Auctiva Wants To Set The "Record" Straight, But WHY?

Written by John Comments
Last Updated June 8, 2009

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auctiva Auctiva Wants To Set The "Record" Straight, But WHY? Why in the world do people care what I think? I am not trying to be funny, I am being serious here. I am "just a squirrel trying to get a nut", either that or I am just a NUT, you can take your pick, LMAO

So I write a story that gives an example (albeit, a very simple one) that explains what round-tripping means as it relates to eBay Partner Network (ePN). That was a follow-up comment from the Auctiva shift to paid platform story.

From that, I got to speak with both InkFrog and Vendio on how they plan to respond. And now Auctiva has contacted your boy to "school me" on the situation at hand. So Spencer Smith, Auctiva’s Director of Marketing reaches out to me in this regard. First I want to give you the quotes…

Thumbnails (pictures) that are in the scroll galleries sellers embed in eBay auctions have NEVER had cookies attached to them.

The search box and the "click to browse items" DID have cookies attached to them ONLY after the buyer leaves the eBay site and goes to a DIFFERENT item from the same or different seller.

Auctiva NEVER took share if the buyer went back to the same item from the same seller.

eBay audited ALL activity by Auctiva and Auctiva was NEVER in violation of any ePN rules. When the terms changed, Auctiva complied to all changes and was never in violation.

Just to let you guys know, I don’t use ANY of Auctiva’s tools so I have ZERO skin in this game. There is no dog in the fight for me, but as a seller I realize how changes in fees can impact an eBay sellers business dramatically. My phone was ringing all weekend about this issue. So my goal is to educate and inform, BUT not report!!!!

I AM NOT A REPORTER, I am a commentator. Ina? Now she is a reporter. She does that better than anyone in this auction space. If you live in the UK, then the guys at Tamebay are reporting the news for you. Lil’ ol me? I am just here for levity

Get it? Got it? Good…lets get down to business baby.

Auctiva is in about 20% of all eBay auctions. You do NOT get that much real estate in the eBay systems (IMHO) without eBay being in the loop. I can really understand that Auctiva could not ever be in violation of rules because eBay always held their "on-off money switch". So I can see how they would have to always play inside the rules and be in constant contact with the ePN compliance team. Personally, I feel the notion that Auctiva was doing wrong is complete and utter NONSENSE. To put it plainly I think it is bull’ish and is FALSE.

airlines tickets, discount airline tickets, cheap airline tickets, international airline tickets Having said that, I do believe that a buyer on eBay that clicks a link in ANY ad that takes them off of eBay and then back to eBay (to the same or different item) is STILL round tripping. If I leave Chicago from O’Hare and then return at Midway….Or if I leave New York from La Guardia and return to Kennedy, I am still back in New York and that my friends is a ROUND TRIP TICKET not two one way tickets!!! So get off my arse dudes, LMAO. Phew, glad I got that out of the way.

eBay has said that going forward even links that take you to a different item will no longer be paid by the ePN program (announced in September 2008). They were OK in the past but in the future they will no longer be calculated as a paid commission and THAT my friends is what is going on.

Some points of clarity on the pricing structure that Spencer did let me know about.

Although the billing period begins on July 1, users will NOT be actually billed until the first weeks of August. So you actually have 60 days before you have a bill due to them.
They looked at Vendio’s old billing structure to craft this new billing plan for their sight, so it is NOT unprecedented.
The TOP level will be capped at $199.00 which included everything EVEN image hosting.
They offer a 30-day FREE trial with NO CREDIT CARD required. So that is a risk free offer for new users.
The will be providing more support INCLUDING live chat for all paid plan subscribers.

So, I hope this informative post lets you guys make an educated decision when selecting a paid provider for your eBay auction tool.

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Hey, nice post, really well written. You should post more about this.

John

WRONG! eBay USED to pay for this activity and then changed the program to remove this activity. MANY of the big boys of internet advertising (affiliates) saw their model for eBay links dry up, not just Auctiva. This was a fundamental change to the ePN program and those who follow the news of it in blogs/posts/etc. were very much impacted by the changes made in Sept. 2008.

The "pitchfork crowd" that want to pro port nefarious activity by Auctiva IMHO have a hidden agenda. Not that having an agenda is wrong (we all have them) but be transparent about it if you have one :-)

During my personal research on this issue (round tripping), I found numerous income streams by legitimate affiliates interrupted by this ePN change and NONE of those were violators of eBay rules at the time. That is why I will stick to the position that Auctiva had been in compliance and that the rules changed the game for them. Unless you or anyone else can PROVE otherwise, I think I will stick with my own research.

I am HAPPY to entertain any evidence you or others have to the contrary, but again I see you did not sign the post with a NAME which leads me to believe...HIDDEN AGENDA!

But I am an X-Files fan so I know "the truth is out there"

something's not right

Something's not right.

If Auctiva is saying they were always compliant, and they never got unqualified commissions (for things like round tripping), then why are they all of a sudden losing huge amounts of revenue?

If they were never being paid for unqualified commissions all along, then wouldn't their revenue next month be about the same as it has always been?

It doesn't make sense. Auctiva had to be getting paid for something that was not cool by eBay because how else do you explain a sudden and dramatic drop in the money they will receive from the ePN?

If they were always doing everything totally right, they're not breaking rules, and they weren't getting paid for things they shouldn't be paid for, then I would think their revenue would stay pretty consistent with no changes. Which would lead to no announcement and no need for a price increase due to lack of revenue.

?!?????