tz101 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Somehow, I thought SoCal Mike ran Chasethechuckwagon a little differently. Maybe I only hoped inside that they were the anti-ebay. They just proved me wrong. I received an email tonight informing all Game Gavel listers that modded and altered systems will no longer be permitted. Only factory spec systems will be allowed for listing on their site. The reasoning given is that they are now linked in with Google ad service as a revenue stream and they will cancel Game Gavel if there are any modded game systems listed for sale on their site. I am not a fan of piracy in the slightest, but do not understand roping people like myself into the same proverbial boat with those types as it pertains to modding systems. All I do is audio/video upgrades along with region mods on outdated 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Seeing as those are no longer in production and that the original software is no longer being distributed, what should it matter if somebody desires to improve the video or audio quality of their classic gaming system, or to do away with the annoying flashing startup screen on their NES? I wish Game Gavel the best, but will not be doing business with their sell-out site any longer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Somehow, I thought SoCal Mike ran Chasethechuckwagon a little differently. Maybe I only hoped inside that they were the anti-ebay. They just proved me wrong. I received an email tonight informing all Game Gavel listers that modded and altered systems will no longer be permitted. Only factory spec systems will be allowed for listing on their site. The reasoning given is that they are now linked in with Google ad service as a revenue stream and they will cancel Game Gavel if there are any modded game systems listed for sale on their site. I am not a fan of piracy in the slightest, but do not understand roping people like myself into the same proverbial boat with those types as it pertains to modding systems. All I do is audio/video upgrades along with region mods on outdated 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Seeing as those are no longer in production and that the original software is no longer being distributed, what should it matter if somebody desires to improve the video or audio quality of their classic gaming system, or to do away with the annoying flashing startup screen on their NES? I wish Game Gavel the best, but will not be doing business with their sell-out site any longer. I kinda feel the same way. It's been all down hill on that site for a while now. I also wish Mike only the best but I think he's got alot of holes in his boat in need of fixing as otherwise it's just gonna sink faster and faster. Honestly when I saw your thread title I opened it thinking I was gonna be reading news of the site being closed down. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuppicide Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 What next? I can't list a multicart or a prototype or a pirated Donkey Kong Country that runs on the NES? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 What next? I can't list a multicart or a prototype or a pirated Donkey Kong Country that runs on the NES? Pretty much. The multicart you can't list now for sure as that was the other item mentioned in the email. It says no modded consoles and no mulitcarts. Funny thing is that Game Gavel\Chase The Chuckwagon for the most part is all AtariAge memebers items being auctioned. If even a couple of these AA memebers get pissed and pull out of CTCW the site would be a ghost town instantly as outside of AA members there really isn't many sellers with large amounts of items being sold on that site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 That sounds like a bummer. I picked up some really nice repro type carts off of CTC that would probably be verboten under similar policies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 i wonder if i paint a console if that is considered modded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianoid Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 A real business cannot sell illegal items. Unfortunately, the only way to grow the business through legitimate channels is to be a legitimate business. In the end, it's about having good items at reasonable prices, not just a billion items at above or even market prices. I really want to list more stuff there, but it's so hard when stuff sells kind of slowly. Mostly because I have such random junk. I support the site, I wish them the best. Frankly I think that this should only matter to those selling marginal items. I have plenty like that to sell (betas, protos, etc), but I'm not going to slam the site for not taking on such marginal junk. I know my stuff is legit, but how can GG or Google know that everyone elses or even mine is not just pirated junk? Yeah, modded consoles probably don't fit in that category. What else can you do if you want to grow your site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGQuarterly Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 (edited) A real business cannot sell illegal items. Unfortunately, the only way to grow the business through legitimate channels is to be a legitimate business. In the end, it's about having good items at reasonable prices, not just a billion items at above or even market prices. I really want to list more stuff there, but it's so hard when stuff sells kind of slowly. Mostly because I have such random junk. I support the site, I wish them the best. Frankly I think that this should only matter to those selling marginal items. I have plenty like that to sell (betas, protos, etc), but I'm not going to slam the site for not taking on such marginal junk. I know my stuff is legit, but how can GG or Google know that everyone elses or even mine is not just pirated junk? Yeah, modded consoles probably don't fit in that category. What else can you do if you want to grow your site? I agree. I totally understand that it sucks for those of you who mod consoles with new AV outs, custom LEDs, etc., but if GameGavel is ever going to have a chance to be successful, it is going to have to play by the rules of the world. Google Ads participation is going to mean more traffic, which is going to mean more potential buyers coming through. Would you rather have an auction site that lets you sell modded consoles and multicarts but has no traffic, or a high traffic site that doesn't allow those items but doesn't have the crappy policies of eBay? SoCal Mike is trying to make a success of his site, and unfortunately that success is not going to come from people selling fringe items like AV modded systems. It's going to come from a lot of regular people selling their games and consoles on GG instead of eBay. Chris Edited February 18, 2010 by Jibbajaba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Perhaps maybe the best thing for someone to do who mods system is to put posts here and respond to people on the AA site saying they what services they offer and have your own website where you can take orders. I've never used GG, and I agree with the OP that it kind of sucks that modded old systems won't be allowed anymore. Sad to say, Google can't tell what's a legit system and what's not, so they cover everything. IS it right and fair? No. Is it a fact of life if you want the extra money and traffic coming in? Yes. If people really want options outside of EBay, sometimes things like this have to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 When it was announced about the no modding rule, I have to agree with Mike and Jibbajaba, the rules of the world must be followed. Whenever I mod something, it unfortunately cannot go up on GG, but it can go here or in the forum there. Well, I was never corrected about selling it there, and I know it's okay here. I don't do mods that make a thing illegal anyway; LEDs, joystick testers (working on more, way behind), cable adapters. A Genesis in a different box is a really cool mod to do, doesn't do much but look great and have bragging rights attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 In regards to the mod thing, I guess that means you cannot sell the mod itself (i.e when it's not inside the intended system)...or some legitimate mods like a mod to improve the display output etc Just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I don't see eBay pulling modded systems or multicarts or protos or repro carts lately or kjmann11's items would not be there. I don't know of any law against adding video mods to old game systems unless someone has a reference. Perhaps altering regional options is violating some law but not a video mod improving quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FND Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 This is not such a big deal, has anyone read the GG forum reply from Mike here is a link http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2463 Also I dont think it is a problem if you list as an auction as the feed is only for BIN's or list without using the key word Modded or reproduction. Ask Mike and you might find there is away around it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 When I got that email, I replied and asked about S-video modded 2600's as an example. Mike said to just list them as "2600 w/S-Video" rather than "Modded Atari 2600." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 (edited) Somehow, I thought SoCal Mike ran Chasethechuckwagon a little differently. Maybe I only hoped inside that they were the anti-ebay. They just proved me wrong. I received an email tonight informing all Game Gavel listers that modded and altered systems will no longer be permitted. Only factory spec systems will be allowed for listing on their site. The reasoning given is that they are now linked in with Google ad service as a revenue stream and they will cancel Game Gavel if there are any modded game systems listed for sale on their site. I am not a fan of piracy in the slightest, but do not understand roping people like myself into the same proverbial boat with those types as it pertains to modding systems. All I do is audio/video upgrades along with region mods on outdated 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Seeing as those are no longer in production and that the original software is no longer being distributed, what should it matter if somebody desires to improve the video or audio quality of their classic gaming system, or to do away with the annoying flashing startup screen on their NES? I wish Game Gavel the best, but will not be doing business with their sell-out site any longer. I kinda feel the same way. It's been all down hill on that site for a while now. I also wish Mike only the best but I think he's got alot of holes in his boat in need of fixing as otherwise it's just gonna sink faster and faster. Honestly when I saw your thread title I opened it thinking I was gonna be reading news of the site being closed down. EDIT: I see you mention I am doing this for revenue reasons? That has absolutely nothing to do with it. Google.com/base (not adwords) has nothing to do with me running Google ads on my site. Google base is a free service where they feed our auctions into their search. It took me and my developer hours to get this set up and it's a free service to our sellers. This is something that affects our sellers and is a big plus in selling on GameGavel. Again, this has nothing to do with ad revenue. http://base.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=2903 Read on. . . Downhill? The site is busier than ever. As FND pointed out to our forums discussing this you can see where I am going here. I really don't mind if this stuff gets listed, but if you are going to list it there are a couple of things you can do to prevent our feeds to Google from going down. First off, don't use words like modded or pirated in your listing titles or descriptions. Certainly no current generation modded systems can be listed - territory free for example. Pretty much anything that is long out of production is fine with me (repros,homebrews,protos still have their own categories). Also, only Buy Now/Fixed Price listings are fed into Google Base. So if you want to list as an auction, then it is fine as well. I just need to do what I can for our sellers to protect our Google Feeds which make our sellers "buy now" listings searchable in Google. Now, how anyone can see that is a bad thing I am sorry. Sellers all say they want more traffic to their listings and this is one free way of getting lots more traffic. This is a very good thing. And I can't have a couple items shut down the feed for 2000 listings. And that is what was happening. This is all being done for the sellers. And if we can figure out a way to run these types of items on the site and not jeapordize our feed than no problem. Just for everyone's info. Here is a link to our current data feed: http://www.gamegavel.com/html/google_base_feed.txt (open this link and then consider all these items are being fed to Google and appearing in Google Searches - you can see how this brings lots of traffic to the site and to your listings) Basically we are set to send a feed at 6:00 AM each EST each morning. Then when someone searches for these items these listings get shown in the search page as for sale. .. GameGavel . . .Price, etc. It gives lots of free additional coverage for sellers running fixed price listings. Also, since we have now combined our forums under the GameGavel URL I can now track, much more accurately, our total visitors which are now sitting at about 2,000 unique visitors / day. The site is growing quite nicely. Just sit tight with me here. Try using the site alongside Ebay - no cost since no listing fees. And watch us continue to grow. The more you use it the more you will sell. Now hopefully you all understand what the Google Feed is all about. Next, we aren't going anywhere, and I am certainly not selling out on any account. I work daily on creating a unique all inclusive site that is different than anything else out there (auctions/forums/radio/5+ hout monthly retrogaming podcast/blogs,etc) that complements your participation on other forums like AA. An awful lot of effort gets poured into all the avenues of GameGavel and it's all done for you guys. Join our forums to really see where GameGavel is going (now over 10,000 posts an 3100 members) and get updates from me and the community. It's an active community and getting more active all the time. Over the last two years I have personally dealt with many of you and would hope you all know me a bit better than what was intially written to launch this thread. This is going to be a great year for the site and its members and I hope to meet many of you at CGE 2010 Edited February 18, 2010 by Parrothead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 This is all being done for the sellers. And if we can figure out a way to run these types of items on the site and not jeapordize our feed than no problem. Understood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Somehow, I thought SoCal Mike ran Chasethechuckwagon a little differently. Maybe I only hoped inside that they were the anti-ebay. They just proved me wrong. I received an email tonight informing all Game Gavel listers that modded and altered systems will no longer be permitted. Only factory spec systems will be allowed for listing on their site. The reasoning given is that they are now linked in with Google ad service as a revenue stream and they will cancel Game Gavel if there are any modded game systems listed for sale on their site. I am not a fan of piracy in the slightest, but do not understand roping people like myself into the same proverbial boat with those types as it pertains to modding systems. All I do is audio/video upgrades along with region mods on outdated 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Seeing as those are no longer in production and that the original software is no longer being distributed, what should it matter if somebody desires to improve the video or audio quality of their classic gaming system, or to do away with the annoying flashing startup screen on their NES? I wish Game Gavel the best, but will not be doing business with their sell-out site any longer. Talk about opening the umbrella before it rains... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Talk about opening the umbrella before it rains... The Media bbcode lets you embed videos directly into your post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DksSPZTZES0 ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Thanks Al! I haven't been posting much since the new forum software upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 (edited) Here is Google in action: There is someone on GameGavel now who typed this into the Google Search bar: spyro the dragon playstation 1 Try it and see what happens. Then click on Shopping Results. See the GameGavel listing? So now all sellers who use a Buy Now/Fixed price have the advantage of having their auctions seen on Google. So not just people on GG can see the auctions but anyone who happens to be searching for it on Google too. So no matter the size of GG, your listings can be found on the biggest and badest search engine on the net. I hope you can understand now how powerful this is to our sellers and how it is bad if our feed goes down. Threads started by disinformed people like this do a disservice to not only GameGavel, but more importantly to all our members who are doing their part to make GG a better place and a nice alternative to Ebay. Edited February 19, 2010 by Parrothead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 There is someone on GameGavel now who typed this into the Google Search bar: spyro the dragon playstation 1 Try it and see what happens. Then click on Shopping Results. See the GameGavel listing? http://tinyurl.com/y9s94uk ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 There is someone on GameGavel now who typed this into the Google Search bar: spyro the dragon playstation 1 Try it and see what happens. Then click on Shopping Results. See the GameGavel listing? http://tinyurl.com/y9s94uk ..Al lol. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 The only thing that will save the site is if they change the name to Chase the Game Gavel or Gavel the Chase Wagon. If they don't, the site will crash and burn. How do I know this? I turned off the lights, shined a flashlight in my face, and saw the future. The year 2000 is amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 lol. Thanks I enjoy linking to that site, for some reason.. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tz101 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 Here is Google in action: There is someone on GameGavel now who typed this into the Google Search bar: spyro the dragon playstation 1 Try it and see what happens. Then click on Shopping Results. See the GameGavel listing? So now all sellers who use a Buy Now/Fixed price have the advantage of having their auctions seen on Google. So not just people on GG can see the auctions but anyone who happens to be searching for it on Google too. So no matter the size of GG, your listings can be found on the biggest and badest search engine on the net. I hope you can understand now how powerful this is to our sellers and how it is bad if our feed goes down. Threads started by disinformed people like this do a disservice to not only GameGavel, but more importantly to all our members who are doing their part to make GG a better place and a nice alternative to Ebay. If I was "disinformed", then whose issue is that? I am only going by the email I received, and did not state anything that was not contained in that email. Q: Is the word "custom" or "customized" a no-no as far as Google is concerned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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