Bonsai Auction/99 Cent Bonsai Shadiness - and a better alternative!

[Palltergeist]

Is deciding where your money will go for you malevolent?

google doesn't decide where my money goes

Nelson and Matt O do....

 

[sorce]

It's like the realization that you can pay slaves (our work) and be just as well off.

They are scamming you, but it doesn't feel like it.

Zuckerberg is an alien.

Sorce

 

[rockm]

Lol, that's hilarious. I was on Facebook the year it came online. I'm guessing it's safe to say you were too young at the time. I was the initial "target audience". You have no clue what Facebook is. It's not about "the platform" it's about the code and the company that runs it, which you're clearly too naive to understand. It's funny that your justification for giving Facebook all of your personal data and history is that you have the apparent inability to meet people in person. Have you heard of a bonsai club?

Do you "know what you do" because of the internet or do you "think you know" things from the internet? You're a shining example of why our generation gets such a bad rep. You are the stereotype "millennial". The problem is when you bemoan the "Crotchety McCrotchersons" you have no idea who you actually are denigrating.


And @rockm why is it "not going away"? Look at where Myspace is today. That was all the rage too. Facebook will fade, give it time.

Um, Long distance companies have gone away, local telephone companies have gone away. Long distance service competition (remember the war between MCI and AT&T over long distance plans?) has gone away. Dial up modems have gone away, as have the service providers...However, the underlying service has not. The telephone is not a fad, neither is IP. IP and the net are not going away. FB and related services may take different forms, but unless electricity "goes away"

Also, mistaking millennials as "naïve," is a feel-good thing us old folks do to make us feel better about technology that continually skips ahead of us. Problem solving now, is not what it was for anyone older than 45. Millennials are just as naïve or not, as Baby Boomers and Gen X were at their age. Underestimate and insult them at your risk. I have a millennial for a kid. He's more socially adept and aware than I was at his age. He is hardly afraid of meeting people in person, he's very good at it and he's adopted and adapted all kinds of tech.

Yeah, "OK Boomer" is a silly insult, but don't make it an accurate one...

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I do a lot of my selling privately...

And you can send PP friends and family on auctions, you are just not allowed to request it. But if I'm purchasing from a known seller, I always F+F it.

Same. I will send ff to people I have purchased from before.

 

[PABonsai]

Um, Long distance companies have gone away, local telephone companies have gone away. Long distance service competition (remember the war between MCI and AT&T over long distance plans?) has gone away. Dial up modems have gone away, as have the service providers...However, the underlying service has not. The telephone is not a fad, neither is IP. IP and the net are not going away. FB and related services may take different forms, but unless electricity "goes away"

Also, mistaking millennials as "naïve," is a feel-good thing us old folks do to make us feel better about technology that continually skips ahead of us. Problem solving now, is not what it was for anyone older than 45. Millennials are just as naïve or not, as Baby Boomers and Gen X were at their age. Underestimate and insult them at your risk. I have a millennial for a kid. He's more socially adept and aware than I was at his age. He is hardly afraid of meeting people in person, he's very good at it and he's adopted and adapted all kinds of tech.

I'm not a baby boomer. Read sentences 2-4 in my post you just replied to. I WAS a member of the original Facebook before it was open to everyone. We knew what Facebook was before any of you guys. And I've been following it since. So yes, he is naive. He doesn't understand the true power of that company. I've grown up with these technologies and I see the ignorant rubes it has created which I have to call peers. This isn't your generation's sneering at us. This is me calling out someone who is clueless generally.

 

[Warpig]

Any chance of someone posting what the 'fees' are said to be or is just mostly just hear-say at this point?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Facebook will fade, give it time.

And the question is... who will buy their database? I felt pretty good about LinkedIn... until Microsoft bought it. Suddenly Microsoft became the owner of a good percentage of all the professional resumes in the country. Hmmm... There isn't a person in this thread who can definitely say where their Facebook data will be ten years from now. So be smart about what you give them - that's all I'm saying.

I just find it interesting that on one hand people embrace Facebook, while on the other hand, Facebook is under investigation by Congress for influencing government elections through ad targeting and fake news distribution. I know a little bit about technology... but I know a lot more about marketing and statistics. When @rockm asks the question "do you really think Facebook is tracking billions of users"? I can definitively answer "YES!" because that is their business model. What is a billion users? Nothing! It's not like you are studying the cosmos or trying to analyze weather patterns.

As we used to say in the computer game industry CONTENT is king. But the way to really make money is not to create the content yourself - it is to create the platform for ordinary people to create and share the content themselves. You then make money off of other peoples' work. There is nothing unique about Facebook's technology - just the fact that they got so many people to start using it. So be smart. If you wouldn't want the government, your spouse, your boss, your kids, your potential employers to see it... for all time... you probably shouldn't put it on Facebook.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

If you wouldn't want the government, your spouse, your boss, your kids, your potential employers to see it... for all time... you probably shouldn't put it on Facebook.

This is something that I feel like people forget. I am that unique age where childhood did without much technology, but then was introduced to it early enough that I have no problems getting it today. I remember the early BBS services, the first days of live chat, geocities websites, etc. etc. I've always tried to represent myself on the internet as professionally as possible, and I still cringe when I come across something I wrote or said in college, much less high school. Every single thing you type is out there for someone to find, and increasingly its scary how much people are being judged by statements they made a decade or more ago.

As an aside - I believe you said you once worked for Sierra, @Bonsai Nut - I've been nostalgia gaming on some early Kings Quest in my spare time. I still get a kick out of those old games.

 

[rockm]

And the question is... who will buy their database? I felt pretty good about LinkedIn... until Microsoft bought it. Suddenly Microsoft became the owner of a good percentage of all the professional resumes in the country. Hmmm... There isn't a person in this thread who can definitely say where their Facebook data will be ten years from now. So be smart about what you give them - that's all I'm saying.

I just find it interesting that on one hand people embrace Facebook, while on the other hand, Facebook is under investigation by Congress for influencing government elections through ad targeting and fake news distribution. I know a little bit about technology... but I know a lot more about marketing and statistics. When @rockm asks the question "do you really think Facebook is tracking billions of users"? I can definitively answer "YES!" because that is their business model. What is a billion users? Nothing! It's not like you are studying the cosmos or trying to analyze weather patterns.

As we used to say in the computer game industry CONTENT is king. But the way to really make money is not to create the content yourself - it is to create the platform for ordinary people to create and share the content themselves. You then make money off of other peoples' work. There is nothing unique about Facebook's technology - just the fact that they got so many people to start using it. So be smart. If you wouldn't want the government, your spouse, your boss, your kids, your potential employers to see it... for all time... you probably shouldn't put it on Facebook.

"When @rockm asks the question "do you really think Facebook is tracking billions of users"? I can definitively answer "YES!" because that is their business model. What is a billion users? Nothing!"

Oooooooo, oooooogie boogie, they're stalking all of us to....what?....every technology, from the printing press to TV and god save us the Internet has been predicted to be the end of the world. (I'll wait for the cries of "this is sooooooo different, You don't understand. .THIS is going to GET US," to subside)...I predict it probably ain't and won't. Fear of the unknown is a constant for humans, has been since we started using technology...Sure there are hazards and it can be dangerous. The same is true of our first tool, fire. But even if that burns your fingers, or house if you're unlucky or stupid enough, it is also a reason we went to the moon...

"If you wouldn't want the government, your spouse, your boss, your kids, your potential employers to see it... for all time... you probably shouldn't put it on Facebook."
Um, well duh...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I know this is going far afield, and I don't want to turn this into a political thread, but if you haven't seen this 60 Minutes piece on Brad Parscale, I recommend it. It goes a little into the science behind Facebook. The only thing I disagree with is his belief that psychographic marketing segmentation doesn't work. I know that it does - but you have to be pretty sophisticated in when and how you use it. In this interview, it is a bugbear that Leslie Stahl goes after... because people hate the idea of being targeted based on what they think or feel instead of what they do.

Facebook in the 2016 National Election

But... I will continue to use Facebook to shop for and buy trees and pots. I just will do so wisely

 

[Dav4]

All I know is that I feel bad for anyone tuned in to my Alexa last Saturday night after my wife and I had a few too many manhattans...

 

[Warpig]

Now that we agree on Facebook, any chance to bring up the auctions again? With all the talk of shady business and fees you would of thought that would of been the good stuff.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

any chance to bring up the auctions again?

I just get mad because I never seem to win anything that's not a BIN. Hashtag cashflow problems.

 

[Anthony]

So you all pay for science research, and it's movement, - hah.
That's what the Internet was for.
Good Luck.
Anthony

 

[Cable]

Any chance of someone posting what the 'fees' are said to be or is just mostly just hear-say at this point?

We all have full-time jobs, families, hobbies and lives beyond bonsai and there are only so many hours in the day. We feel we are providing a great service to the bonsai community, especially those who are regular sellers here, and would like to offer you the opportunity to give back. Starting January 1, 2020, we will be requesting a monthly donation. The suggested donation for sellers will be just 3% of their total sales, and those who only bought items during the month may donate whatever they feel our service is worth. Donations will be collected via PayPal and split evenly among the five admins.

We will run on the honor system in hopes that the online bonsai community is as principled as the in-person bonsai community. If the overall response to the voluntary donation system is good, we will continue in that vein. However, if the response is lackluster or fades over time, we will consider mandatory dues. We hope to avoid that if at all possible! Our goal is to reach a compromise (i.e. ~3%) that will be agreeable for sellers and sufficient to offset the time we invest. Details will be announced at the end of the year. Thank you!

 

[Colorado]

Now that we agree on Facebook, any chance to bring up the auctions again? With all the talk of shady business and fees you would of thought that would of been the good stuff.

My allegiance lies with the Resistance.

 

[Warpig]

The way I see it. The admin.'s own a mall and are looking for stores to pay a small % fee to use the building to sell their wares. Now if this will drive the stores to sell elsewhere or not time will tell. That about sum it yp?

 

[Warpig]

Since the admin's are also some of their own biggest stores. I wonder, do you think they are also to take 3% of their own sales to share with the other admin's or just want a cut if I go to make a sale?

 

[coh]

I'd be interested in knowing how much money we're talking about on these auction sites. Does anyone keep track of how much is actually sold during each auction? Which would let us know how much the folks who run the sites will be getting?

In principle, I don't have a problem paying a small fee to be able to sell on the auction groups. As I said, pretty much everything I've sold has gone for quite a bit more than I expected (often double or higher) and I'm not in it to make a buck, just to move trees that I no longer want to someone who does want them. That's valuable to me and 3% doesn't sound unreasonable. I know that keeping the sites running probably takes more time than most realize and a little compensation seems reasonable.

That said, I was always a little unhappy with the way things went down on those sites. Someone mentioned the midnight coup, where the original site owners were basically pushed out. That never sat right with me so if the original owners are going to try to start up again I'll be willing to buy/sell there, not so much because of the fee but because of what happened before. The question is, will enough people migrate over to make it work or will people stick with the current groups. No point trying to sell to an empty group.

 

[Bolero]

"Resistance is Futile, Lower your Shields"