Power Sellers Unite

angelsolutions

From Bidville's Announcement Board:

Valued Members,

As of this evening, your storefront items are protected by your SAFE settings, just like your auctions. Buyers that do not meet your criteria may request your approval to purchase your storefront items.

If you approve a request to bid on "ANY of my Items", it includes storefront and auction items. So, a buyer does not have to request auction and storefront approval separately.

We are proud to say that we have significantly decreased buying and selling fraud over the past few months. Quite frankly, it has just about disappeared completely thanks to our address verification, VIP Program and SAFE Program.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. Thanks for continuing to grow with us.

The Bidville Team

I'm getting ready to load up my store and my auctions!

sylvia
angelsolutions

viewit · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 252

They could be the only online auction site that is really fighting spam and fraud !! and succeeding at it, bravo.
Word will spread, sellers and bidders will come.

mojavelyn

Viewit, BV is not the only online auction site fighting fraud and scammers and succeeding, but at least they are taking steps in the right direction to fight it. A few months (and no Sylvia, I'm not bashing BV) is not a good measure. These past few months compared to the previous 6 months, yes, there is progress.

angelsolutions

Hey Lynette!!! Good to see ya Tex! :lol:

No worries...no bashing taken. LMAO! It's true....it's like nite & day at Bidville & no one knows it better than we do!

The sites that seem to be able to ward off alot of that stuff are the ones that try harder to verify sellers AND BUYERS. Seriously. This is something I've always wanted at all sites.

Not to go off-topic, but out of curiousity, doesn't Yahoo still make us jump through hoops to register a new ID for selling? I can't even remember anymore. And Amazon with their Amazon-Payments method, cuts them off at the pass.

The harder the rest of the sites work at verifying ALL users & staying on top of it, the better it will be for all. This is a great step for Bidville & I'm dern glad they did it. :mrgreen:

later chick,
sylvia
angelsolutions

viewit · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 252

As a seller you are in 95% control of your auctions and bidder fraud and onsite spam from scammers. And because of it, BidVille clearly stands alone with there VIP and SAFE programs. No noise about it till site is complete, sshhhh do not talk about it :lol:

mojavelyn · Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:27 pm Post subject:

Hey Syliva,

I don't sell at Yahoo or Amazon, so someone that does will have to answer. Last year I registered to sell and had to have a Key password on top of the regular password. When they did the free thing, I went to list some items, blew my few chances because I couldn't remember my Key pw and locked myself out of my account. Now to fix it, I have to call Yahoo, and thats a toll charge call. So I blew it off. If it was all that important to me to sell at Yahoo, I would call. Its not. And Yahoo is rife with fraud, scammers and spammers.

I have 2 yahoo email accounts, one gets several hundred spams a day. Its my throw-away account.

Quote: › docWrite("quote")The harder the rest of the sites work at verifying ALL users & staying on top of it, the better it will be for all. This is a great step for Bidville & I'm dern glad they did it.

This is diffinately a step in the right direction. My fave site has been doing it all along. At least in the 1.5 years I've been there. And yes, all sites, who want to run a reputable site should be doing this or something very similar.

What are BV's TOS for banning NPB/NSS?

Weather in sunny SO CAL, a balmy 70s or higher predicted for Xmas day. (Now thats off topic!!!)

Laters girlfriend... gotta go scatter catnip for a certain Cat!

angelsolutions

Quote: › docWrite("quote")In an effort to refund FSF charges from non-paying bidders, Bidville has now automated the refund process. This will greatly improve the efficiency and timeliness in refunding these fees to your account.

FSF Refunds may be requested for items sold on Bidville but not paid for by the winning buyer. There is a waiting period of 14 days after the item closes to give the buyer the opportunity to correct the situation. After 14 days, you must post either negative or neutral feedback for the non-paying buyer before an FSF Refund will be credited to your account.

That's the NPB, but I gotta admit I'm a bit tired, therefore a little more ditzy than usual...whatza NSS? non-shipping seller? heh :?: But the VIP is a really good step in the right direction for that too. I won't buy from a non-verified seller & neither will many folk. Could use some tweaking, I think. But a good first step.

We have the same forecast for Christmas day...a FAR cry from last year's WHITE CHRISTMAS in South Texas!! LOL :lol:

My cat is snoring...which reminds me...time to hit the hay! :shock:

sweet dreams, chickee
sylvia
angelsolutions

viewit · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 252

I think bidville is revising their TOS and it will be posted most likely in jan. 06 or before.

mojavelyn · Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 6:06 am Post subject:

Sylvia, yes, NSS non shipping seller. And hate to say it, but even a verified seller can turn sour.

In all the "what Bidville is doing right" talks, I hadn't seen anything about TOS. Granted the SAFE and VIP is good and a step in the right direction, but no one has said how BV is going to handle offenders.

I'm unsure about the automation of FVF refunds. I think that is asking for more trouble there. Automation is only as good as the programmers and operators. BV's past experience in that department isn't great. I'm still waiting for a FVF refund of a NPB. Its only 52c but its the principle. And I don't like their FVF credit can only be used for future FVF. I waited over 6 months for that NPB sale. And I did ask for my money back, 3x. That is the only negs I have about BV and that is my personal experience. My negs about ebay are alot longer as I was there longer.

But for your sake I am glad they are changing.

angelsolutions

'Mornin!

Like viewit said, the actual TOS is being reworked too. There was much to be corrected. So much has been done already & I'm looking forward to seeing much more.

As Bidville Sellers, we're very happy to see so much improvement happening now at a place we all knew had potential all along. Just please don't assume the "what Bidville is doing right" talks mean that the changes are final and will work perfectly, etc, etc. We just are pleased to see the changes. I've seen posts on the Bidville boards stating how the scam emails coming through our listings are almost non-existent now & scam bidders are banned almost immediately on reporting them. THAT's the good start. If any site has figured out how to KEEP them from getting in in the first place, I'd love to know how they did it myself!

Automation of the FVF refunds at BV is first of all an improvement over the old way. LOL Requiring the seller to place a negative or neutral *first* before requesting the refund, with a 14 day waiting period seems like a good idea to me. The only complaints I've seen from other sellers seem to be the delay in actually getting the refund. LOL No one wants to wait any more & I'm sure Bidville will have to work through it's trust issues too.

eBay's dispute process is a little more convoluted to me (read: pain in the butt). But then I'm simple-minded. Heh.

And you're right! It's the principle! Get back there and request that FVF, girlfriend! Never let them go!!

And about the credit--dang, that's a good idea!!! :shock: SUGGEST IT! They are listening!!!

Have a great day!

sylvia
angelsolutions

mojavelyn · Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 12:30 am Post subject:

Evenin' Sylvia,

I hope BV doesn't let the grass grow under its feet again. I hope it continues to improve itself, which is what I think happened to BV, it chose not to improve itself till it was nearly too late. I won't say I'll never go back. Maybe in the future I'll consider it. But at present I'm happy at B-A.

B-A sure hasn't stayed the same in the time I've been there. They are constantly improving. My sales are improving at B-A. Any give 6 month period at B-A, is more then any of the time I was at BV. My items get good google and froogle placement.

If BV is working for you... Go For IT!!! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise... except me... LOL!

viewit · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 252

If there are 200 stores there now it will increase by a minimum of 50 a month in february and through 2006. Like picking the super bowl winner 1 year in advance.
I say 955 at december 2006 end. :D
Out on a limb :?: :wink:

lotsofgoodstuff · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 282 Location: CA

Viewit - your optimism is something to be admired, may you be right. And may there be enough customers to buy from the stores.

I don't know if you remember that BV had once - not so long ago - over 500 stores. In my book that's at least a 50% decrease within a year. You predict a 300% increase.

BTW - BV has not answered any questions for over a week now, there are still unanswered posts from 12/15. CS on early vacation?

angelsolutions

Quote: › docWrite("quote")I don't know if you remember that BV had once - not so long ago - over 500 stores. In my book that's at least a 50% decrease within a year.

Good morning & HO HO HO, Merry Christmas!

We all remember what the number of stores were quite well. We also remember the over 3 million auction listings, of which 2/3 are 'gone'. :shock: Gasp! What happened?

What happened was a HUGE clean-out & clean-up, just about 4 short months ago, when everything started changing at Bidville. Duplicate &/or abandoned listings were ended; abandoned stores cleared. Looks & feels pretty spiffy these days.

CS has been answering questions submitted via the Contact button, & BTW, yes---they are on Christmas leave. How do I know? I sent some questions about my store--got answers--and wished them a Blessed Holiday Season as I do every one else. They mentioned being off for the holidays, but that they would be checking in.

I share viewit's enthusiasm! :D Let's round it off sweetie! 1K busy, bizy stores by December 2006! :mrgreen:

sylvia
angelsolutions

lotsofgoodstuff · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 282 Location: CA

LOL - How could I not expect this answer! Let's hope you are right and it is not a Carnaby-repeat.

BTW - A vacation for customer service during the "busiest time of the year" strucks me as rather funny. So far I saw CS at several other places, like Bid-ALot, Ebay, etc. still working :)

Merry Christmas!