Should I try Game Gavel?

[AtariLeaf]

I was thinking of listing some things originally on ebay but my god, I checked out the fee structure and they want 15% FFV now? Forget that.

 

Now does game gavel get enough exposure, looks, bids, etc that I would get market value for my items? (In this case CIB Intellivision games)

 

Or should I just post on the forums and be done with it?

[+orpheuswaking]

Do both. It can't hurt... Gamegavel obviously doesn't get the same exposure/views as Ebay but there is a healthy group of people over there (i've sold a couple things and had no issues)...

 

if they don't sell, throw them up here

 

I always try and use a multi-pronged approach.

[tetrode kink]

...if they don't sell, throw them up here ...

AtariLeaf, if you do follow orpheuswaking's advice, at least put them in plastic bags before you swallow them. I'm not sure that your eventual buyers would enjoy receiving games covered in stomach acid.

[+wood_jl]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers.

 

I can't believe some big-name competitor hasn't sprung up yet - I mean backed by a big tech company or something. I guess they figure as soon as they did, Ebay would cut fees back down (however temporary) and wait for them to go out of business before Ebay lost much traffic.

 

Aaaaah, Capitalism at work!

Edited September 30, 2010 by wood_jl

[AtariLeaf]

Yea its insane. If I sell a game for $100 as an example, they'll take $15 right off the top plus all the other fees not to mention paypal fees. I haven't gone through how much I'd actually lose on an ebay sale so maybe a more experienced seller could chime in.

[horseboy]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers.

 

I can't believe some big-name competitor hasn't sprung up yet - I mean backed by a big tech company or something. I guess they figure as soon as they did, Ebay would cut fees back down (however temporary) and wait for them to go out of business before Ebay lost much traffic.

 

Aaaaah, Capitalism at work!

 

It isn't a bit greedy. It is business. Nobody is forced to use Ebay.

 

As for a competitor. There used to be this site called Yahoo Auctions. They were backed by a very large company. It didn't work out.

[SoulBlazer]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers.

 

I can't believe some big-name competitor hasn't sprung up yet - I mean backed by a big tech company or something. I guess they figure as soon as they did, Ebay would cut fees back down (however temporary) and wait for them to go out of business before Ebay lost much traffic.

 

Aaaaah, Capitalism at work!

 

It isn't a bit greedy. It is business. Nobody is forced to use Ebay.

 

As for a competitor. There used to be this site called Yahoo Auctions. They were backed by a very large company. It didn't work out.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't put Yahoo in the same catagory as Microsoft, Sony, Ford, or Coke, though.

[MitchSchaft]

I bought some stuff from them a couple weeks ago. I like 'em.

[eightbit]

Ebay sucks nowadays. I haven't sold anything on there in quite some time because of the high fees. I like Game Gavel and have used it a few times in the past. The only thing is that if you list something for say a starting bid of 99 cents, it might just sell for 99 cents Start the bid at something more reasonable for what you are selling so that even if you get one bid you'll sell your item for pretty much what you were looking for.

 

I also recently used wensy.com for some Nintendo stuff. Not much in the way of games there (yet), but the site looks good and does have a whole lot of auctions and categories...all free.

[tetrode kink]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers...

While I agree with your point, eBay is a little more complex than just running some servers. They have to create and maintain a vast, specialized program to run auctions. On a lot of servers.

 

Another thing to consider is payroll bloat - eBay has entire "teams" for each aspect of eBay: Buyer "Experience," Seller "Experience," Search "Experience," etc.

 

It isn't a bit greedy. It is business. Nobody is forced to use Ebay.

 

As for a competitor. There used to be this site called Yahoo Auctions. They were backed by a very large company. It didn't work out.

Yes, and isn't it interesting that when Yahoo Auctions, eBay's closest competitor, went under, it didn't take long for eBay to jack up fees and jack boot their policies. Now that eBay has no effective competition, they're a monopoly.

[+wood_jl]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers.

 

I can't believe some big-name competitor hasn't sprung up yet - I mean backed by a big tech company or something. I guess they figure as soon as they did, Ebay would cut fees back down (however temporary) and wait for them to go out of business before Ebay lost much traffic.

 

Aaaaah, Capitalism at work!

 

It isn't a bit greedy. It is business.

 

As if "greed" and "business" are mutually exclusive. HA HA HA! More like bedfellows.

 

Nobody is forced to use Ebay.

 

Of course not. So then, it's only a ripoff if you're forced, then? What is your definition of a monopoly? Do you believe Standard Oil was a monopoly? But nobody "forced" anybody to buy their oil, did they? I guess that makes them "not greedy" since they didn't put a gun to anybody's head.

 

As for a competitor. There used to be this site called Yahoo Auctions. They were backed by a very large company. It didn't work out.

 

Yeah, since there's no competition, they're playing Monopoly. Be nice if Google (or some other giant) would take them on....but as you know they're in bed together already with the blasted ads. That was a smart move for Ebay.

[+wood_jl]

15%!!!! That is amazingly-greedy. Half of that is greedy. Just for running some servers...

While I agree with your point, eBay is a little more complex than just running some servers. They have to create and maintain a vast, specialized program to run auctions. On a lot of servers.

 

Another thing to consider is payroll bloat - eBay has entire "teams" for each aspect of eBay: Buyer "Experience," Seller "Experience," Search "Experience," etc.

 

Yeah, I know. I was exaggerating. They're pretty smart. The seller owns the merchandise, busts their ass taking pictures and writing up an ad, buys all the packing material and boxes, sweats packing it up, drives to and stands in line at the post office. Someone pays shipping. Buyer and seller take risks with each other. As long as the Ebay servers run, it sells, and they just rake in cash off the top while others "do the work." I'm not saying they're evil. They're quite genius. Yes, it's business, and yes, they're getting greedy with the fees. The seller gets double-dicked with Ebay and Paypal fees, and takes one in the mouth as well if they buyer turns out to be an unreasonable asshole. If there's a foreign exchange conversion through paypal, get ready to take another one in some other hole on the exchange rate. Just business.

Edited October 1, 2010 by wood_jl

[tetrode kink]

Yeah, I know. I was exaggerating. They're pretty smart. The seller owns the merchandise, busts their ass taking pictures and writing up an ad, buys all the packing material and boxes, sweats packing it up, drives to and stands in line at the post office. Someone pays shipping. Buyer and seller take risks with each other. As long as the Ebay servers run, it sells, and they just rake in cash off the top while others "do the work." I'm not saying they're evil. They're quite genius. Yes, it's business, and yes, they're getting greedy with the fees. The seller gets double-dicked with Ebay and Paypal fees, and takes one in the mouth as well if they buyer turns out to be an unreasonable asshole. If there's a foreign exchange conversion through paypal, get ready to take another one in some other hole on the exchange rate. Just business.

Heh, couldn't have said it better myself. And that's saying something, 'cause one of the things [i think] I'm really good at is saying things better myself!

[hex65000]

As a side note if you decide to put stuff up on Game Gavel:

While you may only get a few bidders depending on the item, I would suggest that you avoid over pricing as well. I see some auctions just rotting over there because the seller really wants more than the item is, worth or perhaps the top end of what it's worth. Price it to sell, and it'll go. If it gets bid up, bolly for you! Avoid the D.P. syndrome and you'll do just fine, and as a bonus you are helping a small business v/s the abomination that is EBay. Can't see much of a downside there.

 

I pretty much sell only on GGavel, and SoCal Mike is aces. And remember, more stuff = more eyes which means more potential buyers.

 

Hex.

[ Oh yeah, this is another something I have to work on as well... Listing stuff. ]

[2600 For Life]

As long as the Ebay servers run, it sells, and they just rake in cash off the top while others "do the work."

 

I'm curious, doesn't the exposure, to your items, count for something?

 

I can go to craiglist, and wait months to maybe get a nibble or two (if you are contacted right away, you are probably selling it too low, to someone who wants to flip it on you). Or, I can go to EBay, and get potentially more than I wanted (or less, if no reserve), and get it sold within a week or less. There is value in that. I digress, but that's why I never understand why some of the re-sellers put these outrageous Buy It Now prices and re-list it for months. Isn't the point of a business to move inventory? Stop focusing on profit on one item! Focus on a little less profit on more items. But, I could be missing something.

 

Anyhow, that's not to say that 15% isn't outrageous. It may be.

[horseboy]

As long as the Ebay servers run, it sells, and they just rake in cash off the top while others "do the work."

 

I'm curious, doesn't the exposure, to your items, count for something?

 

I can go to craiglist, and wait months to maybe get a nibble or two (if you are contacted right away, you are probably selling it too low, to someone who wants to flip it on you). Or, I can go to EBay, and get potentially more than I wanted (or less, if no reserve), and get it sold within a week or less. There is value in that. I digress, but that's why I never understand why some of the re-sellers put these outrageous Buy It Now prices and re-list it for months. Isn't the point of a business to move inventory? Stop focusing on profit on one item! Focus on a little less profit on more items. But, I could be missing something.

 

Anyhow, that's not to say that 15% isn't outrageous. It may be.

 

Exposure does count. It counts a lot. Ebay is the best place to sell your common items if you want to make the most money. No question about it. At least 80% (probably more) of your potential buyers don't even know what Game Gavel is. I have used GG and I like it. Competition is great. I am glad it is there, but it is just in a different universe than ebay is in. They both have their place. For niche items that only a serious collector would be interested in I think you can probably do well on GG if you do some forum self promotion.

Edited October 5, 2010 by horseboy

[tetrode kink]

...Avoid the D.P. syndrome and you'll do just fine...

[+wood_jl]

As long as the Ebay servers run, it sells, and they just rake in cash off the top while others "do the work."

 

I'm curious, doesn't the exposure, to your items, count for something?

 

Yup, of course it does, which is the only reason they'd be used in the first place. Beef is they keep raising fees, and they're able to do so because there is no competition for their services.

 

I can go to craiglist, and wait months to maybe get a nibble or two (if you are contacted right away, you are probably selling it too low, to someone who wants to flip it on you).

Or you're inundated with scammers. I haven't tried CL much, but that was my experience. I've bought a very few things from them. They're a nice local alternative, but FREE is the operative word.

 

Or, I can go to EBay, and get potentially more than I wanted (or less, if no reserve), and get it sold within a week or less. There is value in that. I digress, but that's why I never understand why some of the re-sellers put these outrageous Buy It Now prices and re-list it for months.

I don't know why it is affordable for them to do that - consuming many more Ebay resources than you or I selling an item or two that actually sells and makes money for Ebay. I suspect they're letting those services go cheap (or we wouldn't see said ridiculous relisting), while the individual seller pays much more for the service.

[Parrothead]

Exposure counts. But so does pricing your listings accurately. We have had a newer seller post close to 300 listings , all buy it now, and sell over 200 of them. And most were common games. We get plenty of exposure feeding our listings into Google Shopping.

 

Face it, there is no formula for selling on auction sites anymore, on GameGavel or on Ebay anymore. The bottom line is that there is no risk on GameGavel and no one should discount it on any level until they have tried it and given it a fair chance. GG isn't going anywhere and after what has basically been a 2-3 year beta we are now seriously going out and looking for funding. If Etsy.com can do it for handmade items (they have netted over 50 million in funding the past five years), GameGavel can get proper funding in a 40 Billion industry. For those of you who still believe, hold tight, we aren't giving up our fight!

Edited October 8, 2010 by Parrothead

[SRG]

A couple of things, if you sell or list on GameGavel, you are more likely to sell to a collector, who will cherish the CIB stuff you mentioned. It hopefully won't go to someone who will hold it for awhile and relist it as !!!!RARE!!!!

 

Also if you post in the forums here and at GG that you have the items up you will get people in the know, and whom probably frequent other forums and spread the word that way.

 

Last Mike is a great guy, so let's help him out and grow GameGavel to be a great site for gamers to buy and sell, since we all have eBay nightmares

[oldgames]

Feel free to take my input with a grain of salt. I'm a very avid supporter of GameGavel.

 

I think it is definitely worth trying GameGavel. Plus, there is no cost to you if it doesn't work out. Fees are only charged on the sale, not the listing. This means Mike really wants your stuff to sell as opposed to eBay who actually makes more money if it takes several tries for your item to get a buyer.

 

Here's what I'm seeing on Game Gavel:

 

Item views are growing rapidly.

 

Sales are growing slowly but steadily.

 

My customers are a mix of repeat customers and new people. I think that's a good indicator. People are happy with the site (and hopefully the stuff I sell), so they're sticking around and buying more. At the same time, new people are finding the site. If they follow the same pattern of liking what they find I'm sure they'll become regulars also.

 

I'd advise starting your items at the minimum price you'd accept and add a BIN for a reasonable amount. I've actually gone to all BIN's for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the feed to Google Shopping.

 

If your auction has a BIN, it will automatically be loaded to Google shopping. No extra work or expense for the seller.

 

Last bit of advice. Don't just put a couple things on for 1 week and then decide it isn't working. Try to have a few more items that you can afford to give a real chance to sell.

 

I also agree with those who advise not having all your eggs in one basket. If nothing else, Ebay has taught us that.