FoundHost.com today annouced the launch of FoundHost Auctions, a marketplace for web hosting providers to post web hosting services up for bid, and for people looking for web hosting to bid on them.

www.foundhost.com

This service is 100% FREE. We do not charge for posting items up for auction, nor do we charge for bidding on items. There are no charges EVER.

We currently have the following categories setup, and welcome any suggestions for new categories:

Hosting Plans (Linux)
Hosting Plans (NT)
ColdFusion Hosting
Reseller Plans
Servers
Domain Names
Hosting Templates
Business Proposals
Related Offers

We invite you to visit FoundHost Auctions, and post your web hosting services up to be bid on! You can set your starting price, bid increment, reserve price (so you never have to sell anything for less than you want), duration, and enter a title and description of the item(s) you're selling. As the seller, you will be notified when your item has been sold, and who the winning bidder is. Both of you will receive contact details of one another for the purposes of closing the deal (we do not get involved in closing the deal.... we just put the two of you together :)

If your item doesn't receive any bids, or if it does but the reserve isn't met, then it will be removed from the auction. You are then free to post the item up for auction again. In fact, there's no limit to the number of auctions you can have running at one time!

We've even setup a feedback system where buyers and sellers both can enter comments about other users, and give them ratings, so others can read about them.

So come check it out, and put your web hosting plans up for auction!!

FoundHost Auctions - The newest way to sell your web hosting services.

Excellent job, GoLions. I think you'll get a really good response to this idea. All free? Can't beat that price. I just registered and added an item up for auction. We'll see how it goes. I like the fact that you're promoting it to drive traffic.

Good luck. :)

Vito

im guessing that in order to be featured you have to pay you? The auction is free but being featured costs?

Originally posted by insaneraptor
im guessing that in order to be featured you have to pay you? The auction is free but being featured costs?
When you say *in order to be featured*..... are you talking about your auction item? If so, we do not have any system at all about *featuring* some auction items over others. It's all free, and we do not *feature* any auction items more so than others. Everyone's equal.

If however you're talking about the *featured ads* on FoundHost.com (the directory site, not the aution site), then yes, you have to pay for those spots ;)

I hope that answers your question. If not, perhaps you could elaborate and I'll give it another whirl.

Rob.

Originally posted by vito
Excellent job, GoLions. I think you'll get a really good response to this idea. All free? Can't beat that price. I just registered and added an item up for auction. We'll see how it goes. I like the fact that you're promoting it to drive traffic.

Good luck. :)

Vito
Thanks for the feedback Vito.... and good luck with your auction :D

Very interesting concept, indeed.

Good job with the innovation and hope all goes well! :)

Originally posted by GoLions

When you say *in order to be featured*..... are you talking about your auction item? If so, we do not have any system at all about *featuring* some auction items over others. It's all free, and we do not *feature* any auction items more so than others. Everyone's equal.

If however you're talking about the *featured ads* on FoundHost.com (the directory site, not the aution site), then yes, you have to pay for those spots ;)

I hope that answers your question. If not, perhaps you could elaborate and I'll give it another whirl.

Rob.

nope nope, that aws my question thanks for quick answer :)

how much to be featured on mainpage?

Originally posted by insaneraptor


nope nope, that aws my question thanks for quick answer :)

how much to be featured on mainpage?
insaneraptor.... I'll send you a PM :)

is foundhost is down at the moment?

nope its up for me now...

We did have a minor glitch earlier this morning.... but all is sorted out now.

Let me know if you need anything else :)

Rob.

Please send your ad rates.. I want to advertise our wholesale dialup not hosting..

StartAnISP....
I just sent you an email with all our rates for January. Let me know if you have any questions. You can email me directly at info@foundhost.com.

Cheers :)
Rob.

I'm wondering if you may be selling ad space on the actual auction site? please e-mail me about it.

Originally posted by ResIstor
I'm wondering if you may be selling ad space on the actual auction site? please e-mail me about it.
Currently we're only offering 1 spot for advertising on the auction site, and that's the top 468x60 banner you see there now. It's displayed at the top of all pages within the auction site. If you want, send an email to info@foundhost.com and I'll forward all the rates to you, including the auction sponsorship :)

Originally posted by GoLions

Currently we're only offering 1 spot for advertising on the auction site, and that's the top 468x60 banner you see there now. It's displayed at the top of all pages within the auction site. If you want, send an email to info@foundhost.com and I'll forward all the rates to you, including the auction sponsorship :)

uh so why are there countless flashing banners all over your site? And when I click a subcategory I see the same annoying companies I continue to receive spam from? heh :/

Originally posted by infinityws


uh so why are there countless flashing banners all over your site? And when I click a subcategory I see the same annoying companies I continue to receive spam from? heh :/
I believe ResIstor was wondering if we were selling ad space on the *FoundHost Auctions* portion of our website. Read his question again, and I think you'll agree that he was aware we sell advertising on the main website pages (that's quite obvious by looking at our site), but instead was wondering about advertising opportunities on the Auction portion of the site.

I'm sorry you find our advertisers *annoying*. That certainly is not our goal.:(

Originally posted by GoLions

I believe ResIstor was wondering if we were selling ad space on the *FoundHost Auctions* portion of our website. Read his question again, and I think you'll agree that he was aware we sell advertising on the main website pages (that's quite obvious by looking at our site), but instead was wondering about advertising opportunities on the Auction portion of the site.

I'm sorry you find our advertisers *annoying*. That certainly is not our goal.:(


oh...that's no problem...I found the auction portion afterwards. I thought the entire site was brand new...you've got to make money some how. It just annoys me that some of these hosts I see everywhere advertising are always in my mailbox too several times a day. =(

I am getting this error when I try to bid:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '<' in /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/bid.php on line 431

Also this when I try to edit an auction:

Warning: getimagesize: Unable to open '' for reading. in /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php on line 70

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php:70) in /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php on line 165

Originally posted by Matthew_J
Also this when I try to edit an auction:

Warning: getimagesize: Unable to open '' for reading. in /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php on line 70

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php:70) in /home/foundhos/public_html/auction/edit_active_auction.php on line 165

I got the same error when I tried to edit my listing. Until foundhost works out the bug in the script, here's a workaround for you (it worked for me). I assume you have an image already uploaded? And you're just trying to edit some text in your changes? If so, try making changes again, but this time re-upload your image. Worked for me.

Regarding the error when trying to bid, yes I got that too. I guess GoLions can post here when the bug is fixed.

Vito

Matthew_J and Vito....

Sorry for the troubles you've been experiencing this evening..... but I believe I have fixed the *bidding* error. You should be able to bid now. Let me know if you're able to, or if you continue to have problems.

As for the upload script bug.... I'm working on it as well, and hope to have it straightened out shortly :)

Sorry guys.... but thanks for letting me know!!

Rob.

Yup, bidding function seems to work now.

Ahhh, the joys of working out the bugs...always fun, huh? :)

Vito

Yes.... joyous indeed!!!

The "upload image" function is now working, but there's a new bug that appears when you try to register or login. This will be fixed very shortly, and I'll give an update when it's ready.

Thanks for hanging in there, guys!

Rob.

UPDATE:
Everything is working fine now. There were a couple bugs that came to light yesterday and this morning, and it was a little more involved then at first thought to fix them.... but *I believe* :erm: everything is fixed and running smoothly. In fact, I see we have our first bidder! :D

But please... do let me know if anyone sees any other bugs, and we'll get right on it.

Cheers!
Rob.

big thumbs up for working everything out, the original idea and the best of luck with your venture =]

cheers,
paul

hm..
somehow the link does not work for me...

Thanks for the feedback rusko :)

vulpix1337.... what link does not work for you?

if you dont mind me asking, which auction script did you use for the auction portion of your site?

Don't mind at all :)

We used the scripts located at www.phpauction.org, and had them modified to suit our needs.

You may notice that we've added such things as Links to our Featured Categories at FoundHost.com on the FoundHost Auctions home page, and a few other bells and whistles.

thanks:cool: :cool: :eek: :cool: :D :D

Pardon me for raining on the parade, but I see a major problem with your auction site:

The site is a sellers auction (hosts put up their accounts) for a resource that is far from being scarce by any means.

By that, I mean, when hosts put up their accounts and prices, they're really just advertising them to potential buyers, because no one in their right mind would bid for something when they can go right to the host and get the normal price.

Can that be fixed, yes, one of two ways:

Start all auctions at 0.00. Bidders have an opportunity of getting the package at a price lower than the hosts regular retail rate. That makes an auction worthwhile. Once it gets up to the hosts normal rate (or the normal rate for that size of package from any host) the auction will die.

Or better yet, turn it into a buyers auction (reverse), where the buyer puts up what they want, and hosts bid down the prices so the buyer gets the lowest price.

Quality of hosting is a big issue here too though, someone could easily oversell just to give the lowest rates, so you might want to make it understood that the lowest bidder isn't always going to be the winner, giving the buyer the opportunity to go with a higher priced bidder with a better reputation.

You might also want to say something to the hosts that are advertising (if you don't already) about the length of time they are expected to honor their bid price. It would really suck if someone got a good package with a good provider just to have the provider jack the price the 2nd month.

Anyways, good luck!

mccuem does have some valid points :)

One more question of you dont mind
on www.phpauction.org
which package did you use?

insaneraptor....
We used the GPL version.

mccuem....
You do have same very good points. Perhaps I can address them one at a time.

The site is a sellers auction (hosts put up their accounts) for a resource that is far from being scarce by any means. Absolutely correct. The last count I heard was in excess of 16,000 web hosting companies.

By that, I mean, when hosts put up their accounts and prices, they're really just advertising them to potential buyers, because no one in their right mind would bid for something when they can go right to the host and get the normal price. Again, you are correct. I think what will happen as more people get used to the idea, is they'll offer their hosting plans with starting bid prices *below* (perhaps WELL below) what they normally sell them for on their company website. Then the successful bidder will end up winning an auction where they pay less than the normal sales price. But you're right in that no one will ever bid an item up higher than what it normally sells for. That wouldn't make sense.

So this is not an auction designed to make the sellers *tons of cash* like you could potentially make on eBay selling your grandmother's fur coat. It is more of an advertising medium, with the potential to give buyers a real deal on a hosting plan they would normally pay more for.

Start all auctions at 0.00. Bidders have an opportunity of getting the package at a price lower than the hosts regular retail rate. That makes an auction worthwhile. Once it gets up to the hosts normal rate (or the normal rate for that size of package from any host) the auction will die. I think you've just described what the intent is.... except for the 0.00 starting point. It's up to the sellers to decide where they want the bidding to start, but I think we can both agree that nobody is going to outbid the regular advertised price.

Or better yet, turn it into a buyers auction (reverse), where the buyer puts up what they want, and hosts bid down the prices so the buyer gets the lowest price. This is a very good idea, and one that we've thought about. It may well figure into our future upgrade plans ;)

Quality of hosting is a big issue here too though, someone could easily oversell just to give the lowest rates, so you might want to make it understood that the lowest bidder isn't always going to be the winner, giving the buyer the opportunity to go with a higher priced bidder with a better reputation. Another good point. I think most reverse auctions are setup this way. We would likely do the same.

You might also want to say something to the hosts that are advertising (if you don't already) about the length of time they are expected to honor their bid price. It would really suck if someone got a good package with a good provider just to have the provider jack the price the 2nd month. Yet another good point (you've got a lot of them :D ). We've already addressed this in our *Selling Strategies* that you can find in the right margin of the Auction home page. In the future, it will likely be incorporated into the sellers form that gets filled out whne posting an item to the auction.

I hope that answers your questions :) If not, feel free to let me know. It's feedback such as yours that will help shape FoundHost Auctions into a successful venture. We take all feedback seriously, and you raised some excellent points.

Thanks :agree:

This is a really good idea GoLions. How much does it cost to place your hosting plans there? Or is that free as well? I'm definitely going to register! Good luck with this new and exciting project! :)

Thanks beautiful :)

It's completely free to use FoundHost Auctions. We do not charge for putting your hosting plans up for auction, nor do we charge people to bid, nor do we charge when there's a winning bidder. There are no charges whatsoever. We simply want people to start using the service so it generates lots of traffic, particularly to the FoundHost.com showcase pages.

What DOES cost is if you want to advertise your hosting company in the FoundHost.com pages, or the banner sponsorship at the top of all FoundHost Auction pages. THAT is how we are going to be able to offer this service for free going into the future.

Advertising your company on the FoundHost.com pages in January starts at $25/month for button ads, block ads, or feature ads in the showcase pages... and goes up from there. Full pricing for January is now posted at www.foundhost.com/advertise.htm. If interested, let me know :)

Thanks again for the kind comments! :D

Hi GoLions,

You have a great idea. However your main site has more ads then I've ever seen on a hosting directory before. Not good.

Oh well, best of luck nonetheless.

You have a great idea. However your main site has more ads then I've ever seen on a hosting directory before. Not good. That's certainly some good advice. :) There's two ways to look at it....

1. Advertisers on the site may not want that many ads so their's stands out more. AND, those looking for hosting may be too confused by all the choices.

2. The more ads that exist on a given page, the cheaper those ads will be for the advertiser.... thus making it more affordable to some. AND, those lookin gfor hosting have many companies to choose from, and not just one or two (some like that).

So there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument.... but you bring up a good point.

How about any other comments out there? What would you rather see? And what is your perspective (lookin gfor hosting, or selling it)?

Thanks Michael ;)

So there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument....
A directory is dedicated to the needs of the visitor (in this case those perspective hosting customers), not the advertisers. Your intentions seem a bit tainted and less comforting to the bulk of your of your traffic that 'attracts' those same advertisers. My only suggestion is that you reevaluate your plans, and accommodate accordingly. Because #2 serves no justice for the visitors such as myself. In the long run you will profit.

BTW, I own Find Host.com ;) (no space)
Would you be interested in purchasing it? Private message me, as I do not want to clog your thread with off topic bartering.

Thanks, and like I said before-- Best of luck.

Hi Michael,

I disagree when you say #2 serves no justice to the customer. If you read it again, you'll see that there are actually two points in there. The first is that advertising costs will be lower (this carries no advantage for the customer.... you're correct). But the second point is that many customers want lots of choice (at least that's what our preliminary studies suggest).... and having lots of advertisers displayed gives them that choice.

I agree that the true "customer" of FoundHost.com is the person looking for a web hosting solution. And I'll even agree that "perhaps" there may be too many ads on the home page so that it appears cluttered (we may pair it down in coming months). But I don't agree that my intentions are tainted.

Let's make no bones about it.... FoundHost.com is not a non-profit organization. It's been developed to make a profit..... not right away, or even in a few months.... but perhaps in a year, I want the business to be making money.

So is this a hobby for me? Yes..... for now. But a hobby that I hope will start paying me back at some point in the future.

But for now I'm just going to have fun looking for ways to bring the right visitors to the website..... not just advertisers, but real people looking for web hosting.

If you have any suggestions on places to advertise that will accomplish this, I'm all ears ;)

All good chat!!

Rob.

I think this site is a really good idea, however it is horribly slow for me..


See Below:

traceroute to foundhost.com (66.197.174.4), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 user1.net065.nj.sprint-hsd.net (207.14.190.1) 6.629 ms 7.740 ms 6.836 ms
2 user2.net063.nj.sprint-hsd.net (207.14.188.2) 8.239 ms 7.934 ms 6.855 ms
3 sl-gw16-pen-10-0.sprintlink.net (144.228.181.41) 12.849 ms 13.837 ms 12.769 ms
4 sl-bb25-pen-0-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.5.93) 12.605 ms 13.295 ms 12.904 ms
5 sl-gw1-pen-10-0.sprintlink.net (144.232.5.6) 13.180 ms 13.340 ms 12.653 ms
6 sl-hostnoc-1-0.sprintlink.net (144.228.171.178) 365.177 ms 349.000 ms 340.530 ms
7 66.197.174.4 (66.197.174.4) 364.607 ms 318.714 ms 333.587 ms

I will check it again later, maybe your just having some bandwidth issues right now.

378.7ms is not bad, I am on dialup :bawling:

many customers want lots of choice

Consumers want useful info they can trust - nothing more. Ads are not a resource. They are a way to fund a useful resource plus make a profit.

The auction is a novel concept - but this market has 15,000 suppliers so the consumer doesn't need to bid up prices. Its the suppliers that would bid down prices.

Any new site takes a lot of effort to put together - so good luck with it all.

Thanks for the feedback NovaW :)

A reverse auction is something we're seriously thinking about (it was also suggested several days ago by a previous poster).

Cheers!

I think the reverse auction idea is a really good one. And I think it will be much better than someone making a request here - where the moment you make a request for something, you get flooded with emails and PMs.

As mentioned before, it will be important to know that the buyer does not have to necessarily accept the lowest bid, as the lowest bidder may be someone with whom the buyer wishes not to do business.

Lookin' very good so far, Rob.

Vito

I looked at your advertising page and one thing that was not mentioned was the ability to check the performance of your ads. Is this an option?

Chuggles...
Currently the best way to do that is to give us a modified link to your URL, so you know where visitors to your site are coming from. Some give us as simple a link as www.webhost.com?ref=foundhost, whereas others have more sophisticated means by having their ad click to a unique URL just for FoundHost.com referrals. They'll then have tracking code take over from there. Some also give us different links for each type of ad they have with us (if they have more than one)

At some point in the near future we will be incorporating ad server software that will allow advertisers to track their ad's progress without these modified links.... but we're probably a month or two away from that right now.

I hope that helps :)

Rob.

Absolutely true Vito.... I think it's a great idea, and would only work if the person looking for hosting knew he/she wasn't obligated to choose the lowest bidder.

Not everyone just looks for the cheapest price..... do they? :eek: :eek: ;)

Thanks for all the tips guys! I'm extremely busy right now getting everything setup for January 1.... getting advertisers in place, new articles, etc, etc...... that it may take me a little longer than normal to answer your questions. But I'll do my best! :cool:

As for the reverse auction.... once the dust settles and the January site is up (Jan 1), we'll look at making improvements to the auction. We'll also be polling our existing registered members to see what they would like done differently, and run the reverse auction idea by them.

Rob.

Originally posted by GoLions
Chuggles...
Currently the best way to do that is to give us a modified link to your URL, so you know where visitors to your site are coming from. Some give us as simple a link as www.webhost.com?ref=foundhost, whereas others have more sophisticated means by having their ad click to a unique URL just for FoundHost.com referrals. They'll then have tracking code take over from there. Some also give us different links for each type of ad they have with us (if they have more than one)

At some point in the near future we will be incorporating ad server software that will allow advertisers to track their ad's progress without these modified links.... but we're probably a month or two away from that right now.

I hope that helps :)

Rob.
Download and install PHPadsNew....
It allows you to setup advertisers with info on clicks, impressions, etc. It also emails the advertiser this info at a set time you set, like every 7 days you can get an email like:

AdViews (Total): 2875
AdClicks (Total): 110
This was for a 7 day period.

These were the click and view stats for a business directory I host and design, and the showing up of my hosting banner.

Hey that looks like a great script SpiritAu :)
I've got it bookmarked and will take a closer look in due time.

Thanks!

Rob.