New Style Rocks

[Julie]

Agree with you Sammi, hopeless trying to place a bid with everything lagging behind, by the time you have 'F5'd' and see the price you want to pay its gone! Much prefer the old system if this is going to carry on like this. Also are they really selling more items this way when they are pulled out of the so called 'auction' as often as pieces were tonight when not reaching the price they want?

They are defo selling loads of the cheap stuff they have stockpiled, but most of the nicer stuff seems to get pulled.

Can't blame them though, Steve was making massive losses, end of an era I think.

 

[Pinkpussycat]

Has the bubble burst then?? Rocks need to walk a careful path here as the gem buying community on here can be very fickle and will desert in droves to the latest kid on the block. :Whistling: We've all seen it happen before. :SUE: PC:

 

[Calvin]

I think we should all count ourselves lucky to have been in there at the start, but there are still bargains to be had. We should also remember that it's early days for the new style auctions and Rocks will make improvements as they go along.

I remember when the site started I was putting something in the chatbox and I hit the return key and inadvertantly placed a bid on something I really didn't want, as there was an error in the system. Thankfully, I was outbid! There were other little glitches in the early days and some of the ideas didn't work ( remember the 'Big One'?). Rocks listen, and if things don't work their CS are first class. Don't desert them yet!

 

[sweetpea]

I think we should all count ourselves lucky to have been in there at the start, but there are still bargains to be had. We should also remember that it's early days for the new style auctions and Rocks will make improvements as they go along.

I remember when the site started I was putting something in the chatbox and I hit the return key and inadvertantly placed a bid on something I really didn't want, as there was an error in the system. Thankfully, I was outbid! There were other little glitches in the early days and some of the ideas didn't work ( remember the 'Big One'?). Rocks listen, and if things don't work their CS are first class. Don't desert them yet!

Well said Calvin.......I completely agree:35:

 

[Dazgemsking]

me 2 calvin and sweetpea

 

[jacqualina]

I agree as well Calvin, we really should give it a chance. We all love the familiar and don't like change, but you do get used to things and if it doesn't work Rocks will surely think again and act accordingly.

 

[Meeshoo]

Likes:

- Much faster pace. It was like watching paint dry before.
- Still interactive.
- Not frightened to pull an item if there's no interest.

Dislikes:

- Time lag far too long and you can miss out on items.
- Can't see the picture of the item AND the screen with the presenter at the same time.
- Lack of comprehensive details
- You can remove items from your basket that are added via the CR catalogue but not items won at auction. TBH I understand them doing this but just don't like it!
- Carol's SHOUTING (nothing to do with the website but I can't watch or listen at the weekend because of it).

Falling auctions means the buyer is in more control and can wait and wait and wait to dictate the price (please note those who jump in early!!!) BUT conversely I think the start prices and "drop to" prices are higher. Last night many of the items were cheaper on the CR catalogue and it took lots of drops to get to that point in the auction.

Personally (and this has nothing to do with the new format) I hate I1/I2 grade diamonds, they're terrible quality on the whole and I'd prefer Rocks to use better accent diamonds. I'd happily pay a smidgen more for decent accents.

Having said all of that, I got a couple of real bargains last night so there are still some to be had and I'll look forward to see how Rocks respond to our comments (because I'm sure they will).

 

[alupha]

...and if you compare the lowest fallen amout to their coloured rocks website, it's actually only a few pounds away...for example the solitaire Kunzite is 134 on website and it only falls to 130 and then closed on the auction site...

I miss the old way...(oh yeah I do...)

 

[SheffieldOwl]

Alupha, that is the piece that dropped to that price only after sitting at £150 for ages, and Carol saying it was going to be pulled, until someone said just to pull it as you can get it in the catalogue for £134.

I am hoping that this is just a teething glitch. I mean we can't expect the auctioneers to learn the price of every piece on CR, that would be thoroughly unrealistic, but maybe the 'system' ought to be programmed with the price of every single piece, with this price being the first crash and then falling from there.

I would hate to see a thread saying that there is a scam because people are being allowed to grab auction items at higher than the catalogue price. In the same way that the auctioneers can't be expected to know all the prices, neither can we!

 

[Pepsidoodle]

I am hoping that this is just a teething glitch. I mean we can't expect the auctioneers to learn the price of every piece on CR, that would be thoroughly unrealistic, but maybe the 'system' ought to be programmed with the price of every single piece, with this price being the first crash and then falling from there.

On the first night I was checking the buy it now prices and also spotted this issue.

Hopefully it is a programming error and the IT bods are on to it. If not they really should be!!

 

[Meeshoo]

The presenters don't control the price - they merely present. However, the producers, schedulers, planners etc., WILL know. It's their job to get the most for the piece they can and therefore even if it's lower on the CR website, they won't use that as a starting point - and why would they???? It makes absolutely no business sense to do so.

The price on the CR website will be above their cost price otherwise they'd go out of business. If they drop lower during an auction they'll be inching towards cost and that's not good for business. They have no obligation to bring the auction price lower than the CR price and I would think that they'll hope to sell for above if they can.

 

[Sazza]

The presenters don't control the price - they merely present. However, the producers, schedulers, planners etc., WILL know. It's their job to get the most for the piece they can and therefore even if it's lower on the CR website, they won't use that as a starting point - and why would they???? It makes absolutely no business sense to do so.

The price on the CR website will be above their cost price otherwise they'd go out of business. If they drop lower during an auction they'll be inching towards cost and that's not good for business. They have no obligation to bring the auction price lower than the CR price and I would think that they'll hope to sell for above if they can.

I think the presenters do control the price, they choose the incriments that they are dropping the price by.

I think the pace is slower with the new system, I find myself losing interest and going off and doing something else.

 

[SheffieldOwl]

The presenters don't control the price - they merely present. However, the producers, schedulers, planners etc., WILL know. It's their job to get the most for the piece they can and therefore even if it's lower on the CR website, they won't use that as a starting point - and why would they???? It makes absolutely no business sense to do so.

The price on the CR website will be above their cost price otherwise they'd go out of business. If they drop lower during an auction they'll be inching towards cost and that's not good for business. They have no obligation to bring the auction price lower than the CR price and I would think that they'll hope to sell for above if they can.

If that is their aim, then why bother having the auction site? People are going to buy items, see that they have paid more than they would had they ordered them off CR, return the items, feel cheated, and not order again. Surely that is not the companies aim?

They will have set their prices on CR far enough above cost to be able to go lower, or CR in itself would not be a viable business. Standard mark up in retail is at least 40-50%, so if they choose to auction a piece, there will be more than enough room to make us feel good by getting the piece at a lower price than we would have on CR, but is good for them as company, because they are still making a profit.

Some of the items they put into auction will be loss leaders, and as such no profit at all is expected. As well as that, there will be items that have been on CR for a while that they want to clear from stock to make space for the new stuff, which, I would imagine, will appear on CR before Rocks, and will be pieces that appear on Rocks if people request them, giving a price they will pay - as Steve was suggesting the other night.

There is therefore absolutely no reason at all why any item should sell above the price it would on CR.

To put this another way, if you looked in the Gems catalogue and saw an item could be purchased for, say £100, and it then appeared on the TV at a closing price of £150, with the over excited presenters telling you that they are cutting their own throats and cannot possibly go any lower. What would you think?

 

[Meeshoo]

To put this another way, if you looked in the Gems catalogue and saw an item could be purchased for, say £100, and it then appeared on the TV at a closing price of £150, with the over excited presenters telling you that they are cutting their own throats and cannot possibly go any lower. What would you think?

This happens all the time. Personally I wouldn't feel cheated - that's the nature of a falling auction and a website. If the difference has been big enough it's simple to return the item and buy it at the lower price (annoying and you need to factor in the P&P charges but it's a way round it). GemsTV used to price match if the web price was higher than the auction and vice versa but soon stopped doing that because it's bad business sense (but good for the customer). Why should Rocks be any different?

 

[SheffieldOwl]

We have all seen the way that people are deserting Gems in droves recently. Don't you think this might be a factor, Meeshoo? Yet another example of Gems CS going down the toilet since Steve ceased being involved.

Rocks is a brand new venture and there is no way that they would be able to survive people voting with their feet and no longer purchasing because their customers feel hoodwinked into paying more than they ought, and with Steve's attitude towards Customer Services, he would take every possible measure to avoid people feeling that way, I'm sure.

Absolutely, Meeshoo, they don't have any obligation to drop prices lower than those on CR, I agree 100%. I just think that there are a good deal of us who would cease purchasing if we were being told on Rocks that the price is rock bottom and so low and such a bargain and we really can't go lower, but that we consequently find is not true, and that in fact if you purchase via CR you would have gotten it cheaper in the first place. Add to this the frustration of knowing that if you want to get your money back, such is your distain at the situation, you won't get back your £6 (almost) postage that you paid, nor will you get back the cost of postage for returning the item. So all in all you have paid £10 for the priveledge of feeling cheated!

I fully appreciate that you wouldn't feel this way, Meeshoo, but I certainly would, and judging from some of the comments on here, there are a number of other people that would feel the same!

Maybe if the presenters weren't telling us that they couldn't possibly go lower, or that this is an absolute rock bottom price then we wouldn't feel that way, but people aren't going to buy if Carol and Barry are saying 'Wow, how OK is that price? Absolutely Average isn't it?' :4:

Of course there is the other possibility that I am making mountains out of molehills. :54:

 

[sweetpea]

There is therefore absolutely no reason at all why any item should sell above the price it would on CR.

But this has also happened with the old system with auctions starting at £0.........there are at least 2 occasions that I can think of where a bidding war ensued,one with a pair of diamond studs that went above the CR price and another with a zircon ring that went at least £50 above the current CR price!!

Rising or falling........you buy at the price you are prepared to pay.

The advantages I see with the new format:

Auctions will be quicker(eventually)...items with no interest will be pulled

No pressure put on those in chat to not bid on a requested item....this can cause bad feeling in the chat room and the thing I really love about Rocks is this element so I would hate to see it go.

Bidding against friends......now this should not be a problem but the reality,for me anyway,is that it can create an issue....I have personally not bid on an item if I see a friend of mine winning.I know that they would not hold it against me but there are a certain number of folk who I would never 'snipe' an item from.

Larger numbers of items available rather than 2 or 3 of an item offered.This will ensure that more people will not lose out and because of the bigger quantities should also mean a good or even a bargain price.I have bagged a £2 ring and a £5 bracelet since the changes.

 

[SheffieldOwl]

I know and understand exactly what you are saying Sweetpea, and absolutely agree with you - you pay what you are happy to.

Where I have a problem is where we, as customers, are being told that this is the lowest possible price etc etc only to find that it is cheaper on CR. It is the presenters saying that which would make me feel a bit cheated to be honest.

Maybe I am just a sensitive sap!

Absolutely agree with you on the bidding against friends though. There are a lot of people on Rocks that I would never bid against if it was something I knew they wanted or that they had requested. Won't have to feel bad now!

 

[Meeshoo]

Where I have a problem is where we, as customers, are being told that this is the lowest possible price etc etc only to find that it is cheaper on CR. It is the presenters saying that which would make me feel a bit cheated to be honest.

It's purely and simply a sales technique. Every single shopping telly channel does the same. I'd be more surprised if I heard the presenters on RocksTV say "this is the lower possible price we are having in the auction today but pop across to the catalogue and you can buy it for less"! We live in hope though!

What I did last night, when I liked an item, was popped into the catalogue to have a look at the price, took off the 5% discount and then knew I had to get it for less than that. A bit of faffing but it worked!

 

[SheffieldOwl]

I have been trying that this evening, and I can't find the pieces fast enough! I am too old for this!

 

[perdita]

I did that last night. I saw a pair of earrings I liked on CR and requested them having first worked out the price minus 5%. The catalogue price is £27 and I got them for £17 so was quite happy with the price I paid in auction!