Ok Guys, What do you think about having a Buy or trade section to the Forum?
A place where a person could list what he has for sale or trade? It would be like going to a Model Railroad Flea market that would be open all the time.
Kevin
Sounds like a great idea. How would it be set up?
Mark C.
I am working on an idea similar to this right now. In another two weeks or so, it will probably be ready for testing. My idea is for more than just trains, but I was hoping to roll out a version just for Model Railroads. Would you be interested in helping me test the site when it is done?
The way I am thinking it would work is similar to the auction sites where you can browse and search for items that members have to trade and/or for items that are wanted. To list an item you will have to register (for free), then select a category and listing type, enter the title, description, picture (1 initially), and what you would like in return.
Anyone could browse but in order to contact a member that has listed an item you must also become a member. Initially listing items will be free (at least while in testing).
Let me know if you think this is a good idea and would be interested in testing.
Thanks,
Kevin
Might not be so good for me Kevin. The freight costs are pretty big!!
Ken.
P.s see you soon!!
Some other forums(not Atlas) have a segregated classified section.
We already have one, its called eBay.
Bob Boudreau
[#ditto] to Bobs reply. This is a forum, not a fleamarket. Just an opnion, Ken
Right now there is no alternative to the auction sites. If you have something you don’t want or need anymore, you can sell it. But then you have to pay a portion of that sale to the site. So what if you don’t want cash, you just want to trade for something of similar value.
Sure there are classified listing adds and newsgroups, but they are not combined into one easily searchable website.
Thanks,
Kevin
PS. Ken, I will be there in less than a month now. we are very excited.
Although there are a lot of members in this forum, the amount of active participants is really pretty small. Most participants of the forum, know there is a lot of model railroad stuff for sale on ebay. Given the above, If I have something to list for sale, where would be the best place to list it?
After some thought on this, I still believe in my original reply, but I would be for a seperate classified section or listing in the forum index, that one could go to to check out whats for sale or swap. To add it to this forum though, I’m against it. Ken
eBay does cost to list and sell. But it also has some sort of buyer protection with feedback and other security measures. Anyone can post on this forum without any such security, and there’s no protection whatsoever if the scam artists decided to offer items for sale. They can change their ID at will and there is nothing that Kalmbach can or would be expected to do if someone gets ripped off.
That’s why the world’s greatest flea market eBay is still the best and most safest place to dispose of unwanted things. Use other methods at your own risk.
Bob Boudreau
Other forums have tried this for trains and other items and guess what - no traffic. You get only a few people. Why , because everyone is over at Ebay where the number of buyers/sellers is in the tens of thousands and all the little things like buyer protection, paypal etc.
I’ve seen a number of RR auction sites come and go. I would like to see one succeed. Ebay is great, but it takes a lot of time to filter through the junk to the real deals and true model stuff.
I think a side forum for items for sale (not auction) would be great here. List what you have and accept any questions. I think it could work. It would also be a plus for MR by drawing more fans to the web site.
I like the idea in a seperate section. I think we could have a non auction for sale section. Also by being in a seperate section, those that don’t want to read it can stay in the general section. Good idea Kevin, but what have the powers to be said ?
Tim
No thanks. If you allow ANY selling on a single page of this forum, it’ll inevitably spill out to all the others. It’ll go from one of the best model railroad forums nline to yet another carppy swapmeet site.
We’ve got Ebay and a few others (with horrible traffic). Why would we need any more?
[#ditto] Besides, Ebay’s rates are very low. Most low-dollar items cost a buck or less to sell. Considering the cost and time involved for Ebay to work, I think they are very reasonable. Plus, buyers don’t pay any fees at all!!
The idea that I have is for trading. I know there are many things that I have that I would prefer to trade instead of sell. Auction sites are great for selling and buying and there is not much room to compete. But auction sites do not allow for trading at all, it is strictly a buy/sell transaction since that is how they make their money.
There are no sites that are easy to use for just trading (no ca***ransactions). A good example would be parts for a locomotive. I am sure many people have parts off of old locomotives that someone may need. And maybe you need parts for a different locomotive. There is no place that I have found that would allow this type of transaction other than a newsgroup,. and then you are not sure who is going to find your post. The beauty of the auction sites is that people are regularly looking for stuff out there (I know since I do everyday), because it is easy to use and to locate the things for which you are looking . But at the same time it can be expensive. If you have a brass locomotive that you want to sell, it is going to cost at least 5% of the winning bid. That can run $25 or more. Then if you want to take the money from the purchase and buy a different locomotive through an auction, it is going to cost the seller of that item additionally. If you and the other person have what each other person wants, it would be much more cost effective to trade items. People do this all of the time with other people that they know, but that is a limited trading market.
I agree with Bob Boudreau that the protections that auction sites have are a necessity in any type of on-line forum for trading as well. Since you don’t know who you are dealing with personally, there needs to be some way to research their past history, etc. There will be a way to rank your trading partner so that others will know how honest a member is.
The site that I am working on is not a part of the forum, but will be a separate website altogether. Initially I wante
Seems to me that a fellow tried a separate auction site a while ago, think it was called “Choo Choo Auctions” or something along that line. He would post notices semi regularly on the rec.models.railroad newsgroup, but I don’t think many took him up on his offer. I seem to recall someone noting there were only a few things up for auction. I even looked at Yahoo Auctions, only found a few items there.
So for me it’s eBay.
Now if someone is looking for a particular part for an engine or the like, I don’t mind such inquiries. Some years ago a friend was looking for a white metal frame for an Atlas diesel, the part was no longer available from them. I posted a request on RMR and a fellow generously offered to send me one for nothing! I would do the same if I could.
Bob Boudreau
There are a number of similiar sections in numerous other forums. I have posted on most of them looking for what I thought was a fairly common item. Guess what, in over 3 months, not one response. I can find the item regularly at Ebay, but no one seemed interested to respond on the buy/sell/trade sections.
So Ebay it is. Which, as most have stated does offer a little buyer protection and you can at least check the history of the seller.
Actually, some of the other model RR forums have “for sale” sections which seem to work ok. A smaller mambership keeps the volume down and most of the hucksters out. Commercial offerings from big manufacturers are barred, though some allow members that are also small manufacturers to advertise new products in designated areas.
Those forums are not offered by a company that has to keep in mind the paying advertisers that support it’s existance, though. Understandably, it may not be in this forum’s interests to offer a “swap-meet.”.
Wayne