn't the internet suppose to be FREE', 'Yahoo getting rich of my hard work'. Its mind boggling.
All these people remind me of some buyers who pay via Paypal...'I paid via Paypal, please confirm receival immediately and mail my package tomorrow or I will neg you'.
posted on August 31, 2000 10:27:26 PM new
To VeryModern - You seem to be clueless, not callous.
RE: your comment "Yahoo has millions upon millions of users. How should they notify and who should they notify?"
They HAVE notified auction users of other changes, for example, the new 1000 rule, to which you refer. I agree that that notice was adequate.
If they had similarly announced the new time limitation for storing past listings, it would have been very relevant and useful for me to take action instead of just seeing my older auctions hopelessly disappear. (In addition to slow auctions, I sometimes had an item I expected to find and relist again, like granee.)
I do NOT think Yahoo should store auctions forever. I DO however expect notifications of major changes as they have done before.
posted on September 1, 2000 03:46:59 AM new
clueless?
Okay - that's your opinion, here's mine.
It is foolish to think that you can walk away from anything for 6 months and expect to come back and find it as you left it. If you walk off your job, out of your marriage, whatever - you are hardly going to be able to come back and find your desk/your bed undisturbed. I have not sold on Amazon for 8 months. If I decide to list there over Christmas again, I will expect to have to familiarize myself again because surely things have changed. You come back to Yahoo - it should have been "to see if my auctions are still there".
To expect Yahoo to store images indefinitely was never reasonable in the first place. The auction is OVER. This is not like dumping a webpage they are hosting. You did not tell us HOW they should have notified you. The average yahoo user has NO images stored in an auction, and probably 3 or 4 or 6 ids... I''ll ask again. Should they have mailed everyone and hoped you read the post, or should they have put the info on an announcement board that you would never have seen?
posted on September 1, 2000 11:28:49 AM new
warr - I left Ebay with the reserve fee for the most part - went to Amazon through this last Christmas and then put my first Yahoo auction up Jan. 1 2000! In all that time I never saw where Yahoo said they would host 3 auction pictures for the rest of eternity, or else call you on your cell to advise!
I am leaving tomorrow morning.
I am going high in the mountains and yell from way up.
I am ushering in the best year of my life.
Yes!
Everybody gets one, and this one is gonna be mine!
Watch and see! This dog's gonna have her day and then some!
YAHOOOOOO!!
posted on September 1, 2000 12:20:59 PM new
>>>> have to work around the house, but my mountains come in Octobor and November! Mule Deer & Elk!>>
Oh how testosterone of you, I can't imagine, I could never camp. I am a survivor-not, staying in a condo with an indoor jacuzzi. I am pretty earthy, but I have to have clean hair or be in a bad mood. At least I know myself excellently well.
I run about 3 auctions a month on ebay and at least 1 of them is a deadbeat - I swear it's true, or has been for the last several months. This is all can stand for that reason. I don't hang there, so I have to actually type on my calendar "go get stinkin' FVF - it's been 10 days" or else I will forget to do it. It's too ridiculous for words.
I put things on ebay that I am embarrassed to be selling in most cases, and I don't want to be seen. Other cases it is because the thing has a terrifically strong following on Ebay, but anymore what is strong on ebay is also strong on Yahoo.
I guess we will have to see how this all shakes out at yahoo and make decisions about the Christmas selling season. Where to be????
posted on September 1, 2000 12:56:25 PM new
I will have to see for the Holidays also?
Just had to browse to page 49 of photos only to get to my auctions closing tomorrow! Even passed some that end in nine days on page 48!
All the garbage that is posted in my main category has been getting relisted since last year! Way over priced!
<staying in a condo with an indoor jacuzzi>
I walk about 10 feet from my computer out on my deck and look at the cliffs of MT Si to see if I can spot any mountain goats! Usually have a herd of Elk out in the fields at dusk about a quarter mile from my house! I wish folks would leave them alone! They are in the city limits!
posted on September 3, 2000 02:19:33 AM new
VeryModern
Re: your comment: "To expect Yahoo to store images indefinitely was never reasonable in the first place." -- who has said this? NO ONE!
We only expected Yahoo to notify us of changes. I am actively on Yahoo and have been continously so for over a year. Yahoo notified people of the new listing limits and Yahoo should have notified people of the NEW time limit to past auction listings also.
To suddenly change the amount of time older listings will be stored and DELETE older listings is not the right thing to do, regardless if it is free or not. Yahoo had shown a pattern of service that allowed people to store older auctions for an extended period. This was changed with NO notice like the auction-limit notice. I accept the new policy without any argument. I however do not accept how it was implemented.
