An Acaeum auction site?
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Poll: If The Acaeum were to add an eBay-style RPG auction site, would you use it?

I'd definitely use it 52%       52%  [ 33 ]
I'd use it only if the fees were a fraction of eBay's 22%       22%  [ 14 ]
I'd use it only if it were free 5%       5%  [ 3 ]
I wouldn't use it unless the viewership matched eBay's RPG category 13%       13%  [ 8 ]
I love eBay; I wouldn't use it regardless 9%       9%  [ 6 ]
Total votes : 64

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:07 pm 
 

Prufrock wrote:I would certain support any sellers by buying here first before going to ebay.  I also think the storefront is the way to go.
Martin




I agree on both points.



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Post Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:19 am 
 

Though I voted against the idea, I wanted to clarify something.

I would take advantage of an Acaeum auction site, but I think Ebay still offers the best possible exposure for both sellers and buyers.  We are a tight knit community, but we only represent a portion of the whole community.  An Acaeum auction site would severely limit exposure of any item listed to just those who are aware of the site, a bad move for sellers to say the least.  Buyers could benefit as there may be less competition in the auctions...but it would come from a very knowledgable base, meaning fewer "steals" for the high end items.

just my .02

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:45 pm 
 

Mbassoc2003 wrote:You could always introduce a flat rate fee once you have a decent amount of bidders and sales established each month.


I second that.  No insertion fee but a flat rate for any item sold.  Foul, the fee structure you mentioned sounds fine.  A "Buy It Now" equivalent would be nice too.

  


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:51 pm 
 

A drawback to a lack of insertion fees would be the inevitable "Creep-like" sellers who come out of nowhere and list 500 common-item auctions starting at sky-high prices.

However, if there are auction moderators they would be able to deal with this.

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:57 pm 
 

I have mixed feelings with the idea.  I favor the idea from the standpoint that it would be nice to complete the incomplete segments of my own collection.  I dislike the idea if it is becomes used for the purpose of gaining items to be sold elsewhere (like ebay) for a "middleman" profit.  I get the feeling that a majority of the members here are old school gamers that are looking to help each other out (perhaps I am way off on that asumption...maybe it is all about making a buck)....as a newbie to the site and forum I'll have to find that out for myself.



I personally don't care much for ebay.  I'd rather trade, barter or deal with people that have a similiar interest in the hobby as a whole.  I like the idea of some sort of mechanism in which to conduct those trades, however I'm not too keen on the idea of having the last minute bidding frenzy of an auction setting.  Just my 2 cents.

  

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:58 pm 
 

How about limiting the number of items that you can list based on your total forum posts?

Total posts divided by 10 = number of allowed listings at any one time

That gives long term supporters of the forums some benefit and allows new users of the listing service to be unofficially "vetted" by the regulars.  :)


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Post Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:07 am 
 

 Xaxaxe wrote:
 I just don't see the appeal (from a seller's standpoint, that is) of an auction format here. Given the choice of audiences, I'd take my items to the place with more than 100 million registered users, not the one with 800 or so.


Some thoughts:

I think the main draw would be lower fees than Ebay. However, the question is whether the discount in fees is commensurate with the lower exposure to potential buyers.

Most Buyers would still use PayPal, so Ebay would still get a cut...

Another advantage could be focus. I'm more likely to notice, say, BeyondtheBreach's really nice copy of the Basic Set when it's posted here. On Ebay there's so much crap to wade through that some stuff gets missed. For example, searching Basic D&D brings up numerous new 3E Basic Sets. This advantage would be hard to quantify, though.


It really comes down to .. what's the point? Is it to be a full blown competitor to eBay (say including all rpgs or games or hobbies), just to improve service, lower fees, all of these things... ? How many members are we seeking? Each of these has to be addressed specifically.

In any case, a useful thing to do would be to identify -- say, over the course of any one day -- the number of eBay users that buy/bid on D&D products (or use some other sampling method). Then use that sample to make an estimate for the entire population.

That would give some insight as to how many people are not being accounted for outside of this website. If there's only 2000 people who buy D&D stuff, and we've got 800, then it makes a competitive site attractive as we've got most of the big players here and some good promotion could pick up a lot of the rest.

But if the number is closer to a million, then you'd need to be quite an entrepreneur (site features, fees, new way of doing things, whatever.. that's the whole point) to grab enough people so that the network benefits of eBay are overcome by whatever benefits an Acaeum auction site would have to offer.

And if I were to be so bold to speculate, if one were actually able to lure one million eBay users onto your own auction site, it would end up as a for-profit operation whether one liked it or not.

  

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Post Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:26 am 
 

jasonw1239 wrote:How about limiting the number of items that you can list based on your total forum posts?

Total posts divided by 10 = number of allowed listings at any one time

That gives long term supporters of the forums some benefit and allows new users of the listing service to be unofficially "vetted" by the regulars.  :)


wahay i am well sorted then :D

Al


Are we nearly there yet?

  

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Post Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:34 am 
 

GamersRest[FNG] wrote:Though I voted against the idea, I wanted to clarify something.

I would take advantage of an Acaeum auction site, but I think Ebay still offers the best possible exposure for both sellers and buyers.  We are a tight knit community, but we only represent a portion of the whole community.  An Acaeum auction site would severely limit exposure of any item listed to just those who are aware of the site, a bad move for sellers to say the least.  Buyers could benefit as there may be less competition in the auctions...but it would come from a very knowledgable base, meaning fewer "steals" for the high end items.

just my .02

~jeff




i think though, you need to also see it like this. any of the members here, who are selling a semi-rare/rare item, once listed, everyone will notice it, whoever is looking. you cant tell me, that whatever item youre on the lookout for, as an example, Palace of the Vampire Queen, you just look on ebay?



what this has got going for it, is that you KNOW where the item is coming from and you will easily be able to relate to the reliability of that seller, as quite often as is the case, you have dealt with the a number of times before.



i am many more times more likely to buy an item from one of the Acaeum folk, than i am off someone i dont know on ebay. its as simple as that.



for me, it would be nice to have an auction/fixed price area, where you CAN rely upon the seller to give you an honest and reliable service and its NOT just about making a crap-load of money at the expense of someone.



sure you won't get a bargain, more often than not, but most rare items generally never are anyway.



Al



ps. *refrains from making further comments and keeps to the general topic at hand*


Are we nearly there yet?

  

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:08 am 
 

Hi all,

I believe that if people have the time to set up and administer an Acaeum auction site then they should do so. From a costs point of view it should be affordable to set up and maintain, and I'm sure that either donations or minimal auction/listing fees could cover those costs.

One thing that I think would make the acaeum auction site really work well would be to have it linked to the large database of product info already here. That way, content descriptions would be a breeze, and people would only have to focus on describing the condition of the item, and whether it has any extras or missing components.

For the storefront side of this, you could actually see if it would work to have originals of an item available for purchase while viewing an item in the collector database.  

As for whether Ebay will have higher sales prices or more exposure, we have to start somewhere and won't know unless we try. One of the reasons Ebay has grown so much is because of the lack of alternatives, especially niche marketplaces that offer a narrow range of product with loads of background info, forums to discuss collectables, etc. Fixed price stores, especially niche ones, do quite well even though Ebay is an 800 pound gorilla next door.

Rick

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:35 am 
 

rmeints wrote:For the storefront side of this, you could actually see if it would work to have originals of an item available for purchase while viewing an item in the collector database.  



I completely disagree with this suggestion.  The last thing I would want to see if a store/auction capability is added to the Acaeum is the complete commercialization of all aspects of the website.  I think adding the "find this item in our store" to the collector information side of things is going over the line.  Lets not turn the Acaeum into the Atlanta Olympics.

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:41 pm 
 

One of the reasons Ebay has grown so much is because of the lack of alternatives, especially niche marketplaces that offer a narrow range of product with loads of background info, forums to discuss collectables, etc. Fixed price stores, especially niche ones, do quite well even though Ebay is an 800 pound gorilla next door.


Man, here I thought eBay was successful because they give buyers and sellers the best medium (in terms of interface, fees, and ease of use) to orchestrate mutually beneficial exchange.

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:17 pm 
 

Just some thoughts.  Personally, I like the current "Classifieds" section as it is.  I'm going to assume other avenues are being considered for financial reasons.

Foulfoots's already offered extremely inexpensive webspace in the past as a "donation incentive" to help cover the costs of maintaining the site.  If people want to advertise items on this site, why not extend the program?

IIRC, for a measly $20 you get a whopping 50 Mb of webspace for an entire year, which ought to be more than enough to set up your own "store" on the same server that runs Acaeum.  Perhaps posting in the Classifieds section should be limited to those that have made a minimum donation?  Half the time, people are just pointing out their own eBay auctions, anyway.

 YIM  

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:48 am 
 

Actually, financial reasons weren't a primary consideration.  :)  I suppose if an auction/store module did really well, it might generate some income, but I doubt that it would do really well.

My main motivation was just as stated: to offer an alternative to eBay for the RPG marketplace.  eBay's nice for the exposure, and the selection, but the fees are annoying.  And it's difficult to impossible to get good customer service, i.e. auctions removed, feedback adjusted, cases investigated.

I'd leave the Classifieds section just as it is.  That forum has become the de-facto replacement for rec.games.frp.marketplace (without the banter and live auctions, of course), and I'm happy to continue it.  If implemented, the auction/store would be a totally independent supplement to the Classifieds.

I think a few people already use Acaeum space (acquired via donation) to host item scans for their eBay auctions or stores.  They could, of course, install their own web store in that space if they wanted; I've never looked into it, but I believe some merchant-type software (shareware, of course) is even included in the install package.  I know the system can support SSL certificates and cron jobs.

Foul

  


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:43 pm 
 

Well, I think this is a fantastic idea ... until the first serious altercation between members.  Then, it becomes a horrible idea.

When an item gets lost, damaged, uninsured, poorly packed, underpaid, pay-refuted, scammed, misrepresented, or delayed ... who is the go-to person?  Foulfoot?  A volunteer?  No one, leaving the buyer and seller at each other's throats all over the forums?

All I know is it sure as Hell isn't going to be me.   :lol:

  


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:50 pm 
 

When an item gets lost, damaged, uninsured, poorly packed, underpaid, pay-refuted, scammed, misrepresented, or delayed ... who is the go-to person?  Foulfoot?  A volunteer?  No one, leaving the buyer and seller at each other's throats all over the forums?

All I know is it sure as Hell isn't going to be me.  


Gimme a break. There are no shady dealers in this place. In fact, we have a 93-page thread proving that.

  

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:08 pm 
 

Sea-to-sky-games wrote:
Gimme a break. There are no shady dealers in this place. In fact, we have a 93-page thread proving that.


OK...now you're just trolling.


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:37 pm 
 

darkseraphim wrote:Well, I think this is a fantastic idea ... until the first serious altercation between members.  Then, it becomes a horrible idea.

When an item gets lost, damaged, uninsured, poorly packed, underpaid, pay-refuted, scammed, misrepresented, or delayed ... who is the go-to person?  Foulfoot?  A volunteer?  No one, leaving the buyer and seller at each other's throats all over the forums?

All I know is it sure as Hell isn't going to be me.   :lol:


This is a very telling point.  How would you police it?


Gary H. Kramer

  
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