GIO

[waynev]

WTF happened to my favorite website, i might get used to it but i sure don't like the new setup so far :? Looks like you have to buy bids to bid on "LIME" auctions, hmmmmm.

www.giobikes.com

[Jim]

Wayne I noticed the same thing too... I'm not sure but the screwed up look may have helped me out? I won a mikuni carb for my beast for $13 :) Now I just need to get the shocks so I can combine the shipping. I've got some I'm bidding on but they don't end until tomorrow.

It looks like you get 10 free bids for the green auctions, I don't really get how it works... You can't even enter a price, it only goes up by the pennies? It really confuses me... The old look is still at giobikes.com/Auction

[waynev]

I was also wondering on the new website where the "PARTS" section has gone to buy replacement parts, i e-mailed them.

Looks like the "LIME" auctions are $1 a bid and your get 10 free lime bids and after that you have to purchase lime bids in order to use them.

[Jim]

Is this what you're looking for? http://www.giobikes.com/Parts-in-Canada/

I don't understand the point of the lime ads, they want to limit the people bidding on their items? won't that result in them selling stuff for less?

Edit, oh I see what you mean, everything seems to be auctions, the store is gone...?

[MICRider]

Hmmm, does look a little messed up. So, you have to pay to bid now? And I'm guessing they still have the auction fee added into the end price. Not sure if I am too crazy about the "new" setup. I wonder if they did it to keep people from registering and winning auctions and then not following through? I'm guessing it will cut back on the bids a lot though.

[waynev]

Hmmm, does look a little messed up. So, you have to pay to bid now?

Looks like only the "LIME" bids are paid bids, the orange bids look normal.

[MICRider]

Ahh, ok. I didn't look it over very well. Wonder why they changed it?

[waynev]

Ahh, ok. I didn't look it over very well. Wonder why they changed it?

Well think about it, normally you bid for free and the highest bidder gets it and has to pay for it, in the "lime" auction everyone who bids pays, it's a win-win for GIO, not so much for us bidding. Not sure if i'll be doing any lime bidding, i'd hate to pay something for nothing, not sure but i don't see this being a hit, time will tell i guess.

[Weldangrind]

I'm gonna give it a few days and wait for you smart fellows to explain it to me. :oops:

[Reveeen]

I'm gonna give it a few days and wait for you smart fellows to explain it to me. :oops:

Auction fees still the same, shipping double what it should be, now you pay to bid?

I *think* not.

[waynev]

Sure glad i got all my stuff when things were normal and "combined shipping" made it really worth it to stock up on lots of parts.

[MICRider]

Well, one nice thing is that the stuff I have seen in the Lime bids so far is either high end or oddball crap I wouldn't bid on anyway. It's too bad that they wouldn't just go for a bottom dollar "buy it now" format.

[waynev]

Ok, i don't see these lime auctions lasting for long, the GIO BEAR 300cc 4x4 just went for $2.78, even if it costs $1 to buy a bid ( but i imagine most are using their 10 free bids ) then that's still under $300 for a quad that normally auctions off around $2500.

[Reveeen]

Ok, i don't see these lime auctions lasting for long, the GIO BEAR 300cc 4x4 just went for $2.78, even if it costs $1 to buy a bid ( but i imagine most are using their 10 free bids ) then that's still under $300 for a quad that normally auctions off around $2500.

The $20 question:

Did you actually *see* it sell. What I mean by that is: unless you actually know the person bidding, and can verify that they paid $2.78 for something, then it really doesn't count for much, does it?

I have been doing auctions almost all my life, I know many so-called auctioneers, and it is "acceptable practice", on "house goods", to use shill bidding.

I offer this discussion as an example ONLY:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/moan-zone/382673-ebay-shill-bidding.html

In an auction, you physically attend, it is called "selling to the wall".

Besides: if an auction selling goods steadily sells for less than cost it is not long before the seller has nothing to sell and no money.

[waynev]

Yeah, i guess you never know, could be a phantom bidder, that would really suck if that is happening as people are now paying to bid in the "lime" auctions.

So far i think they suck, i just watched the auction on the 500cc for 1/2 an hour, there was about 20 people bidding and then i clicked bid when the clock turned to 3 seconds left and the auction all of a sudden ended with the winner being a guy that placed about 100 bids on the item.

I think i just wasted $45 thinking i could get a good deal, damn, i guess that makes up for the performance shocks they sent me when i had actually won a set of crap stock shocks for $2, even for me i guess.

[Jim]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing about the atvs going to be going for low prices. I'm also worried about the shill bidding but have no evidence of it.

The shipping does seem pricey (especially since I could easily pick it up myself). I'm hoping the combined shipping helps somewhat.

They also seem to have removed the bid time/date from the bidding history.

[waynev]

I think the "lime" auctions are scaring everyone off, 500w e-bikes usually go for $250, before lunch one went for $111, the last one went for $51, green is a bad color for GIO so far today.

And those prices were for the regular auction that is free to bid.

[Jim]

I'm still working on a set of shocks. I got one ending in just under 2 hours I'm hoping to win. The last set shot up at the last minute. That and a mini carb for W&G. Hope to get them together so I can combine the shipping.

[waynev]

Combined shipping isn't what it used to be, find both items at the buy now price and add them to your cart to see what the actual shipping costs will be.

[Jim]

I don't know how to do that anymore...

[waynev]

I don't know how to do that anymore...

Good point, that parts section is gone, John from GIO told me yesterday it would be back up in a week or 2 after the website has been totally redone.

[Jim]

I don't know why they messed with it... It seemed to work good how it was.

[MICRider]

Hmmm... They have an X37 up for auction. Too bad it's a lime bid, I would be tempted to bid otherwise :D

[TurboT]

I don't know why they messed with it... It seemed to work good how it was.

My expectation is it hasn't been good. i've been getting coupons for a lot of money off the past little while.

He has probably changed it to try to make more money. There is quite a market online for this type of bidding/auction site. Paying for the right to bid by 1c increments. It has been called a form of 'gambling' by many, as people get addicted to it and just keep sending it $10 for 100 bids etc.

I haven't looked at the new site but from what I've been reading it sound about the same. I'll be staying away.

[Jim]

The old way is still there too... You have coupons for gio's site?

[ontheroughside]

Just logged into Gio. I have 10 free bids. Yeah! Then after that I can buy bids in groups of 50, 100 or 300 for anywhere between 66c ea to 90c ea. Bid increments are a penny which sounds cheap but then you have to multiply it by the bid cost to get the real price. So everyone who bids pays?

[TurboT]

The old way is still there too... You have coupons for gio's site?

I did before Christmas. I think it was spend 250 get 50 off.
It's expired now.

I believe it is because I run Gio ads on my Blog site and am an 'affiliate' ..which is why I got them, just not for spending 5K there over the past 1.5 years.

[Jim]

Ahh gotcha ;) I like coupon codes. But I didn't spend enough for that to apply. You should put your blog link back up, I lost it.

[waynev]

yeah, i got those too T, the last one was no auction fee.

[TurboT]

yeah, i got those too T, the last one was no auction fee.

Right! Which is still close to $50 on the ATV's. I just have no money to buy more quads at the moment.

I've attached my sig with the blog links Jim. I haven't added much to them recently though.

[Jim]

Thanks I'll check it out :)

[ontheroughside]

This LIME bidding is getting "thumbs down" from me. Recently watched as 3 people bidded on "50" bids. One individual bid 35 times, another 27 times, the third and winner bid once. I suspect it may be better to use an online gambling site and play the slots!
Fortunately Gio seems to be playing both sides as the real auction is still there, waiting to see what works best for them.

[Jim]

Probably better off with blackjack then slots, but I try not to gamble if I don't have good odds. :lol:

[ontheroughside]

It's interesting the parts section is missing. Even if temporary.
The ability of an importer to stock and distribute parts will eventually determine its abilility to expand "new" sales. One can expect there will always be a segment of risk takers in the market, but if an importer wants to move boyond that segment into a higher profit margin group, parts availability and distribution are key.
I wouldn't have dropped $7k on a Gas Gas Endurocross if I could only purchase parts online and not have access to qualified service.

[Weldangrind]

There are still parts on the Gio site, but there's no parts category yet. If you search the Orange auctions, you'll find several parts.

[Weldangrind]

I found a "buy it now" parts section today: http://www.giobikes.com/stock_parts.html

[mizke]

you can also just email them like i did when i sent a email asking if they sold and had in stock 200cc gio beast throttle cables. got a reply a day or 2 later saying to send my name, address, and email so he could send me a invoice and get it shipped out..

the thing i never liked about gio when looking for parts is that its not labeled to make it easy to find. i think the gio beast is number 809 when you went looking for parts..they need to label them as gio beast, gio t3, etc....

[Jim]

Their shipping is also low quality, I just got 2 carbs from ups thrown loose into a large box, no old newspaper or anything, just bouncing around.

[mizke]

ya my cdi i bought from them showed up in a padded letter thing that was almost ripped open.

then for me shipping on anything is like always 15 to 20 bucks for on item.. but considering i know the partt will work and fit on my quad the way it should. i bite the bullet and order from gio for some things that really hard to find, other stuff i go to ebay..

[MICRider]

Their shipping is also low quality, I just got 2 carbs from ups thrown loose into a large box, no old newspaper or anything, just bouncing around.

Yeah, my shocks were the same way... They had actually punched right through the side of the box. I'm amazed neither one fell out. Now with the Lime auctions, the site looks like one of those "click the iPad to win!" ads you see in the corner of webpages... I'm actually kind of disappointed in what GIO has turned into. I don't believe I will be buying any more of their products or promoting them to my friends.

[Jim]

I sent an email to one of the gio sellers on ebay and mentioned the poor packing done when items are shipped from giobikes.com and suggested they start packing them with some crumpled newspaper at least. I didn't expect a response, but he responded and said thank you and he would tell the warehouse to start doing that as soon as possible. Not sure if anything will come of it, but it's not like crumpled up newspaper will cost them anything, so we'll see.