I have found a fairly comprehensive auction module that I think I can either hack into the site or run externally. It's basically a clone of eBay and would be a way for sellers to not only bypass the eBay selling fees (this would be Free - at least for now) but also to sell to users on the site, some of whom you already know and trust.

Just a thought. Let me know if it's something of interest.

Thanks,
Jim

Not a bad idea, Jim.
I know from various postings some of the members use eBay, I know I do.
I would be interested in participating.

There would definitely be a clientele for it.

If you could just keep those dreaded "collectors" (aka non-buliders) off it. That itself would bring sanity to the prices.

Not a bad idea. But I think work will need to be done to keep the auctions from taking over the modelbuilding focus of the site. I dunno, I'm thinking something but don't know how to explain. You'll have to put one of those 'pros and cons' lists together. I think an auction type thing on this site would be great, but I think it would be best as a fairly small thing. It really depends on what you might have planned. Could you give some more details?

YodaMan

I just prefer the for sale/trade list. This gives us a chance to "rotate the stock" or make a quick but reasonable buck.

I agree with most of what was said above. I think that by opening an auction section you may start to draw various entities who are intent on marketing their goods at prices that may not be reasonable...kinda like Bob said above.

I agree with Sabot on the sell/trade list working good.

I personally do not like auctions. They seem too much like a competition of sorts for best prices. The seller always wins, with the buyers competing for the product. It's kind of a bummer when someone has something you want, you place your price, then someone who wants it more places a higher "willing -to-pay" price...eeeek!

As usual Professer Wizard, you've come up with yet another bright idea.

On the surface it sounds like a great idea. I cruise EBay off and on and unfortunately I very rarely find anything of value. Occasionally I will come across an OOP Tamiya kit or one of the older Testors kits that are also OOP, but rarely useful, and generally a waste of valuable time that would have been better spent on this site!

I agree with M60's post above, that you really have to keep the 'collectors' away. I don't feel that would be a difficult thing to do in the short term, but in the long term as the site's popularity grows (and we've all seen that very thing happening in a fairly short time here) so would the chances of one of the collectors 'stumbling' in here.

I also concur with Yoda's comment (Imagine agreeing with someone that weird looking ) regarding the 'size' that auction module would occupy on the site vs. the normal content. Additionally, the thought of 'competing' on line against my fellow Armorama mates doesn't sit well with me. I mean, let's face it. EBay isn't really an auction house, it's a competition for the fastest typist right at the very last seconds of the auction itself. I have this vision of just beating Gunnie out of some OOP model he really wanted and feeling bad about doing it!
Also, you'd have to be careful of new members who might be just trying to dump off mismatched kits. Case in point: I just recently received a kit I bought on EBay from a gent in Canada. I purchased a Tamiya German 8Ton Semi Track 20mm Flakvierling Sd.kfz7/1
supposedly in an unopened box and untouched. Everything went smoothly with the transaction, the gentlemen who shipped it has corresponded with me properly, and even included a nice little 'thank you' note inside the shipping box. I just picked it up 2 days ago, everything looked fine. The box did look like it hadn't been opened, buttttt, lo and behold when I opened the box (last night) what do I find in the box? An Italeri M-109 kit! Now, tell me how THAT happened!?!
Anyway, again, not trying to be negative about the whole thing. I think anything is worth a 'trail'
period at least. I suppose the people who don't want to directly compete against one another (me) can just not participate in the auction module portion of the site. And those that do, can.

Just thought I'd throw that bit of pessimism on the table......sorry.

Tread.

Although the idea of all the great stuff that might appear on those pages does make my mouth water
Actually,on second thought , how many of us would be willing to auction off part of our 'collections' ? hmmmmmmmmm?

I have to agree with Sabot on this one. I not an eBay fan, too much hassle.

Gee. Thanks Tread. I really don't know what to say.
Maybe what we're looking for is more of an online store than an auction. Sellers put their kits in the 'store' with whatever price they hope to get for the model. Potential buyers respond with interest in the product. If only one buyer, he gets the model. If more than one potential buyer, either the seller chooses who he'll sell to or it is somehow decided randomly. I think that a 'marketplace' would be more popular with the users of the site than an auction. It would probably be easier on Jim too. If it's an auction that lets pretty much anyone bid or sell stuff, he has to make sure people are happy, the sellers actually sell the item, the buyers actually pay, etc.
I think by the responses already posted that this discussion is going in the right direction.

YodaMan

I see several problems with an auction feature:

First, and probablymost important, the legal problems. I'm not sure what would happen if someone got cheated and filed suit against the site for failure to regulate the site.
Second, I know of no way to exclude "collectors" or anyone else.
Third, the bandwith. I assume someone is paying for all of us to have access to this site. I doubt that we could keep an auction secret and, if deals here were good, I think the site would be swamped.
Fourth, if any of the above caused Armorama to "go away" most of us (I for sure) would lose a valuable part of our hobby experiance.

Thanks for the feedback. Chuck's point about the liability issue is probably the one that made me snap to attention the most. But they are all good concerns. If I ever do pursue anything like this perhaps a seperate site with more of a commercial aspect to it (ie: it's there to provide a service and make money) would be the way to go. I do think it's a shame though that a more specialized auction type system is not available for the hobby community at-large.

And although I have won bids on eBay less than a dozen times, I do think that it's providing a valuable service. I have been in the "lost at-the last minute" category once or twice myself. In fact my wife lost out on a Disney limited lithograph that she has been after for 15 years! She was really heartbroken. But those things should be put into perspective. Without eBay, it's likely she never would even see one for sale. To me that is eBays strength. It encourages people to put up things for sale that they normally may leave in storage gathering dust or sell at their local garage sale. Which is kind of where the Internet comes in. In that situation it's great for people living in large metropolitan areas. They just cruise garage sales and make out like bandits. But if you live in Quiet Creek, Colorado.....you're out of luck dude.

Jim

As an Ebay buyer and seller (more of the latter recently!), I don't think it would make sense for Armorama to go the auction route.

As mentioned above there are legal and bandwidth issues.
More importantly for me as a seller, I want the "collectors"!!! I want to sell my stuff for as much as possible! I see kits going for FAR more than they are worth on Ebay. Caveat emptor etc.

The trade/buy/sell list is better for a convivial rotation of kits and money. I list things here and on ML, TL and Hyperscale at what I consider a fair price, and negotiations can happen. Deals occur, e-mail happen etc. It works out. But if I had a sealed M4A1 from DML, I'd be too greedy to offer it here for $20 or $30!!! It's "worth" $50 or $60 or more on Ebay. So that's where folks after cold hard cash will go. I don't know how you'd keep collectors away! Given the numbers on any threads like "How many kits do you have in the closet?", I'd say there are a lot of collectors here already! Bidding wars will lead to possible emnity, especially if snipers are active (refer to Kencelot's post). Again, as a seller, snipers are great, as a buyer, they are a pain in the a$$! .

I enjoy trading kits, getting rid of extra stuff and so on, and I think this site does not need to be duplicating the service provided by Ebay, Yahoo and co.

my 2 cents..

I don't think it is worth your hassle Jim. I think the buy sell trade list is good enough and those who wish to bid/sell on Ebay can be pointed by a seperate forum if you wish.

Kind of like what they do on consimworld.com a board gaming site.

MSW

Wait! I think that's almost 3 cents NZ, or several centimes...

LOL....just shakin' your chain Yoda. no offense....honest. Now gumby jaws I...oops, sorry, it slipped out! I don't know what's wrong with me, tired from a long day at work I guess

Anyway. I completely agree with you. Honestly. Your point about an online 'store' of sorts is 'spot-on'. I would much rather see what someone has to offer and make a deal with him/her on a singular basis. And hopefully, visa-versa. If Jim is listening (apparently he's submerged in legal issues) please listen to the man with the severe underbite...

Yoda and Sgt. Rock...what a combat team they would make. Lol....

Well I must admit my first desire was to find a good classifieds system. But at first go around there wasn't anything for PostNuke (the software this site runs on). So I may look at hacking in one of the better PHP (that's code-base) language classifed scripts so that we can have something a little cooler than just the forum Buy & Sell stuff. Not that the forum is bad. It's just hard to categorize items and such. That's kind of what the Store idea YM was mentioning would be with a good classifieds system.

Jim

Thanks Tread!!! I'm glad I typed something worthwhile....
Now about your 'shaking my chain', just a quick clarification there: Considering what happened in Jedi, that remark would best be suited to someone named Jabba, or The Hutt......


If I was in any combat team, I get the feeling they'd make me tuck in my lower lip to prevent it from setting off a tripwire......

YodaMan

I think if you provide a FREE auction service the sellers on ebay would move over here to avoid the fees. Your traffic would go up and the auctions would take most of your time.

Currently there are 28,000+ auctions on ebay under models. How much data transfer can your site handle?

I would just go with a wants and disposal list, and maybe a vendors list.

Steve,
Yes that kind of usage would be a problem. Although then I may be able to sell the site and retire. Lol.

Jim

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SELL THE SITE AND RETIRE???
Surelly you jest...right?

Don't even think about it... Would you like to bring upon yourself the rage of the ugly avatars? I don't think so...
Hey, it would be a great movie title: "Rage of the ugly avatars"...

Mario M.

Mario....ROFL!!! Had to tell the wife about that one.

Yes I jest. Although I can't guarantee if someone were to offer a million dollars I would pass it up. Not likely though.

Jim