marketplace possability??????

Over the next 12-18 months I "plan" on building and releasing a new marketplace to allow sellers and buyers to browse and sell "fee free".

Now you are wondering why "fee free" is in quotes.
My estimation that if I was building this for someone else, I would charge them $40,000. Being that I am looking for a market place that fits my needs and grows my skill set I am willing to put this effort forth for free. That said, I am unwilling to support server and hosting costs, so it will become a donation service. If donations meet the cost of the server/hosting per month the site will continue. If they do not, I may discontinue the the service or consider selling the solution to a 3rd party. I build solutions for fortune 10 companies so coming up with a code base for an Alexa 80,000+ company is highly doable.
That said, if everyone on this site would donate less than 1% based on sales only of what they are paying on ebays 10+% this will not matter. If you feel like listing and selling for free, it will not harm you, as long as the server costs are being paid.

Pros
"Fee free" sales
list 1 card or list 1 trillion cards, pay the same price (nothing).
Buyers and sellers are on equal footing +/- feedback for both parties

Cons
1 programmer who works full time. Solutions to problems may take a while to come out.
The solution could be sold to a 3rd party (ho may charge).
Up time, this solution will never be able to support HA servers, so if a power supply goes out it may take a few days to come back.


That said, below is my initial start of a planning doc. If any of the above sounds like a good idea, leave your comments and complain often. I am looking to you to complain and ask for additions. At some point the requirements phase will close and you will be stuck with what I have gathered and agreed to add in. Please read and add your feedback on what you would like to see in a marketplace to improve my master designs. If you do not feel like going through my chicken scratch, just comment on what you expect with a market place.

*** This thread is highly likely to have posts removed as they are countered or added. If I delete your post, please do not get upset.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P8C ... =COyZwYoJ#

Not for nothing but you and gilmo have a nice clean site. Theres a brick and mortor store, a show under the belt, card releases ect .

Make a site and make your money. The hobby will come. Just don't rape us on fees, but get your due. there is no real alternative to ebay. Make it, and feel free to make money. Just not as much as ebay takes

What I’d like to see

Easy (1-just a few clicks) way to export listings from ebay into your site, including pix + descriptions…just like channel advisor, bonanzle/bonanza, sportsbuy can (or could- haven’t used all these sites recently).

If not #1 (though please make this- I know it can be done/I think that’s what’s held ebay wannabe sites behind), then make a turbolister like option that lets me make a template (so all I have to change is the title/pic)/upload a bunch of listings @ 1x

Multiple payment options- but DON’T take control of my cash/be a middleman- e.g., I want the cash to go directly to MY paypal account + I don’t want to have to pay into a ‘pool’ to you for paypal/sh fees (like sportsbuy/sportlots- I forget which- makes you do).

If you must do #3/be a middleman, DON’T hold my cash up- make a way so you can look @ ebay’s reps + realize you don’t need to hold my cash up

Search- I can’t emphasize enough how clunky/slow/wrong search is on most non-ebay sites. Make it easy to navigate and/or search

DON’T be like COMC + make me front cash JUST to make an offer

Give me incentives to come back as a buyer +/or seller- think ebay bucks/FVF discounts like on ebay

DO show completed listings- that way, I’ll know if it’s worth listing card X rather than having to take your word that someone just sold card X

Transparency- don’t let shilling happen/don’t let people do ‘fb exchange W/O actually selling cards.’

DON’T spam me w/umpteen emails + DON’T make the signup process tedious…again, think how easy ebay is + try to emulate that

My concern is who will use your site. Certainly the users, the intended users, of this bulletin board will. However, you'll also have the Kruk, the Burbank, and all of the scumbag dealers from the BMB and other places, looking for a new free place to sell.

If it can be done, it would be great - I would recommend some sort of limit -- perhaps having an account 6 months old, or 500 posts, or something to keep vultures from swooping in.

Thank you, for your anticipated effort. I certainly appreciate it.

What do you estimate the montly server/hosting costs to be? With 4000 board members (which a large percentage sell on ebay) I would hope to think it is doable to meet the donation vs what people pay in ebay fees. I have been waiting for something like this to come around (except with the addition of auction listings once the site grew enough traffic).

I would be very happy to see this implemented, and I think some great points have been raised so far.

Ease/Speed of search is KEY.

I also wouldn't want this to just become another place to look at Burbank and teawolves' ludicrous prices.

I think you could charge 3-5% fvf without complaint.

I see no reason why you shouldnt charge a small FVF. A FVF of 3% would in no way be excessive and would allow you to run the site. It would also allow discounts for larger volume sellers that would help raise traffic.

An easy to filter search option. This is one of the biggest reasons why I dont use other sites. I find their search engines cumbersome and slow.

I also think allowing users to search completed auctions is a necessary tool. If as a seller I can validate that my item will sell close to ebay on your site I will sell it on your site because of lower fees.

good luck on your project and I hope to use it soon.

I will use your website if it is a quality product and makes economic sense for me. Look forward to seeing what you produce.

bdal23 said:

An easy to filter search option. This is one of the biggest reasons why I dont use other sites. I find their search engines cumbersome and slow.

Click to expand...

Could you please expand on this? What would you like to see in a filter?

rainmanesq said:

What I’d like to see

Transparency- don’t let shilling happen/don’t let people do ‘fb exchange W/O actually selling cards.’

Click to expand...

How about feedback can only been left if item has been received (delivery/signature confirmation)?

Provide multiple electronic payment options instead of just Paypal.

.25 or .50 cent listing fees only (no fvf).

Make sellers display how your item will be shipped whether it will be PWE or bubble envelope with DC.

When you bid, your electronic payment option is required and withdrawal will be immediate if you win.

KLARNOLD said:

rainmanesq said:

What I’d like to see

Transparency- don’t let shilling happen/don’t let people do ‘fb exchange W/O actually selling cards.’

Click to expand...

How about feedback can only been left if item has been received (delivery/signature confirmation)?

Provide multiple electronic payment options instead of just Paypal.

.25 or .50 cent listing fees only (no fvf).

Make sellers display how your item will be shipped whether it will be PWE or bubble envelope with DC.

When you bid, your electronic payment option is required and withdrawal will be immediate if you win.

Click to expand...

.25 or .50 cent listing fees will severely cripple the amount of cards listed. Many of the player collectors would rather have cards of their guy listed -- and the sellers will list them if there's no listing fee.

Jeff N. said:

KLARNOLD said:

rainmanesq said:

What I’d like to see

Transparency- don’t let shilling happen/don’t let people do ‘fb exchange W/O actually selling cards.’

Click to expand...

How about feedback can only been left if item has been received (delivery/signature confirmation)?

Provide multiple electronic payment options instead of just Paypal.

.25 or .50 cent listing fees only (no fvf).

Make sellers display how your item will be shipped whether it will be PWE or bubble envelope with DC.

When you bid, your electronic payment option is required and withdrawal will be immediate if you win.

Click to expand...

.25 or .50 cent listing fees will severely cripple the amount of cards listed. Many of the player collectors would rather have cards of their guy listed -- and the sellers will list them if there's no listing fee.

Click to expand...

Agree.

Everyone is talking about fees, but keep in mind that bouwob specifically stated this service would be free...at least in the beginning. I like the idea of a service that people can try with no financial risk while it is still in its early stages.

Give me incentives to come back as a buyer +/or seller- think ebay bucks/FVF discounts like on ebay
You get to list for free. That’s your incentive. The site will likely be donation based, so me paying you to use it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.


My concern is who will use your site. Certainly the users, the intended users, of this bulletin board will. However, you'll also have the Kruk, the Burbank, and all of the scumbag dealers from the BMB and other places, looking for a new free place to sell.
That is fine. If they charge to much, they wont have any customers.

What do you estimate the montly server/hosting costs to be? With 4000 board members (which a large percentage sell on ebay) I would hope to think it is doable to meet the donation vs what people pay in ebay fees. I have been waiting for something like this to come around (except with the addition of auction listings once the site grew enough traffic).
Likely much less than $400 a month. Also the site will never have an auction format. I cannot compete with ebay so it would not be worth the amount of time in development that it would take to do what someone else already does much better than I will be able to do so myself.



Please add more ideas, I hate expanding scope after project finalization so speak up now or forever hold your peace.

bouwob said:

. Also the site will never have an auction format. I cannot compete with ebay so it would not be worth the amount of time in development that it would take to do what someone else already does much better than I will be able to do so myself.
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Click to expand...

Since it will never be an auction format immediate withdrawal of funds or immediate payment required would be great.

.

I would stay away from "donations". If no one donates, the site could disappear? How awful would that be for anyone selling on the site. I say take 1% and that's that. It should at a bare minimum keep the site alive and possibly even make you money. No listing fees, just 1% of final sell value. No other costs ever.

I like the idea of listing things as auction style but allowing for a BIN. 1-2% FVF is a good deal if it would be enough to keep the site going. Maybe listing an icon for those that participate so users can click and have a direct link to their open auctions.

How about just a 1% fee for the final sale price, but on certain "slow" days offer free listings.

as far as filter options, I'd think standard stuff would apply.

by sport
vintage
modern
autos
g/u
serial #'d
filter by seller
and filter out sellers
by decade(I like how COMC has this set up)

require that sellers provide full, accurate info about each card they're selling(unlike ebay)

bouwob said:

Give me incentives to come back as a buyer +/or seller- think ebay bucks/FVF discounts like on ebay
You get to list for free. That’s your incentive. The site will likely be donation based, so me paying you to use it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.


My concern is who will use your site. Certainly the users, the intended users, of this bulletin board will. However, you'll also have the Kruk, the Burbank, and all of the scumbag dealers from the BMB and other places, looking for a new free place to sell.
That is fine. If they charge to much, they wont have any customers.

What do you estimate the montly server/hosting costs to be? With 4000 board members (which a large percentage sell on ebay) I would hope to think it is doable to meet the donation vs what people pay in ebay fees. I have been waiting for something like this to come around (except with the addition of auction listings once the site grew enough traffic).
Likely much less than $400 a month. Also the site will never have an auction format. I cannot compete with ebay so it would not be worth the amount of time in development that it would take to do what someone else already does much better than I will be able to do so myself.



Please add more ideas, I hate expanding scope after project finalization so speak up now or forever hold your peace.

Click to expand...

I have been thinking about the plausibility of having a "money/credits" account on this site or the one you are proposing. Personnaly, I think it is stuipd to pay PayPal $.30 every transaction plus ~3%. And some people are strictly oppossed to gift payments. The idea is sort of like a poker or online sports betting account. I can make an initial deposit with the site and use that money to make purchases. When I sell a card, credits from the buyer transfer to me, and it just keeps a running blance of in/out. Only when I with draw money from the site do I incurr any PayPal fees (unless the transfers in and out from the site could be gifts as well). I think a lot of small value/player collector cards could be moved around more easily. I dont know the logistics of how to program or keep track, but I think it would be huge. The site then is essentially holding money that potentially could be used to fund some the operating costs (if it can earn interest), in addition to any donations/small FV fees.