Is Snappy Auctions a Great Franchise Opportunity?
April 20, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
While the largest, most celebrated eBay drop-off store franchise concept , iSold It, has closed 60 stores, suspended domestic franchise sales and warned it may be on the verge of collapse, its next-largest competitor remains upbeat and continues to promote its franchise program.
In a company press release, Snappy Auctions celebrates inclusion on the list that made iSold It famous:
Snappy Auctions has been listed in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 list for the first time… With over 63 units open, Snappy Auctions ranked 309th in the survey, in only its 2nd full year of operation. The Nashville, Tenn. based franchise enables customers to make money off of items that are sold on eBay…
Snappy Auctions CEO Debby Gordon claims that Snappy Auctions is not suffering the same fate as competitor iSold It. In fact, snappy Auctions is doing phenomenally:
“We are poised for a phenomenal 2007, after an incredible 2006,” Gordon continued, “and this accolade is just the beginning.” In 2006, Snappy Auctions launched Snappy Sales Solutions, S3, which has contributed to its recent success. “S3 is yet another step toward our goal of changing the way businesses get value from retired equipment and inventory.”
Snappy Auction also boasts having been named one of Franchise Business Review’s Franchise 50, which honors franchise systems based on outstanding franchisee satisfaction through owner surveys and comments.
According to a Ina Steiner’s column on AuctionBytes.com, “Despite the challenges, Snappy Auctions CEO Debbie Gordon believes in the concept and says it’s all about execution.”
Can Snappy Auctions really be succeeding while iSold It, with much the same business model, is fighting for survival? Have they successfully overcome the challenges that eBay drop-off store critics contend make the concept unworkable? What do you think?
YOU’RE INVITED TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON WHETHER YOU THINK SNAPPY AUCTIONS IS A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY.
____________________________________
Know a great new franchise? Nominate them a TopNewFranchises.Com
Hey Scott, you were probably remebering something you read on e-Auctiondepo, who had their own software, and went over to Auctionsound just before declaring bankruptcy.
As for free software, I agree with you, you get what you pay for. It could be worse, they could be paying (alot more than Auctionsound), like the iSoldit stores, for software that is a piece of crap!
I thought I had read several Snappy stores were using AS, but I could be mistaken.
Sorry Cold Hard, but I am here by invitation. I did not study for an exam, nor did I purchase a Snappy Franchise.
I am here because one of my articles was quoted here, and because I proposed a way to move forward, and then after that ruckus, I was invited back to comment from time to time.
My post was presented in the form of a query, not an authoritative comment.
I would hope you would be open to educating rather than flaming people who join your conversation. It is sorta the way this thing called social networking is supposed to work.
Good Day!
Na, it’s more fun to call out people who have no idea what they’re talking about. ;)
I guess the fact that Auction Sound has been mentioned no less than 18 times in this thread alone, by regular posters on this Snappy Only blog – led me to the conclusion.
Starting Here:
Death By Franchise
Sep 19, 2007 at 5:21 pm
My turn to chime in. I must reply to the comments from Snappy HQ, I mean Flawed Thoughts.
….
4) We’ll put the 10 stores out of business??? OK, for a fleeting moment let’s pretend there are 10 stores out there doing well. Well if they’re doing well, they probably don’t need Snappy anymore. Also, the support you get from Snappy usually stinks, so what do they have to offer other than software? Guess what? Things have changed since Snappy opened. The market caught up with them and passed them by. This software ROCKS:
http://www.auctionsound.com/ …
Post truncated due to length.
My point was that I thought Snappy Franchise Owners had switched to AS, and apparently some of them had. Once again, pardon my query, but it seems the facts support at least the appearance of AuctionSound defection.
I was mistaken about the proprietary software comment, for that I ask a thousand pardons. You see, my life does not revolve around the history of Snappy Auctions. I try to look forward.
Scott, many of the franchisees of all the franchisors converted to Auctionsound or something similar due to the fact that the “proprietary software” the franchisors had them using were crap, and support was close to non existant. To survive (even now), many have converted to other software with less (much less) problems. Some even use turbo lister(yuck!)!
On a positive note-these folks “look forward” to a life without Snappy!
Anybody have an updated store count?
I think I heard lately the count is at a solid 28. Those are stores that are still brick and mortar.
eBay Franchise Drop Stores – Why They Failed
http://allbusinessauctions.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/ebay-franchise-drop-stores-why-they-failed/
enjoy….
Scott your article is far from being correct. There are far too many incorrect assumptions made by you without the experience of actually operating one of these franchised stores. Your press release is just another sales pitch for your untested idea. Sorry but you really need to check your facts!
Chance,
It’s an article not a press release and it sells nothing, please do not spam me as you did before. I don’t want to have to block your IP again.
BTW Franchise publications and blogs are sending me good trackbacks and are quoting this article, so it must not be all that bad.
Please do not tell people I have no experience at this business. My credentials have already been established. What, may I ask, are yours?
Once Again…Have a Wonderful Day!
Scott, it seems to me you don’t have skin thick enough for this or any other forum. Any negative comments on your comments or articles gets you in a huff. I can’t imagine what will happen when you start to sell your idea and people challenge you and customers start to argue with you.
I read the article and I disagreed with some points as well. If I say I did, does that mean I’m spamming you?
If you want to run with the big dogs, you’re going to have to get off the porch….and take some bites.
Selling a franchise and running one are radically different. I know since I ran some and I tried to sell them as well. When you sell something, your participation stops at a point, but when you run it, you’re in it for the long haul.
Try to be less defensive. People will begin to listen more.
I am trying a new series of posts aimed at debriefing and discussing after failed or troubled concepts in order to to create summaries of what went wrong, why, and what lessons can be learned. I call them Franchise Autopsies, and would like to have several per concept. If you’re interested in submitting one for consideration, you can post it as a comment first, or email me at info[at]ideafarm.net.
Scott: I assumed you wouldn’t mind my excerpting and linking to your article to get the ball rolling. Let me know if you do and I’ll remove it.
Comments, rebuttals, additions to Scott’s guest post are encouraged. It’s not about is program – just what went wrong and why.
http://www.franchisepick.com/franchise-autopsy-ebay-dropoff-stores-scott-pooler/
FYI We’re nearing the One year anniversary of this post as well as the 900 comment mark. Shall I get a cake?
Scott:
I agree with Get Real about not taking the criticism so personally. Consider it a free critique, a pro bono focus group. They are saying what others might think but never tell you, leaving you wonder why you didn’t get the sale.
Get Real/Chance:
What points of Scott’s do you guys disagree with? Aside from things you might construe as veiled sales pitches, do you disagree with the causes for the demise of the drop-off franchise?
http://www.franchisepick.com/franchise-autopsy-ebay-dropoff-stores-scott-pooler/
I would really like to get your input for a list of warnings to prospective franchisees based on your experiences? What should they look out for? What questions should they ask?
These battle scars must be able to help someone else avoid the same trap… Take a gander at the posts on Cuppy’s Coffee. The drop-off phenomenon is, unfortunately, no isolated incident.
Get Real,
I was referring to Chance’s spam focused at multiple blogs, eBay account and websites of mine previously. I can handle reasonable criticism without resorting to becoming angry. I just have had a different experience with this particular member of the forum which led me to my quick response to his negativity.
I really was not in a huff, just weary of getting comments posted on my other sites which were profane and not relevant to the blog post and all emmanating from the same source. My comment was only directed at that source and really had nothing to do with any real criticisms of my recent article.
This is a trip. Own a store, then write an article. See how that turns out.
Profane???? Please site examples. I’ve read Chances posts on several forums and have never seen any profanity.
Per SEAN’s request:
SCOTT POOLER: They react by turning customers away with low value items. This is not always the wisest course of action because that customer will never return and one never knows
GET REAL: My experience was that if you take their crap, they’ll keep bringing you crap. Since I owned a store I learned this the hard way. I never had someone bring me their garage sale crap, have it sell for nothing, then decide to being me their antique Limoge china.
SCOTT POOLER:
Some eBay drop stores do survive with perseverance, skill and entrepreneurial spirit…
GET REAL: They survive because they were in the rare location that works. “Old money” like Green Hills TN, very high end retail like Buckhead GA or commuter communities like VA. I have not seen a sigle example where brute force nor perseverance have worked. They just get deeper in debt.
SCOTT POOLER: When one purchases a franchise like McDonalds
GET REAL: Funny this was listed as an example in this forum: Aug 2, 2007 at 1:55 pm
SCOTT POOLER: Many people who have purchase eBay drop store franchises feel as thought they were deceived into a purchase of a business model which never worked. On the surface this is the truth, but it was not always the case. In the early days of the drop store boom the concept did work
GET REAL: These were anomolies and were not sustainable. When you say worked, did you mean on a consistent basis? Let’s look at a >60% failure rate and try to understand, even during the so called “boom” how it worked. Since I owned a store, I’ll tell you I had a great month and the 3 that tanked. In my book that is not “worked”. And I was an early adopter.
SCOTT POOLER: As a part of another business, eBay consignment can be a very attractive addition to the overall picture.
GET REAL: This is the sales pitch. I disagree because Scott lists the reasons the concept doesn’t work then says it can. If it’s “very attractive” when why not do it full time? Easy….it doesn’t work and businesses drain every last dime out of an asset before they let it go. Just look at the “S3″ listing on eBay. This is where CHANCE saw the sales pitch.
SCOTT POOLER:
eBay consignment, if used as a draw to get new customers in the front door
GET REAL:
…will just tick them off when they don’t get what they want from their items and THEN that will impact the rest of your business
And one last thing….why do the first 4 “Responses to “eBay Franchise Drop Stores – Why they failed” …point to Scott Pooler articles??
Happy Easter to everyone!
Scott…no reply?
The profanity was posted and removed from the comments section of my blog(s).
Real: Your comments are your own and you have every right to your opinion. I also have the right to present my opinion, which I do on multiple blogs, and other publications seen around the world.
I believe eBay consignment can be useful as a tool for existing brick and mortar small business. I did not say that in itself, as a stand alone drop store operation, eBay consignment was a worthy business plan. In fact my published opinions argue the case against drop stores as a stand alone business model.
You call it a “sales Pitch” if you like… I call it good sense. I understand your view of eBay consignment, but I don’t think you have given my view a fair shake. If consignment is used as a marketing tool, and not the only revenue source, it can and does work for businesses.
If you draw in new business by selling a customer’s old piece of equipment or electronics or jewelery on eBay or any other venue, and then sell that same customer a new item from your store, with no investment in the used merchandise. I say you have been a smart business person.
If consignment merchandise gets national or even worldwide attention and traffic, for the new merchandise advertised on a “me” page, then consignment serves a business purpose.
As part of a greater plan, a business and marketing plan consignment can have an effective place.
Not everyone is as sour on consignment as some of the regulars on this blog. But then not everyone has been so deeply effected by the turn of events that brought you here in the first place.
If you are expecting me to admit that I sell marketing plans, that I create innovative ideas and concepts and sprinkle those ideas with experience, you have me. I confess.
I am not promoting the drop store franchise model and I am not trying to create a “new” consignment business.
All I have said is people who have gone through what you have, and hopefully learned a few lessons along the way, could use that hard earned experience to market themselves as more than a drop store operator. I would like to help people do that.
You seem to have a problem with my wanting to help people in this way. Even though I have not tried to sell a franchise, or a set of DVD’s or a sure fire rags to riches get rich quick scheme.
So, I witheld my reply to your comments because I did not wish to stir the pot any further. You apparently enjoy a well stirred cauldron and I am sure others here also enjoy the show.
Your opinions of my article, which I thought was rather harsh towards eBay Drop Store Franchising, are not really relevent to my business. I have stated my opinions and they are mine alone. You can agree or disagree and we can comment till the cows come home. We all have that right as bloggers and blog readers. I appreciate every comment, pro or con. I may learn a thing or two in the process. But please do not think you have made me run for the hills with your witty reparte’ and consistent message about my “sales pitch”. If you are so dead set against sales, why did you go into retail in the first place? “Sales” is what drives all forms of business and without a “Sales Pitch” or “Marketing Plan” no business will survive.
Again you have me, I sell things…
Did I tell you about the Half a Million Dollar Motor Coach I sold just a few weeks ago? Oh yeah, that was on consignment. Consignment works for some, and not for others… I guess it works for me.
re: “And one last thing….why do the first 4 “Responses to “eBay Franchise Drop Stores – Why they failed” …point to Scott Pooler articles??”
Because those “comments” are what is known as TRACKBACKS. Trackback is a blog term which means that blogs and websites that you followed the trackback links back to thought enough of the article to re-post all or part of it on their blog or website. The link you found in my comments section showed that those same publishers attributed or gave credit for the article to its source. i.e. my original article in my blog.
The article in question has been picked up and posted to multiple public and private websites, forums and blogs. Most likely more than have attributed or included a link “Trackback”.
If you did not notice, Sean, the moderator and owner of this blog posted the article in its entirety on another portion of this website. Apparently not everyone saw it as a “Sales Pitch”.
Thanks for the question, glad to clear up that little discrepancy in my comments section…
Good Night
After 3 years, Brian and Gail Eischeid are throwing in the towel. A story in USA Today had drawn them in:
iSold It eBay Dropoff Franchise to Close in Savannah
Scott, I have googled you, and come up with some points of information – Your ego is quite large! Your posts are wordy, and it appears to me that you really have nothing to back up your wordiness. Less is more. But what makes anyone an authority on any subject?
Over and ou
“I am simply expressing my views “ You are certainly entitled to your opinions and views, but for that same reason, I and others are entitled our views, whether we agree or disagree with you Scott, which includes posting comments uncensored on the end or your articles. So here goes…
“My experience on both sides of the fence has revealed certain truths” Let us start here: first Scott you don’t appear to have the experience of running one or more of these stores, and as stated before, master franchisee only means you lost more money! And telling you that your facts aren’t accurate is not profanity!
“These franchises promised individuals an easy way to be in business for themselves” These franchisors “promised” alot more and delivered alot less than what is stated here.
“they felt it was a sure thing. If any franchise could work for them, this type would because it was easy and it was new and customers would clamor over themselves to get in the door. And really it was a “cheap” franchise to buy….” Sorry to disappoint you, but no franchisee believed it was cheap and easy other than you!
“Anyone could own a store if they agreed to the franchise terms.” This statement doesn’t speak well of the franchisors or master franchisees who sold them. And I know of NO franchise that had less than a $100,000 investment in these stores. You are way off on your figures for the majority of franchises. Location footage was more like 1000 to 1500 sq feet (again your numbers are quite off), and MANY franchisees have excellent backgrounds in technology, sales, auctions, and running a business, give THEM some credit!
“The U.S. government requires this UFOC document, but they do not provide a course in how to read it.” You are quite right, but you forgot to include the facts that the franchisors can bend the rules, even outright lie in the UFOC, or forget to list pertinant facts, and that this is done on a regular basis by the best franchisors out there. Also these particular franchisors were selling a “proven turnkey system” which they DID NOT HAVE!
“but since most of those same people do not read the document “ I will tell you that the 100+ franchisees I have spoken with, did read and often hired an attorney to look over these aggreements, but untruths and forgotten information can not be discoved on a (3 week old) completely new business idea. That is why there are now blogs and websites showing the franchisors the errors of their ways.
“Very little time is usually devoted to the calculation of eBay fees” Regarding training, you can never have enough for a new venture, but calculating ebay fees doesn’t take a week to figure out, just a simple download from ebay is a good start. Again there is NO proven system here, just the franchisors best guess at what might work, and that goes back to the REAL REASON THE STORES FAILED—THE CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK! Branding wasn’t there (although many of these franchisors tried to ride on Ebay’s coat tails), and advertising was pittiful.
“Usually it is a trial and error method with the new store owner teaching his staff as much as he can remember from his short training class.” Trial and error was the MO for the franchisors not the franchisees, you buy a franchise to eliminate trial and error. Franchisors could not get the walk in concept to work, nor the fundraising concept, or even the Business 2 business concept to work. So they forced the stores to sell tickets, autos, large items, and now mobile concepts, many of which were outlawed or limited in many states.
“Store owners soon realize that selling any item worth less than $100 is not worth the expense of processing that item. They react by turning customers away with low value items.” Once again you prove you haven’t been there, the average sell price is bogus, and one high ticket item can make it look like you are selling a $200 item all the time, and many high ticket items such as jewelry, should be left to the professionals in that field to sell (example: your ring that still hasn’t sold in over a month.)
“Processing becomes the key – reduce processing time, become more efficient” This isn’t the answer, remember that the actual CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK! All of this is well explained on http://www.AmITheOnlyOne.org.
“Some store owners simply advertise the store and wait behind the counter for customers to stream in.” This comment is totally uncalled for! These folks spent alot of money and efforts to make these stores work. Getting items was NOT the problem. The problem was too many varied items (NO NICHE), and alot of crap items. The regular customer was middleaged, downsizing and too busy with other things to bother selling it themself, unlike your description “ is someone who is not tech savvy, has no internet access, is elderly or is wealthy and has little time.” Even now people don’t want to list tems themselves, so training them is not the answer either (yes many of us tried your idea before you did!).
“Times have changed for the eBay consignment business, the market has shifted” That is certainly an understatement, especially with the annoucement of layoffs. For this fact alone, ANY business dependant on ebay or any other business, will take a fall if the mothership falls, adding to the comment “THE CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK”!
“Some eBay drop stores do survive with perseverance, skill and entrepreneurial spirit…” Actually there are NO stores that are making it. I will define that further-no store on a regular basis (more than one month here and there) is making a profit after paying all expenses, clients, payroll (including the owners) and made their payments on their initial loans! That is why the franchisors have NOTHING to boost about! Also, putting this concept into existing other stores only eats the other store profits up. The concept is a money pit! No form of overhead cut backs, expensive items, or unpaid/uninsured owners will make it work. No advertising (or lack of it), training, or deep pockets will make it succeed! You may be able to prolong the death of a particular store with alot of money backing but that all that it will do. As you stated “the entire business model collapse upon itself”, welcome to our world Scott, we have been trying to tell you this!
On another note, like “McDonalds”, branding for these drop shops never got off the ground. Also, these stores unlike the food chain or any other franchised chain, compete against one another for sales online. That is only one more reason that this concept won’t work. In the “early days”, this concept only appeared to work. Franchisors grossly misrepresented this concept, and now have legal problems because of it! No one once made, or makes today, “$200,000 a month” or anything close to that, unless they were already selling in a niche on ebay themselves (a reason NOT to franchise or put up a retail store front). We would all love to have someone show us the $$$ working this concept!
“What Will Save The Day?” It is quite simple, stop the bleeding by closing! Also, STOP the franchisors from STILL selling these stores here in the US or abroad! As for marketing, once these folks find a NEW business to be in, just maybe they will consider using eBay for marketing!
Sorry Scott, but I have to agree with Sean that using ebay drop off experience in you bio, will not help you. On another thought-you write very well, just wish you had your facts straight.
Thanks Sean for NOT censoring these comments as others have. I LOVE CAKE!!!
I run an eBay consignment operation and have been doing so for years. Since before franchising became popular. So your information is less than what you may think it is.
I do screen comments on my blogs for spam, as do most other blog publishers. Spam, profanity and liable are all things we screen for and as the publisher of good content we feel we not only have the right to do so, but an obligation to do so as well. We do not censor differing opinions only obscene or off topic spam.
I do not and will not promote the drop store full retail operation. I do think people who have done that can do other things with the same skill set. They do not need a retail store to do so, but if they have one they are not precluded from doing so either.
Your negative comments and sweeping statements are all well and good, but they are not any more truthful than you purport my opinions to be. At least I preface my articles as opinions and not as absolute truths.
I have heard from several drop store operators who are making it, and I can only conclude that they have a good client base and location.
I would rather praise these people than to indicate they are less than honest or untruthful about the state of their business.
I have been in the same location (moved here over 2 years ago) doing consignment and other eBay selling as well as ecommerce and affiliate sales, design and development. My consignment work, pays my bills. I do not have a high dollar retail store front or a franchise to pay, but I do have a business location with an executive office, conference room, mulptiple computer work stations, a warehouse and a photo studio (a real product photo studio with over $10,000 worth of photo equipment).
So do not tell me that I have never been in this business and that I do not know what I am talking about, I was a Trading Assistant when the term was invented.
If I were Sean, I might take offense to you putting words in my mouth. But since I am only the guy you seem to have a stalkers quest for, I will just worry about my own affairs.
And I sold over $485,000 gross last month on consignment for my clients, did that amount show on my public eBay name, no. Do I have more than one eBay name? yes. Will you say I am full of it, yes… Do I care?
Do I say that anyone can do that amount on a consistent basis? No. Am I selling a system for doing consignment at all, No. Do I know why I am answering you , not really. Will I again, I hope not. Are you getting your next reply ready, most likely.
Scott, your opinions are just that, they are not facts. I and others have given you facts which we can and have backed up – not fanciful numbers with no substance. With that being said, NO ebay drop store has shown anyone out here on the internet that it is successful, especially the franchises. The franchisors would be advertising that fact if it had any merit, and it doesn’t! As get real says “show me the money!”
No one denies you have ebay experience, but you are NOT a drop shop by your own admission, and from what I can tell, you never opened and ran one either.
Many folks sell from home, a friends warehouse, or various other “non-retail” places. Most sell one or two NICHE items, and they report them on only ONE id. Using multiple id’s can be very misleading. Example: If we add up all the gross sales from all the snappy stores, they could say they sold over a million dollars. This is very misleading, and is not the same as an individual store owner making it. In fact divide that number by 50 individual stores and you get $20,000 per store gross, and less than $6000 adjusted gross to pay all overheads. Believe me they are not paying the bills! On the same front, some ebay powersellers & “Trading assistants” make alot of money(at least they used to), however they are NOT drop off stores by any means. That is like comparing apples to oranges.
Next you comment on how these stores need to cut overheads, yet you state that you have $10,000 in photo equipment. Did you know that professional photographers don’t need that much in photo equipment even for professional magazines or ads. Sounds like you should have gotten some advice before setting up (and no I am not an expert on photography – but my partner is!).
I and others out here are simply stating facts that most of us have experienced (there are no rose colored glasses). And the only person being negative here, is you. No one has censored your posts (but we may have disagreed with you). No one has called you nasty names (even when they’d like to), and no one else is trying to promote themselves by using the misfortunes of others.
Here again is the interesting part – our simple motives: We are trying to educate those thinking about buying one of these stores, and help those already owning and operating one of these stores. Why? Because:
THE CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK!!!
Sean, Gail said a year ago that they were just trying to get thru to the end of their lease! Another one bites the dust – sad, too sad!
( I like chocolate cake Sean!)
Jimz, I think I prefer shorter posts too …
Scott….SHOW US THE MONEY!!!!!
See…I like short posts too
Scott says “I do screen comments on my blogs for spam, as do most other blog publishers. Spam, profanity and liable are all things we screen for and as the publisher of good content we feel we not only have the right to do so, but an obligation to do so as well. We do not censor differing opinions only obscene or off topic spam.”
Sean have you EVER seen any post from Chance that even comes remotely close to what Scott claims he has seen from Chance? I haven’t. Seems kinda odd doesn’t it?
If I were Sean, I might take offense to you putting words in my mouth. I have this disturbingly overactive imagination where I actually visualize phrases like this, literally. It gets kind of gross when I think about someone putting words in another’s mouth, or when something is described as eye-popping or mouthwatering. So, yes, for that reason, I would take offense.
Sean have you EVER seen any post from Chance that even comes remotely close to what Scott claims he has seen from Chance? I haven’t. Seems kinda odd doesn’t it?
Not a Chance. I haven’t. I wouldn’t rule it out if Chance were addressing a certain CEO of a particular drop-off franchise, but I can’t imagine she’d bring out the big guns on Scott. It could be a Chance Impersonator. I saw one in Vegas once.
Scott may have someone else cyberstalking him. Maybe someone who attended his eBay seminar and has developed that compulsive, delusional obsession reserved for rock stars, handsome leading men and eBay Trading Assistants.
TOO BAD: When anything is posted on the internet pertaining to drop off stores or their franchisors, I am sent a message, and I always try to comment if they are off track on thier facts. I may state things a bit too blatent, but I don’t resort to stalking or profanity (even with CEO’s), however I WILL check out what they say also.
Sean: Some people are intimidated by anyone who knows or has an answer they don’t. Instead of learning from it, they feel threatened and take pot shots, or call everyone else negative because they disagree. (Kinda like the CEO’s we know). I am, however, curious about this impersonator. I had my picture taken with Elvis at the Vegas ebay live, and he was a looker!
So Scott, according to your posts above, Chance posted profanity on your blog and I quote “The profanity was posted and removed from the comments section of my blog(s).”
According to Sean, myself, Chance and several other blogs I checked, I have never seen Chance post anything profane and I have checked with the forum moderators and they said the same. Are you SURE you stand by that comment?
You also say “We do not censor differing opinions only obscene or off topic spam” but I have seen you get hot under the collar when someone challenges you. Kinda makes me wonder.
You’re not making it easy to believe you. I’m sure you’ll come back with a looooong reply, but I’m looking for something substantive like examples of success other than selling a motor home. Most of us had the one off big sale. None of us were able to sustain those kinds of sales.
So, I throw the ball back in your court.
Hi Sean, I just read your latest post about Ken Sully’s Comments about Central Software. The post says iSoldit has 125 stores. If you go to their website, they only list 112 stores. I guess they lost 13 stores since the press release was written. Wonder how much Central Software is costing stores? As they say in the Good Book, Karma happens!
As they say in the Good Book, Karma happens!
What page was that on? You must have a newer edition!
I did read the part about the loaves and the fishes, which no longer seems impressive after seeing how some franchisors can make the number of franchise units multiply on their websites and in the press.
The whole water-into-wine trick pales into comparison to what some franchise salesmen can do with an unproven concept and a Powerpoint presentation at Discovery Day.
FYI: We’re just 18 days from the 1 year anniversary of this post.
About 100 comments shy of 1000.
About the same number of franchises Snappy Auctions and iSold It said they’d have open by now.
LOL.
Since posting- ISI has dropped now to 111 stores.
http://www.i-soldit.com/locations.asp
Sean, regarding your comment about this forum, if I use Snappy math on a store’s profitability we’re about 400% from 1000 posts. And if you keep using Snappy math, once we get there, you’ll have 2500 posts!
i guess scott had enough.
Hillary and I agree, Scott was ‘all hat and no cattle’…
Exactly one year ago today, I was “laid off” from the Snappy Auctions Bellevue (Nashville) store. I happened across this forum today and can’t BELIEVE that there is a year’s worth of posts, almost from the day that I was ‘let go’ by one Ms. Debbie Gordon herself.
My store WAS, in fact ‘bought back’ by corporate from the franchisees so that corporate could save face and try to recoup some losses. I use the term ‘bought back’ loosely – really no money changed hands; rather, corporate assumed paying the bills and the lease, payroll, etc. Our franchise owners essentially abandoned the store and left us all behind to file bankruptcy and to run and hide from the poor decision of buying a franchise in the first place. We considered it a miracle that corporate kept the existing employees on and added us to their payroll, but we were a productive store and our performance as a store only improved when we took over S3 sales for the entire Nashville market.
It was frowned upon that any store in the Nashville market should fail because Snappy had received such good press in the end of 2006, beginning of 2007 and the REALITY of our situation was completely opposite of what Debbie was trying to convey to the public and to current and potential franchise owners.
I was with the store from before we opened until the day Debbie herself called me into her office and told me they were going to have to let me go because they could no longer afford to keep me on the payroll. At that time I was told that half the corporate staff was also let go, when in reality, it consisted of three other people.
My store was personally responsible for the success of S3 in the Nashville market and had generated anywhere from $40-$60K per month in revenue from S3 clients. And yet, they could not afford to keep me on the payroll.
As coincidence would have it, about 3 weeks before I was ‘laid off,’ I told Debbie was pregnant. She had just asked me to travel to Japan with her to visit the franchise network over there and I felt compelled to tell her of my travel restrictions due to pregnancy. Interesting that just weeks later I was left stranded, with no health insurance or income, a toddler and a baby on the way. How many job prospects are there out there for a pregnant woman? Try not too many.
Today the Bellevue store is a pizza place. Other Nashville-area stores have closed their doors to significant financial and emotional losses. I considered purchasing the Bellevue store from corporate but thought better of it due to the overinvolvement of Debbie and her staff members. I have never seen such micromanagement of a franchise. There is no freedom to be creative with marketing or growing the business. Debbie paints on all smiles for the public without disclosing the truth. I felt horrible for people buying franchises from her, as I feel they were decieved from the get-go. All we could do was just sit back and watch these poor deceived people waste their life’s savings. One conference call after the next we listened in horror to Debbie as she evaded concerned franchise owners’ inquiries. Time and time again, she said there was nothing wrong when locally we knew that businesses were falling apart and receiving little support from corporate. The franchisees were blamed for the failures, usually due to poor marketing efforts. It was always something and the loopholes in the franchise contracts always left corporate with the upper hand. Franchisees never had a chance.
I had nothing but respect for Ms. Gordon initially. I worked closely with her and reported directly to her. It is hard to learn the truth about someone you sincerely want to believe in. Her business tactics are suspect to say the least and I witnessed them firsthand. How sick to see disgusting behavior from a seemingly educated and sharp-minded person. It’s all smoke in mirrors here from a person, who in my opinion, has absolutely NO idea how to successfully run a business.
Why did my store not succeed? The answer is very simple. Overhead. The concept is a good one. The costs are simply too high. In the summer of 2006 the software system went down and took every franchise’s database down with it. It all had to be regenerated manually store-by-store. During this time, franchisees began to see that they had been dropping THOUSANDS of dollars on a software system that essentially offered them no more features and benefits than eBay’s FREE TurboLister or Spoonfeeder.
It is possible to do what Snappy does from home without the overhead of a commercial lease, insurance, etc. The company failed, or continues to struggle because it grew too quickly and tried to expand within itself too quickly and it started to implode instead. Anyone who has ever started their own business is familiar with the basic economics of supply and demand. At an average of 30-35% commission, plus the cost of fees, the seller (aka. Snappy Auctions) will only clear about 50%, not including any profit on shipping, which leaves little overage after covering overhead costs. This is why this type of business is better suited as a home-based business with no overhead.
For the most part, exactly a year later, I am over my Snappy experience except for one fact: the deception continues. Myself and my assistant worked tirelessly to build that store and to maintain local relationships with consigners and the community, not to mention a 100% feedback rating on eBay in over 3500 transactions in nearly two years in operations. That’s a lot of hard work, my friends. Since the store closed, OUR feedback rating has been “purchased” by some store in Pennsylvania. Did they earn those feedbacks, NO WAY! We busted our butts for those and they were reassigned to another store to inflate their numbers. That’s no way to start a business.
After a year’s worth of posts by people on this forum, it should be clear to anyone who happens across this information that this is a questionable investment at best and in my opinion your dollars would be better spent elsewhere.
Yeah that dog won’t hunt
Interested Party, thanks for sharing. Sorry you had to go thru all of it. You might want to read whats posted on AmITheOnlyOne.org and Blu Mau Mau as well. There are also posts here on franchise pick regarding Isoldit, A4U, and Quikdrop (I am sure I missed someone). Your story is anoither ALERT for those thinking of buying in, and more of these stores are closing each week! Thanks again.
How does one “buy” someone else’s feedback. I wonder what eBay’s policy is on this?
Oh and I know all about how Snappy handled the S3 sales in the Nashville area and how they routed sales to the stores they owned instead of to the store closest to the customer. Your comments regarding Debbie are spot on. Of course that’s not what the press has printed. But then again, we also know about the media and how they are very careful about any claims that don’t show her in a positive light, but they’ll print anything she say without any research or journalistic integrity.
Oh yeah, just talk to any of the laid off HQ employees. They’ll give you an earfull.
All it takes is a new owner to purchase an existing franchise from an owner, in this case corporate, and eBay will simply transfer the existing eBay ID and feedback to the new owner. I witnessed this when one of the stores I managed changed ownership not once, but twice and now it seems that the new PA owner of our old TN eBay ID has been the beneficiary of over two years of our hard work. If you look at their detailed feedback rating, they only have 508 reviews since May of 2007, which is likely when they bought their franchise. Nice perks. Wonder how legit that deal must look on paper?
I wish all the existing franchises nothing but the best and I sincerely hope that they are given the HONEST support they deserve and every opportunity to thrive.
What goes around comes around every time, and this case will eventually come around.
Keep up the good fight everyone.
Snappy March 2008 store sales;
43,629
42,612
5,984
22,638
9,719
7,760
2,396
2,617
20,392
14,826
6,037
4,780
9,636
9,755
76
31,513
25,416
14,304
29,104
101
1,110
21,094
4,280
28,320
6,909
4,126
2,346
6,103
4,729
6,191
11,032
10,127
1,846
12,608
27,521
Total gross sales all stores $451637
20 stores with sales under $10,000 .
It looks like the four more stores have closed; Savanna, Alpharetta, Boulder, and Denver (again).
Snappy February 2008 store sales;
55,255
38,678
4,442
2,918
23,185
5,273
15,517
4,933
4,646
9,783
16,036
4,631
1,506
7,840
15,750
7,601
973
26,889
34,647
16,239
20,010
1,300
4,494
11,774
14,692
25,909
9,877
7,488
5,915
2,696
8,184
8,317
5,341
10,380
8,955
11,404
20,830
Total Gross sales all stores $474,308
21 stores under $10,000 .
The Comcycle stores sales for the last 90 days.
Comcycle_PA $48,867
Comcycle_VA $17,429
Comcycle_FL $30,423
Comcycle_CA $11,516
Comycle_NJ $17,097
Total sales $125,332
This looks like another successful Snappy idea, powered by S3!
Well Tim, it’s all a matter of perspective. It’s good for Snappy since they continue to get revenue even if the stores are tanking.
Snappy’s making over $20K a month. How they survive on that I have no idea. Just wait till they have to pay legal fees on $20K a month.
$20k a month goes a long way with minimal expenses. I heard you can work at Wal-Mart and make more then the AM’s!
Any word on the lawsuit(s)? I haven’t heard anything yet.
“$20k a month goes a long way with minimal expenses.”
Let’s break that down.
1) $10k a month for DG
2) $6k a month for the last 2 minions
3) $1K a month rent
4) $1K a month legal retainer
5) $1K a month utilities
6) $1K a month accounting
7) $1k a month internet and support
8) $1k a month system dev and support
9) $2k a month debt
Need I go on? But if you use Snappy math, you can make it work. That’s what they told the stores.