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I went to check my stuff on bear pile this morning, and guess what?! Nothing is visible now. For anyone. Unless you pay for a yearly membership. $120 for basic or $300 for featured. There are only 7 artists with memberships that can have their bears viewed at this time. I don't blame the man for doing this I guess, because apparently people haven't been paying their commissions. I do have a problem with coming up with $120 right now for a year's membership, as I'm sure others of us on there may have as well. I just can't......not if I want to also run an add in TB&F. 
I had just gotten started with bear pile, and it's really done a lot for me in a short time. I really hate to lose that avenue of displaying my work!! Very, very disappointed right now........ 
:hug:
Tracy
Glacier Bay Bearsyeh! I know! no notice email or nothing! so It's now 120.00a year? or is it a monthly thing of 10.00?
Rufnut Teddy'sOh yes that is disappointing, thanks for letting us know Tracy
Jamie--It says on the membership page it's $10 a month, but if you look toward the bottom, a full year is required up front....so $120.
I imagine there wasn't an email notice because of the volume of emails that would have to go out.
Major bummer!!
Glacier Bay Bearsyeh! that is really disappointing! thanks Tracy
Whoa!!! Thanks for the heads up. Personally I'm not sure if I will be signing up.... because I think with the MAJOR decrease in the number of bears being listed.... I think he will loose a LOT of the people who used to come to the site to look for bears... and find that there's hardly any bears there anymore. (does that make sense??) I think that is why so many buyers just stick with eBay... because there are TONS of bears there. And there are tons of bears there because there are tons of buyers.... it's a circle...
Apple Dumpling DesignsHow disappointing is that? I was just on there a few days ago and was going to list another bear today.
I wonder if he truly realizes or even cares how many customers he is going to lose because of this. For me, its even more that there was no notification of the plan so I (we) could start setting money aside for a membership fee.
Very sad...
Laura--My hubby thought of that this morning too. Great minds think alike, but don't tell him I said that! :crackup:
Darren also brought up the point that if artists were to pay that amount up front, what's to prevent the man from closing up shop completely at some point.....especially if he does lose visitors to the site and many artists who don't wish to pay for a membership.......we would all be out our membership money.
Darren suggested I wait and see what happens. He's probably right............don't tell him that either! :crackup:
Apple Dumpling DesignsI wonder if many collectors will stop going there also. I picked up two really nice collectors who have since purchased another bear each. I think I shall email them and let them know that I will no longer be listing bears there and how they can find them in the future.
I can not express how disappointed I am at this moment. ARGH!!!
Rufnut Teddy'sGreat point there girls
I've picked up a couple of collectors there too. That's a good idea to email them Shantell. Of course, both ladies I have sold to also visit ebay on a frequent basis. I imagine I will have to start listing there again, so they will find me regardless. I was hoping to avoid the ebay thing, too...........might have done so if bearpile had not changed on us. Darn it!! 
Wouldn't it make more sense for everyone to just pay a one time listing fee for bears on bearpile? Say, $5 maybe? I wouldn't have a problem with that and the guy would have $$ coming in as each bear is listed. Just an idea........
Apple Dumpling DesignsI agree...unfortunately I think he will lose ALOT of customers. I rarely bid on bears on Ebay because to be honest I can't afford to compete with those who have bottomless pocketbooks. I have been outbid more times that I can remember. I really like just being able to BUY a bear if I see one I like and can afford.
I think the "little" people, like me, do well on places like Bearpile because we can cater to those who can't afford the top dollar bears but are wonderful collectors nonetheless. Just because you can't afford to spend $100's of dollars doesn't make you any less of a collector or appreciate the hardwork that goes into making them.
It took me months to actually go to Bearpile...thanks to Kim-Bee I finally took the plunge...was thrilled with the result (3 bears in 2 days) and now...poof...gone without a warning.
I'm bummed...can you tell!!!
P.S. Maybe this will send more business to Bid4Bears....my new personal favorite. I really like it for some reason. 
What about bid4bears, I have heard nothing but great things there, and with bearpile being sticky maybe it would be a great time for bid4bears to see more action...I have noticed it is slow there a bit, but if everyone were directing their customers there maybe it would pick up????
Just a thought,
Hugs,
Krista
Posts: 8,574.....but
There is always[size=20] HERE[/size] and [size=20]Bid4Bears![/size]
[size=22]These sites will be even busier now, I suspect![/size]
Hi guys!
I decided to send Dave (of Bearpile) and email... he's always been great about answering :)
My email to him just basically asked him if he may be able to re-consider offering a monthly payment plan (ie: subscription via Paypal.) as $120 at once is a lot of $ for most of us :)
VERY quick response!!! Here it is...
"Thanks for contacting me and letting me know your thoughts.
I totally understand the $120 at once thing. But the main reason I do that is because the system isn’t automated to receive payments and I have to manually record and adjust folks accounts each time money is received. To do that for $10 at a time would be a lot of work for me and not make it worth my while on the administration side of things (bear pile is not my main job at all).
If I can automate it somehow, then I will add that option for monthly payment. Let me work on that for a little while.
Thanks for your input on this!"
UPDATE!!!
Dave is working on this right now and it MAY be possible!!!!!!
:dance: :dance: Yippee!! That's awesome Laura......I'm so glad you contacted him! :hug: :hug:
I also haven't forgotten about Bid4Bears.......I have my Brady bear on there right now. It is in it's infancy though, so I still need to have myself out there somewhere else too.......somewhere that gets lots of traffic. And I much prefer bearpile over ebay! 
Oh, I hope he can come up with something :pray: ...................all fingers and toes are crossed!
As for if we want to go back to bearpile......
I believe that everyone and that includes businesses... makes mistakes
and errors in judgement. When this happens... I like to see how the
person or person handles that mistake before making up my mind on
how I feel about that person/company.
Dave's lightning quick response and action (in progress) makes me want
to stay with him. I've been with Bearpile for years... whenever I have had problems or questions... he's been very quick to respond.
Just my thoughts....
Posts: 3,177What a shame! I used Bear Pile and now i don't - apparently
Soooo, i suppose another beary outlet will go down the drain? I can't see nearly as many artists signing up for a year - as you said already girls, there are only 7 members now and this will put a lot of people off. If the payments were to be paid monthly i think a lot of previous members would sign up, it's harder to find a big lump sum than a few dollars at a time.
Ahhh well, maybe he will allow monthly payments when he realises that the amount of users will fall dramatically.
Penny :hug:
I just checked bearpile againt to see if Dave made any changes.........he DID!! :dance: :dance: You can now pay for membership in 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 12 month increments (might have missed one in there? ). There is a savings the more months you pay for. I can live with that! Just signed back up with 3 month membership! :dance: :dance:
Thanks Laura Lynn for contacting Dave........ask and you shall receive!! :hug: :hug:
Yeah!! I just got back on my computer and found an email from Dave saying he finished up and asked me to give it a shot... I'm back on!!!!
Bears-a-Bruin!Sigh...I liked Bearpile. But I don't think it's worth it for me to sign up again. Can't help feeling a little let down....
Kran-Beary'sHi everyone...
In response to Tracy and Laura, I've just finished adding 'Stores' to Bid 4 Bears.
You can now have a store for as little as $5.00/month, paid monthly or when your balance reaches a minimum of $10.00.
A 5 item store is $5.00/mnth
A 10 item store is $7.95/mnth
A 15 item store is 10.00/mnth
A 200 item store is $30.00 /mnth
Store fees are over and above listing or final value fees...which are low enough to keep the profit in your pocket.
This is a great, cost effective way to get people to see you in the newly listed Stores section. You can add your logo, describe your store, or even LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE (try THAT on ebay!)
I WANT you to sell your bears! Let me know what you think.
Hugs,
nt
DH runs this site: http://www.teddy-bears.org Although it's not like bearpile, you can edit your information and change pictures whenever you want once he has created a page for you.
It sounds like Nancy has created something great too.
Apple Dumpling DesignsNancy...you are absolutely AWESOME. Thank you so much for always taking care of us. :hug: :clap: :clap: :clap: :hug:
Shantell
