VandTnut needs advice (and help)

[VandTnut]

Calling V&T. Please stop using the question facility on my listings to conduct a discussion about categories. As you've made such a fuss, I've moved the Malaya book out of "your" category - though I say again the cat is *TRANSPORT* and railyway. The category you want me to move to does not exist. I've found somewhere else for it just to keep out of your way.

I stress again - I am perfectly happy to discuss these issues here, but NOT via my listings!!

You were sent the same request as everybody else who has books on Naval, Aviation, Automotive, Farm Equipment and any other non Railroad/Railway form of transportation. Since you elected to respond instead of requesting that this be taken to the Forum>Books & Mags column for reply, I responded in kind.
For you to throw a temper tantrum (as you obviously did) by immediately delisting your book and then giving me a blackball has just cost you a sale and a potential friend. I was prepared to buy your P.G.Wodehouse book after the e-mail notification of the port book being moved when I discovered what you have done.
I've spent the last week reading the forums here and how many complaints there are about the lack of buyers, the lack of proper categories for listing certain specific items, not knowing when new category listings will be added.
Well if you want the American trade there are going to be some changes. The categories THAT YOU LOT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSISTING ON YEARS AGO have to be implemented NOW.
The management of eBid has one chance to capture the sellers leaving greedBay and the buyers they can bring with them.
"IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME"
iF YOU BUILD IT WRONG THEY WILL RUN AWAY AND NEVER LOOK BACK.
This place needs quite a lot of work done in a short time if it's going to pass muster. If it doesn't happen then the North American trade will go somewhere else.
ED

[bykimbo]

You were sent the same request as everybody else who has books on Naval, Aviation, Automotive, Farm Equipment and any other non Railroad/Railway form of transportation. Since you elected to respond instead of requesting that this be taken to the Forum>Books & Mags column for reply, I responded in kind.
For you to throw a temper tantrum (as you obviously did) by immediately delisting your book and then giving me a blackball has just cost you a sale and a potential friend. I was prepared to buy your P.G.Wodehouse book after the e-mail notification of the port book being moved when I discovered what you have done.
I've spent the last week reading the forums here and how many complaints there are about the lack of buyers, the lack of proper categories for listing certain specific items, not knowing when new category listings will be added.
Well if you want the American trade there are going to be some changes. The categories THAT YOU LOT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSISTING ON YEARS AGO have to be implemented NOW.
The management of eBid has one chance to capture the sellers leaving greedBay and the buyers they can bring with them.
"IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME"
iF YOU BUILD IT WRONG THEY WILL RUN AWAY AND NEVER LOOK BACK.
This place needs quite a lot of work done in a short time if it's going to pass muster. If it doesn't happen then the North American trade will go somewhere else.
ED

I had a naval book about ports in the transportation section. You asked me to move it to another category - one that didn't exist. I have moved it, not delisted it, as you requested.

I temporarily blackballed you because it is the only way of stopping you from using listings to ask questions. Once you had grasped that discussion should *not* take place via listings I would have removed the blackball. Perhaps that's no looking like a wise move now?

Do you understand that all questions, regardless of the seller's wishes, show permanently on listings here? This is not optional as it is in other places. So your complaint will show permanently on every listing you've sent it to, unless the seller chooses to do what I did and temporarily blackball you - it's the only way to remove unwanted or inappropriate questions.

Do you not thing there's little point in throwing your weight around demanding that people list things your way, when your desired structure does not yet, and may never, exist?

You can call it a temper tantrum if you like. I was flaming annoyed yes - somebody trashing my listings does that to me. How about you stick around long enough to understand how things work here, before you start being all judgemental, and telling everybody else how they should list, and what they should be doing?

[VandTnut]

Well, since you"ve been here for 4 years + and haven't seen fit to push things so that there are proper category listings in the simplest category in the WORLD to get it right, maybe it's time for the new people to shake things up and get management off its' duff. Librarians came up with the dewey decimal system of classification nearly 100 years ago. It has worked so well it is the accepted world standard prior to ISBN which is computer dependent and based on dewey.
If management here doesn't have the requisite knowledge to be able to structure listing categories that actually work and is unwilling to hire the necessary consulting staff to do the work for them then this is just somebodys hobby toy that you lot are paying for.
As I stated before, If you wanted this discussion here and only here, you should have made that clear in your first response and directed me to this forum board.
As for me being judgemental, I know what has to be done to get this site to actually work for the North American market. Right now it isn't working. This is a hobby site. Plain and simple. Management has one opportunity to get it right and a short window of opportunity.
Please, have a nice day
ED

[bykimbo]

Ah another person making major assumptions based on little evidence. I joined in 2004. I left immediately as it was not then a useful site. I returned a month or so ago. And I've spent that time learning how this site works, rather than insisting it fit my own personal needs at the detriment of other existing customers.

You do it your way, I'll do it mine. See you around.

[SalusLibrorum]

Has it occurred to you VandTnut, that throwing your weight around eB*y style in here, may also be costing you sales?

This is not eB*y, things happen differently around here, we don't want it to be an eB*y clone, that's why we are here and not there (well not there much anyway).

Really, you need to lighten up, you as an individual are not the whole North American market, and as for paying for someone's hobby site, well, I amassed the grand total of 29p in charges last month, so we're carrying it forward as it's not worth paying. The "charges" we are paying here are minimal, unlike elsewhere, where they are so high it's uneconomic for me to list, I'd like to keep it that way.

[PoppyGrove]

VandT - To add in my tuppence worth - it appears from the varius postings and threads that you instigate that this site is not what you are looking for.

You say there are no buyers, you say you don't have the categories etc etc, and you insist on comparing ebid to another site.

By being judgemental and crisitising other sellers is not going to win you any friends here. Remember - sellers are also buyers. Carry on jumping up and down will get you noticed - yes - but not win you any sales. Browsing buyers will come to the forums first before buying, to maybe get a feel for the place, sound out other sellers etc. If I was a buyer and saw your postings, from your tone you are not a seller I would want to deal with. So, sorry, but you've lost yourself a possible buyer here.

[VandTnut]

Of the requests to check their listings that I sent out (about 27) I've received 10 responses. The responses fall out clearly on cross atlantic lines. The Brit respondents have either been defensive or have moved their (in most cases) single mis-listed item. The americans have been receptive of my suggestion and I have already received one reply stating that a request has been made for a Naval category.
As to my not learning how things work, it is you who are making the assumptions now. I've had 30+ years business experience and one thing I've learned - its' the squeaky wheel that gets oiled first. When enough sellers start requesting the same category have additional sub-category listings added (which should have been part of build 1) then that's where the resources are going to get allocated.
I am on the off site mailing list for one of the most successful traffic drivers on greedBay. I have just received an e-mail from him and this place is about to get buried. He is in the process of moving his entire online operation here.
When his traffic building system kicks in it is going take more system resources than you can imagine just to service his auctions and stores.
I'd like to see some other needs met while there is still the possibility of some unallocated resources available.
ED
Addendum: There was a category update this afternoon. Book category alone had a lot of new sub-categories and tweaks.
Among the new classifications are divisions under the Transportation heading for Aviation and Naval topics. Sub-categories were added for Railroad category as requested.
Thank you GAZZA.

[blissfulbelfry]

byKimbo is one of the nice guys and knows a thing of two. (More than I will ever know.)

On a very, very small scale I am trying to deal with the Dewey decimal system (usually got enough problems working out the difference between fiction and non-fiction - yes I am that much of a numpty) and am presently trying to put school books back into the system which have not already been numbered. Sometimes lucky and find the number has already been printed into the book. But have done a little investigation and found stated that books don't necessarily fit happily into any ONE section.

While I was lisiting I sit there and think where will it be listed - not always as easy as you think.

Thank Kim it seems to be working - I'll keep working at it.

[bykimbo]

If I've been any sort of help, you're very welcome. Thanks for the kind words.

[booksforsale]

Calling V&T. Please stop using the question facility on my listings to conduct a discussion about categories. As you've made such a fuss, I've moved the Malaya book out of "your" category - though I say again the cat is *TRANSPORT* and railyway. The category you want me to move to does not exist. I've found somewhere else for it just to keep out of your way.

I stress again - I am perfectly happy to discuss these issues here, but NOT via my listings!!

I wasn't too happy with his intrusions either, especially as my TRANSPORT books were already in the category specific to TRANSPORT books.