bugs4me
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,841
Likes: 1,466
|
Post by bugs4me on Mar 2, 2015 18:33:39 GMT
Ed - if you're going for a block or batch upload and I have no idea whether this is a good or bad idea until the proposal goes live.
What would help though IMO if possible is to have advance warning of the number of loans and their total value. This would ensure that adequate funds were in place rather than relying upon the FP system.
|
|
|
Post by MoneyThing on Mar 2, 2015 19:17:33 GMT
So todays key points were 1. Maximum bids for an initial period 2. Advanced look at forthcoming loans 3. Loans uploaded in groups 4. Password entry for each bid - is it necessay And more generally More loans to meet an obvious demand More partners to hopefully provide different & potentially larger loans which will assist with above/diversify portfolios Finally - better designed keyboards & more robust bananas Anything else? Thanks il moro for the summary. I will therefore follow your number system (with some additions), so that others can do so also. 1. Will look into this from a technical prospective. 2. Good idea and one that we will look into. 3. A system change is being uploaded tonight to allow for us in the office to upload the loans onto the platform and then we can select a batch of loans and click 'publish' so that they get uploaded at the same time. This should be ready for loans tomorrow. 4. We would rather keep this to add a layer of security. However, we could incorporate a 2nd password ‘Trading Password’ which would be by default the same as your primary password, but you can choose to change it to something simpler without compromising the strength of the primary? (For desktop/laptop users - you could copy your password to clipboard and paste in the field to make things easier (Ctrl+V)) Other comments: a. More Loans & More Partners. Yes & Yes! b. I am also just working on a way/process of batching similar asset types to be able to aggregate them into a single larger loan. I am popping over to see our Partner tomorrow to discuss this. c. Bid Field: We will change this to be blank rather than ‘1’. Regards, Ed Evening. On reflection we have now removed the password requirement for bidding purposes. We have also removed the default value ('1') in the investment field. Regards, Ed
|
|
|
Post by duncandive on Mar 2, 2015 19:21:36 GMT
'Ed' You are the 'Man'
|
|
|
Post by MoneyThing on Mar 2, 2015 19:29:39 GMT
Ed - if you're going for a block or batch upload and I have no idea whether this is a good or bad idea until the proposal goes live. What would help though IMO if possible is to have advance warning of the number of loans and their total value. This would ensure that adequate funds were in place rather than relying upon the FP system. Evening, Will try the batch upload and see how it goes. We can review it again afterwards and refine it further until we have got an approach that hopefully works for most people. In tandem with this approach, we will also be able to give a definitive notice of the total number & value of loans that will be uploaded. (We should have this function ready within the next day or two). In due course, we will update the system for us to be able to list the loans in advance of going live (pipeline). This will allow users to view the details of the loans and also see when they are scheduled to go live. Kind regards, Ed
|
|
|
Post by bracknellboy on Mar 2, 2015 20:12:45 GMT
Ed,
As someone who decided to (try) and dip their toe in today, and only managed a toe nail, I'll add my 2p worth - which is not that far off what I managed to get into loans :-)
In the short term, it probably doesn't matter at all to you whether lots of people manage to get a slice. Understandably your prime interest is to get the loans filled. You've been very successful at that, particularly given how new to the game you are.
However, I'm sure you'll appreciate that for the longer term you want to build up a loyal lender base as well as filling the loans.
I'm one of those who has a day job and simply am not in a position to sit at a keyboard at a requisite time and try my luck at getting a slice. I certainly won't be alone in that, even if there are a good number of people who are in a better position. I would be unlikely to repeat the exercise I tried today - even if I might change my password to be a simple string of the same character :-)
If it meets with your business objectives to try and build a wide base of lenders early by increasing the odds that any individual can get 'in' on a diversified set of loans, then my view is that only 3 things are required in combination:
1. Batch upload (or more likely release of pre-uploaded), at an advertised time. [I'd like after working hours but I can't expect that]. 2. Max. individual bid limit for an initial period (a bit scary for a new platform....will it fill??), and then lifted.
The first of these ensures that people are not all chasing the same loan at the same point in time, nor having to linger and refresh. The second of these significantly increases the chance of a broader number of early active lenders. If the person who want 30-50% slice of the cake can't get it to start with, then "they'll be back" to fill any gap.
If you want to encourage some form of due dil by lenders, then pipeline notification with details is good. But given the appetite you've so far managed to uncover, its very much a later nice to have.
|
|
|
Post by MoneyThing on Mar 2, 2015 20:51:32 GMT
Ed, As someone who decided to (try) and dip their toe in today, and only managed a toe nail, I'll add my 2p worth - which is not that far off what I managed to get into loans :-) In the short term, it probably doesn't matter at all to you whether lots of people manage to get a slice. Understandably your prime interest is to get the loans filled. You've been very successful at that, particularly given how new to the game you are. However, I'm sure you'll appreciate that for the longer term you want to build up a loyal lender base as well as filling the loans. I'm one of those who has a day job and simply am not in a position to sit at a keyboard at a requisite time and try my luck at getting a slice. I certainly won't be alone in that, even if there are a good number of people who are in a better position. I would be unlikely to repeat the exercise I tried today - even if I might change my password to be a simple string of the same character :-) If it meets with your business objectives to try and build a wide base of lenders early by increasing the odds that any individual can get 'in' on a diversified set of loans, then my view is that only 3 things are required in combination: 1. Batch upload (or more likely release of pre-uploaded), at an advertised time. [I'd like after working hours but I can't expect that]. 2. Max. individual bid limit for an initial period (a bit scary for a new platform....will it fill??), and then lifted. The first of these ensures that people are not all chasing the same loan at the same point in time, nor having to linger and refresh. The second of these significantly increases the chance of a broader number of early active lenders. If the person who want 30-50% slice of the cake can't get it to start with, then "they'll be back" to fill any gap. If you want to encourage some form of due dil by lenders, then pipeline notification with details is good. But given the appetite you've so far managed to uncover, its very much a later nice to have. Evening bracknellboy, Thank you very much for your thoughts. To cover your points in order: 1 - Thank you for registering and giving us a go. 2 - It matters a great deal to me to ensure everyone gets a 'slice'. I have been incredibly grateful to everyone on this forum for supporting us whilst we bed-in the platform, ramp-up and fine tune the system to suit based on great feedback. I have to admit that the uptake has caught me a little by surprise and now just trying to catch up with demand. I have also deliberately not started any wider marketing and just focused my time on this forum as the last thing I want is to loose any of our forum users who have been so incredibly supportive. 3 - No need to change your password to a single string of the same character as we have now removed the need for one when investing. 4 - Release of pre-uploaded loans. This feature is being updated tonight. You make a useful point regarding the timing and therefore will look at maybe two (or more) releases at different times of the day (including after hours). 5 - Max individual bid. Will certainly look at this and come up with an approach that works. There have been a number of different suggestions as to how to work this but will likely be a little trial and error to get the right balance. This will be a slightly longer piece of development work so you may have to bear with us a tittle while longer before this feature is available. 6 - Was there a 'third' requirement? 7 - My aim/target is to achieve sufficient loan flow so as to negate the need for restrictions on bidding but this will take a little while to achieve and therefore will look at bidding restrictions in tandem. 8 - We will be shortly releasing a new web page which details our IT roadmap, including what has been updated, what is in the pipeline being developed (with user voting to prioritise) and what is coming in the future. Thanks again. Kind regards, Ed
|
|
|
Post by bracknellboy on Mar 2, 2015 21:57:35 GMT
HI ed,
My "3rd" i ended up combining in the first: i.e. batched and adverstised. I expectd that the 'bid limit' might take a piece of work 'cos why would you have built it in at the start. This is a model which - as others may have said - seems to have worked quite well for FS without any downside. As to 'what value' its set to - absolute (across all loans), %age of value etc. - only time will tell AND probably it will need to change over time (lender base etc).
I suspect even as you scale loan pipeline, you may want to keep the idea of initial max bid: combination of fact that most people would much rather get their money spread over max possible number of loans, nature of what your offerring = significant portion of loans = low value, and that most lenders will miss most loans unless there there is some mechanism which initially at least can act to slow down rate of fill as result of small number of largish bids.
Now: is this the only pawn broker you currently have this relationship with ? If so, I can't help but suspect that the recent splurge is clearing a bit of a backlog of 'refinances' and that we may be into a much slower stream of new loans. Be interesting to hear your thoughts on that.
|
|
|
Post by Duane Dibley on Mar 2, 2015 21:59:29 GMT
Well well well that wasn't very successful was it, at least not for me.
There was I having deposited some money last week fully expecting to be able to snaffle up some shiny golden trinkets this evening.
Ha ha ha you silly old fool Caratacus, no chance. Absolutely no chance.
In my opinion, and ever so humble it is, an email an hour or two before loans go live really only suits those people who sit in front of a computer screen all day, those of us who work, look after family or simply have a life need a bit more notice.
Ideally, 24 hours notice would give us all time to deposit funds, make a nice pot of tea and plonk ourselves down in front of the pc with our finger hovering over the refresh button while we watch some greedy sod nick it all in front of our eyes. But then at least we'd have the nice cosy feeling of being involved, whereas now I feel it's all passed me by in a bit of a blur.
I fully appreciate you can't please all the people all the time but I hopefully a little bit of tinkering around limits and loan availability will at least produce a compromise that will please a few more people a bit more of the time.
Alternatively just post the loans up at random times throughout the day without any limits or notice to give us all that frission of excitement every time we log in.
Just think, next time it could be you.
|
|
bugs4me
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,841
Likes: 1,466
|
Post by bugs4me on Mar 2, 2015 22:28:53 GMT
Ed, As someone who decided to (try) and dip their toe in today, and only managed a toe nail, I'll add my 2p worth - which is not that far off what I managed to get into loans :-) In the short term, it probably doesn't matter at all to you whether lots of people manage to get a slice. Understandably your prime interest is to get the loans filled. You've been very successful at that, particularly given how new to the game you are. However, I'm sure you'll appreciate that for the longer term you want to build up a loyal lender base as well as filling the loans. I'm one of those who has a day job and simply am not in a position to sit at a keyboard at a requisite time and try my luck at getting a slice. I certainly won't be alone in that, even if there are a good number of people who are in a better position. I would be unlikely to repeat the exercise I tried today - even if I might change my password to be a simple string of the same character :-) If it meets with your business objectives to try and build a wide base of lenders early by increasing the odds that any individual can get 'in' on a diversified set of loans, then my view is that only 3 things are required in combination: 1. Batch upload (or more likely release of pre-uploaded), at an advertised time. [I'd like after working hours but I can't expect that]. 2. Max. individual bid limit for an initial period (a bit scary for a new platform....will it fill??), and then lifted. The first of these ensures that people are not all chasing the same loan at the same point in time, nor having to linger and refresh. The second of these significantly increases the chance of a broader number of early active lenders. If the person who want 30-50% slice of the cake can't get it to start with, then "they'll be back" to fill any gap. If you want to encourage some form of due dil by lenders, then pipeline notification with details is good. But given the appetite you've so far managed to uncover, its very much a later nice to have. One of the areas that many platforms manage to do as they evolve is to forget their original lender base. Is it called churn rate. Anyway, it doesn't seem to bother them as they scale up their platform but eventually things start to plateau with regards to new lenders and their original lenders are no longer around. IMO it is important that MT do not fall into the same trap. In my case, sometimes I'm around and other times I'm not as I have a life outside of the PC. It was suggested by someone else (on another platform) that they be allowed to deposit a certain sum say £500 and every loan that appeared would automatically attract an investment of say £25. Once the £500 was used then effectively they would be out of any further bidding but at least they would be involved and more importantly feel involved. Lodged deposits could be anything from £x to £xx but would overcome to a certain extent the reasonable gripe of those that are unable to be around (for whatever reason) when an auction went live. I forget now the exact amount suggested so I just put the £500 in as an example. The idea was rejected as I recall it was deemed to be unfair for whatever reason. I certainly couldn't see what was unfair about it but AFAIK the lender allowed their loans to run down and they went elsewhere. So whilst all the loans are filling nicely ATM, everyone has a certain financial limit that they are prepared to commit and it will be necessary to ensure as wide a spread as possible to encourage and keep both new and existing lenders. Once lenders find they are unable to participate then they will go elsewhere. Participating in the above suggestion would of course be entirely up to the individual and would not appeal to everyone. Just my thoughts on a chilly March evening.
|
|
Grezza
Member of DD Central
Posts: 152
Likes: 101
|
Post by Grezza on Mar 2, 2015 22:37:25 GMT
Sorry to hear you missed out Caratacus (great name btw). Yes, it was all a blur, even being poised ready on the keyboard to pounce wasn't a guarantee to getting a piece of the action today. I was lucky, having the time to do just that today. The good news is that I think maybe some investors will be nearing their initial level of investment (I am) and there seems to be more loans on the way. Coupled with MoneyThing's commitment to making some changes which should help all investors get on board. I agree with the sentiment already expressed elsewhere in this thread, that a little courtesy, and allowing everybody a small piece of a large number of loans is preferable for all, as this new platform develops. Hope you get invested soon! Edit:- please note, I'm not the greedy b******d taking £500 chunks of loans, I have 2k spread over 50+ loans.
|
|
oldgrumpy
Member of DD Central
Posts: 5,087
Likes: 3,233
|
Post by oldgrumpy on Mar 2, 2015 22:43:19 GMT
If a bid limit is imposed (initially) can that limit be clearly splashed on the page where we fill in our bid? Will there be a mechanism to stop people making a second quick bid (not that there will be time to do that in most cases). I agree with the sentiments of investors who can only bid after work in the evening. I think half each day's allocation could be made live at some pre-determined time (e.g. 19:00).
"...The good news is that I think maybe some investors will be nearing their initial level of investment (I am)..." Very possibly. I said I would be dipping my toe in. OK, I've put three toes in, and have almost spent up, and I'll be watching the progress for a few weeks rather than piling in, so I expect the investing may be less hectic as more people find the site, but start with modest budgets.
|
|
Grezza
Member of DD Central
Posts: 152
Likes: 101
|
Post by Grezza on Mar 2, 2015 23:28:56 GMT
I think half each day's allocation could be made live at some pre-determined time (e.g. 19:00).
I agree, good idea ........and with the new batch system it would not be too difficult to implement, Ed? How about only being allowed to participate in one or t'other of the batches....or is that going too far? As a temporary measure only if things remain frantic, that is. (19:00 is fine too, I don't listen to The Archers anymore!)
|
|
|
Post by duncandive on Mar 3, 2015 3:57:56 GMT
I ended up diving today and enjoying the sunshine, so I missed out on the blurrr Very interesting reading everyones comments and of course Ed's (Great Guy) replies. Just a thought, if an initial 'Max Bid' is put in place, say £25/£50 per loan, how about having a distinct button for that amount. That way an investor can just click on that knowing their bid can go instantly into the cue. I have very little tech understanding, so no idea if this would be possible to create.
|
|
jonno
Member of DD Central
nil satis nisi optimum
Posts: 2,745
Likes: 3,138
Member is Online
|
Post by jonno on Mar 3, 2015 10:24:12 GMT
Ed,now that the dust has settled on yesterday,a few thoughts. Firstly I am sure nobody blames you for what became a frantic hour as nobody could have expected such a surge compared to Friday nor legislate for the behaviour of a certain individual/s. Your quick and earnest response has been admirable and am sure has kept most of us "two week veterans" on board. Secondly, my advice would be not to action too many "knee-jerk" reactions too quickly as the preservation of your overall model is,I'm sure,your primary focus. Many of the suggestions you've had have been helpful,particularly around early bid limitation (excess of which was yesterday's major problem) and batching of bids (would they all need to have the same maturity date?).However,just be careful that you don't make changes that you may regret,or at least need to reconsider once things have settled down. I'm sure most if not all of us "early birds" will stick with you and give you the support you need to make a success of this venture. Thanks for your hard work.Regards JONNO P.S. Right then,When does today's lunatic melee start?
|
|
bugs4me
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,841
Likes: 1,466
|
Post by bugs4me on Mar 3, 2015 10:37:33 GMT
Ed,now that the dust has settled on yesterday,a few thoughts. Firstly I am sure nobody blames you for what became a frantic hour as nobody could have expected such a surge compared to Friday nor legislate for the behaviour of a certain individual/s. Your quick and earnest response has been admirable and am sure has kept most of us "two week veterans" on board. Secondly, my advice would be not to action too many "knee-jerk" reactions too quickly as the preservation of your overall model is,I'm sure,your primary focus. Many of the suggestions you've had have been helpful,particularly around early bid limitation (excess of which was yesterday's major problem) and batching of bids (would they all need to have the same maturity date?).However,just be careful that you don't make changes that you may regret,or at least need to reconsider once things have settled down. I'm sure most if not all of us "early birds" will stick with you and give you the support you need to make a success of this venture. Thanks for your hard work.Regards JONNO P.S. Right then,When does today's lunatic melee start? I echo your thoughts jonno and we need to remember this is a young platform developing (hopefully). The only change I would make is to limit the bid for the first 24 hours - something that would be easy to do. In doing so, it would keep most folks happy and allow them to participate. I cannot see how you could batch the loans together as they all have different LTV's and averages. You cannot of course average an average so it would mean a great deal of unnecessary extra work. Keep the thing simple and if you're around then fine, if you're not then that's life.
|
|