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.
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Hugh, that ‘held’ Franchises is down 4 was effective December 31st 2006. A lot has happened since then. A lot.
Anyone have a new UFOC from Snappy?
OK, you gotta read this drivel on the Tennessean. The idiots at the Tennessean obviously don’t check out their facts before they print this tripe.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070917/BUSINESS08/709170378/1051
Then sign up and post to this forum.
http://forums.tennessean.com/viewtopic.php?p=402825#402825
The only way tp get them to print the truth is to hit them over and over gain.
Don’t give that story too much credence – it was written by her boyfriend…….
Lone Texan:
Are you kidding? Is the business writer actually Debbies boyfriend?
Are you saying that Bill Lewis, the author of the article mentioned above has a personal relationship with Debbie Gordon of Snappy Auctions? Excuse me, but that stinks of a conflict of interest and needs to be taken to the editor of the paper. Can we prove this? Am I out of order here, because that stinks to high heaven.
Does anyone find it strange that alot of the store owners that are pictured on the main page of the Snappy Auctions main website – those stores are closed? Why are those people and locations still up there??
Sounds pretty normal Joe, Isoldit still has posted articles about stores that have long since closed. It just shows how bad it really is, when they haven’t enough postitve PR of their own to tout.
And Get Real, Isoldit is FAR from acting responsible, they continue to blame AmITheOnlyOne for everything. Of course Gene and Karen would love to take the credit, but in reality the CEO of the company screwed up over and over again (including not settling with them)!
Well, Sully’s doing one better than Gordon. He stopped taking new franchises. I saw 2 postings on the Tennessean article. We need 3-4 more to get their attention.
OK, is the writer of the article is Debbie Gordon’s boyfriend, then we need to let the editor know that have a conflict of interest. Send and email to these addresses:
ramcclain@tennessean.com, people@tennessean.com
Did anyone confirm that Bill Lewis is Debbie’s boyfriend?
Who cares really?
…I was thinking of asking her to the prom…
We really care, Franworst, ..er.. R.. We care because:
1) The Tennessean is pandering to people like Debbie Gordon, not doing their job and publishing untruths
2) Some poor sucker might read that article and decide “Snappy Auctions is sooooo successful that I want to buy a franchise” and lose their shirt
3) We get a wee bit tired of Debbie Gordon stuffing her ego and not telling the truth.
But mainly…..#2
She might go to the prom with you: if she thinks she can get some press out of you. But why would 2 girls go to the prom?
OK, I went to the web sites you told me about and someone helped us to shut down my store.
I did get a threatening letter. What should I do?
I’m really glad I found this site. I need to tell other store owners about it.
Send a threating letter back.
Hey Strapped & want out, can you post what the threatening letter states? Also, how did you approach corporate regarding closing the doors? I’m not sure how they can single you out with a threatening letter when they don’t even call others that have closed down??? A little odd don’t you think?
Well I talked to other stores and asked questions about how they felt about their stores. I also asked the other owners if they were going to stay open. I guess someone told Snappy I called them and I got a letter from Snappy threatening to terminate my contract. I got a lawyer to send a letter back. Maybe the other stores who closed didn’t ask questions.
Ah, there’s your no no. You talked to other stores. There are plenty of stores that are not happy, and the last thing they want is for stores to talk.
Good luck to you, let us know how it all turns out.
Two girls at a prom is a common thing these days, just for your information
IM BAAAAAAAAAACK!
And no, not Adrienne. I find it quite funny that the use of the word ‘meow’ must mean tis Adrienne.
“No word from Rupert, is it because she’s been outed” Ummm not not quite outed, just unintelligent people making random guesses that are so entirely wrong. No word from me recently because I’ve been busy (wow imagine that… someone doing something aside from sitting in front of their computer looking at franchisepick.com all day).
I take offense to being called a she, as I am not, for I am a he.
Snappy Rox!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
RupertG.
Did somebody say….. RupertG???????????!!!!
The negative growth continues at Snappy Auctions. Only 1569 items up on eBay (less than 32 per store on average).
Why are there 3 pickup only locations listed on their web site? I thought the key to this dynamite concept was DROPOFF STORES!
It looks like the Snappy Auctions of Mt. Pleasant, SC is closing or has closed. Anyone know?
Good press can’t cover for dismal performance. I Sold It stopped selling new franchises. Debbie would like to keep selling franchises, but can’t…
I don’t know nor care who this RupertG is, but I find it very offensive that he/she takes such a cavalier attitude to people losing their stores, life savings and in my case, my home.
I’ve read through these postings and agree with earlier comments on his/her immaturity and complete egocentric view of this group. Dr. Vazzaschnappy was right about this person. we have an idiot to deal with.
Well, we’re up for the fight since we’ve been dealing with a similar group called Snappy Sales LLC.
I talked to 2 more stores today. They’re waiting to see how things pan out for me before that take the plunge.
RupertG, do you have anything useful to say about the stores?
Strapped, I can say that you are in a group of like minded people. We all have lost a lot. I lost control of the free world. Many store owners lost their savings, homes, credit ratings. RupertG lost our respect and any validity. Oops, I thought maybe he had some. My bad.
Gotta run to another fund raiser. Maybe I can chase some interns backstage.
[Editor's note: Posting with other's names is a no-no, especially those of ex-Presidents or future first-husbands. "Al Gore" is available]
I was just looking at the stores one by one, and I count about 6-7 with no items up. I also know of 3-4 that have a few items up that are closed.
I am curious to see what will happen to the franchise, if all of these stores slowly go away…then that means that revenue for Snappy goes away as well.
From what everyone has said, the corp. office only has two or three people anyway. I don’t see how you can operate a franchise on much less!
Snappy is not concerned with the existing stores. They are looking for new markets and new product lines. I read in one article where they had signed a contract with Vanderbilt University. I doubt Vandy has a store, so that tells me Snappy is letting the stores die and putting all their time and efforts into other “opportunities”.
Snappy Sales LLC will die slowly, and the stores are the losers in this.
I noticed there were more posts on the Tennessean fable, er, story. Did anyone hear back from their posts on the story?
That’s too bad, because all of the owners really believed this was something different.
Re; R – ignore He/She or It, they’re only massaging their over-developed ego, at the expense of their under-developed intellect.
What “guy” says “meow”????
Exactly.
Well, I say “meow”, but it’sonly when I’m wearing that cat suit/collar and she’s……maybe I’m oversharing.
Bill Clinton 2: You must be Adrienne! You said Meow! LMAO and ROFL
Strapped and Want Out: Anything Useful? Ya, I feel the concept works. A franchisee will fail if he/she fails to run it properly. Or the locale is improper for the type of business.
Death By Franchise: “Meow” a lot of men do. You must be comfortable enough to use the word. It’s like a man wearing pink…. real men do.
Interesting story about the franchisor of a celebrated “hot new franchise” whose franchisees were failing left and right. He (allegedly) gave them each a chance to buy their way out of their Franchise Agreements for $2K apiece and operate as independents.
Cuts Fitness Franchisees “Bought Their Way Out,” Ex-Owner Claims
RupertG, you “feel” the concept works !?!?
You “feel” it works? You can’t “prove” it works? You don’t “know” it works? You keep saying the same thing about location, but you never seem to back it up with proof. How does one “run it properly? Please explain that to us and give examples: real life examples. We’re dying to get your fabo advise (a guy at work, who wears pink, says fabo….but not meow).
Where I come from they shoot males who say “meow”. And it’s the women doing the shooting. Natural selection in action. I’m still alive, never been shot at, I don’t wear pink and I’ve NEVER heard a man say “meow” like that.
Now, where is your store??
I did talk to the other 2 stores. They’re shutting down as soon as possible. They did get help from this group. They just have their leases to handle and the advice you gave has been very useful. Thanks for your help.
I just wanted to say Good Morning to everyone!
Good afternoon RupertG. What’s up with your sagely words of advise on how to run a Snappy store? I’m really curious to see how you run your store so well while many others could not. Please, oh please do tell. And give is the gory details. We want details.
And Bill, no more about your cat suit. Just the idea affects my digestion.
RupertG: You have ALOT to learn! Starting with patting yourself on the back because you think you have more business sense than the 200+ ebay dropoff stores that have closed! Actually it just shows that you are a bit SLOW on learning, while the rest of us have figured it out…THE CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK! You would be advertising your great location and success if you really had them! But since you don’t, I think you need to go back to sleep, and not bore the rest of us out here who are dealing with reality!
And Bill, where do I get one of those cat suits…I love a good “meow”!
Sean: Can we send a couple CEO’s to the fitness franchise training to learn responsibility and ethics?!
WHAT I’D LIKE TO SEE
Since it appears someone on here has a sub to terapeak, number cruncher? I think. How about a Jan ’till now accounting of the 4.5% that has been paid to corp. So if in Jan 07 the total stores sales were 100k then corp got $4500, etc.
Let’s see from that if their profits are going up or down, and if down (and, I’m sure they are), we could summarize how much time they might have $$ to pay employees.
AND, if someone had more time (and this might be being done already) – download the data from terapeak and calc how much each store is profiting from at least their sales. Put this data in a spreadsheet and enter the data for each month – and POST IT. If owners still have their heads in the sand then this could be an important step in PROVING to them with their own numbers that it doesn’t work.
No open store is going to post any numbers for fear of retaliation – post the numbers and they can dispute them if they want or not, but at least they’ll know what’s going on.
Terapeak only goes back 90 days, so you can only go back so far there. However, Tim has posted some numbers above:
http://www.franchisepick.com/is-snappy-auctions-a-great-franchise-opportunity#comment-12357
http://www.franchisepick.com/is-snappy-auctions-a-great-franchise-opportunity#comment-12358
http://www.franchisepick.com/is-snappy-auctions-a-great-franchise-opportunity#comment-12359
If you use Tim’s numbers and apply 4.5% Corporate is taking in about $30K a month or about $370K a year. If you pay Debbie $150K (CEO’s get paid no matter what, others are asked to take pay cuts) that doesn’t leave a lot for other salaries, expenses (those letters to stores from Snappy attorneys don’t come cheap), paying investors and one would wonder how they’re staying afloat. If stores are dropping off at about 2 a month, Debbie will be running this out of her spare bedroom before long. But then again, PT Barnum said “there’s a sucker born every minute” and some become investors.
Why are you all so interested in posting store numbers and revenue? You’ll just see more of the same, and humiliate people in the process.
If you don’t care why post? I’m sure the stores could be kept anonymous?
I’m more interested is seeing how, if any, stores are surviving. The numbers bear out that their overall sales are not paying the bills. There are several possible reasons they are still open:
1) They don’t pay salaries to themselves and everyone in the store works for free, and will continue to do so
2) They don’t service their debt and are taking on more debt
3) They are selling stuff off the books
4) They got a one time motherload that is keeping them afloat for a while and they’re waiting for the next one
5) They are selling everything in they own thru their stores
6) RupertG has taught them the ancient chinese secret of eBay
Guess what!?!?! RupertG plays the violin:
http://www.rupertg.com/
Duuuuuuudes. Rupert told me to come on this forum and tell you what a bunch of dorks you are. Get a life. OMG! What a bunch of super dorks. Who cares if you screwed up. It’s all your fault for not checking this stuff out. Meow dude meow. The stores work and you’re stupid. Get a life. Snap!
ORTBOFP –
You’re a reflection of the company you keep.
(Let me dumb it down a little for your lowered level of intelligence and comprehension; by getting on here and telling everyone to get a life, you are not any better).
SNAP!
BEEN THERE -
From what I gather,numbers 1, 2, and sometimes 5 are the reasons anyone is still open.
‘Dudes’ and ‘Super Dorks’……? is this creature actually old enough to be posting on blogs without parental supervision?
I suspect that some of these guys (or girls) are continuing to ‘trade’, simply because they don’t know what else to do. When you have sunk everything into something and it’s going pear-shaped, stress can lead to depression, once depression gets a hold, like an alcoholic, kleptomaniac or other self-destructive type, you tend to engage auto-pilot and continue with ‘an existence’ that is very much a self contained bubble, where you almost ignore the problem until (you hope) it goes away.
What then tends to happen is the end comes without you really being too aware of it and it becomes someone else’s problem; family, friends, courts, banks, lawyers or medical personnel. A depressing thought in itself, and I hope I’m wrong. Further I hope those who might be mentally losing sight of the reality of the situation get help and advise from AITOO, or those who have already been through this mess.
Wah, wah wah. Too bad. Why can Debbie make her store work and you can’t?
Our Right To Be On Franchise Pick? Wah Wah Wah? so you watched snoopy as a kid and haven’t got over it yet, which makes you what?… 30’something AND rather juvenile.
I have made clear on several occasions and all pages that I don’t have a store, I was corporate, so I know what a crock of shit it all is. I would imagine that taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in franchise fees and commission as she is, she has more than enough to enable the sort of local advertising the rest can only dream of?
But I don’t know…if you do – please tell. We keep asking for constructive input from corporate, evidence that might justify the continued (and by now clearly fraudulent) selling of new franchises or figures that might explain the apparent bankruptcy of the entire industry.
But all we get are idiot stooge’s such as yourself, who make retarded childlike comments, and then disappear only to reappear with a new ‘tag’ and an even more severe case of fuckwittedness. Reread your posts ‘duuuude’, you write like a teenager skypeing his mates after a beer too
many. If corporate is peopled with similar souls it’s a miracle they ever got started, still I guess if you’re a sociapath greed is a great motivator, huh?
ORTBOFP
Oh Right They Bought Our Fucked Product