Marketplace for Coin-Op Enthusiasts

[randyjaco]

I am definitely a potential buyer

[J57T]

As a member of this forum, I am in favor of what we already have, a trustworthy resource for: information, connections, honesty, sales and purchase of machines that are properly represented by honest collectors for honest collectors. A "Marketplace" with the same standards run by the same honest people, attracting the same buyers and resources seems to be a duplication of efforts. I am not clear as to what extra, special benefits, or unique resources a new spinoff "Marketplace" would offer. Perhaps if there is a consensus that this forum needs improvements in certain areas (and it may need the occasional improvement or new department), then we can tune what we already have rather than reinvent our own competition. There are also a couple of other reputable organizations for trade stimulator enthusiasts.

[Dave]

I also don't quite understand the need for a marketplace.

This forum already has a spot to advertise machines wanted and for sale.

The price guide also has a for sale section and also a mechanism where people advertise their machines and a LOT of machines get submitted. Just ask anyone who is on the referral program. Of course, it is mainly common stuff but in the last couple of months a really nice $.50 Rol-A-Top was listed and a nice all original Ben Hur. Both of these machines sold in less than 24 hours from when they were listed. In case you are wondering, I was not the buyer of either machines.

If a marketplace is started what is going to be done to attract sellers to the site and get them to list their machines?

If a marketplace is started then I wish you luck but you need to provide a reason for people to list their machines and also find a way for people to find the site.

This forum and the Price Guide have been around for years and are at the top of google searches.

What value would a market place provide over this forum the price guide and the COCA classified ads? All these sites allow you to list machines for free.

Dave

[YourBestBet]

How is this different from listing your machines for sale in the "For Sale" section of this forum or listing them on Dave's Price Guide or listing them on the COCA website? All are available to us and charge no commission.

Watlingboy

Great question. It all comes down the user experience and "look and feel" of a marketplace. It increases conversion and clicks thrus, making it easy to view and buy items. New sellers/buyers don't want to hassle with navigating through menus to find where to list an item or place an ad. They need a dedicated marketplace that is super simple to use.

Here are a few benefits of a marketplace:

- One simple location dedicated to coin-op devices. It takes time to grow a marketplace and it takes support from a community like this forum to promote and bring awareness.
- Better interface and user experience for listing and purchasing items. First, I'm a COCA member (and probably one of the youngest ). Listing items on COCA and this forum only attracts a limited number of potential buyers. In order to reach the next generation of collectors and new blood for this hobby, we must make the experience the best it can be.
- We can police the items listed on the marketplace. No more misrepresentation of Golden Nuggets or botched trade stimulators. This forum can keep a close eye on the activity.

I definitely don't want to reinvent the wheel here. Dave has done a lot for this hobby and this forum is very, very helpful. I'm totally open to collaborating with Dave on releasing a marketplace to further grow our membership and benefit everyone. I'm not in this to make a profit.

Thanks for the feedback thus far.

[Dave]

Could you provide an example of a marketplace that has the look & feel that you are going for?

If you provide such a site be prepared for a LOT of emails like the following:

Dave, my name is Pam, I have an opportunity to buy a Jennings Chief nickel machine. It is in working condition I have pictures and patent # The auction is Saturday. Can you help me with worth and resale?

This is an exact email that I got yesterday.

Have you looked at the classifieds from the Price Guide? Go to http://www.AntiqueSlotMachinePriceGuide.com and click on the Classifieds link. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

I am not trying to shoot down your idea. Just trying to get more information.

Also, are you going to try and make money from the site? Building and managing websites is not easy. Are you prepared to pay the Internet hosting fees?

Dave

[YourBestBet]

Could you provide an example of a marketplace that has the look & feel that you are going for?

If you provide such a site be prepared for a LOT of emails like the following:

Dave, my name is Pam, I have an opportunity to buy a Jennings Chief nickel machine. It is in working condition I have pictures and patent # The auction is Saturday. Can you help me with worth and resale?

This is an exact email that I got yesterday.

Have you looked at the classifieds from the Price Guide? Go to http://www.AntiqueSlotMachinePriceGuide.com and click on the Classifieds link. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

I am not trying to shoot down your idea. Just trying to get more information.

Also, are you going to try and make money from the site? Building and managing websites is not easy. Are you prepared to pay the Internet hosting fees?

Dave

Good points Dave. I'm still a couple weeks out from being able to provide you with a link to the marketplace I'm developing. Just finalizing a few aesthetic details and legal disclosures. Since this will be a marketplace, I don't expect support emails asking about specific machine questions. The support will probably be more geared towards "how do I add multiple pictures to my listing" or "how do I delete my listing".

To be perfectly honest with you, I never knew there were classifieds on your Price Guide website. I've been a member of this forum for a couple of years and never took the time to look too deeply at the site. I thought it was simply a paid tool to research historical prices on eBay. This is the whole point of a marketplace dedicated to coin-op. It would have a high SEO rank for searches pertaining to antique slot machines, gumball machines, trade stimulators, etc. and would be able to compete with large auction houses that are charging ridiculous commissions of 22.5%. That's not even mentioning the 30% they are charging the seller as well. In my opinion, it's becoming a racket at those commission rates. Let's make it easy for folks to sell, buy and research these items online and have an easy channel to do so.

In order to grow the user base and gain as much adoption as possible, it will be FREE to list and sell items. In the long term, yes, I will develop plans to generate enough revenue to cover the operating costs (domain fees, hosting, development, software, legal, etc.). It takes time to grow a marketplace - it does not happen over night. And it takes support from a strong community such as this forum. The first 6-12 months will give me a good idea if this project is sustainable.

Cheers,
CU

[dialsenden1]

Never knew there is a classified section either. Where is the link at as I don't see it?

[Dave]

Here is a screen shot. It is the first link in the list of links. The link is "Free Classifieds".

Not quite sure how it could be missed.