International Video Game Auction House

[8bitgamer]

There's a really cool new auction house specializing in classic gaming memorabilia. It's run by Ben Gold, the video game legend who won the That's Incredible arcade contest back in 1983. This is a new venture, and Ben welcomes feedback, especially in the form of constructive criticism.

 

You can check out The International Video Game Auction House here:

 

http://www.ivgah.com/

[bojay1997]

There's a really cool new auction house specializing in classic gaming memorabilia. It's run by Ben Gold, the video game legend who won the That's Incredible arcade contest back in 1983. This is a new venture, and Ben welcomes feedback, especially in the form of constructive criticism.

 

You can check out The International Video Game Auction House here:

 

http://www.ivgah.com/

 

While I think some of the lots look interesting, paying a 14.5% buyer's premium seems ridiculous and a $25 bid increment at $100 or more is pretty extreme. Similarly, many of the minimum bids are higher than some of these same items have sold for on Ebay recently. To even register, you have to "speak" with IVGAH? There just isn't enough unique or interesting there to justify most of what is being required of bidders.

 

Is anyone really going to pay a minimum of $5K plus $725 buyer's premium for a Walter Day ref shirt or $100 plus $14.50 buyer's premium and shipping for 50 1980s comics that can be purchased in any used comic store for $1 each in bulk? $400 plus $58 buyer's premium plus shipping for a loose Vectrex, one game and a 90s multicart? Why not just list this stuff on Ebay or Gamegavel and spend the time to really hype it up rather than starting a whole other auction service, especially one that most collectors won't jump through hoops to use?

Edited December 12, 2012 by bojay1997

[dobidy]

This looks more like a vanity project than an auction site.

Edited December 13, 2012 by dobidy

[bennybingo]

While I think some of the lots look interesting, paying a 14.5% buyer's premium seems ridiculous and a $25 bid increment at $100 or more is pretty extreme. Similarly, many of the minimum bids are higher than some of these same items have sold for on Ebay recently. To even register, you have to "speak" with IVGAH? There just isn't enough unique or interesting there to justify most of what is being required of bidders.

 

Is anyone really going to pay a minimum of $5K plus $725 buyer's premium for a Walter Day ref shirt or $100 plus $14.50 buyer's premium and shipping for 50 1980s comics that can be purchased in any used comic store for $1 each in bulk? $400 plus $58 buyer's premium plus shipping for a loose Vectrex, one game and a 90s multicart? Why not just list this stuff on Ebay or Gamegavel and spend the time to really hype it up rather than starting a whole other auction service, especially one that most collectors won't jump through hoops to use?

 

Not to mention, the site is not that easy to use. IMHO, as much as I am not a fan of eBay as of late, it is an intuitive site when it comes to searching for product and browsing listing. This site is not. To echo dobidy...it's a vanity project for sure!

[IVGAH]

I wanted to post directly on this thread and respond to some of the comments made here. First of all, I very much appreciate the observations and appreciate open input so that the site can be improved. What you see today is the first iteration of work which started a little over two months ago as just a simple idea. I believe your thoughts will be more positive once we hit the 4^th or 5^th iteration.

 

Based on the feedback I have been given via the forums and through conversations, here are a few changes that will be made for the second auction, scheduled January 19^th – 26^th.

 

1) Starting bids can begin at $70 with $10 increments to $500

2) Registration will be easier

3) There will be search functionality

4) This time I put up too many paper items (brochures and product manuals) that are not rare (even if they are authentic from the time period).

5) Some items had too high of a starting price - I will institute a reserve policy so that even if the items do not reach the minimum bid, I can see the market interest

6) I will offer sellers the chance to list items themselves instead of consignment but there still would be an approval process to make sure they fit in with the IVGAH philosophy

 

I believe in the basic premise that Video Game Memorabilia should be treated like sports, comics and movie memorabilia. I also believe that taking into consideration all the ideas that people have shared with me, the IVGAH can become a community platform where not only are items bought and sold, but they are well documented, creating a virtual museum.

 

I prefer to get unfiltered information, even if it is not flattering. I am creating two user groups (sellers and buyers) who I will communicate with to make sure that as the site develops, it will be responsive to the marketplace and communities that participate. I invite any of you to participate, especially if you have strong opinions.

 

Finally, the only comment that I do need to take head on is the vanity references. I had my 15 minutes of fame in 1983 and for 20 years did not think much about it. In the mid 2000’s I began to receive increased attention from documentarians and journalists. I suppose I got 30-45 minutes of fame. My vision is to have the merchandise and the amazing collections that are out there be the centerpiece of attention. Right now, the IVGAH is a startup and I need to be out in front promoting the site because nobody else will promote my business as well as I do. If I come across as being vain, I do apologize.

 

The first auction has 2 more days left and after that I will also be making several software enhancements. Thank you for listening.

 

Ben

[bojay1997]

I wanted to post directly on this thread and respond to some of the comments made here. First of all, I very much appreciate the observations and appreciate open input so that the site can be improved. What you see today is the first iteration of work which started a little over two months ago as just a simple idea. I believe your thoughts will be more positive once we hit the 4^th or 5^th iteration.

 

Based on the feedback I have been given via the forums and through conversations, here are a few changes that will be made for the second auction, scheduled January 19^th – 26^th.

 

1) Starting bids can begin at $70 with $10 increments to $500

2) Registration will be easier

3) There will be search functionality

4) This time I put up too many paper items (brochures and product manuals) that are not rare (even if they are authentic from the time period).

5) Some items had too high of a starting price - I will institute a reserve policy so that even if the items do not reach the minimum bid, I can see the market interest

6) I will offer sellers the chance to list items themselves instead of consignment but there still would be an approval process to make sure they fit in with the IVGAH philosophy

 

I believe in the basic premise that Video Game Memorabilia should be treated like sports, comics and movie memorabilia. I also believe that taking into consideration all the ideas that people have shared with me, the IVGAH can become a community platform where not only are items bought and sold, but they are well documented, creating a virtual museum.

 

I prefer to get unfiltered information, even if it is not flattering. I am creating two user groups (sellers and buyers) who I will communicate with to make sure that as the site develops, it will be responsive to the marketplace and communities that participate. I invite any of you to participate, especially if you have strong opinions.

 

Finally, the only comment that I do need to take head on is the vanity references. I had my 15 minutes of fame in 1983 and for 20 years did not think much about it. In the mid 2000’s I began to receive increased attention from documentarians and journalists. I suppose I got 30-45 minutes of fame. My vision is to have the merchandise and the amazing collections that are out there be the centerpiece of attention. Right now, the IVGAH is a startup and I need to be out in front promoting the site because nobody else will promote my business as well as I do. If I come across as being vain, I do apologize.

 

The first auction has 2 more days left and after that I will also be making several software enhancements. Thank you for listening.

 

Ben

 

Thank you for taking the time to post here, but if you don't mind me asking, why did you feel the need to create a site/business of this type? What is the niche that you think your site can fill that isn't already well covered by both Ebay and GameGavel?

 

I just don't understand why anyone would ever sell on your site when they can reach a far larger market on a site like Ebay where there are literally millions of people searching every day, tens of thousands of which are video game collectors. Similarly, why would a buyer ever want to buy from your site when it will cost them a buyer's premium of 14.5% which is something neither Ebay nor Gamegavel charges?

 

It just feels like you haven't really thought through your business plan and there is nothing about your site that really provides a benefit to buyers and other than perhaps lower fees, there also seem to be few benefits for sellers since you have a far, far smaller pool of bidders than Ebay or Gamegavel which will more than offset the lower fees they may be charged.

 

I'll be the first to admit that I have been very critical of Gamegavel in the past because I don't think it represents a viable business model (i.e. it doesn't really offer any advantage over Ebay other than lower fees for sellers), but your site, even with your proposed modifications, seems even less viable than Gamegavel.

Edited December 13, 2012 by bojay1997

[IVGAH]

I have been involved with memorabilia for the last 40 years of my life. I grew up in dusty bookstores as my father amassed a large comic book collection. I actually abandoned baseball cards as a kid to play video games in the early 80's. Over the last 10 years, I have helped my family develop their memorabilia business on eBay, craigslist, and on high end auction sites like Lelands and Mastronet which by the way charge buyers 20% and sellers 15% to participate in their auctions. When I was looking for a place to auction my That's Incredible medal from 1983, that is when I realized that there is no comparable institution for video games.

 

The idea is to gather items that appeal to different gaming communities (players, arcade collectors, console and cartridge collectors etc...), offer a larger time frame for people to be able to view them and build a community of people that particiapte. In the beginning, I will not have the reach or level of merchandise as eBay or Gamegavel. However, people will be able to take a look at a catalog that will be complete at least 1 week before the auction begins and see all items as opposed to having to make daily searches.

 

In the sports memorabilia business there are at least 5-8 high-end auction houses that co exist with eBay and serve different communities. I don't see why video games should be different.

[8bitgamer]

More info on the International Video Game Auction House:

 

http://www.brettweisswords.com/2013/01/international-video-game-auction-house.html

[8bitgamer]

The next auction is underway. Ben welcomes your comments, both positive and negative, as long as said comments are civil:

 

http://ivgah.com/browse.php?id=0

 

Thanks for viewing...

[+cvga]

Good luck. I like the idea of having a place solely for high end items. There's too much for me to sort through on eBay on a regular basis.