Power Sellers Unite

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

Since i started the now infamous OLA Bashing thread I figured I would give fair justice to the other places.. I would start one on Ebay, but I think every post there already does that.. lol.. Anyhow, does anyone have any complaints about BV?

Mine is just their bulk lister program and how they need a little bit better instructions on how to set up your sheet... When I set mine up I kept putting the titles of the columns on the sheet ie; Product, Qty, Price, Description, etc.. Well that turned out to be all that was keeping my CSV sheet from loading correctly.. This could have been easily avoided by having it say in BOLD LETTERS "DO Not Put The Titles on your Excel CSV sheet!" I wasted a couple of hours on that problem since some sites do have you list the titles on your CSV sheet.. Anyone else?

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

BidVille progress Report.

Before bashing try reading...Works easier almost all the time.

For those that can't figure it out....

Valued Members,

Froogle and Google Base feeds are finally being accepted and processed for Bidville items. In order for an auction qualify, the item must have a Take It Price. Storefront Items have no requirements to qualify and all are submitted. We are sending feeds at least twice per week. Since it takes Google Base/Froogle approximately 24-48 hours to get all items posted, there is no need to send more frequently.

To help you identify your items, we placed your Bidville username on all your items during the upload. So, you can go to Google Base/Froogle and search for your own username. If you have storefront items, search for your store`s name. If you don`t see your items, they may be in the process of being accepted. Also, we noticed that the Google system is not perfect. Although we submit close to a million items, some don`t always appear. We are told it is a problem on their side, not ours and will eventually be corrected.

As far as our Bidville Express Loader, we are happy to say that a new version with correction of many known `bugs` is due for release in the next 1-2 days. This is the first new version in over 2 years. The new version also includes our new Shipping Price options.

Within a week or so, the Express Loader will be compatible with different CSV files. This will allow members that use other sites or other formats to easily enter items into the Express Loader for transfer to Bidville. Bidville Express Checkout is still in developmental stages. We do not have an estimated time frame yet. But, it remains a top priority as we believe it is 100% necessary to compete with other auction venues.

As you may already know, Bidville.com is currently in the process of an ownership and management change. The Bidville website and its operations were acquired by uBid.com Holdings, Inc. Please bear with us as we continue to transition operations and Customer Service to the new team. The entire process is expected to take a few months, but we will continue to advance and improve Bidville the entire time.

Thanks for continuing to grow with us.

Bob Tomlinson
CEO, uBid Holdings, Inc.

Ed Orlando, MD
Founder, Bidville.com

Pipphoe

My only bashing of Bidville basically has been their lack of advertising. They are -- or were -- a public company, they had the bucks, they've been around for a decent amount of time -- and no national advertising. Even the O did this -- another public company -- but for reasons stated all over PSU they really made a mess of the auction side of that company.

So my main complaint about Bidville is that by now the phrase spoken by the average man or woman on the street should have been "Should I list on Bidville or Ebay," or both. Notice I don't put Yahoo in here, and I don't because, unlike Bidville, it's not a standalone site.

So that's my bash. Here's why I haven't given up on Bidville -- although at the moment I have lowered my store to the $5 rate:

1) Bought by Ubid -- this will probably be the make-or-break it for me with BV, how Ubid handles this acquisition with advertising support and even more improvements.

2) I do like their bulk lister. It's like TurboLister but much, much better, and I'm prejudiced because it handles my HTML templates beautifully along with my built-in shipping calculator.

3) Site speed is good.

4) Stores are attractive. On this last, though, I realize if I want to get noticed on BV I will have to spend some $$ on auction listings. Which is why I downgraded my store from Featured, because like on eBay it doesn't make a difference. The best way to get people to hopefully check out your store is to put up supporting auctions, as well.

5) I'm continuing to stick it out with QShops -- i.e. Bidchaser -- so why wouldn't I do this with BV. For some reason they're both wedded in my mind. Something about look and feel, I think, although BV is far, far more functional.

6) Unlike OLA, there are passionate BV lovers on the site, but overall it's not that bad, people do critize the site. I think I've read here about some problems about these things in the past. The difference is I feel I could build a business here without getting entangled in the politics and BS that might or might not be on this site.

7) I'm not embarrassed to put my listings into rotation on a site like ReallySmartDeals and fear that the potential viewer will come in and see a mess-up listing.

8) I really have to get my tail over there and update all of my listings and add many more :twisted:

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

I honestly dont have any problems with BV, I had to think really hard and scrape the barrel to come up with that.. BV is pretty impressive and easy to list on so far.. I recommend you over other alternatives.. What is this Express Checkout thing?

Just to clear up the title here, I named it the same as OLAs just to be fair.. I wanted to see if people actually had any gripes about BV.. This is also a way to prove my point from another post, that is, that OLA has plenty more problems than they will admit to, if not more than the other alternatives combined... The other post reached 14 pages in a little over a week.. I doubt this one will reach half that in a month if ever..

The Ubid deal has me really excited and I cant wait to see what new things you guys cook up.. Anymore details you can share with us in the coming months especially with the busy season on its way?

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

The express checkout is an item that has been idle for along time. Simply put, it would have the buyer pay as you would at many eplaces already. You'd have a shopping cart, and just check out with your payment on the way out.
It was going to be implemented for the store sales.

I do agree, I can't wait to see more advertising. I'm getting tired of doing it all for them. (lol) Wish I had a nickle for every new person I sent that way...

Pipphoe

I have to get over to BV and spend some quality time there and check out some of the new features. I honestly do not know how Express Checkout works. I know they were working on it for a while and it's now rolled out with a few other new features.

No, I can't say I have problems recommending Bidville to anyone. And I just remembered the name of the bulklister that I use over there -- had brain fade when I did the previous listing. It's their Express Loader.

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

Express checkout has not been implemented yet.

SuzieS · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Posts: 93 Location: Long Beach, CA

I joined Bidville earlier this week. I tried all day, yesterday to get into the site but the main page would not load. I ended up with a blank screen. Was the site down? All of my other bookmarks worked fine.

Thanks,
Suzie

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

Talk about timing.. The new bulk loader has just been released. Go to BidVille to get it.

But note: If you have things you want to save from the old loader, you must export them before installing the new loader. Then import your files back in after the new loader has been installed.

As far as for the web site being down. I don't think so. I didn't notice anything yesterday. Check your spelling.

Pipphoe · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject: Re: Bidville Bashing, Who's Game?

You're right, Joe. You've got some nice Bidville promotional items up there. They should be paying you. I do hope they do their part soon. You know, free speech does give us the right to write to the powers that be at Ubid and inquire as to what the plans are re advertising :twisted:

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

Grabbed the bulk lister, what are the new features?

I also have a question.. For the store setup I have my t shirts in the category apparrel, etc.. Now in my store I have the folder option.. What is its purpose? I made different folders for each of my normal categories ie; Funny T Shirts, Offensive Tees, Pet Lover Tees, etc.. Can I list my products and they appear in my folders inside my store or do the folders serve as some other purpose? I thought they might be similar to Ebays Store Custom Categories and thats how I use them.. Just wondered how the folders fit into the overall scheme of things...

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

To be honest with ya, I've been a store owner for a while and have never really found a use for the folders. If someone has found one, please let me know too..

I think they were originally for something yet to be developed.

Now as far as the lister goes, Some changes are supposed to be :

It's now able to convert Feebay (and other) files to BidVille easily.

You can now put your shipping cost right in the loader.
A few bug issues have been corrected.
And since I hav'nt gotten it yet, I can't tell ya the rest.

lhhgbh · Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 336

Im uploading listings today so I will see if I notice anything new.. I have had my store open for a month now and only had 39 items listed.. I should be adding a good thousand or so in the next couple of days... And if Im not mistaken I can also do auctions since I have a featured store, correct? Also is it true that the auctions get substantially more traffic than store listings?

The Feebay conversion addition is a welcome one, but the only problem I have with that is that in HTML for my Ebay listings, I have links setup to take people directly into different places on Ebay so thats not really an option for me.. I will have to do it all copy and paste style from my websites CSV which still isnt too bad.. If only other sites would do CSV uploads I could list on other places after Im through on BV... If I get sales I dont really care wheree I list. I will have my items on 10 different places if they all offer CSV, Google/Froogle feeds and storefronts.. Thanks for your continued help!

HonestJoesAuctions · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 387

It's true that Auctions get more sales than Stores, mainly because there are more.

Be sure to plug your store in your auctions and your auctions in your store. Set up some auctions with cross reference in them. Take a look at the bottom of mine. This can be done easily in your personal message which appears at the bottom of all your store and auction listings.

Leave a couple listing at the other place for a while and plug your BidVille move. Don't set it up as a link. Better yet place it as a picture. (free image hosting ay PhotoBucket.com)

Be sure to send an email to all your former customers (a few at a time to avoid spam catchers) Let them know you're at "The Better Auction Site" and then ...

Catch a good deal on one of my many BidVille Promo items that can be personalized with you user name.

pjrcoffee · Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 634

The folders in the Stores on Bidville serve the purpose of making your store items easier to find within your store. The folder titles have no relation to the auction categories at all. What I like is the ability to be seen in the search function equally to the auction items.

With the featured store there are no FVF fees on neither store, nor auction listings. Ten cent Gallery fees still do apply, however, for auctions.

Smart store owners will list some auctions as a feeder to their store. Free advertising.

With Google/Froogle now being uploaded Bidville should be on the move. Their numbers have been stagnating for awhile now. With these long-awaited improvements we should see better activity.

If only Bidville would advertise! uBid has the money to spend so that might even happen soon.

Get listing in the slow time for a great holiday season.