goWholesale

I don't think there is any doubt that the bickering amongst a few mainly apparel vendors has caused many to leave.

And, unfortunately, it has become probably 80 % apparel oriented, with another 10 or 15% dvd's.

How to get people back, I can't answer. certainly cleaning up the user files and getting rid of the more notorious would be a step in the right direction, then maybe an email to everyone in the database, letting them know that things have been cleaned up could possibly bring some back.

I think a "per insertion", weekly or monthly fee might bring more advertisers. Like newspaper classified, few ant to jump into a long term deal without seeing that they will get some results. I'd be a lot more willing to put up something for $ 5, than I would commit to $ 99, and I think in the long run, they would receive greater income, even with the paypal or whatever fees.

I know in the year, or so, I've been coming it has certainly gone down. I am a moderator, but have gotten little direction in who or what to edit / delete. Frankly, I'm afraid to get too proactive. If it were up to me (maybe it is?), there are several who would be gone, but all I can do is delete posts, I have no control or access to the registration database or admin area.

Thanks for bringing it up, maybe something positive will come of the thread.

I don't understand that people can sell fake stuff on here, just for the $100,-?

Gucci and other apparel from China for 5,46 per piece.

You should ban such people!

I am also concerned about where this forum is going. My analysis points to the fact that there are no long-term vendors. Look at the "For Sale" section. 90% of the people who sell are members for less than 6 months.

Another angle to look at: Peruse the "For Sale" section from one year ago today. Good luck finding a single vendor who is still around.

What is the problem here? Why can't we develop long-term vendors who consistently are around? Why are so many just disappearing?

In the last month, anothe two vendors have just dropped off the face of the earth: MessickWholesale and MyFashionGuru. Messick just disappeared with several thousands of dollars of other peoples money. Michelle at MyFashionGuru just disappeared.

There is something severely wrong with the supply side of this forum.

The problem that I see on this forum is that too much people sell fakes, we have to have three
For sell apparel sections,
1- for 100% authentic with papers
2- for grey market clothing
3- for counterfeit clothing


I know it maybe too much to ask but for people like me and many others, I believe that it's important to separate that

Also another suggestion it will be to confirm the location of the sellers by the administrator of this forum and to put some sort of feedback (like eBay)
I know to accomplice that is not easy but I just wanted to give my opinion on that


I think the owner of this forum make some dissent bucks in here; he should try to improve it in one way or another , and at the end we can profit more

As my grandfather said "if isn’t broken, don't fix it " but in here this is not the case

Let’s bring the admin in here and make him rethink how this forum should work

Just my 2 cents

Very nice points everyone, especially hdayanan & Lazuban, i agree with you 100%.

Regarding the part about changing the for sale section though, i have to disagree with. Counterfeit clothing is illegal. It's like, why not set a complete part of the forum for selling crack? Illegal is Illegal. Whether you get caught with it or not, sooner or later it'll bite ya in the butt. Also, I'm not sure about this, but if Neon was to create a small section of these forums for counterfeit clothing, and the wrong person sees it, some bad things might happen to neon and these forums..

I think it's more of a problem with "window shoppers" though. A LOT of people still visit the forums (even the sellers from last year when these forums were hot), but IMHO they're just afraid to post because they fear being bashed by previous sellers, competitors and just people who are out to get them. Another reason is people just want to come here, get what they want, and leave. They're basically taking what they want, and really not giving back to this community we've established here. Quite possibly, not too many people want to put up there opinion anymore either because of the bashing that happened a few months ago with the clothing and all of the changes that have happened over the last few months.

A few bad decisions made by certain mods (which are no longer here btw), and the flood of fakes and bad deals, reflects on these forums. So as a customer, if i bought something through someone on here, I shouldn't hold the forums responsible, but i'd sure as hell have a bad taste in my mouth when I think of these forums.

I think all of these, and all of the posts made before mine have all reflected in why the forums have been slow.

I think when spring ends, business will pick back up though. With the new people getting into the business, and the new kids out of school, it should bring more people back to the forums. We just need to figure out a way to keep them here =)

my 2 cents

I accidentaly found this forum last year(?) searching for a wholesale forum..this forum isnt exactly what I was looking for but I have lurked around as I like 'business'.
My views are as an outsider because Im not looking for products and since this seems to be a apparel, electronics wholesale forum my business really doesnt fit in as I manufacture bath and body products.

I have noticed that it seems like most people here are getting ripped off....whether its from w411 'vendors' or not I cant say...but there have been several occasions when the ripoff company has indeed been a poster here..
I find that very discouraging and disappointing....
for two reasons...
#1 How can someone who supposedly has a reputable business and posts here on a regular basis take a persons money and run??? I find that inexcusable (sp?)!!
#2 How can anyone give their hard earned money to a company they know nothing about without using a payment form that can be taken back if problems arise???

I have no answers for you but I would love to see this board 'clean up' and expand to include more items other than apparel and electronics....
it just seems like everyone and their brother and sister want to sell these items and the market is overflooded..both with originals and fakes!
You need to find a niche market not a market that is overwhelmed with products with basically no way to guarantee if they are fakes or not.

I will be watching this thread to see what comes of it...
This is the only wholesale forum I am registered on.

Excellent post Direct4u! Do I have an opinion...you betcha!

I believe in, and have defended, a free market place. Mason is right, fakes/counterfeits are illegal and should not be accepted or tolerated. Neither should false accusations. However, it's unreasonable to expect the moderators to police every item listed for sale or interfere with anybody's business transactions unless it's obviously harmful to W411. I also believe strongly that a vendor should be allowed to 'pay and post' his wares without interference. If he proves to be a crook, then (we'll) nail him good.

The folks who are trying to police the sellers by nasty name calling are an insult to my intelligence. I reserve the right to decide if I want to see vendors offerings and not have my options dictated to me by inexperienced youngsters who are confusing my bra size with my IQ. Or have some machievellian business agenda. I'm smart enough to decide for myself!

A lot of damage has been done to the integrity, credibility and some of the viability of w411 by what I consider "roving bands of internet hyena's".
Yeah, you know the guys/gals, the ones with multiple ID's, mindlessly screaming invectives, the ones who "set up" a false and disasterous un-winable scenario with a competitive seller. (the likes of which we have repeatedly watched). Why would sellers even want to come here if they know they're gonna get harrassed? This situation has disgusted me to the point where I made a thread offering free professional level verbal abuse and knuckle sandwiches with every ad in the for sale forum. It was a joke...but not really.

I miss some of the really great posters who use to be regulars. I've missed you Mason, and I'm glad to see you posting again. Your even temper and common sense comments are needed. Pete hasn't been posting much. That's our loss. When Pete speaks, it's worthwhile to listen. Folks pay thousands of dollars in business classes and fancy seminars to hear what he and ArtBroker will tell you for free. Labuzan, hdayanan, feye, so many others...WE make this a community. Now that I've embarrassed you all...whatcha got to say about this problem? I think we should run off the riff-raff and make it a good quality place again. Lots of eyes watch the goings on...make it worthwhile and non-threatening to them and they'll participate again.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Thanks for asking

A side note to Pete –

pete wrote:75 views and no other opinions???

Maybe all folks here can do is post negative stuff about each other?

Interesting.

Just to set the record straight I have never asked to “have my hand held” as a newbie. Review my posts to authenticate this statement.

You chose the wrong person “to go off on” even though ”you didn’t mean to”.

I will now show you professional courtesy by discussing this further with you in a pm.

Sincerely,

Be Trendy!

Hi,

What I personally think , this forum was very useful 2 years back but now its waste . Reasons :

1) Old reputed wholesalers are out of business.
2) Inexperience moderator, infact they don't know anything about Asian Grey Market / black Market.
3) Admin. is more interested in collecting 50-100$ membership fee instead of helping members.

Let me give some examples where moderators / Admin. was not able to act , though they must have acted to prevent the members trust and money (please note that these are my personal views , no personnel attack on anyone, I am writing what I am reading for last few years on this forum ) :

A) Varsha Associates :
zhenzie : he offered fakes to me
An Batcheler : sold fake versache
Some one ": tryied to sell fake Burberry

Already recd Notices from selling fake Hugo Boss, Armani and Lacoste , but still allowed to make comments on this forum.

B) Moviethecritique : caught selling fake RL

c) Jmc wholesale : Ripped off many people , still sending offers.

d)Messick Wholesale : Ripped many people

e)Mike (trinity ) : 1) selling RL 05 with embroidery at wrong place
2) selling deer brook with black color , though everyone knows A&F don't make Black Deer Brook
3) All made in Peru / Italy Lacoste shipped from India , what the hell they are doing in India when Lacoste are already made in India.

f) sudhir / aadeshwer /hunt for clothes / sumit / Nirav agarwal :

1) Again Made in peru Lacoste coming from India
2) what is the ned of keep on changing identity
3) why using different payment details everytime, we tried to place order with him and tried to send him payment in his name through cash2india but they cancelled our payment stating that his name is Black Listed , why ?
4) today itself we read that someone have sent payment and not recd his goods even after 3 months .
5) using email ids like ravi131132@yahoo.com, ravi133331@yahoo.com , to misguide people.

All these guys are still selling there goods here or they are allowed to login and make comments , the moderators must make a list of people who are getting negative feedbacks regularly and must be put under watch list .

To avoid anyone putting negative comments for any one , they must give there identity , there address, transaction details with the particular member and must be charged fee (only by credit card so moderators can cross verify there details ) so they will think putting any negative comments.

What I saw here is if someone gets any negative feedback, suddenly 2-3 new bies will come and put positive feedbacks , from where they have come suddenly ? , why they have not put there feedbacks few minutes earlier , that is a question moderators must ask them.

The fact is most of wholesalers selling here are selling 100 % fakes , everyone knows but everyone buys , reason , everyone needs money including admin.

There was one member who tried to expose fake sellers but was banned by admin. because they were loosing there business. Still no one have any Answer "why Made in Italy / Peru Lacoste are shipped from India"

Admin. should come above there personnel interest , keep experienced moderators , take some strict decisions and the forum will touch new hights.

All the best to moderators/ Admin./ Members .

Again , these were not personnel attack against anyone, I just clubbed few post together.

harry2porter, I feel your pain. And I am certainly not an apologist for W411, I have nothing at all to do with them, except I've been asked to moderate the 4um, as I mentioned earlier, with little guidance.

Rest assured I do, indeed, know the difference between legitimate, grey and black market goods. But, I'm not a cop, nor do I work for US Customs, or whatever name then now go by. And, most importantly, I do not do clothing. Mainly for the reasons you refer to above. Here is my take on the situation.

The only legitimate branded apparel is that which is already in the US, was brought here by the brand owner and happens to be overstocks that they have released to legitimate overstock clearinghouses. Or, as some do, is bought at deep discounts right in the stores and resold. Nothing wrong with that.

As I see it, any apparel brought in from overseas is either grey or black market. Grey market is clothing designed for sale in other parts of the world, maybe different designs, different colors, sizing, thread count, etc. Still genuine, but not designed or approved for sale in the US.

Anything else has got to be black market. This includes both knock-offs and genuine goods obtained illegally. The fact is that brand owners do not allow their factories to keep producing items, and only order what the think they will sell. But, piracy thrives in the South China Sea, entire ships are hijacked and their containers sold to the highest bidding gangster. Shop workers smuggle genuine goods out of the shops, although this is hardly enough volume to make a dent in the market.

Regardless, there can be some genuine goods floating around, but they are indeed black market. But, there are many who don't care about the provenance, just how much they can make. And there are many retailers who have no qualms at all selling fake goods. They, too, just want the bucks that come from the buy low, sell high opportunity.

With all that being said, is it up to me, or W411 to police this? How do we know who is selling what? As you mentioned yourself, there are so many claims and counter claims that following the goods to their actual source would take a team of Men in Black.

So, what's the solution? Buyer beware? If it sounds to good to be true, it isn't? How do you propose we handle it? Frankly, I think my way is the best. Don't do apparel. Next, don't buy through brokers "bringing it in." If it ain't already in, it ain't what you're looking for.

And how many times do we have to say "Use a credit card?"

Now, speaking for myself as a mod, I will tell you I have no access to anything other than down in the lower right corner, where it says You can do this and you can do that, mine says you can edit or delete messages or threads. I cannot get into the admin area, I cannot block anyone, all I can do is edit and delete messages after they are posted.

If it were my board, you can rest assured I'd do more to eliminate the multiple user names, etc. But it's not and I've got to play the cards I've been dealt.

We have these already for use:

Search this 4um


Wholesale Knowledge Base
http://community.wholesale411.com/viewforum.php?f=28
Wholesale FAQ's
This section tries to answer commonly asked questions. Thanks to user MrShades for these.

http://community.wholesale411.com/viewforum.php?f=9
Industry Definitions
Learn and understand more about the wholesale industry.

There is the Vendor/Member Feedback.

harry2porter wrote:To avoid anyone putting negative comments for any one , they must give there identity , there address, transaction details with the particular member and must be charged fee (only by credit card so moderators can cross verify there details ) so they will think putting any negative comments.

Care to share yours?

TiffanyA,
I am on several forums..from bath and body, gift baskets to seo and harleys!
At the time I found this forum I was looking for wholesale forums where other small businesses like us could share ideas on how to better market our products and perhaps get in touch with people who actually have brick and mortar stores..more like the mom/pop/country boutiquey type of thing...to peddle our wares to.
We are a small studio based business and do not, nor do we want (at this time) a retail brick and mortar store...our specialty is wholesale/private labeling our own products.

This forum does not fit what I was looking for but because I love business, especially small business I have lurked around....and since I know basically nothing about buying/selling apparel I thought I might learn a thing or two even if I had no interest in actually doing such.

It does seem like the majority of people here are getting ripped off..which, in my opinion, makes this forum less viable...if in fact these 'suppliers' are posters here or they have a paid listing..and are selling their wares from here they had better come through or the mods/owners of this forum had better delete them entirely...

How to monitor this?
Perhaps have a separate section for reporting.
Only the effected buyer can post.
State the specifics of your case, the steps you took to resolve the situation and any response you received from the seller.
Let the seller have a chance to respond
If there would be a way to do this it might not be a bad idea somewhere to have the sellers name/company name and a number:
Joe Blow Electronics (-5)
this would mean Joe Blow has received on this forum 5 negatives from disatisfied buyers..

You could also do the opposite:
Have a separate section for good sellers:
Joe Blow Electronics (5)
this would mean they have had 5 good transactions

I dont know how viable this would be or if it would even be possible...
it might also mean the mods/forum owner would then have to play god and make executive decisions and Im not sure they would want to do that...or if that would even be fair!

I will have to explore this forum more than I have...and perhaps see what else could be done...

sorry I feel like I just rambled...

Well I just noticed there is already a place for people to post their transactions with sellers..
so maybe I was just rambling!

Well I have to agree with you all...It is going down hill thanks to the scammers out numbering the legit wholesalers....Like most of us using this forum I have been scammed out of about $2000 and there are no tools to help us out....It is to easy for scammers to get your money and run or sell you !@#$ merchandise....Some of the places even in the directory are illegal copies....So what is this place about, finding legit wholesalers or simply getting money for advertising?

I have been looking elsewere for contacts...amd the way this place is going, will continue to...