agent69
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Post by agent69 on Dec 30, 2013 9:54:34 GMT
Looks like the TC gamble of listing lots of loans over the break is going to be a resounding failure.
9 loans listed. 2 @ £100k are fully funded the rest are nowhere. I'm struggling to understand why they have done this!
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Post by bracknellboy on Jan 1, 2014 13:44:59 GMT
Probably to get some early bidding out the way and reduce load on the system come start of January. I'm not convinced they will be a failure. The fixed rate loan has been filling up reasonably, which given its a £1m and coming on top of the recent £2m one which will have sucked a load of funds out the system is not too bad. The others (apart from the now relisted one) are variable rate, and there is little point in early bidding unless you happen to have cash sitting in your account.
Having said that, I'm getting a little nervous that the one due to finish on the 3rd January may not make it as I'd by now expect it to be much closer to the finishing line. If it doesn't go then certainly a number of hte others will also be in trouble and probably that would reflect some comination of a) funds sucked out by the £2m one b) the prolonged period of performance issues with the new website has resulted in a lack of new lending blood joining up at a crucial period.
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Post by mrclondon on Jan 2, 2014 22:53:44 GMT
Having said that, I'm getting a little nervous that the one due to finish on the 3rd January may not make it as I'd by now expect it to be much closer to the finishing line. If it doesn't go then certainly a number of hte others will also be in trouble and probably that would reflect some comination of a) funds sucked out by the £2m one b) the prolonged period of performance issues with the new website has resulted in a lack of new lending blood joining up at a crucial period. and/or c) very few of the TC offerings have both a good business model and good security. The ultrasound scan loan you mentioned is the latest request to be extended by an extra 7 days. Reading through this one, I'd almost convinced myself it was worth a bid until I reached the proposed security which appears to be limited to the second hand value of the scanners plus PG's. Unless I've missed it, there seems to be no legal charges to support the PG's. This seems more FC territory than a fully secured loan. There is only the 11% fixed interest export finance one that remotely interests me, and even that is marginal given the deadtime (bidding+drawdown+quarterly interest) will reduce the return significantly given its a 12 month loan [my guess c. 9.5% pa] The London restaurant group looks as if it will fail to fill despite the 7 day extension. Mid-range restaurants seem to struggle to survive long term - most of those near my office in the West End only last 3 or 4 years.
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gnasher
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Post by gnasher on Jan 3, 2014 9:52:24 GMT
b) the prolonged period of performance issues with the new website has resulted in a lack of new lending blood joining up at a crucial period. .... or probably more importantly has resulted in the old blood not being quite so keen to keep investing via a platform that does not seem to be in full control at present of this crucial part of its operations.
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Post by lynnanthony on Jan 3, 2014 10:09:43 GMT
The ultra sound scan loan filled half an hour before its original deadline. I get the impression that long duration auctions are a mistake. The nine loans that have been out there over the festivities might have gone better as staggered auctions of a week each (if you see what I mean ... three or four 7-day auctions out there at a time).
I wonder how many investors have not been able and willing to bid at any time over the holiday if necessary?
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JamesFrance
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Post by JamesFrance on Jan 3, 2014 11:33:20 GMT
I have been trying to view the auctions this morning but only see rotating dots. It could be inadequate bandwidth as I am on a Spanish wifi system, but other sites are loading normally. Even the forum there doesn't show.
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pikestaff
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Post by pikestaff on Jan 3, 2014 11:54:05 GMT
I've had no problems today. No slower than usual.
I agree with Lynn that long auctions are a mistake.
Also I do not understand why the export finance one asked for so much at once, for such a short term. If they had asked for half the money, saying that they would come back for the rest in the second half of January, both tranches would have flown out of the door. I think they would have done better still if they had gone for 2 years - even at a slightly lower rate.
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Post by mrclondon on Jan 3, 2014 22:25:56 GMT
Also I do not understand why the export finance one asked for so much at once, for such a short term. If they had asked for half the money, saying that they would come back for the rest in the second half of January, both tranches would have flown out of the door. I think they would have done better still if they had gone for 2 years - even at a slightly lower rate. They have now committed to take whatever is offered at the scheduled end date. The IP already hinted they are likely to return for additional funds in due course, so being a bit short at present is probably no major concern. Whilst I too would have preferred this to be over 2 years, I suspect the problem is the desire of the borrower for all debt funding to be on identical terms ... which means we are lumbered with 12 month loans to match the requirement for the IoM sourced funds to be repatriated there briefly each year.
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Jan 4, 2014 10:28:08 GMT
Is the £1k bid limit ultimately to TC disadvantage?
I'm certain more people out there would bid on the available loans if they could commit a lower amount (say £250)
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bugs4me
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Post by bugs4me on Jan 4, 2014 11:11:38 GMT
Is the £1k bid limit ultimately to TC disadvantage? I'm certain more people out there would bid on the available loans if they could commit a lower amount (say £250) IMO it is as most folks always want to just dip a toe in the water to see how things progress. I'm sure it's easier and maybe more cost effective not to deal with the toe dippers but that's another one of the ways you get lenders on board in the first place.
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Post by mrclondon on Jan 4, 2014 11:59:05 GMT
Is the £1k bid limit ultimately to TC disadvantage? I'm certain more people out there would bid on the available loans if they could commit a lower amount (say £250) IMO it is as most folks always want to just dip a toe in the water to see how things progress. I'm sure it's easier and maybe more cost effective not to deal with the toe dippers but that's another one of the ways you get lenders on board in the first place. The £1k limit is definately a constraint and not just for toe-dippers - at that level I'm looking for very good security, something that is lacking from many of the TC offerings (which might however tempt me at a much reduced bid level). Prior to the software "upgrade" last month TC would have listened to a well argued case for a minimum at say £500, but now there is no chance of a change in the policy. On the new TC forum thread "Time for Q&As Versus Auction Starts and Ends" their technical director is comparing the behaviour of us lenders wanting to bid on a loan on their website with a DDOS attack (Distributed Denial Of Service attack). The software can't cope with the current number of lenders let alone the increase that would come about if the minimum bid level was reduced. All a vast contrast to Assetz Capital with £20 min bids and software that copes (just about) with shifting a few hundred thousand pounds in less than a minute.
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bugs4me
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Post by bugs4me on Jan 4, 2014 12:10:52 GMT
IMO it is as most folks always want to just dip a toe in the water to see how things progress. I'm sure it's easier and maybe more cost effective not to deal with the toe dippers but that's another one of the ways you get lenders on board in the first place. The £1k limit is definately a constraint and not just for toe-dippers - at that level I'm looking for very good security, something that is lacking from many of the TC offerings (which might however tempt me at a much reduced bid level). Prior to the software "upgrade" last month TC would have listened to a well argued case for a minimum at say £500, but now there is no chance of a change in the policy. On the new TC forum thread "Time for Q&As Versus Auction Starts and Ends" their technical director is comparing the behaviour of us lenders wanting to bid on a loan on their website with a DDOS attack (Distributed Denial Of Service attack). The software can't cope with the current number of lenders let alone the increase that would come about if the minimum bid level was reduced. All a vast contrast to Assetz Capital with £20 min bids and software that copes (just about) with shifting a few hundred thousand pounds in less than a minute. I'm not involved with TC as when I first visited the website I thought it was a mess. Stand to be corrected but hasn't it just had a major rewrite? - well maybe the front end. If it cannot handle the current number of lenders then the technical director isn't very technical IMO. I'm always mindful that the website is the 'shop window' of any company.
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Post by mrclondon on Jan 4, 2014 12:16:35 GMT
I'm not involved with TC as when I first visited the website I thought it was a mess. Stand to be corrected but hasn't it just had a major rewrite? - well maybe the front end. If it cannot handle the current number of lenders then the technical director isn't very technical IMO. I'm always mindful that the website is the 'shop window' of any company. Following the rewrite its now a prettier mess
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ton27
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Post by ton27 on Jan 4, 2014 12:31:23 GMT
Up until the last month or so I have been an active bidder and supporter of TC. The "Software Upgrade" and the long auctions over Christmas (which produced a number of changes in terms/extensions in auction times) have prompted a rethink. I was already a "toe-dipper" in AC but have now decided, at least in the interim, to reduce my commitment to TC and increase it elsewhere - probably in AC, RS and possibly Wellesley.
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JamesFrance
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Post by JamesFrance on Jan 4, 2014 16:31:29 GMT
I was planning to transfer enough for a bid, but I still cannot get to the loan details from Spain, just the rotating dots and hourglass, so the spare cash this month will be going elsewhere. I can't be the only one with this type of problem.
I seem to remember Kevin posting that they would need to introduce lender fees when I mentioned a problem before, so I am not keen to mention it there. When I am back on my home isp in march I will try again.
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