VirtualComicCon - Proposed Rule Change - Poll 3 3

[skypinkblu]

I think the biggest problem with the VCC is the competition in the regular sales forums. 

A number of years ago, some of the dealer type posters figured out that instead of having the competition at a VCC, they could post in the Sales forums and their stuff would be highlighted better instead of scrolling through a bunch of "booths". One person started posting right before the VCC and then a few during the days the VCC was open. Once one or two people started have major sales the week before or even day before, more people realized that being in the spotlight worked better.

It is fun and I wish people would say the heck with big sales, and just join in the VCC or at least respect the fact that there is a VCC and not post in the regular sales forum during that time, but that's not going to happen when someone wants to make money more than they want to be part of the community.

It's sad, but you are not going to get as many posters when you have the sales forum in full swing.

Plus it's Greggy's fault, he left us...*sniff*

 

[DeadOne]

12 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I think the VCC has been running out of steam before the new Boards = it is not the fault of the New Boards. Not sure why but participation, especially by Sellers, has waned. Sad.

 

49 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

I think the biggest problem with the VCC is the competition in the regular sales forums. 

A number of years ago, some of the dealer type posters figured out that instead of having the competition at a VCC, they could post in the Sales forums and their stuff would be highlighted better instead of scrolling through a bunch of "booths". One person started posting right before the VCC and then a few during the days the VCC was open. Once one or two people started have major sales the week before or even day before, more people realized that being in the spotlight worked better.

It is fun and I wish people would say the heck with big sales, and just join in the VCC or at least respect the fact that there is a VCC and not post in the regular sales forum during that time, but that's not going to happen when someone wants to make money more than they want to be part of the community.

It's sad, but you are not going to get as many posters when you have the sales forum in full swing.

Plus it's Greggy's fault, he left us...*sniff*

 

I agree with both of you.
The VCC has been dwindling even before the board switch over, but the switch over surely hasn't helped.

Having a fairly active sales forum is a good thing, but is definitely detrimental to the VCC. When the VCC started, the sales forum was less active and the board membership was much smaller thus making it easier to band together and create an active VCC.

There are also restrictions when using the VCC that you just don't get in a regular sales forum, image size restricted to thumbnails and all "I'll Take It's" being done via PM are the big ones, imo, but are necessary to maintain the atmosphere of a real-life ComicCon that the VCC has been trying to emulate. Without them, we might as well just rename the "Comics Market - Forum Only Selling Area" the "VirtualComicCon".

The one thing that might help the VCC, as many others have alluded to over the years, would be to close down the Forum Only Selling Area for the days of the VCC, but even if that was a possibility (which it never has been) I believe it would go over like a ton of bricks. It might drive buyers to the VCC for the few days of the VCC but would it really make sellers plan ahead and set up a booth for just two days? I doubt it, and the backlash of perturbed boardies would be enough to kill the thought of ever doing it again.

One of the reasons I proposed the rule change listed in this poll was to help put sellers back into the VCC by allowing them another venue to hawk their wares without the fear of retribution that accompanies doing so against board rules. I know from reading ALL the past VCC Discussion threads that some dealers/potential sellers choose not to participate in the VCC because it's not worth the potential loss of sales if they have to pull their items from other venues to list it in a VCC booth for two days. They don't hate the VCC and they love the community here, but the risk is just not worth the reward.
My hope was to ease this restriction, increase their potential reward, and with their participation in the VCC, increase the views that all the other booths may get when they are setup next to one another.
However, from the looks of the poll, that is a rule change that the board is not ready for. Change is hard and I get it. The option is out there though, and should be closeted for now but not thrown out.

[october]

12 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

 

A number of years ago, some of the dealer type posters figured out that instead of having the competition at a VCC, they could post in the Sales forums and their stuff would be highlighted better instead of scrolling through a bunch of "booths". 

 

I stopped doing the VCC years ago, and this was the reason. I could post my books all at once in the VCC and have more competition but the same number of buyers, or I could post in my own thread for a few days, turn it into a little event, have far less competition and probably as many (if not more) views. My own thread also has less restrictions, less setup time and less hassle. 

As much as I liked the idea of the VCC, it was a no-brainer.

That said, I made special efforts last year to not compete with it. I actually structured the vacation days I needed to take to run the thread around it. 

Edited July 24, 2017 by october

[Dick Pontoon]

The VCC may not be what it used to be, but I picked up a few things posted at the last one that led to picking up a small stack. It would be a shame to see it go away.

[Bomber-Bob]

October makes a very good point.  The format of the VCC is detrimental to those select few who can make their sales thread an 'event'.  IMO, if we have more sellers in the VCC, the buyers will come. If we can only think of some way to make it more advantageous for the sellers to participate in the VCC = make the VCC an 'event', all would be well again. 

[1Cool]

I keep thinking bringing in the buyers will bring in the sellers but for both parties the VCC is a pain in the butt.  As a buyer you have to send off a PM and wait to see if you get a book.  The negatives of selling were just discussed.  The idea behind the VCC has become obsolete so how about we cancel the VCC for a year and see if people are clammering to bring it back.  Maybe it just needs some time off?  I don't think so but it's worth a try.

[bc]

2 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I keep thinking bringing in the buyers will bring in the sellers but for both parties the VCC is a pain in the butt.  As a buyer you have to send off a PM and wait to see if you get a book.  The negatives of selling were just discussed.  The idea behind the VCC has become obsolete so how about we cancel the VCC for a year and see if people are clammering to bring it back.  Maybe it just needs some time off?  I don't think so but it's worth a try.

Never understood why the VCC section of the Comic Market didn't operate the same as the Gold/Silver/Bronze or Copper/Modern areas? Each vendor/seller gets their own "booth" (thread) that we the buyers could look thru instead of infinite scrolling thru tiny pictures and the PM game. It would still be under one roof but provide more organization and user friendliness 

And also agree with shutting down the other sales areas during the VCC.

Someone said it earlier, we like to participate in events (look at the thread counts for SDCC or the Berk auction). Make the VCC a real event site-wide.

-bc

[1Cool]

2 minutes ago, bc said:

Never understood why the VCC section of the Comic Market didn't operate the same as the Gold/Silver/Bronze or Copper/Modern areas? Each vendor/seller gets their own "booth" (thread) that we the buyers could look thru instead of infinite scrolling thru tiny pictures and the PM game. It would still be under one roof but provide more organization and user friendliness 

And also agree with shutting down the other sales areas during the VCC.

Someone said it earlier, we like to participate in events (look at the thread counts for SDCC or the Berk auction). Make the VCC a real event site-wide.

-bc

We basically have that happening now since there is almost as many overflow booths as there is booths at this point.  I think the point was to have it all in one thread to simulate a comic con where people scroll thru.  But if we all just have a bunch of overflow booths then what is the intent of the VCC?  Unless the main sales threads can be shut down for that weekend there is no point in it

[bc]

Just now, 1Cool said:

We basically have that happening now since there is almost as many overflow booths as there is booths at this point.  I think the point was to have it all in one thread to simulate a comic con where people scroll thru.  But if we all just have a bunch of overflow booths then what is the intent of the VCC?  Unless the main sales threads can be shut down for that weekend there is no point in it

Hi Andrew!

Think the "all in one thread thing" is both a blessing and a curse. Now if we could have an interactive floor map with all the sellers listed that could link to their specific spoils, I'd be more inclined to dig deeper. Just like at a real con, you can look at the wall books to see if that booth is worth diving into. If all I spot is moderns on the wall, probably a very low probability of GA/SA books and vice versa.

100% agree with the rest ! If all the other sales threads are shut down for that weekend and every dealer had their own booth in the VCC section (that operated like the traditional sales areas) along with excellent promotion on the CGCComics.com site, it may help sustain this tradition.

-bc

[FineCollector]

I'm in favor of shutting down the Sales forum during the VCC.  This is a message board, but you have lots of boardies who only sign in to buy and sell, and don't even participate in the discussions.

I wonder how many people would vanish from the boards altogether if there wasn't a sales forum.  The boards offer a safe place to exchange books because of the community that exists here.  The vultures that fly by really need to contribute.

Edited July 24, 2017 by FineCollector

[Architecht]

I'm not sure if a format change would help or hurt, but as a somewhat related experiment, I created "For Sale Galleries" category in the galleries area. It strikes me as an interesting and compact way to present a "store front" of things for sale. For a sense of what a full album looks like, see what's happening in the Member's Themed Albums area here:

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/gallery/category/4-members-themed-albums/

Here are some advantages it could offer:

1. Easy automatic thumbnail view of everything
2. At-a-glance preview of some of the things for sale on the album list page
3. An ability to setup the album in advance of the event by setting the album to private (just for you) and setting it public at the event start
4. An easy ability for people to comment and post I'll Take It on each picture individually.
5. An easy ability to tag individual books with a SOLD tag as they sell

I could create a VCC-specific gallery category.

 

 

[nocutename]

I used to participate in the VCC.  Yes, it was a lot of work.  But it was a lot of fun too.  I never really generated much in sales but then again, my sales threads here rarely sold too.  While, as a seller, I enjoy the relaxing nature of a sales forum thread.  I still like having the option of participating in both.  VCC always felt more like a community board event to me. 

Now as a buyer, I enjoy shopping VCC more.  It is fun seeing all the books in one convenient layout.  I may find something that I wasn't even looking for.  I can figure out what I like best before sending off any PMs.   On regular sales forum threads, I hit mainly the sellers I know unless I am lured in by a good thread title. 

For voting, I do like the option of easing up on the board rules.  It should be ok to have the items listed elsewhere but not in VCC and a CGC sales thread.  That would be redundant.

[Semicentennial]

1 hour ago, Architecht said:

I'm not sure if a format change would help or hurt, but as a somewhat related experiment, I created "For Sale Galleries" category in the galleries area. It strikes me as an interesting and compact way to present a "store front" of things for sale. For a sense of what a full album looks like, see what's happening in the Member's Themed Albums area here:

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/gallery/category/4-members-themed-albums/

Here are some advantages it could offer:

1. Easy automatic thumbnail view of everything
2. At-a-glance preview of some of the things for sale on the album list page
3. An ability to setup the album in advance of the event by setting the album to private (just for you) and setting it public at the event start
4. An easy ability for people to comment and post I'll Take It on each picture individually.
5. An easy ability to tag individual books with a SOLD tag as they sell

I could create a VCC-specific gallery category.

 

 

Looks very clean.  I like it.

[DeadOne]

2 hours ago, Fiddy said:

3 hours ago, Architecht said:

I'm not sure if a format change would help or hurt, but as a somewhat related experiment, I created "For Sale Galleries" category in the galleries area. It strikes me as an interesting and compact way to present a "store front" of things for sale. For a sense of what a full album looks like, see what's happening in the Member's Themed Albums area here:

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/gallery/category/4-members-themed-albums/

Here are some advantages it could offer:

1. Easy automatic thumbnail view of everything
2. At-a-glance preview of some of the things for sale on the album list page
3. An ability to setup the album in advance of the event by setting the album to private (just for you) and setting it public at the event start
4. An easy ability for people to comment and post I'll Take It on each picture individually.
5. An easy ability to tag individual books with a SOLD tag as they sell

I could create a VCC-specific gallery category.

 

 

Looks very clean.  I like it.

I like it very much as well.

[bc]

1 hour ago, DeadOne said:

I like it very much as well.

Actually set up a gallery.

Sent a message to Arch, but the sort ordering in the Gallery is based on text strings, not numeric order. So for my Tales of Suspense 1-38 run, I had to label the Caption as "Tales of Suspense 01", "Tales of Suspense 02" so they showed up in the right numerical order.  Otherwise ToS 2 showed up between ToS 19 and ToS 20. I can't figure out how to do a mass Caption edit (just roll from one to the next).

Also the in-picture Caption editing didn't reliably work, so I had to edit each one to get the sequencing right. Probably something I was missing.

Think the max per gallery is 500 and you can only upload 100 at a time. Probably okay for VCC needs.

Other than that, it was easy & pretty intuitive. Output quality is better than I expected !

-bc

[DeadOne]

12 minutes ago, bc said:

1 hour ago, DeadOne said:

I like it very much as well.

Actually set up a gallery.

Sent a message to Arch, but the sort ordering in the Gallery is based on text strings, not numeric order. So for my Tales of Suspense 1-38 run, I had to label the Caption as "Tales of Suspense 01", "Tales of Suspense 02" so they showed up in the right numerical order.  Otherwise ToS 2 showed up between ToS 19 and ToS 20. I can't figure out how to do a mass Caption edit (just roll from one to the next).

Also the in-picture Caption editing didn't reliably work, so I had to edit each one to get the sequencing right. Probably something I was missing.

Think the max per gallery is 500 and you can only upload 100 at a time. Probably okay for VCC needs.

Other than that, it was easy & pretty intuitive. Output quality is better than I expected !

-bc

I haven't been on it as extensively as that yet, but I'm looking forward to discovering the ins and outs of how it works and what can be accomplished.

I'll probably try to create a faux VCC BOOTH and then share my results with everybody.

btw, Nice TOS run @bc 

[fastballspecial]

Its used to be observed not to sell during VCC week and I tried my best over the years to observe this. 

Suspend new sales in the forum during VCC. Lock sales thread a few days before VCC so no one can sneak in the last day or two before it

starts. Many would cry first time after that they would get with the program.

 

[thirdgreenham]

I would allow any and all books to be for sale in the VCC. For the VCC only. This would include books listed elsewhere, and also books in raw form or any slabbed holder. 

The VCC has become less and less attractive. Allowing more books to be listed will make it more attractive, guaranteed. 

If you put the VCC on ice for a year, it will fizzle and die. 

My  

[lizards2]

19 minutes ago, thirdgreenham said:

I would allow any and all books to be for sale in the VCC. For the VCC only. This would include books listed elsewhere, and also books in raw form or any slabbed holder. 

The VCC has become less and less attractive. Allowing more books to be listed will make it more attractive, guaranteed. 

If you put the VCC on ice for a year, it will fizzle and die. 

My  

Couple this with everyone having their own thread with normal-sized scans, and it would probably be a winner.

[1Cool]

9 hours ago, thirdgreenham said:

I would allow any and all books to be for sale in the VCC. For the VCC only. This would include books listed elsewhere, and also books in raw form or any slabbed holder. 

The VCC has become less and less attractive. Allowing more books to be listed will make it more attractive, guaranteed. 

If you put the VCC on ice for a year, it will fizzle and die. 

My  

I think you are too late - it's fizzling already.