Selling homebrews On Ebay :)

[CrazyBoss]

Hi.

 

Just used 45mins talking to EBAY after they removed one of my Auctions. You are not allowed to sell ColecoVision HOMEBREWS on Ebay. They think when you call it homebrew its piracy or modified games, and its not allowed. My God, talked to 4 people, but not sure they really understand it. I even told them I have the right to the code etc. They still said if you made it yourself its homebrew, and that is not allowed.

 

 

"Your listing was removed because it violated our mod chips, game enhancers, and boot disks policy. All fees related to the listing have been credited to your account.

Please be advised that we canceled your listing because we do not permit the sale of device that when installed bypasses a security check performed by the console during the bootup sequence. As a result, counterfeit games (which do not typically contain the proper code) can be booted and played"

[slab0meat]

It's been said on AA many times, that basically, if you used the word "homebrew" in the description, there's a good chance it's getting pulled.

[Albert]

This doesn't terribly surprise me. Dealing with eBay is like dealing with a huge, bureaucratic government entity. I'm sure they receive a ton of pressure from the modern game publishers and console makers to remove anything that even smells of piracy or devices to enable piracy. If they have it in their head that "homebrew == piracy", it's unlikely you're going to change their policies.

 

I would simply list the games without using "Homebrew" in the title, and instead in the description state that this is an original game created for the ColecoVision in the year 20XX by [insert developer name here]. If someone is curious, they can always search for more information about the game. Now, if they still remove the auction, well, that will really suck, but I can't imagine them doing that unless someone reported the auction (and even then, they are very slow to remove items that are reported).

 

..Al

[AtariBrian]

It happened to me once when I sold a Coleco homebrew . I waited a couple days and listed it and left out the word homebrew and all was well .

[Albert]

It happened to me once when I sold a Coleco homebrew . I wait a couple days and listed it and left out the word homebrew and all was well .

 

Did the auction run to completion?

[AtariBrian]

 

Did the auction run to completion?

Yes it did run to completion .

[CrazyBoss]

I think she said, they put a restriction on my account, so I am sure If I relist they will bust it again but if you search for Colecovision Homebrew you get a lot of listings anyway alot of the with very sick prices

 

but actually the Coleco Flashback should be violating the rules since its a reproduce and modified compared to the original product.

[NIAD]

but actually the Coleco Flashback should be violating the rules since its a reproduce and modified compared to the original product.

Not the case at all as it is an officially licensed product by the current rights holders of ColecoVision... River West Brands. For that matter, the Super Game Module by Opcode is officially licensed by River West Brands as well as a number of CollectorVision releases being officially licensed by their rights holders.

[jblenkle]

I sold eight homebrews a while back on eBay and never had a problem. But then I never mentioned the word "homebrew" in my description. I never have liked that term anyway...a game is a game...

[Rybags]

Morons. And on the other hand, you get people who collate a few emulators and Rom/disk images together onto a CD and they let them sell it despite them having absolutely no rights to the emulators or games included.

[youki]

Don't surprise me, Paypal blocked my account due to my homebrew activities...

 

But as far i understand after numerous call to paypal.. the problem is not due the nature of homebrew... the problem is that they don't take fee they would like on these transactions.

 

If you are registered as professionnal seller or have a professionnal account you don't have to worry. I think it is the same thing for ebay.

[CrazyBoss]

not sure what they ment actually just used an hour or so calling them from Europe to US

 

first they said its Copyrights, but I told them I have the rights to the game.

 

So they thought I reproduce without a license.

 

Since I converted the game from another platform they said You modified the game to boot at the Colecovision.

 

And you are not alowed to sell games on ebay that bypass security check. I told them the Colecovision dont have this!

 

But not sure and then I gave up.

[Albert]

Yeah, it's pretty much like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall. And I've probably had more meaningful conversations with brick walls than I have had with eBay.

 

..Al

[carlsson]

Interestingly, on some auction sites owned but not run by eBay like Swedish Tradera, I have lately seen highly pirate oriented auctions that ran to completion. One was for a C64 EPROM or possibly Flash based cart where the seller even mentioned he'll load it with whatever content the buyer would like. I also see a fair amount of copied floppy disks which are marked as so and sold as being precious items if you can't find the original ones. While the overall rules should be the same on all sites owned by eBay, clearly there are big differences in how closely the staff of each site monitors the auctions.

[CrazyBoss]

I think its hard to find any Commodore 64 or Commodore Amige auction that includes software, which is not pirated software it was almost a trademark of Commodore

[youki]

not sure what they ment actually just used an hour or so calling them from Europe to US

 

first they said its Copyrights, but I told them I have the rights to the game.

 

So they thought I reproduce without a license.

 

Since I converted the game from another platform they said You modified the game to boot at the Colecovision.

 

And you are not alowed to sell games on ebay that bypass security check. I told them the Colecovision dont have this!

 

But not sure and then I gave up.

 

What titles you were selling?

[CrazyBoss]

It was the Memotech MTX Collection Vol.1 since Collectorvision stock was out and Good game deal also seem to be sould out, so I decided to make a few copies (card only).

[Rev]

Don't surprise me, Paypal blocked my account due to my homebrew activities...

 

But as far i understand after numerous call to paypal.. the problem is not due the nature of homebrew... the problem is that they don't take fee they would like on these transactions.

 

If you are registered as professionnal seller or have a professionnal account you don't have to worry. I think it is the same thing for ebay.

When taking payments for homebrew games, you can only take so many 'gift' payments.

 

I've not had my account shut down on paypal yet.

[Tron Unit]

I see that some sellers are selling Homebrews and passing them off as "Rare" for 3 times the price they sold for. Yes, they are "rare" but paying $150 per game?

[slab0meat]

I see that some sellers are selling Homebrews and passing them off as "Rare" for 3 times the price they sold for. Yes, they are "rare" but paying $150 per game?

 

For some homebrews, $150 is "cheap".... see Ghosts N Zombies

[CrazyBoss]

some sealed Nintendo rare games, seen at $22,000 thats more than 3 times the "new" price

[+digress]

Homebrews by their nature are rare the moment they are finished. Most homebrews sell less than 100 copies (some less than 50) and are never made again.

 

There are some games I'll never get to try just because they were released before I was aware of them and now they are gone for good.

 

But once the game is sold the new owner can sell it for whatever price the market will bear.

 

I've bought a few for well over price of the original but what are you gonna do if it means that much to you.

 

Best bet is to buy them ones currently available that you want at the regular price and man there are lots of excellent coleco games that aren't rare.

 

I see that some sellers are selling Homebrews and passing them off as "Rare" for 3 times the price they sold for. Yes, they are "rare" but paying $150 per game?

[sega_SHARK]

That dude from Australia has had a lot of those games sitting up on eBay for a while.

[Albert]

Homebrews by their nature are rare the moment they are finished

 

If the homebrew is still available for purchase, I disagree. Most of the homebrews sold in the AtariAge Store have been available indefinitely. There have been some exceptions of course, such as Boulder Dash, but anyone selling a 'Rare" homebrew on eBay that is still available to purchase new is being misleading, at best. Once a particular homebrew is no longer available (and especially if there are no plans to make another run), then, yes, that game is certainly "rare" compared to most commercially released games for a system. There are sometimes variations on this, for instance, the first run of the various AtariAge Holiday Greeting Carts have been numbered. Once those are no longer available, those numbered carts are "rare" in that the only way to obtain one would be from someone else.

 

..Al

[Tron Unit]

I get that but personally I just can't see dropping that kind of cash for a 35 year old game system cart that was never officially released or licensed. I think it's neat that they are making them for it but I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars for a game no matter its rarity. I'm just not that desperate to have it.