swfx, Stoli40, ....
My 2cents on the issue.
I became a member of MyMPxPlayer.org approx 7 months ago. Binh was running the thing on his own trying to answer as many questions as he could, maintain the web site, a full time job and raise a family with young kids. He originally started the site to support an on-line store he had and because he had a love for these players and saw a need for a site to provide support, tools etc.
When I joined I do not even think their were 2000 members.
As the players became more popular membership grew, the community grew and a lot of good stuff was being posted, the firmware and software library grew thanks to member uploads.
Around about August of this year MyMPxPlayers.com went over it's bandwidth allocation and Binh was smacked with a whopping bill of over $1600 (NZD) by GoDaddy.com and the site was taken off-line. For 2 weeks us addicts went into withdrawal and were saved when Binh forked out more money and the site came back on-line as MyMPxPlayer.org with a faster dedicated server at Webair.
I dont know about you but in the same position I would most likely have pulled the plug on it but Binh was committed to the site and the fact that it had grown proved that there was a need but if it was to continue he was going to need a bit of help paying the costs.
The PayPal donation system was setup and a handful of dedicated members donated what they could but membership was again on the up and once again bandwidth usage and costs were on the rise, from memory I think it was costing $200+ (USD) about $300- $350 (NZD) per month. In an attempt to bring the bandwidth down most of the downloads were moved off site to filesharing web sites. More money was invested to improve the site ram was doubled on the server to speed it up and membership continued to grow.
As more and more people were being ripped off with hacked players the Blacklist was set up to help warn buyers and the site had taken on a new direction. The savings made by moving downloads off site soon became insignificant as bandwidth continued to rise. Sponsers were added to the site, To encourage donors a player was given to the site for a donors draw which bought in a few more dollars and thankyou to all those that did donate you made a difference. The sad fact is people are not quick to donate thats life. Charities actually spend millions encouraging people to donate to their causes.
I agree with you the ebay ads on site are not my favourite and I cringe when I see 4 & 8 GB players listed but the couple of bucks they bring in per day make the difference between the community having what I believe is an invaluable resource for MP4 Player owners. The community now has a voice where they can speak out against these theives, people are banding together, knowledge is being shared. Although it is hard to gauge what is being accomplished I see posts by members who are getting most of their money back, others are finding out the truth before they buy their 4GB players.
This is only going to grow and personally I hope that eBay is eventually held accountable for it's lack of interest in protecting it's members.
Binh is trying to filter out all the hacked players from the sponser ads but it is inevitable that some will slip through and I can understand the frustration that members feel when they see players advertised by the very sellers that ripped them off.
Whilst like you I would rather see them gone how about coming up with some alternate ideas on how to help offset the running costs of the site instead of slamming Binh for doing what he can to keep the site running.
Personally I kind of like the irony that eBay is contributing to the running of a web site that will hopefully help hold them accountable for their lack of moral conscience and greed.
I also note with interest that most of the names I see bagging Binh, the site and the ads are not on the donors list :(

You had to throw down the gaunlet, didn't you? Now you made me go and donate. I'm a firm believer in "putting my money where my mouth is." ;) I don't want to turn this into a debate because you are very right that Binh is doing what he can to keep the site up. I know this expense first hand as I have been involved in many similar ventures throughout my career in IT. For the record, I wasn't 'bagging' on anyone and like Stoli, I am just a guest here. I just think maybe we should find some better sponsors. IMO, it would make better sense for mympxplayer.org to be a 'safe' place to buy mpx players. I also stated in my other post that it would be great to have a 'whitelist' of safe eBay sellers to get mpx players from. After being burned by a scammer, it would be nice to have some 'friends' to tell you where you can buy from and not get scammed. That's all I have to add.

swfx, :twisted: Excellent my Evil Plan is working :twisted:
Thankyou for donating though and Binh will possibly get up me for posting this in the first place but I needed to vent my spleen. I did not mean to attack anyone personally just maybe shead light on the other side of the story.

re White List I agree it is a great idea but I am not sure how you keep a White List white. How do you keep the supposedly honest ones honest. What stops a crook from becoming a member and listing himself on the White List, A) for financial gain and B) to discredit the site.

Anyhow the fight goes on, as some one said to me the other day "Have a Cool Yule" and thanks again for the donation.

Re: The Blacklist
 

Ok, firstly I agree with swfx in that I don't want this turn into a mud slinging match about running the site etc as I am really in no position to have input on how things should be run or administered.

I appreciate you explaining the background of the site as it gives a clear picture of the true intentions behind the scenes and sufficiently answers the question that I posed.

In summary as I understand it is that you need the income generated from the eBay store to keep the site afloat. When you have enough income from other sources you can stop the direct linking making the site 100% reliable in the resources you provide.

That is all I really need as an answer.

However on a personal note I am dissapointed that you considered my questions as a 'bagging' of the admin or the site.
At no time was I interesting in discrediting the efforts paticulary since the information helped me in recovering my money.

I merely wanted to clear up the one anomaly in what would otherwise be a perfect website.

Think about it, if you saw a cause that you really wanted to help out and get involved with, but were unsure about what they were really trying to do because of one thing, would you be parting with money before you asked some questions?

Anyway, I don't wish to push this any further except to say be careful of what you write if your asking for help, especially when you are representing other people's interest. You don't know who is on the other side.

Otherwise a big Thank You to the Admin team. Hopefully there will be better ways coming to ensure the future financial viablility of the site.

Have a fun and safe Christmas.

Re: The Blacklist
 

Add me to the list of those hornswoggled by e-britain. Bought a 4GB player, and received a 1GB player hacked to appear as if it's got 4GB capacity.

Sigh.

I'm still hoping to get them to give me a full refund. I'm not willing to keep this thing at full price, and a mere GBP5 (apx US$10?) refund CERTAINLY doesn't make up the difference between 1GB and 4GB!

And I paid US$60 for my piece of junk.

Re: The Blacklist
 

Just joined this forum after seeing a link on ebay.

Earlier in December I bought a 4GB MP4 player from mp4.wholesales, I sent some emails with questions but never heard back from him. I finally got an email last week saying that the product was shipped weeks ago, immediately followed by a refund to my Paypal account saying that there was a problem with the Chinese mail in sending the package.

As if that wasn't enough, the guy file an unpaid item strike. Apparently China has been producing high quality crack in addition to MP4 players, because I don't know what this guy is on (and his feedback has been getting torn to shreds in the last few days).

So just say no to mp4.wholesales

So here's my question. Who here has purchased a black 4GB player from someone and had it actually WORK correctly, and what was their screen name so I can buy from them too? I'm also looking to buy 5-12 of those at one time.

Re: The Blacklist
 

Add myself to the list of thoes conned by e-britan! I paid 34GPB, for a 4gig - got a 1gig - and he said he would refund 5GPB!! Ha what a freakin joke! I've filed this w/ ebay as well and got the "we'll investigate it message" I'll hold my breath!....Happy Birthday Jesus! :cry:

Re: The Blacklist
 

Ebay seller: soelectron (from Hong Kong)
Bought a '4GB' mp4 player and shortly after getting it, I got a 'disk error' message. When I used the partition tool, it came up as a 2 GB capacity. So I popped the back and checked the memory chip, which turned out to be a Samsung 634 K9LAG08U0M which is a 2GB chip.

Re: The Blacklist
 

hello all,

I just thought I would let you all know that the mp3/4 player arrived today.. and no suprise it is rubbish. I have put some songs on it and even though they do not appear to be on it the computer thinks the mp3/4 player is full!!

I have emailed the seller Ugoole (and borrowed some words from other people. Hope no one minds)

The mp3/4 player arrived today and is not what the product you sold me. I have done some research into your Mp4 players and it is my belief that you have sent me a fraudulant 4Gb players that only have a 1gb or 2gb chipset. Furthermore, it does not work. You have given me in writing that you will be providing REAL 4Gb players, and it is on ebay for all to see. FULL refund into my PayPal account. I will NOT accept a partial refund as you have offered other people. I have contacted ebay about your fradulent activity and will be happy to take the matter further. This is a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourself selling faulty goods that do not meet the specification made.
I expect a reply within 2 working days or I will contact paypal and let every ebay customer know what you are selling

Disgusted
Fiona890

We will wait and see what reply I get.

I have contacted ebay but they were not helpful at all.
I have previously emailed the seller to ask exactly where they were located and recieved a reply that was all ???
If this matter is not rectified I intend to go to paypal too.

I have never seen such a pile of junk in all my life.

Oh well I will keep fighting.

Happy New Year to everyone and lets hope we can stop these people



Fiona 890 :)

Re: The Blacklist
 

Add ebay seller buy_lowest to the blacklist.

I bought a 4GIG player from them and it is only 1GIG.

I have filed dispute with paypal.

Good luck to all!