Topic: BiddingPond.com discussion - page 3. (Read 28348 times)

BiddingPond.com now has a Facebook Page and Twitter Account.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BiddingPond/124424594302343


Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/biddingpond

And Please don't forget to like us on Facebook!

BiddingPond.com now supports SSL sign-on and registration.

Thank you working on it.

Yes maybe I should mention that I too have some minor displaying problems with the new site.

I'm using the Arora web browser under Debian GNU/linux.

Here is a screenshot:

Problem was related to the way Adblock plugin blocks ads.  This issue has been fixed.  Thank you "theGECK" for help with troubleshooting this issue.

Yes,
BiddingPond.com also deletes auction data as well. Our retention policy is at least 30 days for complete auction information.

All data?  It looks like only auctions within the past month or so were copied over.  For example, only March auctions have links:
  http://www.biddingpond.com/feedback.php?id=103&faction=show
I wasn't expecting all the old auctions to be migrated over.  EBay, for instance, drops the listing after a couple months.

This is a good idea and is liked.  We have someone looking to join our development team. If it works out we will include this on the to do sooner than later list.

Is anyone else able to replicate usability problems?  Looking at usage data it seems people are having an easier time using the site.  Using multiple OS/Browsers and browsershots.org still unable to replicate a problem.  There is a single user using RockMelt.  Is that you?

I'm sorry for the confusion.  If you would like your auction edited please send the text you would like appended. Alternatively, for this auction your Bitcoin address in the payment address field is possible just send the proper address.

Ok that makes sense.  It is true that the "contact" part was a bit tedious.  We didn't know exactly if we should chose to use regular email or internal biddingpond messaging system.  It was a bit confusing, so I understand getting rid of this part could be beneficial.

The thing is that when I had make this auction, I didn't know about this new feature you've implemented, so I feel like I am a bit put in the corner.

Right now in my auction there is a part saying "Payment address: xxxxxx",  and there is NO INDICATION whether this paiement address is mine or yours.  I think it is confusing for the buyer, especially since I didn't know I should warn the buyer not to use this paiement method.  Basically now if I wanted to stick with the old method for this auction, I just don't know how I could, since I can't edit the auction message and say something like "do not use the bitcoin address below, I'll provide you a bitcoin address via biddingpond's internal message system, in due time".

What I will do for this auction is that I will try your new method, after all as a seller I don't have much to risk, since if I don't receive the bitcoins, I'll just don't send the gold coin.  I've just realised that

So, to sum up:  ok, I'll try your new method for this auction.  Depending on how well it works, I might use it in the future too.

All data was copied over from the old site. You "should" be able to relist that auction by going to http://www.biddingpond.com/yourauctions_sold.php .  If it is for some reason not there, please provide the auction number and we will get the auction data for you.

There wouldn't happen to be access to the old site (read-only even) so that I could snag an old listing so I can re-list?

Is it possible to take a screen shot/explain what is not displaying correctly.  Also, please provide OS,browser version and screen resolution.  You can e-mail us at [email protected] or alternatively post here.

The Short answer
1) There is no need to use us as a third party
2) Your method is still valid and works very well
3) Protection to the sellers reputation
4) Additional optional features in the future will require this

Our Questions
1) What do you believe would be a better alternative?*
2) Would you prefer an opt-in service in which you either get access to the extra features or not?**


*We do not like the idea of allowing the seller to enter any address in the payment address field. As there is nothing preventing a scammer to state that they did not provide an address and it is a biddingpond.com generated address(a Bitcoin peculiarity in inability to determine destination). Yes, we do understand that there is nothing preventing a scammer from saying they they never received payment from us. But, that will come down to trust (if you chose to use the optional feature).

** This option we believe works well.  But, understand that if we implement this feature those who chose it will not be able to provide some features to their buyers.


The Long Answer

There is no obligation for the seller to require the users to use the payment address listed in the auction.

We agree to the working nature of the following transaction process that you are currently using:
1) Buyer Wins Auction
2) Seller / Buyer make contact
3) Payment information provided
4) Payment Sent + Shipping information sent
5) Payment Receipt confirmed by buyer
6) Item shipped
This is also the reason why we would never prohibit any seller from accepting payment in an alternative way.

To simplify the transaction process our current system is as follows:
1) Buyer wins auction
2) Payment Sent
3) Seller notified of shipping address
4) Item shipped
We also plan on shortening this process one more step by allowing the buyers to include shipping information that is automatically forwarded to the sender after payment is sent(optional). This will further streamline the process and make it easier for less tech savvy individuals to purchase items.

We also will be implementing the following optional features which will require us to handle transactions:
1) Escrow and Arbitration
2) "Trusted Sellers" Program
3) Ability to purchase items in USD and send payment in BTC to Seller (for the less tech savvy)
4) Other features which we do not wish to reveal at this time to keep us competitive


There is also a very real and very important benefit that we chose to include last.  By publicly posting a Bitcoin address that is generated by BiddingPond.com and is unique to each auction we can protect both the sites reputation as well as the seller's reputation as others can in fact see if the buyer did send payment. This provided with proper tracking information from the seller can effectively prevent Feedback Extortion.

I would just like to reiterate that these features are optional and the old BiddingPond.com is not going anywhere.  BiddingPond.com prefers giving the sellers and buyers a "hands-off" approach with their transactions but, we do understand there are buyers and sellers who wish otherwise and we will cater to those individuals through our additional, completely optional, services.

One way our "hands-off" approach can be seen in practice is our failure to require payment of selling fees before we forward payment to the seller.  This allows the seller the choice to pay us, not the requirement to pay us.

FYI, Biddingpond.com is not displaying correctly to me.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


I see no reason why we should discuss this in private, as this might be of interest for other people.  If you're concern is about me being really the same "grondilu" as the one on your site, then I sign this message.

Now, please explain me why I should use you as a third party, when so far my auction went fine by giving directly a bitcoin address to the buyer.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk2MxMUACgkQq17371C4Dmjs4QCfSt380p/G0GKTbPVLJhlT3vUU
WMwAoKYvoxKworAPWEVh5V+qJeo1mut0
=cuiz
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

If you would like please send me an e-mail at [email protected] and we can discuss it further.

Biddingpond, on second thought I'm not sure I see any real advantage in using you as a third party.

I have to think about it, but for the moment, what could I do to remove this "paiement address" from the auction page?

Ok, seems fair enough.