19 Jan
2007
19 Jan
'07
2:16 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Currie" <g at kurico.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 4:07 PM
Subject: Re: eBay idiocy
Not
defending Sellam but just wanted to make a point. Just because he
mentioned "fees" does in no way only imply that he is trying to make a
profit. Bandwidth costs money, maintenance takes effort (i.e. time),
adding new features takes time, listing fees can be used to help offset
these expenses and run, maintain, enhance the site without ever thinking
about making a "profit". If I had items for sale on VCM, I'd have
absolutely no problem paying a small fee to help keep the site going (as
I'm sure many here wouldn't have a problem as well). Many other
enthusiasts sites do exactly this, collect just enough to maintain the
site and keep it healthy, not to make it's maintainers rich.
Now it may be that Sellam really does want to eventually sell VCM to
Google for $240mil, or simply collect millions in listing fees every
month. My point is simply that one shouldn't just jump to this
conclusion simply by the mentioning of the "f" word.
George
Yes, I thought of that too. My thinking was since fees were mentioned at the
beginning there was some thought of the site being visited by more then just
the list community and therefore it could be a profitable setup. If it was
just for the people here it would be more efficient to setup something like
the Google group LEM Swap where Apple/Mac parts are traded among the members
that are signed up (but does not allow known businesses to advertise). If
he started asking for a small fee at the start I think people would not have
minded and it would have paid for the hosting (maybe not but helped a
little), but by not collecting the fee at the start I sense he was waiting
for it to become much larger then just this group here and possible
profitable. People have been using it, new items are listed every once in a
while and things are being sold so it IS being used as a tool for the list
members if that is what it was meant for. Sellams rant just made me think it
was more for profit then a community tool, which is why I said what I said.
I can't crawl into peoples minds to know why they do things, so I look at
what is said and done and conclude from that and possible I was wrong.
People have to understand that the world views you from their perception of
your words and actions (based on their own experiences) and not on what you
might have meant but never clarified.
TZ
Teo Zenios wrote:
> Hmm where to begin.
>
> How am I questioning your integrity?
>
> The VCM was setup for selling on the ebay model (but with only computer
> related equipment) and if it was popular a fee would be charged from all
> sales so it was setup with the idea of making a profit down the road (if
not
> then why bother mentioning fees at all). I
don't have a problem with
using