Subject:
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Re: Goodbye Guarded Inn -- Hello LEGO DIRECT?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Mon, 24 Jan 2000 18:42:00 GMT
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Reply-To:
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Troy Cefaratti <MNEMENTH@nospamNACS.NET>
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Viewed:
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473 times
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I think that we are missing some of the other differences between the two
sites when all that is mentioned is the price the seller eventually gets.
I started out using eBay, and when Mike introduced Guarded-Inn I was happy
to have a free site to go to, and I thank Mike for providing the site. It
allowed me to auction alot of stuff that would not have been posted to eBay
because of the listing fees, like smaller lots and less expensive parts.
That being said, eBay had alot of features, other then making more money,
that make it appeal to sellers, or atleast to me. Ease of use being one of
them. Ever try finding a closed auction on BRICKS? It could be done, but
was not easy or pretty. Or leaving feedback? I had numerous people e-mail
me after transactions because they couldn't figure out how to leave
feedback. And other little things that eBay does, like running totals of
bids and ammounts, do add up.
(Please don't think that I am bashing Mike or his site. I understand that
it was a free site, run in mikes free time, and that it was limited to the
abilities of the perl script being used.)
In the end however, it was the fact that running auctions on two different
sites was a big headache for me that I chose to stick with just one. When
running a hundred or more auctions at a time, keeping track of which ones
are on BRICKS and which are on eBay got to be a pain in the butt.
Troy (who will post more auctions, for all this stuff stacked up arround me,
once i get time!)
Richard Marchetti <blueofnoon@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ForF24.Fs8@lugnet.com...
> I was a frequent browser of the free auction site, Guarded Inn. Now its • going
> away. Its sad that it didn't appeal to more sellers, and more • particularly to
> people selling more varied and interesting things that I might have • actually
> bid on -- although I think I did make two purchases there while it was up.
>
> Theory as to why this happened: eBay provides a higher profit margin than • what
> was obtainable at Gaurded Inn -- even though it is sucker money! When I
> didn't know where to look for Lego info, eBay was easily accessible and • sold
> OLD Lego. The prices I paid and that seemed justifiable at the time were
> based largely upon ignorance -- I didn't even know about Shop@Home (see
> http://www.lugnet.com/market/auction/?n=4034 for more on the plight of the
> Shop@Home ignorant). I guess from a sellers perspective: why not maximize
> one's profits? Still, its sad that ultimately the prices paid on eBay are
> often absurd and that the sellers know they are gathering up sucker money.
>
> I will still occasionally pay the crazy price, but only if the item seems • rare
> or if I REALLY need it for some reason -- usually a project oriented • issue.
>
> Which brings us to the promise of LEGO DIRECT...
>
> We need LEGO DIRECT right away, and for it to be a big and all-embracing
> effort on LEGO's part toward fulfilling the needs and desires of the Lego
> collector/AFOL. Allowing the shameful prices paid for sets on eBay is
> something I blame on LEGO -- which is absolutely empowered to make this a • more
> affordable hobby and bring back the pure joy of building and playing • instead of
> having to also worry about the money spent in pursuit of the elusive but
> perhaps needed parts and sets.
>
> Many have complained that re-releasing old sets and rare parts from highly
> collected sets would reduce the collector value of such sets. Well, Boo • hoo!
> Responding to this I would point to the comic book market: there isn't a
> publisher of comics that wouldn't reissue a book if they thought there was
> sufficient demand to realize a profit -- collectors and speculators be
> damned. And unlike Lego, authenticating the age of a comic book is often • a
> fairly straight forward matter. Proving the authenticity of a Lego set is • not
> at all the same thing -- the elements may have a part number but surely • not a
> date. Take the Guarded Inn as an example. Okay fine, those red tudor • corners
> might have to be part of the original set - but what about those grey • bricks,
> that black gable, etc? There might be five or six parts that would have • to be
> from the original set and that's all. And this is supposed to be $300 • plus
> worth of Lego??? Wouldn't everyone prefer a $10 accessory pack of those • same
> parts instead? Take the Maiden's Cart for example. It more or less comes
> down to just the white hat!!! And I am hoping that Lego will be issuing • the
> maiden hat in many colors in the near future, since we now have a black • one
> for the 2000 castle sets. Lego collecting up to the present and the prices
> paid will hopefully become a curiously weird blip in the history of toy
> collecting -- something stupid people did when they thought they could
> authenticate plastic bits with no date on them.
>
> Almost makes the tulip and beanie baby crazes seem rational...
>
> Sorry, but worrying about collector value is just nonsense when it comes • to
> Lego and confuses the issues for those of us who just want to build. If • you
> collect and speculate on the value of Lego, my advice is for you to go • bother
> some other field of toy collecting where matters of authenticity are a • little
> more clear cut.
>
> This touches on something I have long suspected of rare Lego sets, • especially
> those sold without their instructions or boxes -- that they are completed • with
> all new bricks! What then justifies the prices paid? Madness.
>
> I have long appreciated Mike Stanley's site and generosity, even though it
> seems to have come to nothing. Maybe the Guarded Inn free auction site • can
> return as an AFOL cooperative venture if we end up having to sort and • piece
> out bulk ordered items ourselves. I can't of course speak for Mike, but • its
> just a thought. And it would be a nice way to memorialize his generosity
> should the need for such a service arise.
>
> -- Richard (I got your snake oil right here, Baby!)
>
> P.S. Now don't you eBay sellers get all in an uproar - but you do know how • it
> works though, right? And I realize that many of you are putting time and
> effort into supporting your Lego habits - a hobby for which I share your
> enthusiasm. My comments are more market directed than moralizing...not • being
> a better buyer at times implicates me in the same madness over on eBay. • And I
> still buy eBay stuff right up to the time of this writing...so save your • venom
> and leave the whining to me - the Lego Curmudgeon.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Goodbye Guarded Inn -- Hello LEGO DIRECT?
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| (...) Actually that's not quite accurate. There has been so much work and effort put into coding add-ons and such for EveryAuction that it's amazing. I've seen sites running EveryAuction that offer every conceivable feature you would want out of (...) (25 years ago, 24-Jan-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Goodbye Guarded Inn -- Hello LEGO DIRECT?
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| I was a frequent browser of the free auction site, Guarded Inn. Now its going away. Its sad that it didn't appeal to more sellers, and more particularly to people selling more varied and interesting things that I might have actually bid on -- (...) (25 years ago, 22-Jan-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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