WEBIDZ, looking good for an 08' run!!!

[knappschiles]

Since I have never run an auction site, I don't know how dificult this is, but I do know that at least 2 alt sites are doing it -- have some way to auto take fees owed out of the PP or a credit card account.

Ebid bills me every month that I sell something. Sometimes it's only for pennies, but they are getting their fees.

iOffer also has something similar to what eBay has, my credit card on file, and bills me every time my bill gets over $5.

I know Jenn from BnS used to complain about deadbeats too. I didn't realize it was such a problem til now you mention the same thing.

Any seller that's been around a bit knows they can't list if they don't pay their eBay fees. It shouldn't be any different at any of the other sites just because the sites are smaller and don't charge as much. I don't know just what the answer is, but I hope you can figure something out.

Carol

[Mojavelyn]

I hope we all (site owners) do too Carol, deadbeats aren't fair for the sites or the other sellers.

I don't know what script ebid uses, and I think Ioffer is a custom job too... so it would have to be a mod for that for PH.  Probably a mod for PPb also.

Another problem is that some of these peeps think that just because a site is small, or not as big as ebay, that we are begging for members and items... well, in a way we are... but...!!!

Every tribe has rules. Every society has rules. Every religion has rules. Every auction site has rules. (Spoken as a true social cultural anthropologist!)

[WeBidz]

I was directed to this thread by Mo, so I decided to sign up to answer some questions and comments that are posted here.

I do not get too involved with posting in forums. So if I do not post much here, please do not think it is something to do with the site or its members. I will most likely not immediately respond to questions or comments, but will try to find my way back over here every once in a while.

We feel SEO and advertising are a couple of the bigger factors in regards to building any business. So we have spent a great deal of time and money on both. Our advertising budget is still quite limited (currently about $500.00 per month), but is reevaluated and raised every 30-60 days (set percentage of revenues). So SEO is the main contributor in bringing new traffic to the site. We currently get an average of 2,500 uniques daily from organic search results... So at $0.10 per click, this is equivalent to $250 daily ($7,500 monthly) worth of free advertising.

In the beginning we liked to think that we were targeting buyers and sellers, which is how it should be done. After further evaluation, we determined that this was in fact wrong. We were primarily attracting sellers, with only a small percentage of our results being from buyers. About six months ago we decided to target only buyers. If we can bring in and maintain quality buyers, seller will naturally find us. Now 100% of our advertising and SEO work is targeted towards buyers. We have seen increases in buyer activity over the last six months, but it will take much longer to achieve the desired results.

"it seems as if everyone who registers gets a free store": I can see where this perception was developed. As we have a massive amount of stores with nothing in them. We recently implemented a fee structure for stores, with free stores that hold up to 250 items, and paid stores that increment up. Instead of adversely affecting our current members when implementing this policy, we provided free unlimited stores for all current members at that time. Members that do not list anything for six months, the stores will expire some time in mid-late January. Members that have items in their store will automatically change over to a paid store level that is appropriate for the amount of items listed, but they will never be charged for this store level. If they decide to upgrade their store at a later date, they would be charged appropriate fees from that point forward.

"Small scroll bar on the home page": I have not heard this before. Are you saying the scroll bar is too thin? What browser are you using?

"Could do without the top adsense box": We understand that some do not like advertising on sites, but this is a needed revenue stream to keep the site in operation, pay for advertising, fund future development, etc. We try to keep all advertising as unobtrusive as possible. We do not allow any flashing banner ads, pop-ups, page redirects, etc.

"listing enhancements seem to be a little too cheap": The set fees are actually a prorated amount of our set prices. Homepage featured is $5.00, category featured is $2.50, bold and highlighted is $0.50. Our site does not merit this cost at this time, so we have a prorated amount that is based on actual traffic and sales. This is reevaluated every 30-60 days, and adjusted when changes merit this. Basic listing will always be free, regardless of traffic and sales levels. We will be implementing final sale fees in the future, with a value of 1-3% charged. We are not planning on implementing this for at least six months though.

"Seems to be a member of PEACE which is a waste of time IMO": AS I stated above, I do not get too involved with external forums, as I see no real benefit by doing so. I was asked by our community mod to sign up, so she could participate. I have assisted a couple site owners, through PM's that I received from them. But have not been active there, other than a couple posts to introduce us, and update owners about software we have available for ProBid sites.

Our mod is a paid mod, so there are certain professional expectations that she is aware of. She gets paid for her activity within our forum, not for promoting our site outside of WeBidz. We do not expect any of our employees or site members to advertise or promote the WeBidz site, as that is our responsibility. If they mention our site to others through their normal daily routines, that is fine and we appreciate referrals. But we do not want anyone associated with us to start spamming forums, or doing anything that could be deemed unprofessional and/or illegal.

"When I joined Webidz, as a seller, I verified my account also and was given site credit for it": I think Mo mistook the regular $5.00 credit that we used to give, for some sort of credit for being verified. We used to give a $5.00 credit for all new members, which was intended to be used for fees incurred on the site. There were quite a few members that thought this could be applied to purchases on the site, which was not the case. Rather than confusing or deceiving our members, we stopped giving this credit.

I have read or heard similar statements of "this site is just trying to make money off the verification fee". This is actually true to a degree. Verification is a needed process, which does have costs involved on our end. A percentage of this fee does go towards that, and the remaining goes into advertising, site development, wages, etc. Just like any business, we need to eventually run in the black (which we have been for about four months). This is done by creating revenue streams through various means, which the verification process is one method.

We do not try to hide any fees, or gouge our members. Members have the choice of paying this fee in the beginning, if they want to sell. They are not charged any surprise re-verification fees, as verification remains as long as they are an active member on the site. If people decide this fee is not worth it, we understand this and wish them the best wherever they decide to sell. Some other sites are cheaper, and this may be an option for them. We need to manage our business so that it can pay for itself, and also become profitable.

"the auction script, phpProBid, like its out of the box cousin RScript, isn't scalable": The ProBid script is actually more scaleable than most would think. Through custom programming by our own programmers, we have in the past been able to achieve results with older versions of ProBid that many though was not possible. The ProBid team is actually always working on updating and improving the platform. It is not just a script that is bought and that is the way it stays.

Regardless of the progress and achievements made by ProBid, we have plans to move away from this platform within the next 12-24 months. We are currently developing software architecture for our new platform, which will take at least another 3-6 months to get fully detailed. Then another 6-12 months for development and testing. We have not got any quotes for development of this project yet, but we expect it to be around $200,000 or more. So it is something that will take much planning and budgeting. We have a team of three programmers that do work for our other businesses, which we will most likely use for this project... But that is not set in stone as of right now.


"adding a moderator that used to moderate at HB and also moderates at PSU doesn't sit well with me": The reason we chose this moderator is because of the experience in this role. I reviewed quite a few applicants, and found all had small issues with others here and there. So there was no "perfect" candidate that I was able to find. Just like any interview process, I chose the person that I felt would best fill the position. This is a paid position on the WeBidz site, and specific expectations are required to maintain this position. These expectations were reviewed, discussed and agreed upon.

I have read posts in other forums where members are complaining of deleted threads, threads being hidden by bumping other threads, members making complaints and being dumped on, etc. Absolutely none of this is acceptable behavior in the WeBidz community. If a member makes a complaint it will NOT be deleted or bumped down. As far as I am concerned, that complaint is valid until we can provide resolution and post it in that particular thread. If members cannot voice complaints and receive resolution, the site will not progress as it should. I want other members to be able to view the complaints, then see the resolution we provide.

If someone comes in and starts posting vulgarities, trying to sell viagra, posting obscene pictures, etc. I will most likely delete (or edit) the post and possibly suspend their account.

I do not want anyone who is a member of the WeBidz site to feel like they cannot post in the forum because of a specific staff or mod. If you have a complaint, please complain (as long as it is legitimate). We do no bury or remove complaints, but rather deal with all issues. If anyone is experiencing problems with a mod, please feel free to send me a PM through the community.

Since there were so many points touched on, I may have missed something... If so, please let me know. I am not giving any guarantees that I will respond here within a certain amount of time. But I will say that I will be back to answer questions or comments.

Take Care,

James

[2boysandtoys]

James - thank you for answering all that you did as directly and honestly as possible.  My 'point' referencing your moderator position is directly related to IP Address sharing between PSU and Hibidder.  As the one to bring this point 'forward', I am posting publicly so any readers can see it's not a personality issue at all.  It's a business integrity issue.  As I have watched your style and your business ethics, and I've read what you've shared here, I am confident that your process for selection and retention fully cover business integrity and the handling of ANY member information.  Just in case it does not, this is my issue.

You may/may not know that my actual 'personal information' was compromised and edited on the Hibidder site.  I do realize this 'action' is very different than forum 'action'.  I do fully intend to explore Webidz in 08 - and applaud all that you've done.  Due to recent forum events, and also the above, I'll limit/not participate within your community - and believe, with all due respect, you deserve to understand why.

[The Bar Keep]

"Small scroll bar on the home page": I have not heard this before. Are you saying the scroll bar is too thin? What browser are you using?

IE7 see screenshot below:

"Could do without the top adsense box": We understand that some do not like advertising on sites, but this is a needed revenue stream to keep the site in operation, pay for advertising, fund future development, etc. We try to keep all advertising as unobtrusive as possible. We do not allow any flashing banner ads, pop-ups, page redirects, etc.

Yep here is just one thing that we disagree on. The top adsense box is right in your header, which typically is your best advertising space (AKA the high rent district). I just feel that that section would be best suited for advertising site promotions etc...

[Mojavelyn]

Thank you James, I'm glad you came over and corrected me. I knew I had credit given to me, but you know... I've slept since I had joined and a lot has happened since I did.

As for the small scroll bar.. its just that.. I have ie6, and moved the bar over to the right and then back to the far left... it didn't cut anything off.. monitor set at 1024

[Cherry Pits]

Another thing I can say about WB....if there is a mistake...like dups of listings....caused by the WB end, you probably won't need to fix it. I always do but have had emails stating that it wasn't me, it was a problem with WB software and that they would fix it for me. Now how many sites do you know would even attempt to do that for you? Most would tell you we are having a few glitches popping up and let you worry with the problem.


James is one of the good guys!

[Mojavelyn]

Another thing I can say about WB....if there is a mistake...like dups of listings....caused by the WB end, you probably won't need to fix it. I always do but have had emails stating that it wasn't me, it was a problem with WB software and that they would fix it for me. Now how many sites do you know would even attempt to do that for you? Most would tell you we are having a few glitches popping up and let you worry with the problem.


James is one of the good guys!

Now Pitts... you know what I would tell you... you fubar, you fix it. But thats the difference between James and me.. James is one of the good guys. He is a credit to the OAI.

[Cherry Pits]

Exactly....James knows how to fix stuff and he knows when WB has been naughty. Kinda like Santa!!

Which is nice when the software messes up. I don't even want to think about how many times some of these sites screw up my listings and then I have to fix it. At WB.....if it's WBs fault, James fixes it.

[WeBidz]

Erin,

I believe you in regards to the IP sharing, as I do not see any reason why you would fabricate such an allegation. I am not sure the business practices/ethics of other businesses, but want you to know such activity would never be allowed on our site. I understand your point of not wanting to use our forum, and do not hold any ill feelings for your decision.

You said that your personal information was compromised on this other site. Are you aware that the forum and site databases are seperate? I would not think that mods would have access to site database info? If they do, then I would think this would be a grievous mistake. I am not sure all the details, and don't really care to know all. I am just trying to reply to your concerns posted to us.

BarKeep,

I see what you are talking about, regarding the scroll bar. The home page was developed to best fit resolutions of 1024 and above. Evidently it looks like the designers were a little off. I will look to see if I can remove a few pixels through cellpadding or something. If that does not work, then it will most likely look like this until our next update.

Thank you for your input regarding the adsense box. I fully understand your point, and do not disagree with you. The decision to have this there was purely an economic decision, as about 25% of our net revenues are generated from this box. There may be other options, but I am not sure at this point. I will add this to our list of suggestions. We regularly go through our suggestions box, and implement site changes. Most of the changes are decided by the amount of suggestions recived for each, or if it is a security issue or not.


Site glitches for any site are something that happens from time to time. We do not have a problem admitting when there is fault on our end. Members know whos fault it is... if you lie to them, you are just going to lose credibility and respect. When there is an issue on our end, we do our best to fix issues that may result for users. Why should they have to spend their valuable time fixing something we caused?

Even if it is a members fault, we like to be able to help out when we can. This does not mean that we fix everything, but we do help out when we can.

Take Care,

James

[WeBidz]

I was able to resolve the layout issue, so no more small scrollbar for 1024 resolution. If you have a resolution of less than 1024, there will be still be a horizontal scrollbar. It was a little more than just cellpadding, but it was actaully a fairly easy fix.

James

[The Bar Keep]

I was able to resolve the layout issue, so no more small scrollbar for 1024 resolution. If you have a resolution of less than 1024, there will be still be a horizontal scrollbar. It was a little more than just cellpadding, but it was actaully a fairly easy fix.

James

Thank you James!!! That is the whole idea of this forum in fact. Helping sellers and sites improve.


Joe - The Bar Keep

[2boysandtoys]

James - thanks for the post!  I re-read mine, and it was 'sharper' than usual - stress, holidays and lack of time.  I kind of blurred 2 issues into one - and that was 'my bad' (my boys say this).

On the 'other site', the owner often gave (not certain of current process) admin access to both - the site and the forum - to the folks he decided were worthy.  Right or wrong, a reality and one of the admins OR the site owner compromised my personal information.  Honestly, I would not have known if not contacted by 'another' admin asking why my information was falsified. 

Same site - requested and received IP address information from PSU moderator.  This information was used against a member of both - the site and PSU to trash, ridicule and publicly accuse of a variety of 'stuff'. 

Two issues ---- the first is integrity - no moderator should ever use information gathered in their capacity as a support person for ANY reason - personal, professional or other.

The second ---- in the world of dynamically assigned IP addresses, information gathered by the means above should NEVER be used to publicly assault another. 

Enuf on those 'issues'.  I know, based on watching you and Webidz for the last couple years, this type of behavior would not be tolerated.  I have absolutely no issues entrusting my information to your site nor to your 'eyes', and trust that you will work hard to hire and staff with folks aligned with same business ethics and integrity.

I am gun-shy of recent about forums in general, and know with facts that your new moderator was involved in the 2nd incident.  That's where I'm 'uncomfortable' with the Webidz forum; but this would not affect my listings or involvement with selling on the site!

I hope this makes sense - it's been a long day already!! 

Keep up the good work James - and all the best in 2008 for a great and prosperous New Year!