Carol...I think you said it very well!


And another pointer...don't go into it by yourself. Get help BEFORE you launch. Even volunteers would be better than no one!

Carol Said

Quote: › If you can't deal with lots of complaints and criticism and people wanting you to go in every direction, you don't belong in in this business. I think all of us know more than just Alex that fits this story too. Personally I can think of at least 2 others but I would believe there are more out there on sites I haven't been on. I don't want you to name them here as that will just open up wounds again. This "owner" of a site issue is common enough that it's yet another reason that having your own web site/store is more and more the best way to go. Sure try some alt sites, but without ALSO having your own site, you will always be at the mercy of someone else.

You have hit the nail on the head there Carol, BUT it's a two way issue here. Especially the last part of the Quote Sure try some alt sites, but without ALSO having your own site, you will always be at the mercy of someone else.

This applies also to site owners, who are always at the mercy of others. Theres so many sellers who want it all there own way that its difficult to know which way to turn. Alex allowed himself to be pulled in many different directions hence his battering from many on here. It was obvious that Alex hadnt the strength to stick to his format and many took advantage of that weakness to there own advantage. Now a site that did have potential is gone and some good honest and decent sellers are left with what. At this time nothing!!!

The sad part about this is that many who critisised him were working to a hidden agenda. Really this is a lesson that all can learn from. Site owners must stick to there original format and sellers must either accept that or look elsewhere. There is room for many more auction sites and the more you have the more you whittle away at Ebays stranglehold on the industry.

No not every new site will suit all. But!, they will all suit some and thats the point of all this.

In some cases that might be true, hence the comment about needing a thick skin.

Actually Alex had meltdowns even before people asked for changes. Look at his first threads here where Mo, Lurky and I quizzed him. Yes we "picked" on him, but he was such an easy target only because he kept loosing his cool.

Finally to be fair to him, I went to his site and joined and posted about 100 items. I actually made a few sales too and reported that here.

You are right that I'm sure he was being pulled in many directions, tho after that first thread I didn't attempt to influence his direction other than to try, several times, to get him to either keep off the boards or get someone that could keep their cool.

I don't know about anyone with agendas. I know my only agenda is to make some sales. I don't care at all what site I get them on.

True, accept a site for what it is or isn't and either use it or move on. There are several sites I just won't use, not because of fees, but because I know the format just doesn't work for ME. I'm not saying it doesn't work for others, just not for me.

This also isn't saying you shouldn't complain if a feature of the site isn't working properly. That's different than a site not working the way you want it to.

I hope I didn't confuse people now. I think I was getting into rambling mode here. Sorry.

Carol

On the contrary Carol, you put your point very well indeed.

I was just showing the other side of the coin and indicating why i think Alex made his decision. Really put our two posts together and you have the present day internet auction industry, in general.

I never did join ewaey, only because I was knee-deep in other ventures. I will say that non-responsive or emotional responses to questions, queries, issues, etc. does not attract me to a site. However, I still 'never close the door' on any potential opportunity.

I've never been a site owner, so can't say what does vs. does not work. Like Carol, I did not see any hidden agendas relative to ewaey, but I don't 'see' them with others either. You see an occasional cheerleader or an overly sensitive moderator/site owner, but I think - for the most part - sellers are here looking for solutions and site owners are here to share about their offer.

Each site or site owner should definitely start with a plan and stick to it. When the site and the script and the listings mature, by all means - ask for feedback, and deploy what is 'win/win'. I too had flashbacks to the WP event of early 2005 - as I was one of some that lost all my listings.

I wish all who were there well as they look for a different home for their listings.

Wow. So he just suddenly shut down the site without any prior warning so that people could at least inventorize and back up their stuff?

Ouch.

I'm not trying to be a downer but shouldn't we just let this thread die with Ewaey?

arcanesanctuary wrote (View Post): › I'm not trying to be a downer but shouldn't we just let this thread die with Ewaey?

Nope
For those who did not get a chance to say their
good-byes or to express there feelings on the closing
this is the place to do it because they sure can't do
it on Ewaey.

Interesting to see how Alex is putting the blame on his members instead of on his mismanaging the site, chasing people away with his constant flipflopping on fee structures:

I had many dreams for it but most of you stopped these dreams. It seems to me that YOU do not want an alternative site that could stand up to EBAY.COM. You dont because if you did EWAEY would have done it already.

So I see it as if this decision was yours.

Re-read post 92 above. The Agenda mentioned was not Alex' but many who critisised him were working to a hidden agenda.

If that was refering to the fact that I believe Mo was critical in that early thread, That was back way before she owned a site. Yes she worked for Bid-alot at that time, but she and I and others were just fed up with all the newbie site owners coming here and touting their latest and greatest "eBay buster" site.

If you check threads around that same time, we challenged several other newbie sites the same way. Alex was the only 1 that couldn't "take" the questioning. I wouldn't say there was any "agenda" to our questioning, just the fact that we didn't want to waste our time on yet another new site with no plan, no marketing and little potential.

Carol

During my first conversations with Alex it was apparent that he had limited skills to deal with potential customers expressing their opinions.

While every business would prefer to deal with civil customers, it's an unrealistic expectation. Any business that handles customer care by insulting, demeaning, degrading and offending potential customer, customers and past customers will fail to thrive.

The fact is, no one likes or should be abused. However, there is a degree of cr@p that goes along with dealing with customers that is unavoidable. If Meg Whitmen winced and whined every time someone snarled about eBay, eBay wouldn't exist. Meg Whitmen endures horrible personal attacks on everything from her business savvy to her wardrobe. She puts on her big-girl panties every morning and deals with it.
Professionals address customer concerns knowing that some customers will not be satisfied and will be lost, yet strive to satisfy the majority. They don't take anything - nothing except direct derogitory abuse - personally.

The primary goal of customer care is to keep the welcome mat at the door of the business. It's done by identifying issues and make corrections where possible and according to company policy. Offer other avenues and solutions for situations that can not be accomodated. Most importantly, customer care is expected to treat every customer in a way that makes them feel valuable - regardless if they do business with you or not.

Vendors who have not worked in a customer care capacity in real life may be nice people but lack the experiene and skills of seasoned professionals. Nice doesn't get the job done. Kissing customers' butts doesn't get the job done.

As for people with hidden agenda's, when vendors and their reps use that statement, I view it as a cop out. They can't/don't/won't identify/address/rectify an issue so they assign blame as if it's beyond their control.

Alex's reaction in the following thread raised high alters and caused me to decide Ewaye would not be a good fit for my needs. Readers of this post will note that Alex edited many of his posts to put him in the position of being a victim. At one point, Alex stated that he didn't need sellers. I was amazed that anyone would join a site which was incapable of identifying their own customer base, a much worse problem than the lack of basic customer care skills.

http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=4668

Hi,if you did your homework you could see that the problem with Ewaey was Alex and even in the end he chose to blame the sellers. Even after a long time watching the threads I joined the site to see if I could sell some items. I didn't list many but no one was even looking at the items. The site itself looked and worked great. After he started to flip flop many times I emailed him to get my info off the site. He told me many times that he did it and I was still getting the emails so I knew he didn't. (I still have all of them) I came on here and stated that I was glad that I didn't have to put a credit card up to list on the site and was called out by a person (You Know Who You Are) and now you can see why I said it!! I do believe that the site will come back with another name and I hope he has someone else to do the PR work because he doesn't know anything about dealing with people. I know its his sandbox but I don't want to play. E-You,Later!
P.S. I wish the people that stood behind him and got left out in the cold the best where ever that go.