Forum for sale and auction?

[BumChex]

I found a mod for our forum to do BiN auctions and full auctions with Paypal payment. It is through smfhacks.com it would run about $150 a year for the software. I am curious how many would like something like that on our forum? It wouldn't be an absolutely free service. There may be a small % taken from each auction but nothing as extreme as eBay. I am curious if you think your auctions would get enough exposure? We have about 150 users now and it's only been a month. I think it could generate some new blood to the forum and make this a portal for all non- sport collectables.
Thoughts?

[RonZombie]

I found a mod for our forum to do BiN auctions and full auctions with Paypal payment. It is through smfhacks.com it would run about $150 a year for the software. I am curious how many would like something like that on our forum? It wouldn't be an absolutely free service. There may be a small % taken from each auction but nothing as extreme as eBay. I am curious if you think your auctions would get enough exposure? We have about 150 users now and it's only been a month. I think it could generate some new blood to the forum and make this a portal for all non- sport collectables.
Thoughts?

Sounds like a great idea to me Brad, that's my 2 cents worth!

[BumChex]

Sounds like a great idea to me Brad, that's my 2 cents worth!

I just went and bought the mod. It is not ready and I will probably play around with it more tomorrow. I will let everyone know when it's ready. Should be fun.

[jeffcaff]

I like the idea so  please keep me updated.  Ebay is great company but the fees are getting a little out of control.  At $150.00 and 150 subscribers, that's only $1.00 per subscriber.  Something to think about.

[BumChex]

I like the idea so  please keep me updated.  Ebay is great company but the fees are getting a little out of control.  At $150.00 and 150 subscribers, that's only $1.00 per subscriber.  Something to think about.

So far what I have found is that I can't do a final value fee. It's only an insertion fee. You then paypal the insertion fee to paypal and paypal will take it's fee's from the listing fee. Paypal charges $.30 + 2.9%. I set it up to charge $1 for a listing. That is all you would have to pay regardless of how high the listing goes. If you don't sell then you will lose your listing fee but I am playing around with longer listing times. Ebay charges $.25 for under 9.99 and 9% of the total value so if you sell something for $5 it will cost you $.70 for ebay fee's.
Thoughts?

[bandaches]

So far what I have found is that I can't do a final value fee. It's only an insertion fee. You then paypal the insertion fee to paypal and paypal will take it's fee's from the listing fee. Paypal charges $.30 + 2.9%. I set it up to charge $1 for a listing. That is all you would have to pay regardless of how high the listing goes. If you don't sell then you will lose your listing fee but I am playing around with longer listing times. Ebay charges $.25 for under 9.99 and 9% of the total value so if you sell something for $5 it will cost you $.70 for ebay fee's.
Thoughts?

Who is collecting this $1 per listing?  I am not sure I follow this whole setup.

[wil_king]

Who is collecting this $1 per listing?  I am not sure I follow this whole setup.

I will collect the fees. I wanted to set the fees at $.50 for the total transaction but paypal would eat that up so if I went with $1 per auction/BIN fee then it would equal close to $.50. I just paid for the program so basically it would help recoup the cost of the program and help pay for hosting fee's. I am not trying to be a big business man out of this but this stuff does cost some cash.
The reason I thought of this is when I hear people trying to sell something but get several offers and then they will say 'I will just put it up on ebay so I won't play favorites.' The thing is ebay will take a huge chunk of fee's and I am just looking to make this cheap for everyone to use.
My example is if you were to sell something fairly cheap - let's say $5 on ebay. Ebay will take $.70 for fee's on the $5. If you sell something for $10 one ebay, ebay will take $1.15 for fees. It just keeps going up from there. This way it would be a lot cheaper for people to do auctions.
I could offer this for free but then I will have reoccurring costs annually.
If you have any suggestions I am all ears. I am not trying to stick it to the forum members but if this takes off we will be crawling with all kinds of people trying to avoid ebay fee's. It might be a stretch but this could be a huge card collecting auction portal for a lot of collectors. If that happens then I will have to find a new server with a ton more storage and that won't be cheap.
Thoughts?

[wil_king]

I want to give the whole 'Classified' a real test now. I think I have most of the parameters setup properly but need some testers. So what I am going to do is offer the service at no charge for the month of April just to see how this thing flies.
All you have to do is PM me and I will give you a free credit to list an auction or BIN. Be patient on the free credit reply because I will be traveling on biz over the next couple weeks and might not get to you until the evening.
If you have a few things to list, let me know and I will give you enough credits to get started.
I think this is a fun alternative to ebay and you will all be happy not to pay those huge ebay fee's. I just want to get everyone involved and see how it takes off.
You can set the days per auction but please don't go over 30 days. I can lock this down but it's not as flexible as ebay. I can setup the number of days for an auction or a BIN. I am thinking auctions would be 7 days and BIN at 30 days. Right now you can select how many days you want your auction to run.
Let's give it a try and see what everyone thinks.

[wil_king]

I want to give the whole 'Classified' a real test now. I think I have most of the parameters setup properly but need some testers. So what I am going to do is offer the service at no charge for the month of April just to see how this thing flies.
All you have to do is PM me and I will give you a free credit to list an auction or BIN. Be patient on the free credit reply because I will be traveling on biz over the next couple weeks and might not get to you until the evening.
If you have a few things to list, let me know and I will give you enough credits to get started.
I think this is a fun alternative to ebay and you will all be happy not to pay those huge ebay fee's. I just want to get everyone involved and see how it takes off.
You can set the days per auction but please don't go over 30 days. I can lock this down but it's not as flexible as ebay. I can setup the number of days for an auction or a BIN. I am thinking auctions would be 7 days and BIN at 30 days. Right now you can select how many days you want your auction to run.
Let's give it a try and see what everyone thinks.

As JeffCaf said that 150 users = $150 so maybe we can look at doing a monthly or yearly fee for unlimited auctions. I am in no way looking to get rich over this. It's just a way to help you guys out and break even - maybe get enough for a wacky set here an there

[BumChex]

I just posted a few auctions to kick things off. If you would like to list just send me a PM and I will give you a few free credits to get started. I think this could turn out to be a fun alternative since we are selling product to people that are passionate about the hobby.

[FourRoses]

At $150.00 and 150 subscribers, that's only $1.00 per subscriber.  Something to think about.

Why am I reminded of the in-movie commercial during Robocop where the oldtimer keeps saying "I'd buy that for a dollar" as he's surrounded by ditzy blond women?

[Plan 9]

I just posted a few auctions to kick things off. If you would like to list just send me a PM and I will give you a few free credits to get started. I think this could turn out to be a fun alternative since we are selling product to people that are passionate about the hobby.

Being a member of an internet forum has little bearing on one's passion for collecting. I think collectors outside the forum are just as passionate and in some cases willing to pay more. A BIN in the forum might make sense but not an auction. You're just cutting down your chances of getting a good price. A good test would be to run a few matching auctions on ebay and the forum. Then compare the results.

[bandaches]

Being a member of an internet forum has little bearing on one's passion for collecting. I think collectors outside the forum are just as passionate and in some cases willing to pay more. A BIN in the forum might make sense but not an auction. You're just cutting down your chances of getting a good price. A good test would be to run a few matching auctions on ebay and the forum. Then compare the results.

How on earth did you draw the conclusion that association with a forum has little bearing on passion for collecting?  Is your single definition of passion, spending money?

I would agree that collectors outside of a forum are likely to be passionate, could be less, same or more than forum members on a case by case basis but I am lost on how you concluded that being associate with the forum has no bearing on passion.  I would say regular forum visits indicates at least SOME levels of passion and dedication.

[BustedFinger]

I like the idea of giving people the option of buying a year's subscription for unlimited listings.  The problem I see with charging $1 per listing is that there will be a lot of unsold items (especially at the beginning) which would make the site unattractive for sellers.  I believe that listing fees on eBay are relatively small now and they make most of their money from final value fees.  Therefore, if something doesn't sell on eBay, you are not out that much.

You could charge something $5 - $10 per year for unlimited listings and I think people would jump on that. 

[Plan 9]

I can't say for sure but I doubt being a member of a forum is a significant measure of one's passion for a forum's theme. Being here is a thing all it's own like subscribing to a magazine. Just because you subscribe to a fishing mag doesn't mean you fish much. Or you may fish often, but you're not going to chat about it. Some Wacky collectors don't like forums and some forum members are passive and don't collect much. I have other passions bigger than Wacky Packs but I have no interest in joining their forums. Another point to consider is there are no kids on this forum. Yet Wacky Packs could not exist on a national level without them. There are very likely kids who are obsessive about Wacky Packs but won't join a forum. I don't know any local collectors other than Smokin Joe and he's nuts over Wacky Packs. But he doesn't like forums.

[BumChex]

I like the idea of giving people the option of buying a year's subscription for unlimited listings.  The problem I see with charging $1 per listing is that there will be a lot of unsold items (especially at the beginning) which would make the site unattractive for sellers.  I believe that listing fees on eBay are relatively small now and they make most of their money from final value fees.  Therefore, if something doesn't sell on eBay, you are not out that much.

You could charge something $5 - $10 per year for unlimited listings and I think people would jump on that. 

most likely collectors will do a bin and run their auction for 30 days. I am looking at $.50 for insertion fee so it's pretty cheap to get exposure. April is free so ask for credits. It will all take time since this is so new. Give it a try, it's free now!

[bandaches]

I can't say for sure but I doubt being a member of a forum is a significant measure of one's passion for a forum's theme. Being here is a thing all it's own like subscribing to a magazine. Just because you subscribe to a fishing mag doesn't mean you fish much. Or you may fish often, but you're not going to chat about it. Some Wacky collectors don't like forums and some forum members are passive and don't collect much. I have other passions bigger than Wacky Packs but I have no interest in joining their forums. Another point to consider is there are no kids on this forum. Yet Wacky Packs could not exist on a national level without them. There are very likely kids who are obsessive about Wacky Packs but won't join a forum. I don't know any local collectors other than Smokin Joe and he's nuts over Wacky Packs. But he doesn't like forums.

I still think your premise is off the mark.  You seem to be stating that because many passionate collectors don't visit a forum, it suggests the people who DO visit the forum aren't passionate.  This defies logic.  So if there are fisherman who are passionate about fishing and they don't subscribe to a fishing magazine, this suggests that ALL fisherman who DO subscribe to fishing magazines aren't passionate?  That just doesn't make any sense.  I am sure there are some who subscribe to fishing magazines and aren't passionate about fishing but that says NOTHING about the folks who are passionate.

Let's break this down into groups:

1) passionate about a hobby and using a forum
2) passionate about a hobby and not using a forum
3) Not passionate about a hobby and using a forum
4) Not passionate about a hobby and not using a forum

You seem to be suggesting because #2 exists, #1 doesn't exist.  I would say in terms of size of groups:

I would agree that group #2 is potentially the largest but doesn't mean #1 doesn't exist.

Overall, it is interesting that you insist on challenging the "passion" and "hard coreness" of forum members.  I get the impression you don't think very highly of your fellow collectors when you make these provocative statements.

[Plan 9]

Let's break this down into groups:

1) passionate about a hobby and using a forum
2) passionate about a hobby and not using a forum
3) Not passionate about a hobby and using a forum
4) Not passionate about a hobby and not using a forum

My only assertion is that all four groups exist. Being a member of this forum is no guarantee of one's dedication to the hobby.

[bandaches]

My only assertion is that all four groups exist. Being a member of this forum is no guarantee of one's dedication to the hobby.

Fair enough, I still have no idea why you brought this up, will leave it alone at this point.

[Plan 9]

Fair enough, I still have no idea why you brought this up, will leave it alone at this point.

Because Brad's post appeared to suggest only forum members are passionate about collecting. That may not be what he meant but I still had it in mind to bring up a point about forum members vs. non-forum members. If you want to make the best possible sale then you need to do public auctions.

[BumChex]

Because Brad's post appeared to suggest only forum members are passionate about collecting. That may not be what he meant but I still had it in mind to bring up a point about forum members vs. non-forum members. If you want to make the best possible sale then you need to do public auctions.

I am not suggesting anything. I just meant that people here are passionate about the hobby. Don't read too much into that statement. I also agree that if you are going to do an auction you may want to get as much exposure as possible but so many people hate ebay and it's fees that they may look for an alternative. We just started this so it will take awhile to take off or fail. Most on the forum will advertise BIN auctions. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of what people are selling. I just posted a couple auctions to get things started. I will probably take a hit on those but it's kinda like a promotional deal.

[BumChex]

To get things ramped up on the forum classifieds I have decided there will be no fee for any classifieds until Sept 1st. I want people to use it and really enjoy it. I am eating the cost of the module for now. I think it's an annual cost but not sure. If it takes off I might do something like $10 a year to sell on the forum. We'll figure that out later. For now use it and enjoy. You will need credits so PM me if you need any credits to list. It could be a big monster wacky mall.

[BumChex]

Also to get thing ramped up I am thinking of a contest for the buyer who makes the first 100th purchase from the classifieds. There would also be a prize for the seller who makes this sale. So get started because these prizes will probably be pretty nice such as a prize of a Bumchex card in EX condition or maybe the same with a Bandache. It will be nice! So get busy!