"Is it time for TMP to set up an auction page" Topic

With eBay's break with PayPal and the resulting drop in little guy posting, is it about time that TMP put up an auction option for paying members?

It would be nice, ebay is terrible now….

Nice idea

No

Interesting idea

Well i would participate.

Britus… no you wouldn't. "option for paying members"

I think you are all dreaming!

Nope

No

Resounding no

Yes

yes

No.

Perhaps the real question would be whether or not Bill would be willing to take on something like that. He could wind up spending way too much time managing it.

Would it involve only military miniatures, or could someone post a dog-eared copy of the Dungeon Manual by TSR or a collection of Whitney Houston videos? The potential for controversy would be endless.

An intriguing idea for anybody soured on Ebay. How is your experience with Etsy?

probably not happening. I can't see TMP doing the software development or purchasing an auction software package. Also I believe there are legal issues & tax collection issues.

Nothing in it for Bill except huge headaches and expenditures.

The Marketplace is fine.
I've made a few purchase lately from it.
It's strictly up to the respondents to follow through.
An auction implies setting up a guaranteed payment option. If I were Bill I would avoid that responsibility.

I have bought and sold from the marketplace as it exists. It works very well, it seems to me. What is the benefit of an auction style process?

Yes!

Would depend on what would need to be done beyond what the existing Market Place offers.

You know, I may need to try out the Marketplace, myself. I have some bits and bobs I would like to recycle into cash for new hobby expenditures. I might even have some TSR products from my RPG collection I might be willing to put up for sale (there IS an RPG forum section on TMP, and there is a cross-over between fantasy miniatures gaming and RPG games). Cheers!

Yes though complicated.

The auction is a great idea. To all those naysayers, you know you do not have to participate right?

Buck215 – Etsy is unlike eBay in that it is basically an online store for sellers of handmade/crafty type stuff. You can't auction off any old tat like you can on ebay…

Why the "No" vote from some, I'm curious as to the reason.

I think it would be fun, *BUT* there would be very few participants, compared to eBay. That means you're unlikely to find what you want at any given time, unlike eBay, and if you're selling it means few bidders and thus low prices. Auctions work best when there are many participants.

On top of that, such things need policing, and that would be a lot of work for someone. And no one is going to volunteer for that. So there will be costs for the buyer, and without eBay's economies of scale they'll be stiff.

So I think it's impractical. For a small group something like the marketplace is much better. Items can sit for a while, giving people more time to notice them. You can always message the seller and offer a lower price, etc.

Possibly just a more efficient database setup for people selling things would be a start. I'd rather sell here than Ebay.

>Why the "No" vote from some, I'm curious as to the reason.

On top of that, such things need policing, and that would be a lot of work for someone. And no one is going to volunteer for that. So there will be costs for the buyer, and without eBay's economies of scale they'll be stiff.

This touches on the biggest part of it. I belong to an auction group on FB. Auctions are only Friday 10pm to Sunday 10pm (ET), and the rest of the week it runs as direct sale. It is very well run, because the rules are straightforward and ruthlessly enforced. It also has an entire team of dedicated and competent moderators.

Mata, please explain.

Grimm