Comments

1. Comment by Will — October 8, 2007 @ 10:13 pm

   we do have a reserve in mind since this site took money to develop

   Who gives a toss how much it cost them to develop? Who's to say they weren't ripped off by the developers? I'd be more interested in how much money it's generating before even considering buying it.

2. Comment by Adam Dempsey — October 8, 2007 @ 11:05 pm

   Weren't people buying a page guarenteed the pages being up 20 years or something? How can they promise that and then sell the site once they've made some fast cash?

3. Comment by Chance — October 9, 2007 @ 3:05 am

   Shameless.

4. Comment by Tom — October 9, 2007 @ 7:45 am

   That site must have been a lot of work to develop.

   Download a wiki template, change a few paragraphs of text, upload it, add paypal functionality and mail a few well-respected bloggers.

   Time and money to develop? Don't let me laugh. These guys don't have any stamina.

5. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:12 am

   Already 1 prominent blogger has "bailed out" without telling their readers the real reason why: http://www.cashquests.com/auction-own-my-page-on-the-million-euro-wiki

   Nice!

6. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:14 am

   And here is some more comments, these taken from the emails I received overnight from being on the list of people who are in this "open bidding system"…

7. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:20 am

   So how do you know it’s going to turn up in the right hands?…

   and

   I was wondering the same thing. We've all invested $90-$100 in a page. I think we'd all like some assurance that all the promises made will still be kept by the new owners.

   and

   I agree. I'd like some assurance or I'd like the money I paid for the page refunded immediately. I honestly feel like I've been ripped off. How could you not know you were getting ready to sell the site so soon after launching?

   and

   I agree *removed name*. I also have the gut feeling this was the intention all along, sell as many pages on the hype from the MDW and then soon as it dries up, run with the 73 pages profit in their pockets. Maybe i'm wrong but from the get go there's been not a whole lot of action on the site.

   and

   I agree with *removed name*, this looks like the intention all along. Nothing has been done with the site. I would like a full refund.

   and

   If I remember, the Million Euro Wiki project is promoted by lots of famous bloggers out there. I was stupid enough to bought two pages! I believe most of us bought in in assurance that the current owner will do his best to promote those pages one way or another. With such announcement, I felt like been ripped off, by the project owner and all those bloggers out there. I will be shouting for refund if thing going downhill. Goods not delivered! Just my two cents.

   and

   I’d like a refund.

   and

   In an attempt to ensure the correct people do keep this site running and outrunning MDW, a buddy and me have decided to start bidding. Given such a short auction and the varing demographics of people, I myself being located in Tokyo, I would prefer to know the reserve and let the serious bidding go from there. This is a business you are selling, enough of the secrecy and lets get this show back on the road and quell any fears, uncertainty and doubt.

   and

   I agree with the rest of the page owners that we need to be assured that the new owners will be the right one who will take care of the current page owners. If not, I would like to be refunded too.

   and

   Well, I wonder if MEW is about to be earning 1 million Euro/USD soon say in the next few months would you give it up? For any reason? So now the page owners is left with temptation to just buy over the whole page cheaply and try who know he can make it to one million or if not maybe he earn enough to pay back his investment and perhaps then let the page owner to bid over the page…ha..ha..brilliant model.

   And how exactly we know whether the new owner will be the right one? Initially the reason I bought a page was I thought the master of copycat johncow.com will strike again this time, I do have some impression that he would probably have quite fair chance to make it somewhere…oh well I guess I am wrong.

   Let's just refund the money gracefully since it does not really live up to it's promises…

   and

   What a shameless attempt at starting a project that could have been a great success. Shame on any person who has profited from this. Furthermore,

   I propose that every person who bought a MEW page create a post on their own blog linking to every person who bought a MEW page. This way, we can bring attention to this and maybe still salvage something out of this fiasco.

   Bloggers, does that sound like a good idea?

   and the last one (so far);

   Ok, lets contain this for now, only page owners know about this situation at the moment. If somebody is able to purchase and continue the site without interuption there will be no need to panic. I too jumped the gun and felt ripped off,then after thinking it through maybe it is for the better that somebody with time and motivation will really get this site rockin'.

   Running this site will be no small task, and I believe it will be a full time commitment. As I have stated in a previous email I am willing to join forces with a highly experienced webhead friend of mine and between us and some serious sacrifice and effort we can get this running better than MDW and other like sites.

   Interesting responses, wouldn't you say?

8. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:24 am

   Now, the first thing that I did when I received the email from the guys at MEW was send this back to them;

   What is the reserve price. I don't want to be inundated with emails of $25 increments if the buyout price is thousands higher than the top bid.

   So, let's get professional. What's the reserve?

   When it comes to business, there's no need for sentimment. I wanted to know the reserve price immediately so that I can make plans to either bow out, or buy out. If you read between the lines, you'll have already seen that I am planning a "wiki like" site. I got this in return;

   At the moment we're thinking of ~$1000,00 This would cover the expenses we've made to get the site up and running.

   Now, I am not at all bothered that the owners are selling up - it's what business is all about. You buy stuff, or make stuff and then sell stuff.

   $1000 is not so bad for a business that has some buzz. I think that it would be cheaper to get a coder to make my own system, hence I won't be bidding.

9. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:34 am

   A new reply from the guys at Million Euro Wiki…

   First of all, I don't see what all the commotion is about. You bought a page on MEW and what you bought is still there isn't it? It's still being promoted, the affiliate model is still in place which encourages people to promote it themselves. I swill still endorse the program on my blog, being it as an affiliate. As shall the other big blog names out there. They promoted in because they are affiliates in the first place. I don't see them stopping any time soon.

   I've kept every promise I made, paid every penny earned by the affiliates, gave away the $400 ipods, paid a lot of money on PR and getting the script just right.

   Do you really think that with 73 pages sold, I have put $7300 in my pocket to walk away with? Well think again. After the prize-money, affiliates fees, PR costs and initial setup, my "profits" are very slim.

   By setting up this private auction, I'm certain to find a suitable or even better person to run the site because it's in all our best interests. If I were to "scam" you folks, I'd be trying to sell off the site online somewhere for a couple of thousand dollars wouldn't I? OR just drop it all together. Not caring who would end up buying it. Right now I can screen whoever is committed enough to follow through. The $100 is a joke in terms of what the site is really worth, but it keeps the people who'll just say yes, "I'll take it" because it's for free, from the people who will say yes, "I'll take it" because they really care about the project.

   I hate to see people already assuming the worst and not having any faith in the new person that's going to run things. I will still be freely available for any kind of promotion, which would serve in my best interest with the affiliate program in place. One way of securing the site's success is for me to keep on to the domain name until the buyer has proven him or herself "worthy" in your eyes of running and managing the site. If anything goes wrong, I can take action to redirect the domain to a mirror site I'll be running.

   Just because there's a new name running the project, doesn't mean it's not gonna work. My guess is that the site can even become better with a person who can dedicate more time to it. As I said, I'll be available to help out with any questions the new owner will have.

   Trust me when I say that this was a hard decision to make, but some times "real life" gets in the way of things. The people that know me know how enthusiastic I am about the site and the amounts of work I've put into it. This isn't about money for me, this is about people can work together as a community to achieve bigger things.

10. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 8:50 am

    More from people who own pages;

    Hello All,

    Look, the MEW was created behind the MDW and look how well the MDW is doing. We all know the potential of the site and there is no reason to shout anything from the roof tops.

    We have all made an investement in the pages we bought and giving a refund will only crush the site and this great idea.

    The owner obviously trusted in the community to give us a heads up on whats going on … that alone shows good ethics.

    Between all the current Page Owners i'm positive the site will stay online and do, if not as good, better than the MDW.

    Stay tuned and don't panic!

    and

    Hi, just an idea, what about we all as the current page owner together we bid a price to continue to run the site. That way we will all be working together to make sure the site live up to one million euro. We do have to workout the best arrangement though so that practically we own proportionally based on the no of pages you currently own now. I think that would be fair for everyone..

    Just an idea.

    and the voice of reason:

    Having been involved in joint ventures before, a lot less than 50 people involved, i can honestly say that it will not work. The division of responsibilities, site direction, legalities of the financials and so on ….. make it not feasible.

    And 1 more from MEW:

    Could you please not start a panic as there is no need for one? It's easy to round up a lynch mob but it wont do any of us any good. We're working on a solutions for us all.

    By doing this you will actually really damage the project for all of you.

11. Comment by burt — October 9, 2007 @ 9:06 am

    Hello all,

    An unusually entertaining inbox when I logged in this morning!

    I for one am not happy about this whatever the circumstances. My business bought the pages as a business concern and with that was the assumption that the effort would be put in by the current owners.

    I would like a refund for the two pages I bought. Are the owners prepared to refund anyone who asks at this stage? And by the way, I’m not ‘panicing’ here I believe it’s my right to ask for a refund at such an early stage – I only bought in a week ago!.

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