posted on July 20, 2004 06:39:56 AM new
A couple of weeks ago I got voice mail from a woman claiming to be an eBay seller I had made a purchase from.
It was hard to understand all she said because my answering machine is so crappy but the gist of it was that she makes a hobby of entering her eBay customers into contests, and she did enter my name in a contest, and I won!
She assured me that this was legitimate, which of course only made me think it was a scam.
I tried to figure out which seller she was (the message was garbled, remember) but couldn't. Then I forgot about it.
Until last night, when I picked up my mail and found a letter from ******, containing a $75 Home Depot gift card. The letter said I'd won it in a GM sweepstakes.
By virtue of the misspellings in the name and address I was able to figure out which seller it was, and I sent her a puzzled but grateful thank you note.
But weird, huh, what some people do with eBay.
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[ edited by iareateacher on Jul 20, 2004 04:38 PM ]
posted on July 20, 2004 08:31:19 AM new
You know, there's a lot of truth in those nicknames we have for those big corporate entities.
Home Despot is so big that they can and do throw their weight around. In some of America's smaller communities they are starting to have the same disruptive effect that SquallMart (see, there's another one) has: destroying local small businesses and eliminating choices. In the town where I grew up, there is no longer anywhere to shop but SquallMart...and the locals (who loved it at first) are rebelling.
posted on July 20, 2004 08:41:45 AM new
some of the local storeowners now work for home depot,bringing their expertise to serve the customers and train the younger employees.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
Too bad you don't have more places to shop! I too missed a number of small shops that disappeared over the years, but I don't miss their prices.
The corporate big guys indeed have driven mom & pop out of buiness if they didn't see it coming. I sold my service business in 1998 because it started to happen in the water treament industry. Culligan buying up competitors, the whole industry going into a "roll up". One has to change with the market, but all the friendly small businesses in some categories will be missed b y those of us who shopped them.
Despite the protest of some, though, business is booming. Great selection that mom & pop could never hope to offer, at prices less than half what small stores could charge. A global trend that will be very unlikely to reverse.
For a while, when I first started selling, I was buying stuff at WalMart and reselling on Ebay at a profit. Some people are too snooty to shop there (not referring to anyone here) but will snap up the stuff in a heartbeat on eBay as long as they don't know it came form there.
aplogies in advance, but I just have to say I love WalMart. Great prices, great selection. I just found a new term yesterday, "WalMartian". I are one!
posted on July 20, 2004 09:57:58 AM newToo bad you don't have more places to shop!
Oh, I do; I don't live in the town where I grew up. One could say that the locals are getting what they deserved in their relentless pursuit of low low low prices.
posted on July 20, 2004 02:40:05 PM new
Teacher, that is a nice little piece of guerilla marketing. If it were done properly it may just have an effect on bids. You would think that the seller would have mentioned it in the auction or the WBN though. Everyone likes something for free.
Regards,
Adrian
posted on July 20, 2004 02:45:27 PM new
neglus- We used to do a craft show in Madison. Beautiful country! Looked alot like here! Walmart is about 45 minutes away from here too!
posted on July 20, 2004 02:53:50 PM new
I love the fact that you can go to Wal-Mart's online site and find every store within 100 miles, with address, phone, etc. I actually shop out-of town Wal-Marts on trips. Yes, I'm addicted. I find the greastest farbic for $1.00 and $2.00 per yard from time to time at certain stores.
Their online site has stuff you can't get in the store and music downloads as well for $.99.
posted on July 20, 2004 03:52:10 PM new
I'd love to be living somewhere where the nearest Wal-Mart was 75 miles away. I absolutely despise what's gone on in this country over the last 20 years, as mom & pop stores disappear, only to be replaced by these monoliths. I go out of my way to shop in the mom & pop stores that remain, even if they're more expensive.
posted on July 20, 2004 04:35:22 PM newTeacher, that is a nice little piece of guerilla marketing
It worked out well in my case. However, I don't know what the contest sponsor is doing with the entry information. The sole purpose of some contests is to compile targeted mailing lists, so you probably don't want to do this for your customers without their permission.
Edited to add:
I found the contest using Google and it does appear that I am now signed up to receive product information and other stuff via "personalized email updates".
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[ edited by iareateacher on Jul 20, 2004 04:38 PM ]
posted on July 20, 2004 07:08:48 PM new
I didn't mean the collect personal info type contests. I simply meant putting a little notice in each auction or WBN that buyers for the month of X will be put into a random draw and the winner gets 5000 widgets or something. No need for customers to register or anything all they have to do is make a purchase in that month. I think I misunderstood your post a little. I thought you had won an auction and been randomly drawn as per my scenario above. I didn't realise that you went looking for the contest.
Regards,
Adrian
posted on July 20, 2004 08:25:25 PM new
Adrian, I wasn't clear. Sorry.
My seller entered me in this contest, unbeknownst to me. I won. She called, etc.
It wasn't until today that I looked for the actual contest using Google. I read the contest rules, and it looks like I'll be receiving some amount of promotional email as a result of entering the contest. (Even though I personally didn't enter it. )
posted on July 20, 2004 09:19:01 PM new
Walmart is my ISP
wmconnect.com 9.93 a month.
It looks like AOL & is managed by AOL, but other than that it is nothing like AOL.
posted on July 21, 2004 05:28:24 AM new
You know, I bet Ebay has put a number of mom & pop brick and mortar resale or antique shops out of business as well. I venture to say some who posted complaints about WalMart and refuse to shop there, will shop and sell on Ebay, another corporate giant or should I say "venue" that has driven prices down.
posted on July 21, 2004 09:11:08 AM newthat is a rather strange thing to do with people's info
Yeah, it is, and I'm not comfortable with it. I wouldn't do it myself. I might give my customers a chance to opt-in, but using someone's eBay information for a contest unrelated to eBay without telling them? That might put some folks off. And it could get me suspended.
I suppose I could report this seller but that seems a little ungrateful, given the outcome.
posted on July 21, 2004 09:18:07 AM new
Yeah, I find the situation pretty weird. Does the gift certificate say who it is from? I'm wondering if it is somehow a recruitment bonus for signing you up somehow, and she's passing it on. Just very weird. Most online sites like are to be emailing you will not sign up someone who did not opt-in personally. I mean, isn't that against the anti-spam laws? I wonder if the site that she signed you up for knows she's recruiting like this. You never opted in.
posted on July 21, 2004 09:24:00 AM new
The gift card is from a legitimate agency that runs online promotions for some of America's largest companies. This specific contest is for GM. The contest is ongoing, by the way; there are still prizes to be won.
Most of the prizes are Instant Win. You register to play by giving your name, address, email, etc., then they give you a chance to play a game. Most of the time, of course, you don't win anything.
My guess is that my seller is hooked on playing these games and uses the names/addresses of everyone she can get her hands on. Possibly she hopes I will share the prize with her. I can't think of any other possibility.
posted on July 21, 2004 09:25:56 AM new
teacher, yeah, I'm sure that's it. She's using others names to enter, one prize per address. Sounds like an addiction.
posted on July 21, 2004 10:30:13 AM new
iarea: thats funny about sharing the prize...lol!!! Let's hope she is just addicted to playing the games.
I got an odd telemarketing call yesterday.
Person said they got my phone number from the homeshopping network. I dont watch the show (maybe a minute if I scan by it and something catches my eye) never ever bought anything from them, and I dont to the internet site.
Sounded really full of sh** to me. Woman calling from home sounded like she had had it (or drugged up or something) kids in the background....
Anyway I was a little rude and said f/u when she said homeshopping.....because i knew that was a blatent lie. So now today there is an email from somebody from an air force ISP with a big f/u in it to me.
Whats the deal here? Definitely trolls on this board or at ebay.
posted on July 21, 2004 10:31:10 AM new
A very interesting point in your 5:28 post, meadowlark. I have to ruminate about my buying habits. I do not shop at WM for personal reasons -- I dislike being treated like a thief. Although I would like to think I look like a desperado, I have been asked to don a Santa Claus suit more than once. (For the record, those things are cheap energy conserving saunas)
