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  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

FaunaAuction.com??

Is setting up a FaunaAuction.com worthwhile?

  • YES! I will pay for a quality site!

    Votes: 40 83.3%

  • NO! There are enough auctions out there already.

    Votes: 8 16.7%
  • Total voters
    48
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well i can say this if your going to charge a monthly fee for use on the auction then i would have to say im not to interested ...
because of the fact that www.reptileauction.com charges you a 1 time $10.00 membership fee to sellers, and then they also charge the sellers a final selling value fee ... ( no charge for listing an auction ) ... but they also dont charge you the final value fee if you get a deadbeat bidder ( but u need to show that you have a deadbeat bidder ) ... so if your planning on charging a monthly membership fee then i will have to say its not worth it cause (u get charged that for kingsnake usage) unless your selling every animal at every auction u post its costing the seller more money then its worth .. and yes i would say charge the same membership fee to the bidders the same exact as what u charge the sellers cause that would make people think twice about being a deadbeat bidder when they see after so many times of screwing people around (for whatever reason) they would loose their membership and their membership fee ... losing money makes people think before they act ...

just my opinion
 
The fee would be minimal. On the order of $10 per year. That would be enough to weed out most of the fly-by-nights. I could set the bar even higher by requiring that the $10 be paid via credit card, since it is a payment medium that would pretty much require a valid billing address as identification.

Charging to place an auction would be something on the order of $1 each. Insignificant, but enough to keep someone from just posting senseless and frivolous auctions at will.

Charging a fee for people to bid on auctions is problematical. It would certainly help weed out the riff-raff, but as a seller, would you want to have the potential bidders weeded out this way?

This isn't some scheme that I think I will get rich over. It is something that I think might be helpful and interesting, but I need to avoid the pitfalls that have plagued other auctions. Otherwise I am just wasting my time.

And again, this is just in the "what if" stages.
 
Charging a fee for people to bid on auctions is problematical. It would certainly help weed out the riff-raff, but as a seller, would you want to have the potential bidders weeded out this way?
Click to expand...

From what I understood what was proposed was not to charge for each bid, but just the winning bid. If there is an animal that someone is truly interested in buying, I don't see how a $5 fee for example will deter no one from bidding on it. But it will certainly make dead-beat bidders think twice before placing a bid.

This isn't some scheme that I think I will get rich over. It is something that I think might be helpful and interesting, but I need to avoid the pitfalls that have plagued other auctions. Otherwise I am just wasting my time.
Click to expand...

Probably one of the main pitfalls was that sellers got tired of was being charged for sales that never occurred because the bidder backed out. If I'm not mistaken that is the concept Shawn was trying to convey. Even if the money for placing the item in the auction was returned, the seller had to demonstrate the sale did not take place. Time and money.

Regards.
 
alvaro pretty much got it on the nose but also what im saying is instead of just letting everyone bid (even with a fee added ) why make the hassle of adding extra money to the bid just to be able to place the bid charge everyone a flat membership rate (i.e. $10-20 a year ) this fee allows you to sell and place bids
and keeps people just off the street from becoming a bidder and causing problems ...
and yes i dont want to see another ebay thats the main reason why i dont sell something there unless i have to cause im tired of paying fees and not selling my item ... i mean if i post 10 snakes @ $1.00 listing fee per thats $10 bucks right off the top and if nuthing should sell and i repost .. that adds up to alot and im not prepared to throw money away if you understand my point .... i dont want to see another ebay .. thats why i like www.reptileauction.com they charge a membership fee and a final value selling fee .. and thats it if it dont sell it costs me nuthing extra .....
 
Probably one of the main pitfalls was that sellers got tired of was being charged for sales that never occurred because the bidder backed out. If I'm not mistaken that is the concept Shawn was trying to convey. Even if the money for placing the item in the auction was returned, the seller had to demonstrate the sale did not take place. Time and money.
Click to expand...

I have been to auction boards on other types of businesses and the primary problem I have seen that was their downfall was that unscrupulous SELLERS would cheat the system by claiming that the sale did not go through and they were cancelling the auction, whereas it did, in fact, complete. I have also talked to webmasters running these auctions and another big headache is that many times a potential seller will contact the seller via email, bypassing the auction to attempt to buy it outright. The seller, being able to avoid the fee that way, would many times accept the offer. That's why a lot of auction will hide direct contact details of both the bidders and the sellers.

Certainly the logical thing to do would be to make everything free in order to get the traffic into the auction. But how do you do that without inviting the pitfalls that plague the other auction boards? Registration is useless without some sort of valid identification. And SOMEONE has to do all the work behind the scenes to make this work. To be honest, I'm not willing to do yet another project entirely for free, and the expenses of time, effort and money coming directly out of my pocket.

If a seller cannot afford to spend $10 per year for access to the auction and $1 each on auctioning off their merchandise, then they certainly can go elsewhere. If a bidder does not want to spend $10 on the chance of finding something interesting to bid on, maybe finding a bargain to boot, then they can go elsewhere as well. I think the bar HAS to be high right off the bat in order for this to work the way we all would want it to.

I am looking for a way to avoid the majority of the headaches that have already been noted, have it pay for itself, and be useful to the people using it with a minimum of headaches on either side of the bidding process. It certainly is not possible to please everyone, so I will try to pick the compromises that will piss off the lesser number of people, with ME being highest on the priority list.

Bear in mind, that I am not about to buy into one of these $3,000 high end auction systems for this project. If I see the money coming in justifying an upgrade, then perhaps that will happen, but there is a better than even chance that I might just be throwing away time, effort, and money on this. So version number one will be rather plain vanilla and bare minimum to get the job done.

So far I have not found any auction system software that I like that meets all of my criteria. So there are likely to be compromises every step of the way.
 
Well Shawn, if you like Reptile Auction so much, why even concern yourself with another auction here? I thought people were not happy with the other offerings, and I was asked to look into this possibility. They used to advertise here on this site and I have two other auction boards running banner ads right at this moment. So quite frankly, I don't care either way.

I REALLY don't need something else to do.......
 
well its not the fact that i like is so much but so far its the best 1 running and it does have a good traffic , but i like variety so knowing there will be more then 1 good auction site is always a plus and i can actually see with them they dont have very many problems and if there is a problem its handled fast and effectively .. and thats what im looking for ... and if you can offer the same as them ( protection and problem handling along with reasonable pricing ) i would have no problem spending my money on your auction site but im not out to waste money ..... so its not a concern what i like better verses is there going to be better ????????
 
If I had the money and time I would start one myself. I personally believe you should base most of the rules off of the way eBay runs their site. After all, look how successful they have become. Most buyers on there feel secure buying and know the risks associated based on the feedback rating of buyers and sellers. They know what recourse they can take if a buyer doesn't pay and if a seller doesn't ship. Follow their example and you are bound to create a very workable auction site. The one real question that still stands is will it be worth your time, trouble, and expense? In other words is there a demand for it. I personally think there is but at the same time I realise even after it is up and running that it will take some time before people start using it on a regular basis and it balances out to a point where people feel secure buying from there. It is a big project and you definitely shouldn't doubt that. But it can be done.
 
well the reason ebay is so sucessful is the fact they handle everything so in fact u really cant compare ebay to much with a reptile auction cause we will be dealing with 1 specific item herps , not 1 mill different items like my old gramas stockings cause they were made back in the civil war .... lmao the fact they handled everything and anything is the reason they became so sucessful not the fact of their rules cause if they were limited to 3 items that could be listed and still charged the prices they do forget it they wouldnt have lasted
 
Am I missing something on reptileauction.com or is there only like 5 things listed on the whole site? Is there a link or something I'm not seeing? -Chris
 
Heck Shawn, are you sure you are talking about ReptileAuction.com? I see 6 auctions by you on ReptiBid.com but none on ReptileAuction.com.

I was just looking at the auction software package that ReptiBid.com is based on just a few minutes ago. Looks like a nice package. What is it about that auction that is not to your liking that would make you consider another one instead?
 
whats with ur attitude ?? you wanted suggestions your getting them and now have a snive attitude about it i said once already i like variety , and im trying out the new auction a bit more since the slave came here and posted about the complaints we were talking about that dealt with his site .. its no different if you had yours up and running i would be testing that out as well .. like i said u wanted suggestions and ideas and thoughts about doing the site so ??????? isnt that what ur getting .... your getting feedback about it and thoughts and feelings about it no need to target me just cause i state a good point about something or give my thoughts about it ...
 
I just checked it and it seems I'm missing something. Here's what they have right now in ReptileAuction.com, 5 items total. Which are the rest of the links?

Amphibians (0)
Crocodillians (0)
Feeders (0)
Invertebrates (0)
Lizards (3)
Miscellaneous (0)
Reptile Food.Com (1)
Snakes (0)
Supplies/Accessories (0)
Tortoises/Turtles (1)
 
Shawn,

I just asked you a simple question. No attitude at all applied. I like the styling of the program that ReptiBid is using and simply asked you what it was about that site that you didn't like.

And I made a comment based on an observation about your participation in those two sites.

How is that having an attitide? Asking you specific questions is not targeting you, it is specifically asking you for clarification so I understand what you are saying.

Variety is one thing, but generally people whom are satisfied with an auction board are not going to find the need to go somewhere else that provides them what they want.

You are providing feedback and I am trying to understand what it is that everyone wants in an auction board that is not already provided by the other ones out there. You mentioned that you like ReptileAuction.com, yet I don't see any auctions by you there. I am just trying to understand the situation to help me be guided in my decisions on what to do with an auction board I may set up myself.

I am willing to try to fill a need, if one exists, but certainly I am not willing to go through the effort just to give some people variety. I WILL be charging people to use that site. If that is unworkable for everyone, then it is undoable for me. I am the one whom will be spending the money to put up the site. I am the one people will come to with their problems. And I am the one expected to keep it all running smoothly. If someone wants all that for free, then I am sorry, that is not a game plan I am willing to work with.
 
ok then if i read it the wrong way then fine . i must have missed your trying to ask me a question about the site under the targeting of my prefferences of the sites and why i have stuff on one site but not the other ...
what i dont like about reptibid is its freedom theres no control over it as i and a few others have already pointed out i.e. 1.same person /multiple id's to boost their feedback 2. anyone can register to bid ( even underage kids) ... and ur taking my feedback and reading it the wrong way i dont want a free auction i want a COST EFFICIENT auction site not a COSTLY auction site ... that why i made alot of refferences to reptile auction because of their costs are reasonable ... having another site with EBAY format is all fine and dandy but i dont want to see EBAY prices ... i plan to use the auction to make money not spend it all just listing my items .... i mean thats the whole point of selling our reptiles is to make a few bucks over what we have invested in them ... and personally i dont want to spend my profit on listing fees unless im garunteed to sell the item and since there can be no garuntees i would only be posting 1 item and wouldnt post another until that 1 sold just to make sure i wasnt losing money reposting after reposting until i got a sale ... hense the reason i dont use ebay unless i have to .....COST WAY TO MUCH to end up with nuthing in the end .... which does happen ... you cant sell everything all the time ..

and to answer the other questions just cause there are 5 listings for sale doesnt mean there arent more links to the site on reptile auction they have forums as well other links all over the site you have to remeber as well just like reptibid they are still fairly new since Keith bought it and revamped it to what it is today it still needing a bigger client listing but when i have listed tmes before i had over 100 veiws so it has a steady flow of traffic ....
 
And that is what I want to hear about. I wouldn't want to go into this blindly. I've been checking out quite a few commercially offered auction programs, but honestly none of them really seem to hit the spot with me. None would be able to be integrated with this message board to utilize the registration capabilities present here.

Certainly hiring someone to write an auction program from scratch would be way more than I would be willing to spend for that effort.

Sure, I could get the same programs either ReptiBid or ReptileAction use, but is that really what I would want to do? Granted, there would be nothing to prevent me from doing something like that, since this message board I am using here is being used by quite a few sites as well, and no one seems to pitch a stink over it.

So what are the important features you would all want in an auction board? Certainly I hear the complaint about no control, which I think paid registration would solve for the most part. But that has it's own cost, which will be mentioned below.

Something that is very easy to use would certainly be another criteria that seems self evident. I certainly don't want all my waking hours filled with messages from people not able to figure out how to use it.

So what else are you all looking for? Traffic would certainly help, but that's something that just doesn't happen over time, and in many cases is a catch-22. People will come to a site because everyone already goes there. Getting the ball rolling is going to be a big problem, because who wants to spend the money before anyone else is there?

I'm open to suggestions on how best to handle this.

Thanks.
 
first off, I think ebay sucks, and it isn't the buyers that ruined it for me its the sellers. But that is not what this thread is about.

I would be willing to pay a nominal amount ($10.00/year as webslave mentioned as a possibility) and say a $1.00 listing fee per auction with perhaps one chance to relist an unsold item for free. I do not think this is out of line at all. As far as a percentage of the final bid, I'd be a little more reluctant to go along with that but if it is a small amount I could agree to that as well. I don't like autions with a buyers premium. I just don't think that is right and I probably would not use the auction simply out of principle if something like that were implemented.

A warning system is a neccesity for buyers and sellers alike. I never bid on herpauction.com but a friend of mine said he was the high bidder on several auctions (different sellers) and he got responses saying things like "if you think I'm going to sell them at that price you're crazy" either party not following through should get a warning and thre warnings and you lose your right to sell or bid. One question though. How is winning an auction and not paying any different than emailing a seller, telling them you will take the animal and then never sending the money.

What I would like to see is a penalty for removing an animal from the auction before the time is up. Too many people put animals up for auction at the same time they have them posted on a classified somewhere. If someone comes through on the classifieds they pull the animal from the auction. I'd like to see a severe penalty for this ($10.00 an infraction perhaps) If an animal is put up for auction it should remain up for the time scheduled and the high bidder should be the one to get the animal, I don't care if some one offers twice as much on a classifieds. (also, absolutely no "buy it now" feature)

There are other problems to address but I am sure Rich has considered them, and would ask for more input if the auction moves closer to reality. Short and sweet, I would love to see a decent auction site, and I would be willing to pay for it.

Steve Schindler
 
(also, absolutely no "buy it now" feature)
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Huh?

Man, that's the only way I play on Ebay any longer. With the sniping software basically taking over the site, and so many people bidding on there that don't have a clue about how to find things on the net for decent prices, that is the ONLY way to get a deal any longer.

If I am interested in something, I do a keyword search, go to the most recent postings, and scan only the auctions with the "Buy it Now" feature. I have gotten some excellent deals doing it that way. Every other auction I played as a *real* auction, someone sniped me in the last 5 seconds, paying just about what they could have gotten it for on half a dozen websites at their fulll retail price.

In my opinion, the "Buy it Now" price is what the seller doing the auction is willing to sell the item outright at. Anything less than that, yet above the reserve price will be acceptable.

So why would this feature be considered a negative for an auction?

I am hoping to find a pretty comprehensive auction system with a fair number of bells and whistles behind the scenes. If someone starts an auction and someone bids on an item, they are obligated to complete the auction. The sword will swing both ways requiring everyone to play fairly.
 
Just a Q

will the classifieds turn into a pay to play site also. I really like this site, thought I can never get the search to work. I just want to know if we have to pay for auction will the classified still be free. I like the ideas that Webslave is putting out there as bells and whistles. I think it would be a real boost for this site also.

Thank you
Darin Gray
 
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