Hello. Stefan here, writing you from Multiply HQ in Jakarta, Indonesia.
As most of you are probably aware, Multiply's mission has evolved over the past year and a half to become the biggest and most beloved ecommerce marketplace in two very exciting markets, Indonesia and the Philippines. As our focus has shifted, we have reviewed all of our operations, and made some decisions that will affect everyone here.
From December 1st, we will unfortunately no longer be able to support Multiply in its current form - notably we will be removing the social networking and content sharing part of Multiply (photos, videos, blogs, social messaging, etc.). We have decided to discontinue providing and hosting these services, as we have concluded that other Internet sites who are committed to social networking services will do a better job serving you than we can.
For our existing users of social networking features, we will be providing easy ways for you to either download your stuff (photos, blogs, content, etc), or migrate it to other online services. We'll announce the precise details shortly. It will be your choice whether to download, migrate or just let your content lapse (and get deleted).
For our existing ecommerce users (both buyers and sellers) in Indonesia and the Philippines, there will be no action required.
Regarding any existing Multiply Premium subscriptions we will refund any unused balance, and apologize for any inconvenience this will cause. Please contact customer service to request a refund. Note that this is for Multiply Premium, not the ecommerce related Multiply Trust product.
I am aware of how disruptive this news may be, and understand the disappointment that it may cause. Ultimately this was a business decision, critical to our to success moving forward. Instead, we are excited to pursue our own mission to give the 350 million consumers in Indonesia and the Philippines a great way to buy and sell items online. Our singular focus now is for Multiply to retain its status as a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia in the years ahead.
I suspect that many of you will not like this news, and am sorry to have to deliver it now. I hope that you will be able to understand the reasons for our decision and thank you for being a part of the Multiply community over the past eight years.
Stef
As was so eloquently stated by my friend rifestitch (and since I can't say it better, I will quote her in part here):
"So ... the rest of us have to find a new home and place to put our posts, photos, journals - and who the hell knows if they will actually HELP us get our stuff from here to there, wherever there happens to be? Since there's no MONEY in it for them, I would say NO. I guess, with the continuing loss of functionality and Customer Service, that the end was obviously coming - but really?"
So watch this space for a new address eventually. Like others, I am doing some research as to a new location although I doubt any will have the flexibility that we had here at Multiply (blog and photo albums combined, for example) without a horrendously large monthly charge... So far, I am looking at Blogger (since I already have a Google account and use Blogger for Bead Journal Project postings) and Tripod (since I have four websites there --- three on Trellix and one on Zeeblio site builders), possibly parking my stitchery albums on Photobucket (where I already have a premium account). Of especial concern to me is space (as much as possible) and $$$ (as little as possible) and I don't want to mess with having to find a blog host either. If any of my readers have suggestions as to a suitable place to park my blog, I would appreciate comments as to the pros and cons.
P.S. Edited to add that Tripod won't work, at least for me, since the photo gallery I have is limited there, already filled with my website photos, and it is not allowing me to upload ANY graphics into the blog. Had a heck of a time joining up with one other possible ipernity (they bill in euros so I'm a little wary about them after the international implication of dealing with Multiply --- AH --- just found out, they are French! No wonder they didn't understand my plain English request for help!), but finally made it. Also signed on with Weebly (based in San Francisco, it seems --- at least it's made in the USA - I have a draft site up on Weebly with three photo alums loaded here: http://210920746822434353.weebly.com/ Hate all those numbers but don't want to BUY a domain name so...).
If only there was a way to transfer blogs now without having to copy each and every one (I don't trust Multiply to make good on an export tool). I had three days in copying (two pages, not even one year) and all of a sudden, one of the pages disappeared and I'm back to square one on the copying!
As most of you are probably aware, Multiply's mission has evolved over the past year and a half to become the biggest and most beloved ecommerce marketplace in two very exciting markets, Indonesia and the Philippines. As our focus has shifted, we have reviewed all of our operations, and made some decisions that will affect everyone here.
From December 1st, we will unfortunately no longer be able to support Multiply in its current form - notably we will be removing the social networking and content sharing part of Multiply (photos, videos, blogs, social messaging, etc.). We have decided to discontinue providing and hosting these services, as we have concluded that other Internet sites who are committed to social networking services will do a better job serving you than we can.
For our existing users of social networking features, we will be providing easy ways for you to either download your stuff (photos, blogs, content, etc), or migrate it to other online services. We'll announce the precise details shortly. It will be your choice whether to download, migrate or just let your content lapse (and get deleted).
For our existing ecommerce users (both buyers and sellers) in Indonesia and the Philippines, there will be no action required.
Regarding any existing Multiply Premium subscriptions we will refund any unused balance, and apologize for any inconvenience this will cause. Please contact customer service to request a refund. Note that this is for Multiply Premium, not the ecommerce related Multiply Trust product.
I am aware of how disruptive this news may be, and understand the disappointment that it may cause. Ultimately this was a business decision, critical to our to success moving forward. Instead, we are excited to pursue our own mission to give the 350 million consumers in Indonesia and the Philippines a great way to buy and sell items online. Our singular focus now is for Multiply to retain its status as a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia in the years ahead.
I suspect that many of you will not like this news, and am sorry to have to deliver it now. I hope that you will be able to understand the reasons for our decision and thank you for being a part of the Multiply community over the past eight years.
Stef
As was so eloquently stated by my friend rifestitch (and since I can't say it better, I will quote her in part here):
"So ... the rest of us have to find a new home and place to put our posts, photos, journals - and who the hell knows if they will actually HELP us get our stuff from here to there, wherever there happens to be? Since there's no MONEY in it for them, I would say NO. I guess, with the continuing loss of functionality and Customer Service, that the end was obviously coming - but really?"
So watch this space for a new address eventually. Like others, I am doing some research as to a new location although I doubt any will have the flexibility that we had here at Multiply (blog and photo albums combined, for example) without a horrendously large monthly charge... So far, I am looking at Blogger (since I already have a Google account and use Blogger for Bead Journal Project postings) and Tripod (since I have four websites there --- three on Trellix and one on Zeeblio site builders), possibly parking my stitchery albums on Photobucket (where I already have a premium account). Of especial concern to me is space (as much as possible) and $$$ (as little as possible) and I don't want to mess with having to find a blog host either. If any of my readers have suggestions as to a suitable place to park my blog, I would appreciate comments as to the pros and cons.
P.S. Edited to add that Tripod won't work, at least for me, since the photo gallery I have is limited there, already filled with my website photos, and it is not allowing me to upload ANY graphics into the blog. Had a heck of a time joining up with one other possible ipernity (they bill in euros so I'm a little wary about them after the international implication of dealing with Multiply --- AH --- just found out, they are French! No wonder they didn't understand my plain English request for help!), but finally made it. Also signed on with Weebly (based in San Francisco, it seems --- at least it's made in the USA - I have a draft site up on Weebly with three photo alums loaded here: http://210920746822434353.weebly.com/ Hate all those numbers but don't want to BUY a domain name so...).
If only there was a way to transfer blogs now without having to copy each and every one (I don't trust Multiply to make good on an export tool). I had three days in copying (two pages, not even one year) and all of a sudden, one of the pages disappeared and I'm back to square one on the copying!
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