[-REECE-]

I'm currently making some changes to the category structure on BQB to make it easier to submit auctions in bulk.

I'll be working on this for the next 8-10 hours, so please feel free to post/pm any suggestions you'd like to see and what you think may make it easier for you or others to navigate BQB.

So far I've gotten rid of the anti-premium, single premium, and double letter categories for .com, .net, .org, and .info. For all extensions other than .com I've also gotten rid of the double premium category. If you think we'd be better off without a double premium category for .com, please don't hesitate to let me know

[-REECE-]

Some updates:

BQB should be 100% compatible with Safari/OSX now.

In the process of testing a new addition -- email reminders before auctions close. Should have this feature on BQB within 1-2 days.

[Nem0]

Originally Posted by Reece

email reminders before auctions close. Should have this feature on BQB within 1-2 days.

Cool, a must-have imo. Does that include auctions that are on one's Watch list?
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/short-domain-discussion/463924-the-official-bqb-com-thread.html

I'll get around to auctioning some names soon and will then post any suggestions I think may be helpful. Some came to my mind when i was buying a couple names but I got lazy and forgot to write them down.

[-REECE-]

I'm going over the entire BQB thread (no small task at 21 pages!) jotting down what suggestions I haven't yet implemented on BQB -- lots of good ones to come over the next few weeks

There will be an email reminder box on each BQB auction -- if you'd like to be reminded before it closes, simply let the box know how long before the auction closes you'd like to be reminded. The option will be present to choose when you'd like to be reminded: 24 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours, 1 hour before auction close. You don't need to have placed a bid to receive a reminder.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Originally Posted by Nem0

Cool, a must-have imo. Does that include auctions that are on one's Watch list? I'll get around to auctioning some names soon and will then post any suggestions I think may be helpful. Some came to my mind when i was buying a couple names but I got lazy and forgot to write them down.

[thetruman]

I am really impressed on how much dedication (and money) you are putting onto the project.
Really admirable and I really wish you sincerely you get there, çause you deserve it, I really mean it.

[-REECE-]

Thanks Marco, really appreciate your kind words
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Originally Posted by thetruman

I am really impressed on how much dedication (and money) you are putting onto the project. Really admirable and I really wish you sincerely you get there, çause you deserve it, I really mean it.

The auction about to end reminder is now online. I would recommend 2 things before using it:

1 - make sure bqb.com is on your email safe list so this doesn't end up in your junk folder

2 - make sure you test it with a domain you're not interested in to make sure you're receiving the emails


A few more additions for later today:

1 - Limiting auction titles to 25 characters.
2 - Making auction titles appear larger and in bold when on the auction page to make it more obvious what you're bidding on.

[Nem0]

Originally Posted by Reece

1 - Limiting auction titles to 25 characters.

The owner of http://www.thelongestlistofthelonges...tlonglast.com/ won't be using your service anytime soon.

Originally Posted by Reece

2 - Making auction titles appear larger and in bold when on the auction page to make it more obvious what you're bidding on.

When i bought a few names a couple weeks ago THAT was one of the main things I remember thinking to myself should be fixed.

Good stuff Reece.

Originally Posted by thetruman

I am really impressed on how much dedication (and money) you are putting onto the project. Really admirable and I really wish you sincerely you get there, çause you deserve it, I really mean it.

Agreed

[-REECE-]

Cheers mate

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststu...tlonglast.com/ is a perfect example of why good development > good domain name and why every short domain can be made into something meaningful with the right mindset.

Some changes currently being worked on:

- moving the login box to the top, below the blue navigation bar (thanks to Rich for this idea)
- adding a 270 day auction option (suggested earlier by Phil as a good way to test out new handregs and still have a 3 months afterwards to consider a firesale should they not sell), also great for listing in bulk and not having to worry about relisting for a l-o-n-g time.
- Still working on getting the 25 character title limit working properly

Some changes made:

- Time Remaining has been added to the "Current Bids" section

- Items you're winning should appear in green now and in red if you're losing in the "Current Bids" section (more great ideas from Rich)

- Reputation Rating changed to "Reputation" on the sales page (forgot who first suggested this, but thank you anyway )

- The auction reminder notifications should be fully functional now. You don't even need to add an item to Watched or place a bid in order to use this feature -- it's found on each auction page with a dropdown box which allows you to choose how long before the auction ends you'd like to be reminded that it's ending soon. Please make sure reece(at)bqb.com is on your email safe list if using this feature and please make sure the email address you've listed in your member profile is one which you'll remember to check prior to auction ending.

- The characters found in auction titles have been made about twice the size, this should hopefully make it easier to now know what you're bidding on.

Originally Posted by Nem0

The owner of http://www.thelongestlistofthelonges...tlonglast.com/ won't be using your service anytime soon. When i bought a few names a couple weeks ago THAT was one of the main things I remember thinking to myself should be fixed. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924 Good stuff Reece.

If you have a popular domaining blog or website, please send me a pm if interested in doing a banner exchange. I have 7 spots available for 200x100 ads.

[-REECE-]

A ton of additions coming within the next 2 weeks:
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

1. 20 new store templates, 60+ new templates for regular listings

2. RSS Feeds + better search engine indexing meta tag system for your store

3. Ability to review a members store -- essentially providing feedback for a store. Eg. "While I haven't bought anything off Reece on BQB, I've done business with him several times on Namepros and he has always pushed my domains quickly and responded in a polite manner. Would recommend him to anyone!" Great way to help members who don't know you to have increased confidence in conducting business with you.

4. Ability to respond to feedback given. Great for preventing any feedback extortion or to help justify why feedback was given. Can even be an additional way to recognize your good buyers and sellers by leaving them a response to the feedback they gave you letting everyone know how great a member they are.

5. Ability to have an avatar listed in all your auctions

6. Proxy/IP tracking and banning system which should make it much easier to make sure problem users don't signup multiple times (or sign up once again after being banned). Ability to block out new signups from full regions (or countries if necessary) to ensure the security of existing members is preserved.

7. User-friendly store URL's based on a members username.

8. Ability to stay logged in until you choose to logout (please be careful to make sure you always logout if using a public computer once this feature is implemented). It works based on stored cookies, so it's really your choice if you'd like to use this feature or not -- set your privacy Internet Options to block cookies (or just clear your cookies at the end of your use each time you visit BQB) and this feature is essentially disabled for your account.

9. Optional auction subtitle line - great way to get a little extra exposure.

10. Categories without items won't be displayed on BQB until there are items listed in them. This makes navigating the site easier to follow with less options which won't yield potential sales. You can of course choose to list your domain in any category currently on (whether visible or invisible) the BQB homepage or subcategory pages. Once any domains are listed in a category, that category will appear on the BQB homepage and/or under the relevant subcategories.

11. Ability to track how many people are watching your listings.

12. Search by auction id -- as long as you know the auction number (present at the top of every auction page), you can easily find any listing you may be interested in but have chosen not to watch.

13. Updated FAQ/Help section

14. Username/Pass login moved to underneath the blue navigation bar (will be given a new style which is more space efficient)

15. New logo

16. Installation of a customer support forum for BQB. It will be integrated into the software and all current members will have accounts created for them automatically. Due to very high security needs of an auction platform, it will be a simple, stripped down forum (no java, no html, nothing which could pose significant security threats). It's intended to help new members out, let people meet other members, announce new features, allow suggestions, and the ability to report bugs and/or troubleshoot problems members are having. It's not being designed to compete with existing domain name forums.

17. Simplified bulk listing software which will be posted on BQB, downloadable, and much easier to use than at present. It will allow members to upload 1000 domains in approximately 10 minutes once configured for listing.

[AussieDomainer]

Originally Posted by Reece

A ton of additions coming within the next 2 weeks:

What can I say Reece, you are incredible. The amount of features you are jamming into this wonderful site is incredible. You just keep giving and giving with the features and benefits to members. I really hope you can begin getting some good revenue soon from the site as you well & truely deserve it.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

You would have probably noticed a big drop in the number of listed domains at BQB. This is because I sold many of the domains I had listed there in a bulk transaction. Therefer I removed them. Although this creates a lot less stock at BQB I'm sure many members will apreciate it as they were probably sick of trauling through page after page of my listings

I will be adding some more once the bulk listing feature's fully setup and I'm finished on my current deals. However I'll try to stick to bargain domains on BQB to keep things fresh.

[Nem0]

Originally Posted by AussieDomainer

What can I say Reece, you are incredible. The amount of features you are jamming into this wonderful site is incredible. You just keep giving and giving with the features and benefits to members. I really hope you can begin getting some good revenue soon from the site as you well & truely deserve it.

I agree, gettin' all features quickly that I have watched eBay slowly get over the past 10 years (and some I don't recall seeing anywhere such as leaving feedback for members' stores). Ya know I bet there are a lot of BQB members that don't frequent this thread... maybe consider an occasional BQB Update Newsletter or something to let us know about these new changes once implemented?
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

#5.. didn't you always have ability to add a small picture?

#8.. right on, was wondering if you were going to do that.

#9... will you charge? I think you should. A Dime or quarter or so.

#14.. love it. Was way too far down before.

#15.. give us a sneak peek!

Anyway good stuff.

[AussieDomainer]

Originally Posted by Nem0

#9... will you charge? I think you should. A Dime or quarter or so.

I agree. I think you should be charging for this and even some other features that are currently free. If you don't end up making money then everyone will suffer in the long run. I'm sure members won't mind paying a small amount for upgrades to protect the site in the long term.

[-REECE-]

Originally Posted by Nem0

I agree, gettin' all features quickly that I have watched eBay slowly get over the past 10 years (and some I don't recall seeing anywhere such as leaving feedback for members' stores). Ya know I bet there are a lot of BQB members that don't frequent this thread... maybe consider an occasional BQB Update Newsletter or something to let us know about these new changes once implemented? #5.. didn't you always have ability to add a small picture? #8.. right on, was wondering if you were going to do that. #9... will you charge? I think you should. A Dime or quarter or so. #14.. love it. Was way too far down before. #15.. give us a sneak peek! Anyway good stuff.

Originally Posted by AussieDomainer

What can I say Reece, you are incredible. The amount of features you are jamming into this wonderful site is incredible. You just keep giving and giving with the features and benefits to members. I really hope you can begin getting some good revenue soon from the site as you well & truely deserve it. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924 You would have probably noticed a big drop in the number of listed domains at BQB. This is because I sold many of the domains I had listed there in a bulk transaction. Therefer I removed them. Although this creates a lot less stock at BQB I'm sure many members will apreciate it as they were probably sick of trauling through page after page of my listings I will be adding some more once the bulk listing feature's fully setup and I'm finished on my current deals. However I'll try to stick to bargain domains on BQB to keep things fresh.

Thanks Daniel and David!

Any success BQB achieves is largely due to the great folks right here on Namepros!

I've taken your suggestion Daniel and made a posting in the Site News section on BQB.

There's a few more features I really want to get implemented after these ones are done:

1 - "Verified Members Only" auction functionality
2 - Making the steps in the single domain listing process "clickable" (eg. not having to hit back 4 times if you want to modify Step 1 and you're on Step 5.
3 - Import feedback ratings from the Big 3 domain name forums and add this to BQB feedback score (will require proof by pm that each member on the domain name forum is who they say they are on BQB)
4 - Reverse auction functionality
5 - Mobile version of BQB that is iPhone/smartphone-friendly
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Not sure how much work will be involved in these or how long it might take to get them implemented.. #4 and #5 will definitely involve the most work but will likely be 2 of the most desired features once added.

The new logo can be found on: http://www.dnkitchen.com . Will upload it to BQB once the first round of features in my previous post are complete.

Always open to additional suggestions of course as well

[Nem0]

New logo looks real good. What do you mean reverse auction?

[-REECE-]

Thanks Daniel
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Rough sketch of how I could see this working (5am here, so be easy on me for any math mistakes!):

Seller decides on a listing price (P) for their domain (eg. $1000)
Seller decides on a reserve price (R) for their domain (eg. $500)


Auction Process:

Auction begins at P = $1000
At every new instance of time t, the new current price is defined by: P - xt(a) - 1t(a), where Previous Value (V) = P - xt(a), and where xt refers to how many instances of t have passed and a refers to the amount of price reduction per instance of t.

Simplifying, we obtain our new current price by: P - [(x+1)t]a iff P - [(x+1)t]a >= R .

Inputting our data, we'd obtain the current prices iff $1000 - [(x+1)t]a >= $500.

Hence we can assume the Length of an auction, L is governed by how quickly we achieve $500 = [(x+1)t]a[/B].

To make auctions last longer, we could either increase the time t between which price reductions take place (decreasing the total number x of instances reached in any given period of time) or decrease the price reduction (a) per instance of t (or both of course). The converse is also true.

Originally Posted by Nem0

New logo looks real good. What do you mean reverse auction?

[rjs_essex]

Hey Reece,

I've not been around lately but thought I'd drop by and see how everything is going! It looks like you are still very much bang on with this project and I wish you continued success! Everything looks great and the improvements are certainly coming along nicely!

Keep up the good work!

Rich

[SlimPickins]

hmmmm.... let me see if i got the reverse auction thingy straight (in laymans/ non-mathematicians terms anyway):

basically a seller STARTS an auction at their hoped-for BIN, and, as the auction runs, the price systematically goes down until reaching the sellers (undisclosed?) reserve (below which they would be unwilling to sell, thus auction ends).... and buyers basically have the option of 'buy now/ buy out' at any point in between...... danger lies in waiting too long for another price drop and someone else snagging it or reaching reserve price? and the time/bid increments can be manually determined?

cool (if im understanding it correctly)! yet another nice touch to BQB! sp

Originally Posted by Reece

Thanks Daniel ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924 Rough sketch of how I could see this working (5am here, so be easy on me for any math mistakes!): Seller decides on a listing price (P) for their domain (eg. $1000) Seller decides on a reserve price (R) for their domain (eg. $500) Auction Process: Auction begins at P = $1000 At every new instance of time t, the new current price is defined by: P - xt(a) - 1t(a), where Previous Value (V) = P - xt(a), and where xt refers to how many instances of t have passed and a refers to the amount of price reduction per instance of t. Simplifying, we obtain our new current price by: P - [(x+1)t]a iff P - [(x+1)t]a >= R . Inputting our data, we'd obtain the current prices iff $1000 - [(x+1)t]a >= $500. Hence we can assume the Length of an auction, L is governed by how quickly we achieve $500 = [(x+1)t]a[/B]. To make auctions last longer, we could either increase the time t between which price reductions take place (decreasing the total number x of instances reached in any given period of time) or decrease the price reduction (a) per instance of t (or both of course). The converse is also true.

[Nem0]

Originally Posted by Reece

Thanks Daniel ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924 Rough sketch of how I could see this working (5am here, so be easy on me for any math mistakes!): Seller decides on a listing price (P) for their domain (eg. $1000) Seller decides on a reserve price (R) for their domain (eg. $500) Auction Process: Auction begins at P = $1000 At every new instance of time t, the new current price is defined by: P - xt(a) - 1t(a), where Previous Value (V) = P - xt(a), and where xt refers to how many instances of t have passed and a refers to the amount of price reduction per instance of t. Simplifying, we obtain our new current price by: P - [(x+1)t]a iff P - [(x+1)t]a >= R . Inputting our data, we'd obtain the current prices iff $1000 - [(x+1)t]a >= $500. Hence we can assume the Length of an auction, L is governed by how quickly we achieve $500 = [(x+1)t]a[/B]. To make auctions last longer, we could either increase the time t between which price reductions take place (decreasing the total number x of instances reached in any given period of time) or decrease the price reduction (a) per instance of t (or both of course). The converse is also true.

Uhh... I wish they had a smiley of the Aflac insurance duck with his mouth agape, hehe

Thanks for the explanation, Reece.. and thank you as much to Slim for his layman help (math and me don't mix too well). Excellent feature though (if Slim has it right).

Originally Posted by AussieDomainer

I agree. I think you should be charging for this and even some other features that are currently free. If you don't end up making money then everyone will suffer in the long run. I'm sure members won't mind paying a small amount for upgrades to protect the site in the long term.

Agreed. The upgrades or "stand-out" add-ons should cost a small amount; keep the regular auctions free like they are but maybe charge for the small features that help with visibility and such. That's how that 'big auction house' slowly started doing it many years ago.

[-REECE-]

Denver,

You worded that perfectly!

The fact that the reverse auction can be bought out at any time for the current price adds an element of surprise to the equation and in some cases could make domains end for much more than they might otherwise.

With a regular auction, if I'm prepared to pay $750 for a domain, I'm only going to have to pay $500 for it if current bidding is at $500 and nobody is willing to outbid me.

With the reverse auction I have no way of knowing what everyone else might be willing to pay, so I might just buy the domain when the price reaches $750.

Originally Posted by SlimPickins

hmmmm.... let me see if i got the reverse auction thingy straight (in laymans/ non-mathematicians terms anyway): basically a seller STARTS an auction at their hoped-for BIN, and, as the auction runs, the price systematically goes down until reaching the sellers (undisclosed?) reserve (below which they would be unwilling to sell, thus auction ends).... and buyers basically have the option of 'buy now/ buy out' at any point in between...... danger lies in waiting too long for another price drop and someone else snagging it or reaching reserve price? and the time/bid increments can be manually determined? cool (if im understanding it correctly)! yet another nice touch to BQB! sp

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Originally Posted by Nem0

Uhh... I wish they had a smiley of the Aflac insurance duck with his mouth agape, hehe Thanks for the explanation, Reece.. and thank you as much to Slim for his layman help (math and me don't mix too well). Excellent feature though (if Slim has it right). Agreed. The upgrades or "stand-out" add-ons should cost a small amount; keep the regular auctions free like they are but maybe charge for the small features that help with visibility and such. That's how that 'big auction house' slowly started doing it many years ago.

Cheers Daniel

I'll see if I can place a few small fees here and there on new optional features.

A few of the features I talked about implementing over the next couple weeks have started to find their way onto BQB.

My personal favorite is Store RSS - Take a look at AussieDomainer's RSS feed here for example: http://www.bqb.com/myrssfeed.php?owner=100036 . By subscribing to a feed, you can keep track of a seller's current inventory without having to come to BQB to see it (you can read this in the RSS reader of your choice).

[-REECE-]

Thanks Rich, great of you to drop by!

It took me awhile but I finally got the login box moved to the top today. As a bonus it disappears once logged in.

Originally Posted by rjs_essex

Hey Reece, I've not been around lately but thought I'd drop by and see how everything is going! It looks like you are still very much bang on with this project and I wish you continued success! Everything looks great and the improvements are certainly coming along nicely! Keep up the good work! Rich

Other additions completed today:

1 - added a whois tool: http://www.bqb.com/whois.html
2 - added a "light" meet + greet + support forum (doing some mods on the forum)
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

I'll integrate these into the navigation bar, along with the bulk listing software once it's ready for download.

[-REECE-]

The bulk listing software has been tested and is now available for download: http://www.bqb.com/auction_manager.php .

This will allow you to upload listings from your computer onto BQB by using any CSV compatible program, such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org. Make sure to save the document as .csv or .xls before attempting to upload.

If anyone has any questions on using the bulk software, please feel free to send me a pm or post here. I'll try and make the instructions a bit clearer on the download page.

[nicedomains]

Great new additions to BQB Reece!

[-REECE-]

Thanks Mike!

Originally Posted by nicedomains

Great new additions to BQB Reece!

Have a nice addition coming later today as well:
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

- AJAX bidding (no need to refresh to see updated bids on the auction page)

[kleszcz]

The bulk listing software is easy to use, done my quick set up. Just uploaded a few domains in a minute. There are no forms for "Registrar" and "Expiration Date" but it's faster than manual submission. Great job, Reece.

[-REECE-]

Thanks Hiroki!

I'm going to work at getting some better instructions on BQB about how the bulk lister works. If you create a column in excel with the expiration dates, you can then column map this to the Source Column "Description" in the BQB bulk lister and all expiration dates would be included. Alternatively, you could do the same thing with the Registrar column mapped to "Description". If you merge the excel expiration date and excel registrar columns, you would then have 1 column with both pieces of information which could be mapped as per above and would include both pieces of information in the domain description.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=463924

Originally Posted by kleszcz

The bulk listing software is easy to use, done my quick set up. Just uploaded a few domains in a minute. There are no forms for "Registrar" and "Expiration Date" but it's faster than manual submission. Great job, Reece.

I haven't provided much of an update in a few days now -- we've been working on a few things. The reputation system on BQB has been changed to a positive/neutral/negative system (all previous ratings were converted with 1-2 = negative , 3 = neutral, 4-5 = positive). The single domain auction listing process has been cleaned up a bit and is now easier to follow. We're working on making the single auction listing steps "clickable" to make it easier to go back if a mistake or change needs to be made. I'm working on a user guide which will explain how to use all the features BQB offers (should be done next week) and lastly, giving BQB an SEO overhaul.