Red Ink Diary

I reviewed Boocoo.com while it was in pre-beta.  The site launched June 21st, and is, so far as I can tell, still in beta. Management said no fees will be charged for the first two weeks but as of today fees are still not being charged.

How it works

A percentage of all fees is shared with Boocoo’s media partners. The partners, licensed by zip code, will promote the site and receive transaction fees on completed sales. If the buyer and seller are from different zip codes, the fee is split. All partners have committed to monthly print or broadcast ad campaigns.

My initial thought, this is akin to a mixed metaphor. How many classified newspaper in hand readers would be comfortable making online transactions? Then I realized that most newspapers have websites where you can access their classifieds. An example is shown below.

Chairman and CEO George Willard Sr. responded to my questions and had some of his own. I was impressed by his straightforward manner and his accessibility.

Revisited

Other than the new front page and ability to sign in, not much has changed. I received 27 views on 13 listings over about a week.

An auction purchase I paid for June 19th is still showing unpaid on my account page. Neither the seller nor I can figure out how to mark it paid.

Feedback left for me on June 15th by two sellers did not show a week later nor did the feedback I left for the seller whose item has arrived. Click image to enlarge.

I emailed support about feedback and received a reply within 24 hours. My question, “What happened to the feedback left for me by two sellers?”, was answered by a real person who included their name and a toll free number in their reply. The answer just about gobsmacked me.

Thank you for contacting the boocoo (sic) auctions help desk. 14 days after the auction the buyer or seller can not see the feedback. The purpose of this is to ensure that the seller leaves feedback and vice versa.

As a buyer this does not make me feel secure, a crook has a two week window of scamming opportunity before his bad feedback shows up. Hopefully Boocoo will rethink this.

The site has a few design flaws. Here is an example:

How many would click the purple search tab at the top when there is a search box immediately below? I didn’t, until today. Much to my surprise it leads to a page where you can browse by category, much more satisfactory than repetitive searches for specific items that do not yet exist on the site. This is a serious issue because frustrated potential buyers are not likely to persist.

If you are a small seller and an auction addict, give the site a try while there are no fees being charged. I found the listing process very fast and smooth and I know for a fact there have been some sales.
UPDATE:
Here is a link to Boocoo.com It will open in a new window.

Y’all come back!

Richard Brewer-Hay is the eBay corporate blogger and a man whom I respect. In the 14 months eBay Ink has been live he has raised the level of communication from eBay several notches and so far managed to avoid the BaySpeak. Kool-Aid is another matter, but understandable and forgivable.

For those who have been living on the planet Ork for the last three years an example of BaySpeak is “We hear you (but we don’t believe you have anything valid to contribute for you are mere sellers and whole committees of skilled shoe-lickers have PowerPoint presented these concepts to the highly paid consultants and MBAs who rule over all) and we will be looking into that (about the time hell freezes over).

RBH has an enlightening post about eBay’s imminent (def.# 1) plans for stratified sampling feedback tests to be conducted, quoting Brian Burke  “a small number of sellers, about 600, and only a small percentage of their listings, up to 2%.” The comments are worth reading although I hear exasperation and very little hope in them.

Given the number of sellers on eBay the sample size is likely to be statistically unreliable, but this is probably immaterial given that eBay historically only selects the data that fits the proposed course of action. This allows them to say “We listened to our sellers (or buyers as the case may be).”

This is the first image in the Ink Blog article and it illustrates the fundamental disconnect between eBay management and their customers, the sellers.

Mr Burke, delivery time is a factor out of the seller’s control and often contingent upon choices made by the buyer. eBay’s estimates of delivery times by, for example, USPS are severely flawed. Even the USPS website does not always give reliable information.

Here is a concrete example, click to enlarge image.

If ‘free’ ground shipping is chosen it will usually take 7 - 10 days and can take up to six weeks to arrive. I live in Hawaii, the Post Office estimates 11 days (see image on left) but in this instance, a package from the MidWest took 8 days to get to Richmond, California where it was consolidated into a container before going on a boat.  Seven days to Honolulu where it will sit waiting for non Priority sorting before being consolidated for another boat to the outer islands.  Priority is airmail and takes 3 - 5 days nationwide.

I am waiting for a package mailed April 19th. That was 32 days ago. USPS rudimentary tracking shows it reached California April 27th. It may get here next week.

Fire, flood and storm cause delays every year for which a seller who lives in the ‘wrong’ place at the wrong time could be ‘demoted’, lowered in search, restricted from listing, suspended or even ‘routed off the site’ permanently.

eBay’s feedback model gives every appearance of being based on the Amazon model. There are clear indications of ‘improvements’ made by people who have very little practical experience. On Amazon the delivery estimate is a calculated by distance & date range, eg a book purchased from a California seller May 11th  for delivery to a California address carries the delivery estimate between May 18th - June 4th. Messaging to the buyer is fair and clear.

Unfortunately for eBay’s sellers, eBay does not pick pack and ship.

Y’all come back!