New Comic Book Marketplace

[ft88]

I could use some help from the board members here in developing a comic book online marketplace. I know that between eBay, Comiclink, Pedigree, Esquire, and ComicConnect there are plenty of outlets to buy and sell comics online. But this website would be different and designed to be an improvement. A quick rundown of the website and how it improves on what's already out there.

 

1. Sellers are able to list items for free.

2. Buyers pay no commissions.

3. There would be no joining fees, or annual/monthly dues.

4. Buyers and sellers would be able to contact one another.

5. Simple and effective search and feedback functions.

6. Joining does not require a user to supply credit card info.

7. Items are easy to list – Less than 1 minute per item with photo, description, and price ready.

8. No minimum price for items.

 

Basically I found myself complaining about the other websites that I was using and thought I could do better. I made a list of my usual complaints and built the site trying to fix those.

 

Ebay: Charges to list and charges final value fee of 6-8%. Listing is surprisingly tedious. Credit Card required.

 

Comiclink: Charges 10% plus postage. No contact between users. High minimum. Select list of users who can sell raw books. Difficult to list, or long waiting period from submitting to posting. Credit Card required. Double shipping is expensive and adds to risk of shipping loss or damage. Same with Pedigree, ComicConnect, Heritage (who charge 25%+) and others.

 

Craigslist: Locally oriented, no subject focus and limited search, No user ID or feedback reputation method.

 

CGC Boards: Little to no search, first page of listings are the only real ones, limited audience. Thread derailment. No direct feedback.

 

No doubt, there are plenty of strengths using these marketplaces. I love ebay and Craigslist and I visit Comiclink and Pedigree at least once a week to look at their great listings. And selling comics on the CGC boards is easy, fun, and effective. But why not add up all the strengths, take away the deficiencies and make a website. So that’s what I did and I hope it works and becomes even half as popular as some of these other comic centric sites.

 

What I’m hoping and asking for here, are folks to beta test the site. Join up, list items, send messages, etc. Basically tear it up and find as many bugs as you can. Its pretty near complete and bug free as is, but there are always hidden things that I haven’t seen.

 

So please go to www.popculturesales.com and try it out. I'd really appreciate any feedback you'd care to give whether it's comments on the site or business advice going forward, or even compliment what you like - anything helps and is appreciated.

 

Thank you to Filter81, Mutant Keys, Piper, House of Comics, Ciroac, Calamerica, Tec27kid, Fuelman, and Showcase-4 for giving it the once over. And a special thanks to Brent of Quality Comix.

 

Ed

[moonlite]

So my question is, how do you intend to benefit from this (monetarily) to see putting the effort into it? Lets say it gets REALLLLLY BIG....then are you going to start fees and stuff...and so on. Thats been my biggest complaint about ebay, my fees between ebay and paypal are now 20% of a sale, they were 15% before, 10% before that. I haven't used much of ebay in two months for that reason...aside from not having much to list either but its not worth the effort.

 

 

[snitzer]

So my question is, how do you intend to benefit from this (monetarily) to see putting the effort into it? Lets say it gets REALLLLLY BIG....then are you going to start fees and stuff...and so on. Thats been my biggest complaint about ebay, my fees between ebay and paypal are now 20% of a sale, they were 15% before, 10% before that. I haven't used much of ebay in two months for that reason...aside from not having much to list either but its not worth the effort.

 

 

This was exactly the first thing I wondered as well.

 

I'm not sure how feasible/successful the following revenue generating tactics would be, but worth considering if you want to pull this off and don't plan on putting a boatload of your own cash into the project...

 

1. A one time membership fee

2. Donations

3. Targeted ad revenue

4. Link exchange programs

 

Any other suggestions?

[ft88]

No fees. Not now and not in the future. To answer your question about a bait and switch, if it got really big as a free site the backlash for adding fees would be huge. I also plan on no advertising for now, but may add that later - I just don't like it as it detracts from many a site out there (including this one) and sends people away from your own site for pennies.

 

 

Anyway, there are plenty of ways to make money on a site if it got really big. How much do you pay to use Yahoo, Google, Craigslist, Myspace, Facebook, Youtube and on and on. Thats why I never understood why ComicConnect charged users when they had their grand opening last year. And notice how few additional listings they have other than from the sponsor Metropolis. I'd rather have a big site that users use for free than a small site where I charged half of ebay.

 

Ed

[ft88]

I have a donations tab which you are welcome to use.

 

But seriously, the site was not overly expensive to set up though a lot of work. And if I can get 20 donors at $50 a piece thats $1000 I can use to make further improvements or more importantly, market the site.

 

I have other ideas for generating revenue as well but I would only do those that added value. Things like keeping items on the front page, posting a personal comment up at the top (internal ads, rather than banner ads) etc. Possibilities are only limited by creativity. But again, the whole point of the site is for it to be free, easy, and useful.

 

Ed

 

As a side note, I've set aside enough for a solid marketting campaign. But before I do that I want the site to be ready for prime time.

[Mac Man]

Question:

 

What would the policy be about buyer protection/disputes? Since there is no credit card information stored, I'm asumming PP would be the method of conducting the transaction to ensure some level of buyer protection?

 

[Sal]

I'd consider ordering the various comic Ages by dates rather than alphabetically.

 

Is there going to be a "Make An Offer" feature, or is it in there already, and I just missed it?

[ft88]

Yes, just like the boards here or craigslist, we would not mediate disputes. Paypal is the best way to ensure that you are portect or buying from someone reputable overall. ie, if you are selling it'd be a good idea to post your ebay user id or something else to show your reputation. That is until the site gets good and going and a user gets a reputation on the site itself.

 

Ed

[ft88]

I'd consider ordering the various comic Ages by dates rather than alphabetically. In the works. I figured it could wait for now.

 

Is there going to be a "Make An Offer" feature, or is it in there already, and I just missed it? If you click on the "Buy It" tab you can make an offer, or just contact the seller. Not perfect so I may need to relook this but I wanted the title area as clean as possible.

[snitzer]

No fees. Not now and not in the future. To answer your question about a bait and switch, if it got really big as a free site the backlash for adding fees would be huge. I also plan on no advertising for now, but may add that later - I just don't like it as it detracts from many a site out there (including this one) and sends people away from your own site for pennies.

 

Anyway, there are plenty of ways to make money on a site if it got really big. How much do you pay to use Yahoo, Google, Craigslist, Myspace, Facebook, Youtube and on and on. Thats why I never understood why ComicConnect charged users when they had their grand opening last year. And notice how few additional listings they have other than from the sponsor Metropolis. I'd rather have a big site that users use for free than a small site where I charged half of ebay.

 

Ed

 

Not to nitpick, or venture OT, but I'd like to comment on a few of the "free" sites you mention...

 

Yahoo: search is ad revenue based, they have a number of ecommerce solutions, charge for improved services, etc. Oh, and they laid off a number of people recently and are on the verge of being bought out.

 

Google: ad revenue based again, a large number of revenue generating acquisitions, etc. This list is HUGE for them.

 

Craigslist: charges employers for job posting and I believe commercial real estate listings in certain areas. They are also looking to expand their fee base. Lastly, they do a lot in house I believe with a skeleton crew.

 

MySpace: Total joke in my book. Social networking is the next bubble and is already starting to show chinks in the armor. Didn't the first round teach everyone you don't invest in eyeballs? Anyway, their site is crazy ad mania anymore. Turn off adblock and see. You could dump facebook into this mess as well, but they are working on revenue models quickly from what I understand. Please don't mention Twitter - egads.

 

YouTube: Plenty 'O ads going on with them. The HP alone right now has four discreet ads. Have you seen the ads at the start/end of a video? Nothing like attaching your ad to the end of a fight girl vid

 

re: bait and switch...I'm not sure how disclosing your fee increases up front and months in advance fall under that heading?

 

Again, I like the grassroots, information is free, idea behind the site, but I think we also want to see it succeed beyond a small base of users so that quantity and quality rule the day.

[ft88]

I am mostly taking a page from the Craigslist view and have a skeleton crew but keeping the site clean yet free to use. Again, I can see charging for additional things such as keeping the post on top, or promoting it internally. I'd hope to keep ads at a minimum though but I haven't ruled them out. As sole owner I have the freedom to do what I want with it. If I have to go to outside investors, I'd give up some of that freedom but for now its free and clear.

 

As far as bait and switch, you are correct that ComicConnect didn't do that. Since they said up front they had a 3 month free period to get things going. eBay sort of does that as was mentioned overall fees have only increased over time.

 

As far as comparing this site to these giants, I only mention them to make the point that charging users to join and use a site is not the common business model, however it is used. Though, as you point out, certainly not a reason to have a Billion dollar+ market value. I followed the Slate.com and NYTimes.com and they eventually made their sites free to use when they were once subscription. (Yeah I know, they have the ads now)

 

Keep the comments coming, I hope I don't sound defensive about them.

 

Ed

[snitzer]

I am mostly taking a page from the Craigslist view and have a skeleton crew but keeping the site clean yet free to use. Again, I can see charging for additional things such as keeping the post on top, or promoting it internally. I'd hope to keep ads at a minimum though but I haven't ruled them out. As sole owner I have the freedom to do what I want with it. If I have to go to outside investors, I'd give up some of that freedom but for now its free and clear.

 

As far as bait and switch, you are correct that ComicConnect didn't do that. Since they said up front they had a 3 month free period to get things going. eBay sort of does that as was mentioned overall fees have only increased over time.

 

As far as comparing this site to these giants, I only mention them to make the point that charging users to join and use a site is not the common business model, however it is used. Though, as you point out, certainly not a reason to have a Billion dollar+ market value. I followed the Slate.com and NYTimes.com and they eventually made their sites free to use when they were once subscription. (Yeah I know, they have the ads now)

 

Keep the comments coming, I hope I don't sound defensive about them.

 

Ed

 

You don't sound defensive at all. I just hope I don't

[Dick Pontoon]

If the site took off, how would you keep it free from pages of “ebay NMs” or Craiglist “old comics!” that are really moderns?

[Socratic Wonder]

Good luck with the site!

 

Sounds like it would be great for the hobby if it did take off (thumbs u

[alecholland]

Have you tested it with Safari? In spite of the fact that Ajax is supposed to be platform and browser independent, I was under the impression that it still had trouble occasionally with the Safari browser. In reality, you probably won't have too many Mac users, but it was just a thought.

 

Also, you may want to have your logo link to the home page in addition to the tab. Alt tags might also be nice on your images (especially your logo) and on the various categories.

 

I only had a minute at work here to look at it. Best of luck, I think it's a worthy endeavor!

[minty_fresh-migration]

Damn! From the title, I was hoping Gary Carter had returned and started publishing his awesome magazine again...

[ft88]

If the site took off, how would you keep it free from pages of “ebay NMs” or Craiglist “old comics!” that are really moderns?

 

The main thing I want to prevent is outright fraud. I plan on having moderators that would have the ability to delete items. But in your examples I think its a fine line to censor items like that and my inclination would be to allow them at let the marketplace show what they think. One of the functions I use on the site is an "Item Comment" link where any user can post a comment about an item that anyone can see. So if its poorly graded or total fraud etc. you can post a comment. Try it on one of my posted items (You have to register to do this though.) and see what you think.

 

There is potential for abuse here but only after the site takes off. I can only hope problems like those are the ones I have to resolve.

 

Ed

 

 

[ft88]

It is not tested for Safari, just Firefox and Explorer. Damn you Apple........!

[alecholland]

It is not tested for Safari, just Firefox and Explorer. Damn you Apple........!

 

I'll check it out tonight when I get home. We're PC based where I work, otherwise I could check now. Like I said, technically the programming you are using on your site is platform/browser independent, so it should work. I'll let you know tonight when I have a bit more time.

[MyNameIsLegion]

Ed,

 

Did you look at Comicartfans.com while evaluating site models? It's mostly free, the only paid features are market data and specific for sale galleries that show up as comicartshop.com, but most people are not paid members, and use it to buy sell and trade. It ties into Heritage, ComicLink and Ebay to track art auctions as well, so it acts as a meta search site as well.

 

 

What's wrong with Apple!?