A senior collector in every sense of the word has been working on a project. That project is a site that is basically like ebay, but the cost is a membership fee rather than listing fee’s.
I am posting this here only for comments and criticism.
Here is a link:
www.pokemoncatcher.com/index.php
Also, the prices and cards you see are just a template, they are actually not for sale, if that was not already obvious. Feel free to share your thoughts on what you think about such an idea.
Works smoothly on mobile which is a big plus for me!
May be hard to get started because eBay is so huge, but would be cool! Especially if membership is reasonable.
Is this going to be kinda of like a warehouse like collectors cache and user auction combo? Either way if they can gaurentee quality I’d be interested. If they attract some of the better sellers and weed out some of the bad ones that would also be a good thing. Sort of based of the fact that it seems to be aimed at a more exclusive audience.
Probably the biggest obstacle is competing with eBay’s name.
That said, I would be happy to promote this and I think others should do the same. Whoever is in charge of this site could consider business or promotional cards for sellers to hand out to their clientele, in addition to any self promotions.
Also: I would try to have this promoted in a banner on PokeBeach, UPCCC, PokeGym, etc.
I agree, ideally this is what every hobby imagines for a marketplace. Similar to bricklink.com for any lego collectors out there. A seller would list the cards they own, and a buyer would be able to view each card and condition available on the site. The fee’s would work like a membership, which I believe would be $30 a month.
The downside, or perhaps realistic aspect is visibility/growth. It will take so much time for a place to have anywhere near the amount of buyers/sellers as eBay. A great example is the site I mentioned above (bricklink.com). It has been around for over a decade, and the prices realized on ebay are significantly higher. Ebay’s global visibility and user friendly interface is unparalleled.
I think another major concern, which darkrai mentioned, is security. Even if the site somehow would attract a decent audience, which is extremely difficult in itself, the buyer/seller liability and accountability is paramount. Basically when someone joins the site, screws someone, how are they held accountable? While eBay is definitely not perfect, it is by far the best security system on the market for this hobby, and perhaps overall.
I have the same concerns about security and liability that others have already mentioned.
I’d also like to hear more about what the owner-operator intends to offer in terms of service. A membership fee of $30 a month seems mighty steep if all that is offered is a place to buy and sell.
And until there are hundreds — if not thousands — of high-quality buyers and sellers actively participating, who among us would even consider buying a membership to begin with?
I do think it’s a nifty idea, and hope the owner-operator is able to make a go of it. But more information and transparency is needed.
Second this.
Very interesting and exciting prospect though! looking forward to it.
This may be a pipe dream. Yes, it may make it easier for Rusty to buy from Gary but the ultra important casual Pokemon buyer and ebay user would not stray from ebay for multiple reasons.
Yes, the owner of the site may get 100 users from here and pokegym and make about $3,000.00usd a month but the benefit to the 100 users would be minimal without ebays multi category buyers.
yep i just couldnt see myself paying the fee when i get so much more exposure on ebay. more buyers means more competition which also would see my items selling for higher on ebay