Today's Announcement About Upcoming Changes to the Wagglepop Marketplace:

http://www.wagglepop.com/bin/Accessory/announcements

"5/2/08
We are very pleased today to be able to officially announce the sitewide participation and policy changes that will ensure not only a solid ongoing future for Wagglepop the company, but benefit the entire Wagglepop community of buyers and sellers. The participation structure changes announced today (and effective starting 6/1/08 ) mark an extraordinary "break" from online auction convention, and will do much to help support the continuation unabated of our existing high standards for features, functionality, and performance.

Our foremost intention is to create and support an environment that allows for and rewards successful sellers in the most meaningful of ways - the bottom line. At the same time, the new structure will help buyers find the very best in pricing and product and all members transact in an environment of fairness, respect, and trust.

After much internal debate and considerable restructuring, we are all very happy to announce that there will be no cut in any of the services, features, or functions on Wagglepop. All of our existing dynamics will remain in place, including most notably the BusinessBuilder Advanced Selling Tools. While the proprietary and legacy features we offer are quite "maintenance intensive", we simply did not and do not want to compromise the "package" that has come to represent Wagglepop. High standards of operation reflect who we are and what we wish to be and I am personally very proud to announce that we will continue to support that.

All announced participation and policy changes are effective 6/1/08. We will continue to operate under the existing dynamics until that date. The breakdown below is sectioned by subject.

1. Introducing SmartSell Enterprise Package

As of 6/1/08 the existing SmartSell Pro Package will be retired and replaced by the SmartSell Enterprise Package - a package that at $29.95 per month supports not only unlimited included access to the Wagglepop Marketplace through a complete marketable storefront featuring the BusinessBuilder Advanced Selling Tools, but unlimited included selling as well. SmartSell Enterprise represents a 21st century approach to online selling that allows sellers doing to the work to keep more of their earned profits - 100% in fact! Starting 6/1/08 the new base for participation and entry into the Wagglepop Marketplace will be SmartSell Pro Enterprise.

SmartSell Enterprise Package
A 21st century online selling solution by Wagglepop



SmartSell Enterprise Package Features




SmartSell Unlimited Listing Pack
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Unlimited Listings - No Insertion Fees! All listing formats
FREE Thumbnail Gallery Picture Upgrade
FREE Buy Now Options - All prices


Basic Wagglepop Store with BusinessBuilder!
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Featuring the value-packed and innovative BusinessBuilder suite of Advanced Selling Tools:
> Buy More Now with DynamicDiscounts
> Red Carpet Customer Program
> OnTarget Cross Promotions
> InStore Promotions
> Merchandising Manager

Plus a complete storefront with up to 100 custom categories, unlimited custom pages, a custom URL for your Store, available Store Listing Header, and much more!

Learn more about Wagglepop Stores featuring BusinessBuilder



SmartSell Independence Pack
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Tired of sharing your profits? Declare your "independence" from Final Value fees!
NO FINAL VALUE FEES!

Sold listings are not subject to any percentage commission as Final Value Fees under SSE are not applicable - meaning no more penalties for success - a "freedom" in online selling that is long overdue.







There is no action that existing Wagglepop Marketplace merchants must take. Existing SmartSell Pro accounts will migrate automatically starting 6/1/08 to SmartSell Enterprise. All posted charges to accounts prior to 6/1/08 will reflect SSP, while all posted charges on 6/1/08 and beyond will reflect SSE.

SmartSell Enterprise comes with a Basic Wagglepop Store as under SSP, and the Store component can continue to be upgraded to Featured or Showcase under the existing upgrade costs. Existing upgraded Stores will migrate and continue at the same Store subscription level.

The introduction of SmartSell Enterprise marks the start of a dynamic that allows sellers to focus on their customer base and businesses in the most meaningful of ways while spending less time on the bottom line - a fixed cost under SSE. We feel strongly that any comparison to listing on eBay, or to quality independent shopping carts will continue to show Wagglepop as an extraordinary value and uniquely effective offering.

Welcome to the New Wagglepop and the future of fair and effective online selling.



2. Introducing Wagglepop Marketplace Marketshare

In the coming weeks we will be introducing Wagglepop Marketplace Marketshare. Marketshare has the sole purpose of "completing" the Wagglepop Marketplace by offering, direct through Wagglepop LLC via dropshipment and other agreements, the items and products that we do not currently offer within the Marketplace through lack of population from the online selling community. Basically, we will be "in the trenches" with our existing Marketplace Merchants attempting to fulfill the wants and needs of our shoppers. We owe the very best experience possible to those that consider and visit Wagglepop, and what the online selling community has not provided we will provide ourselves through a variety of methods.

As per existing policy, we are proud to state that we do not and will not accept outside advertising within Wagglepop for competing items and products as on eBay. Our Marketplace Merchants have earned and deserve that protection from outside competition - the Wagglepop Marketplace is for Wagglepop Merchants' items and products, and the items and products from Marketshare.

When people come to Wagglepop looking for something - we want them to find and buy it - and Marketshare will help to build that.



3. Wagglepop Marketplace Access

As many of our most successful sellers know, participation within the Wagglepop Marketplace as a merchant is a valuable commodity. Access to the Wagglepop Marketplace will continue in the current "open" format at this time, but we will be introducing "closed" format over the next few months. The new format will require verifiable online selling references and/or upfront payment along with a few other requirements that will do much to attract what will serve all membership best - dedicated and trustworthy sellers. There may even be a short period where we will not accept new sellers into the Marketplace. Expect announcements as appropriate in the coming weeks and months.



4. New Search and Browse Results Displays

Over the next several weeks we will be testing a new set of search and browse results displays that better reflect the expectations of shoppers and further differentiate us from the typical "auction site" look and feel. Shoppers we believe will find the new displays easier to navigate and interpret, and in doing so make for a better overall experience which can lead to more sales.

Look for them in the next few weeks and we will have public polls posted for membership input.



5. New Selling Opportunities through Expansion

Based on some preliminary investigation into the buying behaviors of the online buying community, we are exploring the idea of expanding Wagglepop into a "family" of related but independent ecommerce shopping sites that could mean more opportunity for sellers to expand their customer bases and sales. The changes we make today to ensure the viability of Wagglepop moving forward may allow us through revenues to support development of additional smaller "specialty" sites with highly targeted focuses. Our ability to effectively rank in search engines is a dynamic worth optimizing through expansion.

At some point we will conduct public polls to gauge the validity of and need for expansion that existing membership would be a part of and support. Should support be pronounced for Wagglepop under the new structure, we envision completion of existing Wagglepop projects at some point (such as Wagglepop Checkout) as a part of the new expansion initiative.



In Conclusion and Our Commitment

I would like that thank all of our membership - buyers and sellers alike - for your support to date that has helped build our small but powerfully effective community. The very existence and success of Wagglepop is something we can and should all be proud of. Wagglepop was built out of "thin air", from a single idea and a desire to make a difference for online buyers and sellers and to break away from the limited effective options available and the unfair dynamics that came with that.

While we leave the "eBay competitor" vision behind, I am struck by the fact that Wagglepop proves that good people working hard and together can achieve something real and lasting for the benefit of everyone - for buyers, for sellers, for community friends. Together, we have made and continue to make a little part of the online world a better place - not through criticism but through positive attitudes and action. Achievement on any level is a joy that no critic can or will ever know, as few critics know anything of hard work or sacrifice.

How much we achieve is not nearly as important as who we are and what we did and continue to do working together in respectful trust-based environment. I am proud to be associated with such good people, and hope to continue that association for many years to come.

Andrew Pittino
- Wagglepop Director of Business Development & Vice President, Wagglepop LLC"

Summary of changes:



a. Store fees tripled from $9.95 to $29.95 .
b. new storeowners must pay before opening a store
c. Wagglepop LLC to compete against its own sellers by selling dropshipped items on the site to pad the listing count

my only comment:

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Quote: › We feel strongly that any comparison to listing on eBay, or to quality independent shopping carts will continue to show Wagglepop as an extraordinary value and uniquely effective offering.

Based on Wagglepop's top seller's habit of posting her sales figures on every forum in existence, and the pathetically low dollar value of those monthly sales figures she is so fond of posting, that statement by Wagglepop is a complete joke.

I'd love to know what warrants tripling the fees? This better be one helluva store front.

I've got no dog in this fight, but those price increases and the addition of drop shipping (which has the initial blush of being in competition with the subscribing sellers) seem somewhat existential based on existing traffic flow, membership, etc. We've been monitoring a few sites for possible future participation. This will change our evaluation modeling for Wagglepop dramatically.

arcanesanctuary wrote (View Post): › I'd love to know what warrants tripling the fees? This better be one helluva store front.

It's the exact same store front sellers were paying $9.95 for...well not exactly true, Wagglepop eliminated their bulk lister last month so sellers will actually be getting fewer features for $29.95 than they received for $9.95.

arcanesanctuary wrote (View Post): › I'd love to know what warrants tripling the fees? This better be one helluva store front.

It's tripling the upfront fee, but eliminating the FVF entirely. The cost for some sellers will actually be lower than now.

"...some [fees] sellers will actually be lower than now."

I agree with your analysis to some degree, angel. However, actual realization of such savings are premised on either final sales price of the items, or total quantity sold -- perhaps a combination of both at some as of yet undetermined price breakdown. Obviously, the higher the total volume and/or actual sales price, the higher the savings on FVF.

New sellers will have to determine if their merchandise will either sell at an individual high final price or in enough volume to warrant the expenditure for a store. Adding into the equation will be how will traffic flow, membership rates grow or stagnate due to the apparent need for higher priced items and/or high STR of less expensive items sold in large volume.

Potentially compounding the problem will be the appearance of Wagglepop itself competing with store owners through their drop shipping venture.

I would venture to say that before such questions can be answered it would be prudent for at least new people to stay on the sideline and see how things actually shake out before jumping in. It may turn out to be a genius move in disguise, but so far it seems to raise more questions than answers insofar as attainable, tangible benefits to sellers in general.

Hi Mongoose,

Clearly, the best time to start building a Wagglepop business was back in 2006. But since we don't have a time machine, it is now more of a challenge for new sellers to determine if Wagglepop will 'work' for them. Myself, knowing what I know, having the benefit of being on the site for the last 2 years, I know that I would not sell online without having a Wagglepop store. I understand that the picture is not so black & white now for new sellers trying to evaluate the site.

As far as Wagglepop selling on Wagglepop, I love the idea! It actually tickles me to no end that they are going to be getting in the selling trenches with us and helping us to populate the marketplace so that we'll have a lot more of what buyers come to the site looking for.

"5. New Selling Opportunities through Expansion

Based on some preliminary investigation into the buying behaviors of the online buying community, we are exploring the idea of expanding Wagglepop into a "family" of related but independent ecommerce shopping sites that could mean more opportunity for sellers to expand their customer bases and sales. The changes we make today to ensure the viability of Wagglepop moving forward may allow us through revenues to support development of additional smaller "specialty" sites with highly targeted focuses. Our ability to effectively rank in search engines is a dynamic worth optimizing through expansion.

At some point we will conduct public polls to gauge the validity of and need for expansion that existing membership would be a part of and support. Should support be pronounced for Wagglepop under the new structure, we envision completion of existing Wagglepop projects at some point (such as Wagglepop Checkout) as a part of the new expansion initiative. "

This is the note that interests me.

What are they saying here? Are they be willing to form a loose confederation of independant niche sites that revolve around WP?

I know of at least half a dozen niche sites that use Rscript that would be compatible with WP.

I think it might possible that when a seller registers on my site he would automatically be registered on WP and the rest of the sites in the confederation. One sign in would give him/her access to 8 or 10 sites. One search engine that ties the sites together so that while he is shopping for patches he remembers a CD he wants to buy. He plugs the title into the search engine and it brings up results from the other sites in the network.

On behalf of the Niche Auction Site Owners Group (NASOG for short) I am willing to listen to WPs ideas on this subject.

"...I would not sell online without having a Wagglepop store."

I'm sincerely happy for you in finding some place that works well for your business plan. I wish you the very best in continued growth and sales. Who knows, someday we may be neighbors!

Angelsong777 wrote (View Post): › Patch, why not bring up that idea on the WP forums? I think Andrew is still Popping in there tonight to answer questions.

I can not access WP forums. When I closed my store on WP due to differences of opinion on how a matter should have been handled, my account was also closed.

You can ask the for a translation of what Andrew means by statement number 5 and if it is similar to what I have outlined then by all means, ask him to contact me.

Thanks, Ken

mongoose wrote (View Post): › "...I would not sell online without having a Wagglepop store." I'm sincerely happy for you in finding some place that works well for your business plan. I wish you the very best in continued growth and sales. Who knows, someday we may be neighbors!

Thanks, Mongoose. We can also be neighbors if you sell on eCrater, PlunderHere, Blujay, MilBid, Amazon, eBay, or Half.com. ROFL

PatchDog wrote (View Post): › I can not access WP forums. When I closed my store on WP due to differences of opinion on how a matter should have been handled, my account was also closed. You can ask the for a translation of what Andrew means by statement number 5 and if it is similar to what I have outlined then by all means, ask him to contact me. Thanks, Ken

All accounts are closed when the store connected to them is closed, but you should be able to register a new ID.

Angelsong777 wrote (View Post): › All accounts are closed when the store connected to them is closed, but you should be able to register a new ID.

That was maybe my lone issue when I left WP. Because I had decided to stop selling they decided I could no longer be a buyer or member of the community as well. I am sure my store could have been closed without my account being closed. I have my own Rscript Sites so I know what could have been done.

I have an ID. It would be an insult to make me apply for a new ID. I love what WP has been able to do with their Rscript software but I do not love it enough to lose the freedom I have with my own site and I am sure that the other niche site owners I know feel the same way.

We are in agreement that we want to be part of a coalition with a sell everything site but on an equal basis and that means that our sites and members should be treated a certain way. WP may be the best choice format wise but policy wise might be a different story.

If one my my members opens a store on WP and decides to close the store then he needs to register again so he can buy patches on my site?

I'm easy but I aint cheap and I have some pride. You can tell him that I'm easily found in the darkness on the edge of town. (Bruce Springsteen, 1978)