So it seems like Bob, owner of JohnCow.com and now the previous owner of the Million Euro Wiki, couldn’t devote enough time to the slow growing enterprise, and has decided to sell it off to two members that have previously bought a page on the site.

On JohnCow.com he goes into his process of notifying the user base, selling the site, and reassuring people.

Hi all,

First of all, I don’t see what all the commotion is about. You bought a page on MEW and what you bought is still there isn’t it? It’s still being promoted, the affiliate model is still in place which encourages people to promote it themselves. I will still endorse the program on my blog, being it as an affiliate. As shall the other big blog names out there. They promoted in because they are affiliates in the first place. I don’t see them stopping any time soon.

I’ve kept every promise I made, paid every penny earned by the affiliates, gave away the $400 ipods, paid a lot of money on PR and getting the script just right. Do you really think that with 73 pages sold, I have put $7300 in my pocket to walk away with? Well think again.

After the prize-money, affiliates fees, PR costs and initial setup, my “profits” are very slim.

By setting up this private auction, I’m certain to find a suitable or even better person to run the site because it’s in all our best interests. If I were to “scam” you folks, I’d be trying to sell off the site online somewhere for a couple of thousand dollars wouldn’t I? Or just drop it all together. Not caring who would end up buying it.

Not to have a “knee jerk reaction” to this whole thing, but why would you start a project like this if you weren’t going to follow through? The reason people buy pages on these sites is because they trust those running it.

Would John Chow have promoted the Million Euro Wiki if it wasn’t the owner of JohnCow.com that had headed up the site? I highly doubt it. Trust is what makes these sites work, and by selling, Bob has betrayed that trust. Who are the new owners? Will they continue to promote the site, and thus the member pages with as much passion and effort as Bob once did? Will they keep the site active for years to come? What if the new owners purchased it, only to flip it to make a profit, without real regard to anyone else that has purchased a page?

All of these questions, despite his constant reassurances, are unanswered, and I think that calling valid concerns a “knee jerk reaction” is a bad way of smoothing over the fears and worries of the customer base that bought into this idea.

Originally posted on October 10, 2007 @ 10:24 pm