FoulFoot wrote:A while ago I toyed with the idea of installing some sort of auction software on the site.  Initially it would be free, and thereafter only a small transaction fee to basically cover expenses.  I dismissed it because trying to go up against eBay -- even in a small category like RPGs -- would seem to be a losing proposition.  Most importantly, the (good) software is several hundred bucks, and that's a lot to put down on an "experiment".

Still an interesting idea, though.  It'd be nice for the community as a whole to have a low-cost alternative to eBay, but I don't know how much interest is out there for such a thing.
Foul

Well, perhaps we could launch some kind of fundraising drive for getting enough money to cover software costs  I'd be interested, as a buyer and a seller, to have some competition for eBay. Competion is good, it makes large corporations more responsive (just look at Internet Explorer and Firefox - may God bless its founders!).

We have had fundraisers here ... two of them, in fact (perhaps more, but only two I've heard of).

In fact, it's the very top thing you see when you go to the main Acaeum forums page. And here's a link:

Acaeum donations page

I think we only have/had one fundraiser... the main one, via the donations page.  It's done quite well.

I took a further look at some auction software, and the only one I could find that had some air of legitimacy (i.e., support, robustness, etc) was PHP Auction XL.  It's $495 for the "normal" version, or $886 (ack) for the source-code version, which would probably be necessary in order to fix/customize the installation.  Another issue is that there's a nasty review out there, which may or may not be legit: http://www.munchtech.com/phpauction.html .  Gives you pause.

It's still an interesting idea, assuming that the software works as advertised.  Any annoyance, though, and people will just use eBay.  It'd also be an uphill battle to convince people that their exposure (which translates to higher closing price) would be equal or better than what they could get on eBay.  That's the main reason, IMHO, the auction sites on Amazon and Yahoo failed.

I'll e-mail Paul of Cthulhu and ask him what software they used, and what the problems were.

Foul

FoulFoot wrote:I think we only have/had one fundraiser... the main one, via the donations page.  It's done quite well.

I took a further look at some auction software, and the only one I could find that had some air of legitimacy (i.e., support, robustness, etc) was PHP Auction XL.  It's $495 for the "normal" version, or $886 (ack) for the source-code version, which would probably be necessary in order to fix/customize the installation.  Another issue is that there's a nasty review out there, which may or may not be legit: http://www.munchtech.com/phpauction.html .  Gives you pause.

Foul

I'd agree about wanting source, but that's starting to get steep! Keep us posted! Thanks

Can't help on the IP side, but would be in for a donation. I love the idea.

I have a great idea.  Use the ebay affiliate program:



http://affiliates.ebay.com/



Feature auctions on your front page.  That are listed in ebay!



Just a thought

Deadlord39 wrote:The problem you will run into is this: eBay has an insane amount of exposure (comparatively), and since everyone here trolls eBay regularly, sellers would be far better off to list their stuff on eBay.

The only problem with eBay -- and the reason for even considering a competing venture at all -- is that their fees are high.  You certainly get what you pay for (exposure), but I think it might be possible to compete with that exposure in a niche market... namely, ours.

I'd think we could definitely make the forum membership and the auction site membership mutually exclusive, so one need not be a forum member to participate.

Foul

Beyondthebreach wrote:Would there be options for non-auction, fixed price sales?  

THAT is a great idea.  In the same way that nobleknight is a regular fixture for people to have a look for old rpg stuff, so the Acaeum could carry stuff for sale - I have some old stuff I can't be bothered to stick on ebay, and would definitely list them here.  And if people wanted to make offers - they could just pm the relevant member.  For example:

(newbie buyer) "Hi red_bus, I am really keen on your bargain set of six Quest for the Fazzlewoods in the original shrink, which you have listed.  Would you do a discount for trade?"

(red_bus) "Yes, no problem, Mr Newbie, what did you have in mind?"

(newbie buyer) "How about this old collection of my dads playboy mags from the 1960s - they are old enough you can claim it is nostalgia not porn, and there is enough variety to keep you busy through the long winter months?"

(red_bus) "all right I'll give you 20% off - how does a total of $40 plus shipping sound?"

(newbie) "Deal!"

I would be more interested in an Acaeum store where members could list their items with buy-it-now type pricing rather than an auction house.