387 replies to this topic

[Parrothead]

Hey, all. Check out http://www.chasethechuckwagon.com as a much less expensive alternative than Ebay. It's in the very early stages but is getting favorable responses on other newsgroups where I participate. I was a pretty big eBay regular but started getting tired of the fees and their new formats being shoved down my throat, etc.

Let me know what you all think.

Edited by Parrothead, Mon Jan 4, 2010 3:46 PM.

[jimdandy75]

Looks cool to me, great fee structure !!!!!! So is this live and ready to go, or is it still under construction?
If you're going to launch something like this, you should definitely push it hard here and on other gaming forums. Maybe even contact Albert and some of the other owners and see about a banner exchange program or maybe some advertising advise. I as an Ebay seller, buyer would be interested in a site like this. And I think others that sell on Ebay would benefit greatly from a site like this, it's just getting the masses of video gamers to come along

[jimdandy75]

Nice, I'm in !!!! Works pretty decent, if you're familiar with Ebay it's a breeze.

[JustJeff2]

Looks cool.. Nice and clean interface. Not much action there yet, but I will try it out and list a few things. Thanks for the link,

-Jeff

[HatNJ]

The Creator Socal Mike posted this in the other related thread

Other thread

[Shawn Sr.]

Looks neat but we all know it won't work.

[phaxda]

I don't know...I've been fed up with eBay before, but now I'm REALLY fed up. With no listing fees, chasechuck is a great place to put up stuff that wouldn't be worth the trouble on eBay. I do prefer to sell on the Marketplace here, but sometimes for something like a mid-rarity 2600 cart that most forum members here have already, it's best to put it up elsewhere. And I'd never bother to do that on eBay because it would cost me too much in fees.

As I see it, you can basically list a bunch off stuff with a "Buy Price" and you've basically got an eBay store without the fees. Sure there's a commission, but it's not nearly as bad as eBay's. Plus, I plan to make people who insist on using a credit card with PayPal pay the fees for that, a practice that eBay (of course) bans.

Wouldn't write it off quite yet...

Shawn Sr., on Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:18 PM, said:

Looks neat but we all know it won't work.

[Parrothead]

Shawn Sr., on Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:18 PM, said:

Looks neat but we all know it won't work.

Don't be to sure about that. I have a job and can keep this thing going for a long time. It is actually costing me very little. I have other avenue to promote the site like my radio show. I am counting on that helping to populate it. There are some other things in the works as well so stay optimistic

[Parrothead]

phaxda, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:43 PM, said:

I don't know...I've been fed up with eBay before, but now I'm REALLY fed up. With no listing fees, chasechuck is a great place to put up stuff that wouldn't be worth the trouble on eBay. I do prefer to sell on the Marketplace here, but sometimes for something like a mid-rarity 2600 cart that most forum members here have already, it's best to put it up elsewhere. And I'd never bother to do that on eBay because it would cost me too much in fees.

As I see it, you can basically list a bunch off stuff with a "Buy Price" and you've basically got an eBay store without the fees. Sure there's a commission, but it's not nearly as bad as eBay's. Plus, I plan to make people who insist on using a credit card with PayPal pay the fees for that, a practice that eBay (of course) bans.

Wouldn't write it off quite yet...

Shawn Sr., on Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:18 PM, said:

Looks neat but we all know it won't work.

Well said. And I just started a new feature on my sister website you can see here - called Auction Talk. Basically free advertising for our sellers. Tieing both of my Chuckwagon sites together is what will keep this thing moving forward.

http://www.chasingth...uctiontalk.html

Edited by Parrothead, Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:49 PM.

[homerwannabee]

I see you guys already have 44 games listed. To me it seems like you guys are definitely on the right track.

[lemoncurry]

Parrothead, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:31 PM, said:

Shawn Sr., on Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:18 PM, said:

Looks neat but we all know it won't work.

Don't be to sure about that. I have a job and can keep this thing going for a long time. It is actually costing me very little. I have other avenue to promote the site like my radio show. I am counting on that helping to populate it. There are some other things in the works as well so stay optimistic

Yeah, don't let Mr. Positive here detract you. This is something the community needs and the time is ripe. It's all about getting the word out, the popularity will snowball if you play your cards right! Good luck!

[JustJeff2]

Added a test listing today. I'll add a few more as time permits!

Some nice features I noticed:

You can pick the ending time.
You can have private auctions.
You can upload your pics directly with no extra fees.

[Crazy Climber]

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

[Dino]

Crazy Climber, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

CC's right. I think what you need to do initially is to waive all fees. People may then give it a try, especially if thay are able to put reserves on their items. The biggest fear people will have is that there aren't enough buyers for them to get top dollar and then getting stung with fees for items taht sell below expectations. If you can overcome those, you may be able to grow your customer base.

If you've got it in a position that its not costing you much to run, it may be what you need to get it off and running.

[Parrothead]

Crazy Climber, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

I can appreciate your concerns on this. But even ebay had to start somewhere, right It started with a gal who wanted to start a venue for trading and selling pez dispensers for god's sake. I am starting this trying to create a place dedicated in buying and selling the most lucrative form of entertainment in this day and age: video games.

And so far, the auctions that are running on the Chuckwagon are seeing lots of activity amongst collectors which is the audience I want to cater to first and foremost. You can still use ebay, but just consider throwing a few items on the Chuckwagon each month. I will take care of driving traffic and getting you bids. So far I am being quite successful at this.

Please remember, I have a radio show with an installed listener base of international classic game collectors. And I am commited to promoting the auctions of my members which can be seen on my new website feature:

http://www.chasingth...uctiontalk.html

So try and get past the idea of it catching on first. We all need to Make It Catch on. Also, my site is much less expensive than ebay and that should make everyone want to use it. It will take time, but it will catch on and grow. I can assure you that.

Thanks for your post, and register. You have nothing to lose

[Crazy Climber]

Parrothead, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:03 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

You can still use ebay, but just consider throwing a few items on the Chuckwagon each month. I will take care of driving traffic and getting you bids. So far I am being quite successful at this.

Sounds fair to me, I could throw a few items on here and there

[Parrothead]

Dino, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:37 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

CC's right. I think what you need to do initially is to waive all fees. People may then give it a try, especially if thay are able to put reserves on their items. The biggest fear people will have is that there aren't enough buyers for them to get top dollar and then getting stung with fees for items taht sell below expectations. If you can overcome those, you may be able to grow your customer base.

If you've got it in a position that its not costing you much to run, it may be what you need to get it off and running.

Basically, I am waiving fees (and offering a $15 new seller credit). Since there are no insertion fees, and if you don't pay any extra for bold print or featured listings, you will not be charged if your item doesn't sell. There is no risk for sellers. And if you look at the current auctions you will see the majority of them have bids. If you think about it, there is less competition for sellers to sell on the Chuckwagon than on eBay where you are competing with zillions of items. And I have added a new feature which will be heard by a large video game collector audience where I actually plug "auctions of note", rare and big ticket items, or any other auction I feel needs added attention on my radio show and new segment called Auction talk which you see click on below to see what it's all about:

http://www.chasingth...uctiontalk.html

The bottom line is I WILL BRING eyes to the auctions. Please don't be discouraged that there isn't much activity on the Chuckwagon. It will grow overtime and soon be the end all, be all of video game auctions. You can mark my words on that We can stop bowing down to eBay, it really isn't that tough. And with the use of my admin email section , I will be promoting a monthly "auction" day where all sellers list one or two items which will bring at least a hundred new auctions a month. And believe me, if I thought free auctions for everyone would work I would have done it -- but it needs a dividing line -- if I opened it free for one year to everyone, I would have a bazillion auctions with bold print, featured on the home page and the like and then nothing would stick out. It needs to be the way that it is - and we all need to contribute. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing, also.

It will be a long time before I give up. But I need everyone to contribute monthly. Even if that means only listing one or two items. Keep using ebay and just throw a few bones my way and IT WILL WORK.

Thanks for reading my rants

Edited by Parrothead, Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:22 PM.

[qixmaster]

Parrothead, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:18 AM, said:

Dino, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:37 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

CC's right. I think what you need to do initially is to waive all fees. People may then give it a try, especially if thay are able to put reserves on their items. The biggest fear people will have is that there aren't enough buyers for them to get top dollar and then getting stung with fees for items taht sell below expectations. If you can overcome those, you may be able to grow your customer base.

If you've got it in a position that its not costing you much to run, it may be what you need to get it off and running.

Basically, I am waiving fees (and offering a $15 new seller credit). Since there are no insertion fees, and if you don't pay any extra for bold print or featured listings, you will not be charged if your item doesn't sell. There is no risk for sellers. And if you look at the current auctions you will see the majority of them have bids. If you think about it, there is less competition for sellers to sell on the Chuckwagon than on eBay where you are competing with zillions of items. And I have added a new feature which will be heard by a large video game collector audience where I actually plug "auctions of note", rare and big ticket items, or any other auction I feel needs added attention on my radio show and new segment called Auction talk which you see click on below to see what it's all about:

http://www.chasingth...uctiontalk.html

The bottom line is I WILL BRING eyes to the auctions. Please don't be discouraged that there isn't much activity on the Chuckwagon. It will grow overtime and soon be the end all, be all of video game auctions. You can mark my words on that We can stop bowing down to eBay, it really isn't that tough. And with the use of my admin email section , I will be promoting a monthly "auction" day where all sellers list one or two items which will bring at least a hundred new auctions a month. And believe me, if I thought free auctions for everyone would work I would have done it -- but it needs a dividing line -- if I opened it free for one year to everyone, I would have a bazillion auctions with bold print, featured on the home page and the like and then nothing would stick out. It needs to be the way that it is - and we all need to contribute. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing, also.

It will be a long time before I give up. But I need everyone to contribute monthly. Even if that means only listing one or two items. Keep using ebay and just throw a few bones my way and IT WILL WORK.

Thanks for reading my rants

I'm in.

let me spread the word some in the NES scene and see if people would be interested there as well. i will post a few auctions here in the next day or so.

I can't stand ebay much anymore, so this is a good start to what appears to be a smart alternative. very easy to navigate.

Josh

[Parrothead]

qixmaster, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:33 AM, said:

Parrothead, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:18 AM, said:

Dino, on Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:37 PM, said:

Crazy Climber, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:25 PM, said:

This would be really cool if it works, problem is before I put anything up I would want it to catch on a little more and I am sure everyone else is thinking the same thing. If thats the case you will have trouble getting stuff up to bid on....

CC's right. I think what you need to do initially is to waive all fees. People may then give it a try, especially if thay are able to put reserves on their items. The biggest fear people will have is that there aren't enough buyers for them to get top dollar and then getting stung with fees for items taht sell below expectations. If you can overcome those, you may be able to grow your customer base.

If you've got it in a position that its not costing you much to run, it may be what you need to get it off and running.

Basically, I am waiving fees (and offering a $15 new seller credit). Since there are no insertion fees, and if you don't pay any extra for bold print or featured listings, you will not be charged if your item doesn't sell. There is no risk for sellers. And if you look at the current auctions you will see the majority of them have bids. If you think about it, there is less competition for sellers to sell on the Chuckwagon than on eBay where you are competing with zillions of items. And I have added a new feature which will be heard by a large video game collector audience where I actually plug "auctions of note", rare and big ticket items, or any other auction I feel needs added attention on my radio show and new segment called Auction talk which you see click on below to see what it's all about:

http://www.chasingth...uctiontalk.html

The bottom line is I WILL BRING eyes to the auctions. Please don't be discouraged that there isn't much activity on the Chuckwagon. It will grow overtime and soon be the end all, be all of video game auctions. You can mark my words on that We can stop bowing down to eBay, it really isn't that tough. And with the use of my admin email section , I will be promoting a monthly "auction" day where all sellers list one or two items which will bring at least a hundred new auctions a month. And believe me, if I thought free auctions for everyone would work I would have done it -- but it needs a dividing line -- if I opened it free for one year to everyone, I would have a bazillion auctions with bold print, featured on the home page and the like and then nothing would stick out. It needs to be the way that it is - and we all need to contribute. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing, also.

It will be a long time before I give up. But I need everyone to contribute monthly. Even if that means only listing one or two items. Keep using ebay and just throw a few bones my way and IT WILL WORK.

Thanks for reading my rants

I'm in.

let me spread the word some in the NES scene and see if people would be interested there as well. i will post a few auctions here in the next day or so.

I can't stand ebay much anymore, so this is a good start to what appears to be a smart alternative. very easy to navigate.

Josh

Thanks Josh. I really appreciate it. Spread the good word of the Chuckwagon

[nathanallan]

I dropped a link over at the forums at vintage-computer.com, they like some games, too.

Nathan

[ninermaniac]

I like it. I do hope it takes off. I like to see a site dedicated to the classics!

[udisi]

you have some competition from gamegavel.com too. I hope you the best though, I'd love to see one of these video game auction sites make it. The biggest problem is still that sellers won't get the traffic or price that ebay brings for a while.

[Crazy Climber]

udisi, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:56 PM, said:

you have some competition from gamegavel.com too. I hope you the best though, I'd love to see one of these video game auction sites make it. The biggest problem is still that sellers won't get the traffic or price that ebay brings for a while.

I thought about that, the best thing I can think of is to list your items at the price you want for them right off the bat. That way anything extra is just bonus money

[kb9snl]

Just make sure you keep it in front of the public well, like you're planning...who remembers "Bidiots.com"? I think it was launched back in 04, and it died within a couple of years. If you search the atariage news archive, you can read about it. I'd hate for it to turn out like that.

This is better, as it has free listings. Bidiots was built more like ebay, listing fees, etc. I'll try it out and see how it works.

[Parrothead]

udisi, on Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:56 PM, said:

you have some competition from gamegavel.com too. I hope you the best though, I'd love to see one of these video game auction sites make it. The biggest problem is still that sellers won't get the traffic or price that ebay brings for a while.

So far my auctions are going pretty well. I figure they would be about the same place as if I would have listed on eBay at this point. Also, if any of you have big dollar items or rare items I will plug them on air on my radio show website. That will bring you quality collector type buyers for sure.

The bottom line is that if you all list it, I will get the traffic and get you some bids -- especially if its something really worth bidding on -- not common stuff. I think you would be suprised. You would be suprised how much stuff gets put on eBay and they close with not one bid. And then they still take the money for listing the item. Not that way at the chuckwagon. If your item does not sell you aren't charged the insertion fee. That is a big bonus.

And again, as I have said many times before, you can continue to use eBay, just put a few things up on the Chuckwagon as well and it will grow.

I have just spent some $ on search engine optimization but am going to be passing on the Adwords , pay per click route. That is a racket in and of itself - pay per click advertising doesn't work as I have tried it for years even when overture.com was doing it -- before being bought by Yahoo. Once my first radio show plugging the new site goes out in a week or so that will bring in some more traffic as well.

Thanks for your interest and do what you can to spread the word.

Mike

Edited by Parrothead, Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:38 PM.