GameGavel.com - Yellow Zelda Test Cart Sells - $751.01 over 1000 Views

[Paet]

I personally find that the problem with this site is that there is too little variety and prices are generally the max amount of what an item is worth. I hope it gets better as time goes on, but for now I am sticking with eBay until I see an item there that I want to buy and can't get for less.

[Kaboomer]

We have some big changes coming to ChaseTheChuckwagon.com. Including a complete facelift as well as a name change to GameGavel.com. And tonight we are restructuring the main categories to system names which will make it easier for buyers to search for items for the system of their choice.

To hear about this and other exciting news about the net's most successful gaming auction site listen to our October "AuctionTalk" Podcast:

http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/AuctionTalk.mp3

[Kaboomer]

Check out our new category structure. Find games by system.

http://www.ChaseTheChuckwagon.com

[megasdkirby]

Check out our new category structure. Find games by system.

http://www.ChaseTheChuckwagon.com

Err...there are a few issues...

For instance, my NeoGeo Pocket Color items are listed under JUKEBOX!

What?

[Kaboomer]

Err...there are a few issues...

For instance, my NeoGeo Pocket Color items are listed under JUKEBOX!

What?

Ya, there are few items that still need to be repositioned by the seller. Hopefully you don't have to many. It's something we just need to press on through to make this improvement. You should be able to edit your listing and then move it to the correct category. I will check for you now and move it if you haven't already :)

I went ahead and moved them for you. Looks like the other items you had listed are ok.

[megasdkirby]

Thanks Kaboomer. :)

I just thought it was funny, though I did forget I could change categories. LOL

[Kaboomer]

Thanks Kaboomer. :)

I just thought it was funny, though I did forget I could change categories. LOL

Just moved your other two games as well. Sorry about that :) This changeover was a real nightmare but I think its for the better.

[Kaboomer]

New ChaseTheChuckwagon Tile Matching Game coming soon to both the Iphone, Facebook and you guessed it our homepage.

You are "ChasingTheChuckwagon", trying to accumulate as much "Loot" as possible by matching two photo tiles featuring items from LIVE! auctions. Once you match the pair they disappear and are added to your "Loot". Be careful not to turn over two consecutive "Robber" tiles or you lose one life. Lose three lives and it's GAME OVER! Oh, and your game also ends if time runs out before matching all the cards in a given wave. Pocket Watch tiles will extend your time and the Train tiles will randomly shuffle all remaining tiles to new locations. Clear one wave and another appears, but with more cards and less time to complete the wave.

How much "Loot" can you score? And while playing will you find something you actually want to buy? Choose to play with tiles from specific categories, or from newly listed or ending soon auctions. High scores will also be shown so we can see who is most successful "ChasingTheChuckwagon".

Once your game ends you will be able to scroll through your "Loot" and bid on any of the items you found. ChaseTheChuckwagon will feature endless game play as no two games will be the same and all players will see different game tiles so all auctions will get considerable exposure.

This will be a FREE Iphone Ap. Look for it in the near future!

[Kaboomer]

Site will be down tonight from about 11-00-1:00AM EST for site upgrade.

In our continuing efforts to grow our auction site we are making some big changes. And these changes are coming soon. Tomorrow!

Part of this new complete site upgrade involves operating under a new name that will be more identifiable to a "gaming" auction site, http://www.GameGavel.com. We have about 2,000 new visitors each month and I think our new name combined with our new layout will entice many more of them to register on their first visit.

Our forums have already made the change over, check them out at:
http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/forum/index.php

In addition to a complete site appearance change we will be implementing these new features over the coming days:

Zip Code Search
Improved Bulk Uploading System
Revamped Members Area
Improved Member-to-Member Communication System
Improved Member-to-Member Invoicing System
The Addition of "Member Since . . ." to all Seller Homepages and Item Listing Pages

And more!

We also have a big announcement forthcoming about a formal relationship with one of the largest video gaming communities online. This new relationship is sure to bring our site infront of hundreds of thousands of gamers around the World. It's going to be an exciting 2010!

http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/gglogo.png

[megasdkirby]

One thing that should be changed is a way to contact the buyer without the need of sending an invoice. Also, forcing to leave feedback while sending an invoice...I just don't like.

I just want to contact the buyer. Also the same is true with the seller...why force a feedback if all one wants to do is contact the other party?

Otherwise, it's all good. :)

[Kaboomer]

One thing that should be changed is a way to contact the buyer without the need of sending an invoice. Also, forcing to leave feedback while sending an invoice...I just don't like.

I just want to contact the buyer. Also the same is true with the seller...why force a feedback if all one wants to do is contact the other party?

Otherwise, it's all good. :)

I will see about adding a contact buyer option. And you don't have to leave feedback the same time you are sending an invoice. You can do it after the fact.

[Kaboomer]

GameGavel.com is now born. Check out the new site and list some things. I think the homepage is better designed to entice visitors to register and bid. Thanks to all of you who are using the site and helping us grow into a legitimate alternative to Ebay for gamers.

[megasdkirby]

Awesome, but why the change? I already miss the old CTC... :(

*cries in a corner*

[Kaboomer]

Awesome, but why the change? I already miss the old CTC... :(

*cries in a corner*

You will get used to it, I swear :) I think it is looking pretty kick-ass, myself.

[Kitsune Sniper]

...

I'm sorry, but I don't like the GameGavel name. I want CTCW back. :(

[megasdkirby]

Just received an email...does the credit card upgrade affect even sellers who have "free" accounts (like me)?

Does this also mean fees will be charged from now on to all sellers, even though with said above accounts?

[Kaboomer]

Just received an email...does the credit card upgrade affect even sellers who have "free" accounts (like me)?

Does this also mean fees will be charged from now on to all sellers, even though with said above accounts?

If you have a free seller account you will still be required to have a cc on file althought it won' be charged. Keep in mind only a few of you received a COMPLETELY free account. Most with free seller accounts are set up for no selling commissions but still have to pay for listing enhancements should they decide to use them (stuff like homepage featured, bold titles, etc.).

If you have a question as to what account you have PM me here :)

Kirby - you have a free seller account, but still have to pay for enhancements if you use them. You do not pay any listing or selling fees though.

[megasdkirby]

Thanks for the info, Kaboomer! :)

Will be posting my CC info soon.

Any plans on skin changes? Or any secret things you have for us in the future? :p

[Kaboomer]

Thanks for the info, Kaboomer! :)

Will be posting my CC info soon.

Any plans on skin changes? Or any secret things you have for us in the future? :p

Just more fine tuning. The messages area needs to be improved. I think the invoicing and communication is much nicer now. The site has been packed all morning. Traffic is booming!

[megasdkirby]

There is something I don't quite understand.

When you search "Listings" and click on the appropiate console, three options appear: games, accesories, and systems.

Now if you click on "Games", you see:

http://img301.yfrog.com/img301/7045/ps3chuck.png

Now, the subdivisions are fine (at least to me), but if sellers have an option to simply add games to the generic "GAMES" category under the PS3 or any section, wouldn't it defeat the purpose of selecting the subcategory? For instance, if I have a CIB copy of a game, I can simply list them under GAMES and not even bother listing them under "Complete in Box".

I would eliminate the posibility of "GAMES" option if a subcategory is to be used. Because as it stands, anyone can simply list the game under "GAMES" and simply ignore the subcategories.

Also another suggestions: the GAMES category should be changed to ALL category. That way, I can simply see what all the games listed in that category instead of bothering checking every single category (which can get monotonous, depeding on the person).

[Kaboomer]

Discussing site statistics, site changeover information and a teaser regarding a big announcement forthcoming. Listen today.

All this and a small bit of Digital Press / GameGavel Trivia this month in Auction Talk!

http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/AuctionTalk.mp3

[Kaboomer]

Gaming Community Affiliations

We are going to be integrating a new Gaming Community Affiliations section into GameGavel. This will be a cool new feature that will allow new and existing members to display they are members with other gaming communities including:

ScrewAttack
CheapAssGamer
Digital Press
AtariAge
NintendoAge
Sega-16
KLOV

A small “badge” indicating what communities a member participates in will be displayed within the member information box on both the item listing pages as well as in the member’s GameGavel homepage. We are going to take this all a step further and also let you do a custom search for items for sale by Community Affiliation. So for example, if you are a member of Digital Press and want to view only auctions run by other members of Digital Press, you can do that.

It is my hope this will instill a feeling of community between GameGavel.com and the forum communities that have supported us since we launched. There is currently no other gaming store or auction site that offers anything like this and it will continue setting apart GameGavel.com as a site that was developed by gamers for gamers.

I hope that this will entice you to list more items on GameGavel.com. I plan to have this up and operational by mid November. An announcement will be made when this functionality goes live.

Thank you,

[Kaboomer]

We have now added our Gaming Website Affiliation Interface. So those of you who are members of GameGavel should log in and then click on Update Contact Information to add DP as an affiliation. Then you will get a DP badge next to your name indicating to others you are also a member here.

Here is what the badges look like. They also appear in auction searches as well as in the seller information box on the listing pages.

http://www.gamegavel.com/sites/socalmike/

[megasdkirby]

Kaboomer, there is something wrong with the updating of one's own personal information.

I choose everything correctly: my "state" (which is PR), zip code, Country (which is "USA").

When I hit submit, it changes PR to PA!

I've tried on several computers, and still nothing.

Any ideas?

Also, my listings say "Alturas de Bayamon", when I don't think there is such a thing! O_o

BTW, did you get my email? :D

[Kaboomer]

Kaboomer, there is something wrong with the updating of one's own personal information.

I choose everything correctly: my "state" (which is PR), zip code, Country (which is "USA").

When I hit submit, it changes PR to PA!

I've tried on several computers, and still nothing.

Any ideas?

Also, my listings say "Alturas de Bayamon", when I don't think there is such a thing! O_o

BTW, did you get my email? :D


Thanks for letting me know. I will have it fixed. As far as Alturas de Bayamon, that is what the zip code triggers as the city. I can't change it. Mine does the same thing as it says items are in Cota De Caza when I am actually in Trabuco Canyon. But it's very close.

You should be able to correct your contact info sometime today. I will let you know.

[megasdkirby]

Thanks Kaboomer!

And thanks for the email! DC lot sold! :D

Too bad the DJ Boy game sold. :(

[Kaboomer]

Thanks Kaboomer!

And thanks for the email! DC lot sold! :D

Too bad the DJ Boy game sold. :(

Your correct contact info (PR) should be back in place. Please check it.

[Kaboomer]

Hello GameGavel Community,

You may have seen or heard me mention of a big announcement in past podcasts or in the forums. It is now time to reveal this announcement and what it will mean for you as a member of GameGavel.com.

Starting next week we will be aligning ourselves with ScrewAttack.com, a large, flourishing website dedicated to gaming. ScrewAttack has positioned themselves to be the Youtube/Facebook of the video gaming world and you should do yourself a favor and check them out. ScrewAttack will be promoting GameGavel.com throughout their community and endorsing GameGavel as the official gaming auction site of ScrewAttack. On average ScrewAttack.com sees 60,000-80,000 visits and roughly 250,000 page views each day. They have a large and loyal international community and all this will start feeding into GameGavel.com right away. This is a very big development and will bring in significantly larger traffic numbers to GameGavel as new buyers and sellers start participating on the site.

For more info on ScrewAttack: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScrewAttack

With this new relationship, GameGavel.com will be faced with significantly increased site hosting expenses. As you are all well aware, we have initially offered use of GameGavel free of listing fees and photo upload fees. These are two areas, which will have to change so we can continue to operate at this higher level. It is our goal to bring significantly more buyer/bidding activity to our sellers to offset our new fee structure, which will still always remain 50-75% less than fees incurred by using Ebay.

Here is the new fee structure that will go into affect starting this week. I am showing the GameGavel fees side x side with Ebay’s fees so you have a clear picture comparing both sites. I will also be adding this comparison page to our About Us tab on the site header so you can reference it at any time.

Listing Fees GameGavel, Ebay
(Starting Bid $)
$0-$1.00 $.05, $.10
$1.01-$199.00 $.15, $.25-$2.00
$200+ $.50, $3.00-$4.00
GameGavel will feature PENNY Relistings!

Final Value Fees - GameGavel
$0-$100 4% of closing value
$101-$1000 4% of the First $100 + 1.75% of closing value between $100-$1000
$1000+ 4% of the First $100 + 1.75% of closing value between $100-$1000 +1% of closing value over $1000.

Final Value Fees – Ebay
$.01-$25 8 ¾% of closing value
$25.01-$1000 8 ¾% of the first $25+3.5% of closing value between $25.01- $1000
$1000+ 8 ¾% of the first $25+3.5% of closing value $25.01-$1000 + 1% of closing value over $1000.

Listing Enhancements GameGavel, Ebay
Bold Titles $.50, $2.00
Reserve Fee $.50, $2.00
Buy Now Free, $.05-$.25
10-20 Day Duration Free, $.40
Scheduled Listings Free, $.10
Homepage Feature $3, Unknown-Expensive
Top of Category $1, $25
Photo Hosting 1st Free, $.05 after, 1st Free, $.15 after
Seller Homepage/Store Free, $15/Month

You can see by the fee structures above GameGavel fees are remaining significantly lower than Ebay fees; and that will never change. If you are one that received or purchased a discounted seller account then that discount still applies to the new fee structure.

2010 is going to be a monumental year for GameGavel.com, its members and affiliates. This is something I can guarantee. It is our goal to continue providing video gamers around the world the best, most focused place to buy and sell modern and classic video games. And this new relationship with ScrewAttack will help us all get more out of using GameGavel than ever before.

I want to wish you all Happy Holidays and best wishes for the New Year. And, remember to shop GameGavel.com this holiday season.

Questions? I can be easily reached by email at socalmike@gamegavel.com or through the GameGavel forums.

So Cal Mike, Founder
GameGavel.com

[Kaboomer]

I've had some question about relisting fees. That is a great question. GameGavel will feature Penny relisting fees, not full price.

[Kaboomer]

Hear about our current website statistics (Still Growing) and new developments right here in the December 2009 Auction Talk Podcast:



http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/AuctionTalk.mp3

[skaar]

I think GameGavel is a really cool guy. He charges low fees and doesn't afraid of anything.

[Kaboomer]

Our Digital Press Member Affiliation search is now up so you can sort for items for sale by DP members only.



If you are a DP member and also a member of DP make sure to update your contact information and add your DP Member ID so your auction items will be seen in this search:



http://www.gamegavel.com/html/search.html

[Kaboomer]

Hey all,

I have spoken at length with Paypal's fraud department and have some good news. As of November 2nd Paypal is now allowing for buyer protection outside of Ebay. What does this mean?

If you purchase something from a seller outside Ebay, and do not receive the item, and the seller can't show proof of shipment, they will refund item and shipping price no questions asked, even if the seller has insufficient funds in their account to cover the refund.

For more info check out the Paypal User Agreement - specifically 13.6 A & B (but the user agreement has not been updated to say this exactly. But it has been confirmed that as long as any Paypal payment method is used (including simply paid from Paypal balance) they will cover buyers for Non receipt Item Refunds. And, again, unlike the User Agreement still states, the refund does not depend on whether or not the fraudulent seller has the available funds to give the refund. Paypal will refund in full even if the seller has insufficient funds to cover the refund.


https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?&cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_US#13.%20Protection%20for%20Buyers.

[darkslime]

I just got an email about listing fees today? Wasn't your whole push that listing fees were free? And listing a game on ebay is 5 cents not 50 cents so that would make your fees more expensive.

[Kaboomer]

I just got an email about listing fees today? Wasn't your whole push that listing fees were free? And listing a game on ebay is 5 cents not 50 cents so that would make your fees more expensive.

I am comparing my fees to Ebay fees taken right from their fee page - not sure where you are seeing nickel listigs:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html#auction

And as you see they charge $.25 if your starting bid is a buck. If your starting bid is $.99 it drops to $.10. We are charging a nickel.

Here is our new Fees page showing both GG and Ebay Fees: http://www.gamegavel.com/html/Fees.html

The bottom line is a business can't continue to grow if it isn't making any money, which in this case, growth = seller's having more success selling their items at a higher prices. So I am trying to deliver to you all a site that is the best of both worlds. First we are still and always will be undercutting Ebay 50-75% (considerably more if you consider I am offering up penny relistings) and using the traffic which we will be fortunate enough to get when ScrewAttack.com starts promoting us to their user base and across many of their syndicated shows that are picked up on GameTrailers.com ( their vids are seen by a supposed 50 million times each year).

We are at a turning point here. And we need to start initiating some small fees if we are to continue to grow and offer gamers a cheaper alternative to Ebay. Driving more traffic to the site costs money. I need money to continue to drive this buyer traffic to the site so we all make more selling on the site. Plain and simple. There are lots of companies that have attempted to give away everything for free and sooner or later they have to close down because they are not making any money.

My top priority hasn't changed. That is to offer a legitimate alternative to Ebay, but at a fraction of the cost, and assuring our sellers see equal results selling their items. Our relationship with ScrewAttack will help legitimize GameGavel to the modern day gamer, a demographic that is key to the growth of the site.

And again, having free listings really doesn't seem that important to most of our membership as we only have a few hundred that have been selling out of a total of over 3,000 members. So that tells me that the biggest deterrant to using GG is site traffic. And that is what I am going after now. I for one, if I was a paying seller, would be supporting this move because in the end, it will help me sell more and at higher prices.

And relistings are a penny. I know for a fact that many of you have been paying significantly when you relist on Ebay. I also know for a fact that relisting fees eat into the profit of the items you successfully sell. So penny listings are one of many big advantages of selling on GameGavel. Couple all this with the craploads of stories online about how people can't afford to sell on Ebay anymore. Ebay is no guarantee these days. There are just as many of you who are successful selling your items there as people swearing they will never sell there again.

And I also have to laugh because when I send emails out like this trying to be upfront with everyone, I get a few emails back telling me to take a hike. And it's always from members who have never even attempted to list one item on the site, even after having nearly two years of useage with free listings. Heck, I even had one guy tonight email me and ask I remove his membership and it turns out he was fortunate enough to have one of our limited free seller accounts which meant he never had to pay for anything. That just shows me that a large % of our community really just doesn't care. But being the nice guy I am and I reminded him that his free seller account is now worth more than ever. To funny :)

In addition, a large % of the fees will go to a variety of advertising campaigns that I haven't been able to afford to do with any consistency - facebook advertising, youtube advertising, google adwords, etc. And 5% comes right off the top and will be donated to ChildsPlay Charity starting Jan. 1st.

Please hang with me on this or jump on board after the traffic improves. We are not going anywhere, I can assure you all that.

[Kaboomer]

And don't even get me started on how Ebay is handling their fixed price listings, which I forgot to point out (thanks to our member FND for this reminder)
__________________________________________________ _

Just wanted to ad there is another way to list Video Games
on ebay that will cost you even more, they try to trick you
into listing in the VIDEO GAME fixed price listings catagory by offering a
discount whith the listing fees but will absolutly rape you
on final value fees check this out

Fixed price listing fees
Insertion fees: fixed price listings*

Books, Music, DVDs & Movies, Video Games
$1.00 and Above (fee) $0.15

DONT LET THEM TRICK YOU
They list the Final value fees for "Video Game Systems"
at 8% but if you look down the list further you will see
the "FINAL VALUE FEE" for "Video Games" is 15%

[Kaboomer]

ScrewAttack is kicking off their support of GameGavel with a nice new video. It will be featured on their homepage today and is already getting lots of attention. Check it out, yo!


http://www.ScrewAttack.com

[mobiusclimber]

It's free to relist items on Ebay. They give you a listing credit for it. http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/relist.html

[MachineGex]

It's free to relist items on Ebay. They give you a listing credit for it. http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/relist.html

Alright, I like an alternative to Ebay, but lets get the fee thing worked out. Who is right on all the above fee stuff? Can some break it down that knows both sides? I kinda feel like I am only getting a small part of the story. What was gamegavels prices when they first started? Wasn't there a promise to keep the fees low? I dont want to cause problems, but it seems like you are asking half of ebay prices without having half of the registered buyers.

I want GameGavel to succeed, but as a consumer, am I getting equal bang for the buck?

[udisi]

It's free to relist items on Ebay. They give you a listing credit for it. http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/relist.html

It can be...read the requirements. It can be relisted once for a credit refunded IF it sells the second time. I it doesn't sell it's not free. It also must be open auction format unless it's ebay motors.

[Kaboomer]

ScrewAttack's store GameAttack now announcing they are using GameGavel for their online sales:

On their homepage now: http://www.ScrewAttack.com

http://screwattack.com/videos/GameAttack-is-online

Traffic is going through the roof again. Now would be a good time to get some new listings going.

Also, we are seeing a big jump in International traffic with our new relationship with ScrewAttack.

[mobiusclimber]

It can be...read the requirements. It can be relisted once for a credit refunded IF it sells the second time. I it doesn't sell it's not free. It also must be open auction format unless it's ebay motors.

On GG, the listings I have that didn't sell that I'd like to relist don't say it only costs a penny to relist them. I'm not sure if that's because they were free to list to start with or what. But really the only reason I brought that up is because the emails for GG that I've been getting keep saying how expensive it is to relist on Ebay when, in fact, it's quite possible to relist for free.

Also it looks like they've started charging for more than one photo per listing (eg if you use more than one photo in a listing). Correct me if I'm wrong but it used to be free.

[tubeway]

Being a capitalist pig, I'll keep using eBay until someone convinces me I'll get just as much or more money from another online auction site. Still having Paypal in the mix carries with it many of the same problems that I'd have with ebay.

[mobiusclimber]

That's why I prefer Amazon. I don't have to worry about someone ripping me off and Paypal screwing me over. I also make more money on Amazon even tho their fees are higher (the prices on games are higher and usually sell just as quickly).

[Kaboomer]

On GG, the listings I have that didn't sell that I'd like to relist don't say it only costs a penny to relist them. I'm not sure if that's because they were free to list to start with or what. But really the only reason I brought that up is because the emails for GG that I've been getting keep saying how expensive it is to relist on Ebay when, in fact, it's quite possible to relist for free.

Also it looks like they've started charging for more than one photo per listing (eg if you use more than one photo in a listing). Correct me if I'm wrong but it used to be free.

You have a free seller account so you pay no listing, relisting, selling or photo upload fees :)

[darkslime]

That's why I prefer Amazon. I don't have to worry about someone ripping me off and Paypal screwing me over. I also make more money on Amazon even tho their fees are higher (the prices on games are higher and usually sell just as quickly).I just started using amazon and like it. If its the same or lower than eBay I'll just list it on eBay so I get less fees but if its more than like $3 higher I'll list on amazon.

It just sucks that no one leaves feedback

[mobiusclimber]

You have a free seller account so you pay no listing, relisting, selling or photo upload fees :)

That's odd. When I go to list something, I see fees listed next to the auctions. But I haven't tried to relist anything since the new fees went into effect. I guess I'll give it a shot and send you an email if it wants fees from me. XD And sorry if I sound ungrateful, I really do like using CTCW/GG and I hope it grows to be a serious Ebay contender (because Ebay sucks).

[Kaboomer]

That's odd. When I go to list something, I see fees listed next to the auctions. But I haven't tried to relist anything since the new fees went into effect. I guess I'll give it a shot and send you an email if it wants fees from me. XD And sorry if I sound ungrateful, I really do like using CTCW/GG and I hope it grows to be a serious Ebay contender (because Ebay sucks).

The only thing you are paying for are listing enhancements. These include: homepage featured auctions, top of categry auctions, bold titles or highlighted listings. Everything thing else is free :)

[Kaboomer]

VIDGRID the GameGavel Game is now ready for play. Here is a direct link, but it can also be found on the GameGavel.com homepage.

Choose to play with Retro or Modern auction tiles and start matching. Go for the highscore and who knows you may also see something you want to bid on.

Have Fun!

http://www.gamegavel.com/html/vidgrid.html

[Kaboomer]

Are you fed up with Ebay. Are your Ebay sales declining while your fees are increasing?

Now is the time for GameGavel.com.

In lieu of yet another Ebay fee increase I just want to remind everyone that GameGavel wants your business and your auction listings. As a reminder we have significantly reduced listing fees and penny re-listings for items that require multiple listings to sell. Our final value fee is 4% vs. Ebay’s new 9% final value fee. Sellers on GameGavel also have the ability to create a free branded GameGavel store/homepage ($15/month or more on Ebay) as well as take advantage of free seller promotional tools to help promote your auctions across the forums and social networks you belong to.

There is no better time to register on GameGavel.com. If you are already a seller, there is no better time to run some listings. Over the past few months we have grown to nearly 20,000 unique visitors and 240,000 monthly page views. And we have a near 50/50 split between first time visitors and returning members so there are always new “eyes” looking for all type of gaming items. More listings will bring in more bidders and buyers.

Let’s all take on Ebay together!

[mobiusclimber]

If we keep using FeePay, they'll always be the only game in town and will be able to charge whatever they want and DO whatever they want. I jumped ship a long time ago, but I gotta say, as slowly as that place is sinking, it IS sinking.

[Zthun]

Are you fed up with Ebay. Are your Ebay sales declining while your fees are increasing?

Now is the time for GameGavel.com.

In lieu of yet another Ebay fee increase I just want to remind everyone that GameGavel wants your business and your auction listings. As a reminder we have significantly reduced listing fees and penny re-listings for items that require multiple listings to sell. Our final value fee is 4% vs. Ebay’s new 9% final value fee. Sellers on GameGavel also have the ability to create a free branded GameGavel store/homepage ($15/month or more on Ebay) as well as take advantage of free seller promotional tools to help promote your auctions across the forums and social networks you belong to.

There is no better time to register on GameGavel.com. If you are already a seller, there is no better time to run some listings. Over the past few months we have grown to nearly 20,000 unique visitors and 240,000 monthly page views. And we have a near 50/50 split between first time visitors and returning members so there are always new “eyes” looking for all type of gaming items. More listings will bring in more bidders and buyers.

Let’s all take on Ebay together!

I decided to try gamegavel.com for the first time, and while there are a lot of things I like about it (fees being one of them), there are a couple of things that will keep me from moving away from ebay completely. I know I probably should post this on game gavels forums, but I like these forums better, so I'm posting here. Also, this will be a wall of text; you have been warned.

First of all, I'm lazy, so can you link the terms of how to get free listing fees? You said the seller store was free? Honestly, I would rather have a slightly higher final value fee and a place to list my items until they sell without having to worry about listing fees.

The are two main problems, possibly one of them might be fixable but it's non-intuitive. If I had to choose between buying on ebay and buying on gamegavel, my first choice is going to be ebay. On rare occasions you can find a GREAT deal on gamegavel, but even when those pop up, I'm still reluctant to buy. Why? Ebay's paypal policy (and now, the ebay protection policy) has the item not described protection. Ebay is a buyers market. Boomer, gamegavel doesn't offer any initial protection against sellers who lie about their broken items. I've bought games that have been deteriorated, systems that have cockroaches in them, damaged discs, and a few other things that I would be embarrassed to have listed on my auctions. While other people are complete wussies, I am the ass hole that will ruin a persons 100% feedback if he or she lied to me about the condition of his or her item. If a seller lies about their auction, I can go to paypal and claim the item not described, get my money back, and leave negative feedback. If paypal fucks me, I can file a bank reversal or CC charge-back and forcefully ship my item back, still being able to leave negative feedback. Ebay may not make is 100% safe for buyers (no store or auction site is), but it does give buyers many layers of protection.

With gamegavel, I have to immediately go straight to the bank reversal/charge-back. Now if I paid with paypal, I have to deal with them to get my account unlocked, and this means dealing with the douches over the phone while they give me attitude. Honestly, I'd rather take the safer path here when it comes to buying.

The other problem is more of an annoyance. I can't block international buyers (either that or I can't figure out how). I have nothing against the Chinese or Canadians, but shipping to countries outside my own is a hassle, and it makes shipping charges dynamic rather than the static prices I like to leave them. I can't put a static shipping charge because if someone from Australia buys my auction, shipping for him/her is going to be about 3x the amount that it would take to ship domestically. The other problem is international shipping has no tracking without expedited shipping (like 30 dollars for a 5 oz package). So you leave yourself open to the paypal item not delivered claim. Was the item delivered? Hell if I would know. The buyer COULD be telling the truth and it got lost in customs. Plus, I have to fill out a bunch of forms for international shipping. I just don't want to deal with it.

Gamegavel.com has a great interface though. I love the lowered fees, the high quality pictures, the ability to link pictures from my photobucket account, and the default policies on shipping and payment that show up in every auction. But even with the vastly improved interface from ebay, I really need the ability to block international buyers, and if I'm going to be paying fees for a site that doesn't have a lot of traffic and not be able to use the item not described claim, then I'll probably just continue to list my stuff in forums where I can't do an item not described claim, but I also don't have to pay any fees at all. Well see where 2010 takes Gamegavel.com.

[megasdkirby]

On rare occasions you can find a GREAT deal on gamegavel, but even when those pop up, I'm still reluctant to buy. Why? Ebay's paypal policy (and now, the ebay protection policy) has the item not described protection. Ebay is a buyers market. Boomer, gamegavel doesn't offer any initial protection against sellers who lie about their broken items.

You are right, But at least with me, from personal experience, I've never had a problem on GameGavel/CTC (except that buyer with two addresses, which was resolved) concerning "Not as described" products. Not saying that it doesn't happen, but I don't think it's as bad as Ebay (at least from my experiences...other experiences may vary).

I rather purchase from GameGavel/CTC mainly because the mayority of sellers are from members we already know and/or have high reputation on different message boards. How is this good? If it's someone you know, condition is not something you will be worried about, not unlike someone who doesn't know what they are selling (like what happens on Ebay). Again, this is from personal experience.


If paypal fucks me, I can file a bank reversal or CC charge-back and forcefully ship my item back, still being able to leave negative feedback. Ebay may not make is 100% safe for buyers (no store or auction site is), but it does give buyers many layers of protection.

Something I never knew: is it true that if a person does a reversal of any kind (either it be via CC or Bank), Paypal/Ebay can penalize your account, or even terminate it for going "over them"? I've heard things like this before, but I just don't quite understand it, to be honest.

[Kaboomer]

I decided to try gamegavel.com for the first time, and while there are a lot of things I like about it (fees being one of them), there are a couple of things that will keep me from moving away from ebay completely. I know I probably should post this on game gavels forums, but I like these forums better, so I'm posting here. Also, this will be a wall of text; you have been warned.

First of all, I'm lazy, so can you link the terms of how to get free listing fees? You said the seller store was free? Honestly, I would rather have a slightly higher final value fee and a place to list my items until they sell without having to worry about listing fees.

The are two main problems, possibly one of them might be fixable but it's non-intuitive. If I had to choose between buying on ebay and buying on gamegavel, my first choice is going to be ebay. On rare occasions you can find a GREAT deal on gamegavel, but even when those pop up, I'm still reluctant to buy. Why? Ebay's paypal policy (and now, the ebay protection policy) has the item not described protection. Ebay is a buyers market. Boomer, gamegavel doesn't offer any initial protection against sellers who lie about their broken items. I've bought games that have been deteriorated, systems that have cockroaches in them, damaged discs, and a few other things that I would be embarrassed to have listed on my auctions. While other people are complete wussies, I am the ass hole that will ruin a persons 100% feedback if he or she lied to me about the condition of his or her item. If a seller lies about their auction, I can go to paypal and claim the item not described, get my money back, and leave negative feedback. If paypal fucks me, I can file a bank reversal or CC charge-back and forcefully ship my item back, still being able to leave negative feedback. Ebay may not make is 100% safe for buyers (no store or auction site is), but it does give buyers many layers of protection.

With gamegavel, I have to immediately go straight to the bank reversal/charge-back. Now if I paid with paypal, I have to deal with them to get my account unlocked, and this means dealing with the douches over the phone while they give me attitude. Honestly, I'd rather take the safer path here when it comes to buying.

The other problem is more of an annoyance. I can't block international buyers (either that or I can't figure out how). I have nothing against the Chinese or Canadians, but shipping to countries outside my own is a hassle, and it makes shipping charges dynamic rather than the static prices I like to leave them. I can't put a static shipping charge because if someone from Australia buys my auction, shipping for him/her is going to be about 3x the amount that it would take to ship domestically. The other problem is international shipping has no tracking without expedited shipping (like 30 dollars for a 5 oz package). So you leave yourself open to the paypal item not delivered claim. Was the item delivered? Hell if I would know. The buyer COULD be telling the truth and it got lost in customs. Plus, I have to fill out a bunch of forms for international shipping. I just don't want to deal with it.

Gamegavel.com has a great interface though. I love the lowered fees, the high quality pictures, the ability to link pictures from my photobucket account, and the default policies on shipping and payment that show up in every auction. But even with the vastly improved interface from ebay, I really need the ability to block international buyers, and if I'm going to be paying fees for a site that doesn't have a lot of traffic and not be able to use the item not described claim, then I'll probably just continue to list my stuff in forums where I can't do an item not described claim, but I also don't have to pay any fees at all. Well see where 2010 takes Gamegavel.com.

Still reading through all this, but initially to address the issue regarding buyer protection. Paypal is now protecting buyer purchases 100% through any venue. Meaning if you buy something from someone on GameGavel and you pay using a Paypal method and don't receive the item and the seller can't prove shipping, then they will reimburse you 100% for the purchase no questions asked. This went into effect I think November 1st however, last I checked their terms hadn't reflected this yet. But I have spoken with them in great length about it and they assured me this to be the case. As far as item not described correctly reversal, I will have to look into that. So you should have no worries buying from anyone on GameGavel. If you are still concerned, we have a bunch of very respectible sellers there - check out their feedbacks and only deal with people with + feedback.

Also, I have found that communication between our members has been pretty good. I am sure better than communication between many of the buyer/seller transactions on Ebay. For the most part, we are all gamers and respect one another. We try to accurately decribe what we are selling and try to fix things and make things right after the sale if needed. I know as we continue to grow we will have more and more issues, but I try to handle most issues as they come up.

As far as blocking interntional bidders, I can see about adding that option for sellers in the future. I can certainly understand where you are coming from there, but also, I have sold tons Internationally and more often than not, they don't mind paying the extra for shipping. Really hasn't been a problem for me selling on Ebay for over 10 years or on GG. For now hopefully a Bold Mention that you only sell in the USA will keep any International bids from being placed.

2010 is going to be a huge year for GG. I can hardly believe we are going to be starting our third year on March 24th. I am in talks with a few companies and large online gaming sites to promote us. Some of which could blow this completely wide open. We are also being courted by a couple online gaming industry ad agencies wanting to run some ads on GG. I have thought long and hard about this, but if I do this, I will more than likely remove the listing fees altogether. And ads will be at a minium - not obtrusive. This will allow GG to have an operating budget - imagine that :). And all $ made from operations is being drilled right back into site promotion. We use Google Analytics for our statistics. Bascially that involved adding Analytics code to all of our pages and every morning we get a traffic update for the past 30 days. And it's showing a significant trend upwards. And our International visitors are now coming from over 100 countries. This is a very good thing!

All I can say to anyone reading this is try running some listings on GG along side Ebay or whereever you are selling your stuff. Noone says you can't use two or more sites simultaneously. I don't mind if you put a link to your Ebay store in your GG listing. That is a smart thing to do. Pass traffic back and forth between your stores. At least for the stuff you sell on GG you won'tbe dinged as much. Now is the time to experiment and see if there are other successful buying and selling communities outside of Ebay. And I believe the more you use GG, the more it will work for you and sooner or later be your community of choice for buying and selling video games.

[Zthun]

You are right, But at least with me, from personal experience, I've never had a problem on GameGavel/CTC (except that buyer with two addresses, which was resolved) concerning "Not as described" products. Not saying that it doesn't happen, but I don't think it's as bad as Ebay (at least from my experiences...other experiences may vary).

I rather purchase from GameGavel/CTC mainly because the mayority of sellers are from members we already know and/or have high reputation on different message boards. How is this good? If it's someone you know, condition is not something you will be worried about, not unlike someone who doesn't know what they are selling (like what happens on Ebay). Again, this is from personal experience.


Very true, but let's assume best case and say that gamegavel.com becomes huge. Let's say that it becomes the #1 site for gaming auctions (I like to think positively...most of the time). You are going to run into this problem eventually. Boomer is correct that paypal offers the item not received protection, but it does not offer the item not described protection (last time I read the terms, I don't know if they changed it). Right now it has mostly members from friendly communities, but (unless it is intentionally kept that way), it will eventually get buyers/sellers that are not part of the affiliates, and then it may start running into problems. That's the same reason I didn't shop on ebay for the first couple of years it was out. I didn't trust just anyone I didn't know to correctly assess what they give me.



Something I never knew: is it true that if a person does a reversal of any kind (either it be via CC or Bank), Paypal/Ebay can penalize your account, or even terminate it for going "over them"? I've heard things like this before, but I just don't quite understand it, to be honest.

Paypal will lock your account and you have to go through a bunch of rig-a-ma-roll to get it unlocked (verifying your bank, CC, possibly your SSN, and you still might need to give customer support a phone call to force the account to unlock - it all depends on who you get over the phone as well).


2010 is going to be a huge year for GG. I can hardly believe we are going to be starting our third year on March 24th. I am in talks with a few companies and large online gaming sites to promote us. Some of which could blow this completely wide open. We are also being courted by a couple online gaming industry ad agencies wanting to run some ads on GG. I have thought long and hard about this, but if I do this, I will more than likely remove the listing fees altogether. And ads will be at a minium - not obtrusive. This will allow GG to have an operating budget - imagine that . And all $ made from operations is being drilled right back into site promotion. We use Google Analytics for our statistics. Bascially that involved adding Analytics code to all of our pages and every morning we get a traffic update for the past 30 days. And it's showing a significant trend upwards. And our International visitors are now coming from over 100 countries. This is a very good thing!

Honestly, you can advertise on the internet all you want, but if you really want to drive traffic all the way home, you're going to have to save up funds for a TV advertisement. THAT'S why Ebay is so popular. That's why they have the majority of the market. The average computer user is computer retarded and most people just use what they know - most people don't search on the internet all day for auction sites. They know ebay and amazon from TV commercials, so they just use that. It's like gamefly (netflix for games). That never would have taken off without a TV commercial. If you air a commercial during CSI, WWE Smackdown, or any other prime time show, then LOTS of people will see the commercial and THAT will drive traffic and users through the roof. Of course, if you want to just keep it with the site communities, then this would be a bad idea, but again, to truly sell, TV commercials are the way to go. It's like what Link from the Zelda mangas once said: "If you don't take risks, there is no progress." To that, I follow up with what my dad always told me: "You get nothing for nothing."

Cheers!

[Kaboomer]

GameGavel = Starting Today, No More Listing/Insertion Fees

As many of you know starting January 1st we adjusted our fees to include small listing fees. Since then Ebay has recently announced they will be removing listing/insertions fees starting on April 1st, 2010. However, with this removal of listing fees they are also increasing the final value fees (FVF)/selling fees significantly so don’t be fooled. Here is a nicely written article about this that I suggest you all understand:

http://www.examiner.com/x-312-Auctions-and-Antiques-Examiner~y2010m1d29-New-eBay-fees--the-devils-in-the-details--almost-a-200-increase-in-FVF-for-25500-range

As a result of Ebay’s no listing/insertion fees change (and they are only doing this for items with starting bids under $1) GameGavel.com is dropping the listing/insertion fees for good. This means there is no cost to you as a Seller for listing an item, at any price. The only fees include listing enhancements like homepage-featured items, top-of- category listings, bold titles or highlighted listings, etc. and of course final value fees. Also, unlike Ebay, we will not be increasing our final value fees/selling fees to make up for what seems to be like a fee reduction. This is a 100% fee reduction and not being buried in other fee increases.

Keep in mind that for sellers, GameGavel also features free branded GameGavel storefront/homepage features that Ebay is charging $15+ per month.

GameGavel is growing daily now approaching 20,000 unique monthly visitors. Our goal of hitting 4,000 registered members by our second anniversary is well within reach and we are seeing more buying and selling than ever before.

It is my hope by reverting back to a no listing fee structure that many more of you will experiment by listing some items on GameGavel. We are getting lots of new people buying all types of things, from common items to “harder to find” items; systems and games.

Thanks again for being apart of our growth and as always let us know if you have any questions about using GameGavel.com.

[DREW]

The are two main problems, possibly one of them might be fixable but it's non-intuitive. If I had to choose between buying on ebay and buying on gamegavel, my first choice is going to be ebay. On rare occasions you can find a GREAT deal on gamegavel, but even when those pop up, I'm still reluctant to buy. Why? Ebay's paypal policy (and now, the ebay protection policy) has the item not described protection. Ebay is a buyers market. Boomer, gamegavel doesn't offer any initial protection against sellers who lie about their broken items. I've bought games that have been deteriorated, systems that have cockroaches in them, damaged discs,

Have you ever gotten any satisfaction from ebay/Paypal when you
filled a complaint, I have not, well if you count there email saying
I won the dispute but no funds are available then I guess I have but
so far I have won three or four disputes but never got any money back
if this is the protection you are looking for then I guess its a good
system. I wont give them any more chances to screw me. BTW
I have been a member of Ebay since 1996 with over 1,100 transaction
and still have 100% feedback but this has not gotten me any
type of consideration from them at all.

I can tell you this with GameGavel Mike will help you personnely,
try getting that from Ebay/Paypal. Also since this site has mostly
sellers that are also members of Collecting/Gaming Forums your
chance of buying from someone who actually knows about condition
and what should be included in a CIB game is much more likely,
heck they will even know how to test a game or system instead of
saying something like it worked when I bought it ? (Really I have
found most items worked when they were New but that is no help
some 10 to 30 years later)

Last I cannot vouch for anyone else but I guarenty all my items
with a money back guarenty (shipping included) I also include
scans/pictures of all sides of boxes and included items (no surprises
when you get the items) I also email the buyer when I receive the
payment and again when I ship the item, nothing worse then
wondering if the payment went through or if the items have been
mailed.

All and all I would certainly not pass up a deal on GameGavel as
your chances of getting your items with no problems are much better
then your chances on Ebay

My GameGavel ID and my Ebay Id are listed below along
with my Home Page for each site

You can also ask around these forums or the AtariAge forums and I would bet the comments will be favorable.

My GameGavel ID fnd
Link to my GameGavel Home Page
http://www.chasethechuckwagon.com/sites/fnd/

My Ebay ID f-n-d
Link to my Ebay feedback page
http://myworld.ebay.com/f-n-d

[Kaboomer]

I wanted to explain to everyone, especially our sellers or anyone wanting to sell on GameGavel in the future. First off we are growing nicely but one thing we also do is feed all our fixed price/buy now style listings into what is called Google Base. This makes sellers items appear in the Google Search and Google Shopping environments. This gets your auctions infront of everyone searching for games on Google greatly increasing your listing's coverage.

So even though we are still small, but growing, auctions are also being run on the biggest search engine on the planet.

To see this in action simple type this as an example into the Google search bar: spyro the dragon playstation 1 and then click on Shopping Results to see this sellers listing on GameGavel.

Also, to see all the GameGavel auctions running in Google click this link:

http://www.google.com/products?q=gamegavel&hl=en&aq=f

Our feeds get updated daily at 6:00 AM EST so everything stays current. This is a free service to GameGavel sellers and you need to do nothing except list a fixed price listing to be included in the feed.

As you can imagin this feed brings in lots of traffic to GameGavel but also to your listings.

Here is another search some did: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=phantasy+star+master+system&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&oq=

Scroll down and see the GameGavel listing.

[Kaboomer]

This post is here to do two things. First, to reiterate Google Shopping feeds are now up and running so anyone listing fixed price listings/Buy Now will have their listings auto fed directly into Google so you will have tons of people seeing your GameGavel listings as they search Google. You can check out our current Google Shopping listings here and it updates 6:00AM EST every morning. http://www.google.com/products?q=gamegavel&hl=en&aq=f

Since getting these feeds up and running, combined with transferring our forums to now operate under the GameGavel URL we are seeing tremendous growth.

The Google Analytics info below shows our daily unique visitors averaging over 2400 people the past week or so since we made these changes. This will translate to over 70,000 unique visitors / month (and growing) looking for video game listings.

Next, I really need to get more listings for modern day gaming items running on the site. So to spark this, I am willing to give out 12 more free seller accounts (pay no fees for life) on what will become the #1 place on line to buy and sell video games. The deal is that to get one you must be able to produce at least 50 listings for items in the modern day categories. And remember with a free seller account you don't pay anything for this. Feel free to link your GameGavel store with your Ebay store and pass traffic back and forth too. I am cool with that.

This is a very good deal for someone who is spending alot selling on Ebay and looking for a viable alternative. Imagine having no fees ever on GameGavel.

Please PM if you are interested in this deal.

http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/photos/Google0224.JPG

[GrandAmChandler]

Instead of Free seller accounts, why don't you just waive listing fees for a couple days/week/month?

[DREW]

Instead of Free seller accounts, why don't you just waive listing fees for a couple days/week/month?

There are no listing fees anymore, it was change back to free a few
weeks ago

[Kaboomer]

There are no listing fees anymore, it was change back to free a few
weeks ago

Thanks.

Ya, listing fees are gone for good. I had a temporary lapes of insanity but learned from it :)

There is really no risk to use GameGavel and as I am trying to convey we are really growing nicely since we are feeding into Google. Now is a great time to run some fixed price listings and see if the Google traffic will net you some sales. But just like on Ebay it is a numbers game. The more you have listed the more you will sell.

[Kaboomer]

We have had a huge traffic increase tonight. Like hundreds of people in the past 2-3 hours. It took me a while to track down the source of this traffic and I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XahLHnF81Qs

Registrations are going through the roof too! Thanks to Pete Dorr for putting GameGavel out to his large youtube following of 24,000 subscribers!

Now back to reading all the comments.

[PapaStu]

We have had a huge traffic increase tonight. Like hundreds of people in the past 2-3 hours. It took me a while to track down the source of this traffic and I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XahLHnF81Qs

Registrations are going through the roof too! Thanks to Pete Dorr for putting GameGavel out to his large youtube following!

Now back to reading all the comments.


Merged into the already running GameGavel/CTCW update thread. This really didn't need a thread of its own in classic gaming.

[Kaboomer]

Merged into the already running GameGavel/CTCW update thread. This really didn't need a thread of its own in classic gaming.

Thanks Papa, Sorry about that :)

[Kaboomer]

Today GameGavel is one week from hitting its 2-year anniversary. So instead of waiting to send this email on “the day”, I am sending it out now as I hope it will spark new readers to register and help us hit our goal of 4,000 registered members our first two years. It appears we will hit this # right on target.

Thanks to all of our members. And by all I mean all 3,913 (including over 200 new members who just signed up this month) of you – whether you have been consistently using GameGavel since we launched or just poking your head in every now and then to make sure we are still alive and kickin’. In two years GameGavel has grown considerably not only in just the # of registered members but also in the staggering # of unique visitors the site is now seeing on a monthly basis. And more and more of these visitors are registering when they see something they want to buy.

Many of you have been hesitant to list with any consistency on GameGavel due to our low level of traffic. Well, now the time has come that our biggest problem, at this stage is not for lack of traffic (now approaching 80,000 unique visitors/month and 400,000 page views) but lack of new listings. I have been working hard to spread the word of GameGavel through lots of channels. Many of you show your support by helping to spread the word to your friends, forums or your online communities and that is something that I am extremely thankful for and will continue to depend on as time goes by. We all want an alternative to Ebay and we are all working together to cement GameGavel as that alternative.

Our efforts are paying off in a big way. Here is a link to our latest 30-day Google Analytics statistics, which are showing proof that GameGavel is growing significantly:
http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/showthread.php?p=14433#post14433

Our stats for two years are showing we have listed 263,141 items, sold over $180,000 in merchandise and are averaging over 60,000 searches for items each month.

A couple new things that will be put into place are some site advertising, again, with the sole purpose of generating some consistent revenue to drive back into GameGavel’s functionality and promotion. This will benefit all of us using the site and help us continue to always operate without listing fees and low selling commissions.

We will be upgrading our forums to Vbulletin 4.0 Publishing Suite, in the next day or so, which will once again give the forums a new facelift but more importantly will now include a built-in blog engine so now anyone wanting to blog can do so easily in a great venue filled with gamers interested in what they have to say. It may also be a cool way to promote your auctions to the readers of your blog.

And finally, we are working on GameGavel.co.uk, which will be our first attempt at a country specific offshoot. This is a tricky undertaking that will take some time to develop. Here is a sneak peak at what will be the logo for GameGavel UK: http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14048&postcount=5


As I mentioned before, what the site needs now, more than ever, is listings. In addition to our efforts to keep spreading the word, Google Shopping Feeds are now consistently running and many of our sellers are seeing a higher level of sales. Google Shopping is responsible for a large % of our monthly unique visitors and it’s your listings that are bringing them in. Even more listings will mean even more people flooding into GameGavel. Here is a link showing our Google Shopping listings as of today: http://www.google.com/products?q=gamegavel&hl=en&aq=f

If you have been meaning to try GameGavel now is the time to try. Free listings are back and will never go away so there is absolutely no risk to list some items. None. We all want an alternative to Ebay. One that is dedicated to gaming, has free listings and low fees, and has traffic. We have that now in GameGavel. We just need your listings - plain and simple. Try listing some items on GameGavel and on Ebay. Use both sites. Link your free GameGavel seller store to your Ebay store and pass buyers back and forth. Using a combination of GameGavel and Ebay is a smart thing to do, especially if you don’t want to rely solely on GameGavel for all your sales and you want to start depending less and less on Ebay. Start slow and I am sure after a while GameGavel will be your site of choice for the majority of your buying and selling.

This next year is continuing to show tremendous promise for GameGavel and its members. We will be continuing to upgrade and improve the site based largely on feedback from you. And let’s all thank the CGE team for coming back in 2010. This is the first CGE to happen since GameGavel has been in existence and I am looking forward to meeting many of you that weekend.

Now to celebrate by having some green brew and a crock-pot full of jazzed up corn beef. Happy St. Pattys day to all of you and here’s two another two years of whittling away at you know who :)

Erin Go Bragh

So Cal Mike, Founder
GameGavel.com

[darkslime]

You're welcome.

[Kaboomer]

We've upgraded GameGavel's forum community to Vbulletin 4.0. Check it out - http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/index.php

[Kaboomer]

Let’s get GameGavel’s 3rd Year Started With a Bang!

Contest:

During April 2010, sell $50 or more of fixed price listings on GameGavel and have your name entered in a drawing to win $50 credit toward a GameGavel purchase from seller oldgames and $50 from socalmike or the GameGavel store. Two $100 prizes will be awarded.

Rules:

1. Listings must be fixed price (starting price and buy price the same).
2. Mike, the GameGavel owner, will determine eligibility. Once you have sold $50 worth, simply message me (oldgames) and I will send the list of qualifiers to Mike. He will verify your fixed price sales total and enter your name in the drawing.
3. Mike will also do the drawing for the winners.
4. One entry per member.
5. Prize must be used within 30 days of the announcement of winners
6. Prize must be used on a single order. Multiple items may be purchased on this single order.

FAQ:

Do relists count?

Yes, any fixed price listing that sells during April 2010 will count toward your $50.

If I sell $100 worth do I get 2 entries?

No, each member that qualifies will be entered one time. All members who qualify will have an equal chance to win.

Why is this based on sales rather than # of listings?

This is to encourage listings at reasonable prices that will generate sales. As traffic to the site grows, having a good variety of reasonably priced items is very important.

Why are only fixed price listings eligible?

Mike has added a fantastic feature to the site that sends a daily feed of fixed price listings to Google Base which makes these items appear in the Google Shopping area.

My traffic has increased dramatically since this feature was added. The more products from GameGavel that appear in the Google shopping area, the more traffic will continue to grow on the site. More traffic = More sellers will be attracted. More Sellers = Greater selection of gaming goodness. More selection = More customers….. and the cycle continues.

Why is the prize only good for purchases from seller oldgames?

I’m providing the prizes. I’m hoping that once you get your order and see the quality of my products and service that you’ll become one of my regular customers.

Who is eligible?

Any GameGavel member in good standing (fees paid up to date) with the following 2 exclusions: Contest Sponsor: (oldgames) and GameGavel Owner: (gamegavel, socalmike).

I want to give GameGavel a try, but I’m not a member yet. How do I sign up?

Go to www.gamegavel.com and click on the Register link at the top of the page. In order to sell, you’ll need to have a credit card on file.

What items can I list for this contest?

Any items permitted on GameGavel are eligible to count toward this contest. Again, the listings must be fixed price (starting price and buy price the same)

If I win, what can I buy with my prize?

Any items listed by oldgames. There are no exclusions. You may apply the prize to multiple items, but they must all be purchased on a single order within 30 days of contest end.

How do I claim my prize if I win?

Once you have sold $50 or more in fixed price listings during April, simply message me and I will send your entry to Mike to verify your sales total and enter your name in the drawing.

Winners will be notified during the first week of May 2010. Once this notification is sent, you will have 30 days to place a GameGavel order with oldgames totaling $50.00 or more (including shipping charges) and $50 from socalmike or the GameGavel store. The $50.00 will be deducted from the total of the invoice for this order and you will pay the balance, if any, by either PayPal or US postal service money order as with any other purchase.

[Kaboomer]

http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/images/ukgamegavel.jpg

GameGavel.co.uk going LIVE!

I am excited to tell you all next week we will be going live with GameGavel.co.uk. This will be a new site focused on the European market and will use GBP as the main site currency. This site will share member databases with GameGavel so if you are in the Europe and already registered you will be good to go and can use both sites seamlessly.

As with any new venture there will be bugs and issues to iron out as we grow. GameGavel.co.uk will share a very similar look as the original site and they will be linked together at the very minimum. Members of GameGavel.co.uk will benefit by knowing we will stop at nothing to continue building a high quality, less-expensive auction alternative to Ebay and will work diligently to grow the site to scale so members will have just as much success selling their items on GameGavel as they would on Ebay. Fixed price/buy-now listings running on GameGavel.co.uk will also be visible in the Google shopping area increasing their exposure greatly. We have a new forum thread for discussing the launch of GameGavel.co.uk here so feel free to introduce yourself and give us your opinion of the site and what you would like to see in a European dedicated gaming auction site (remembering the forum requires a separate registration from the auction site): http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=102

Introducing UK Mike

Helping to administor the site is UK Mike, my co-host on http://www.RetroGamingRoundup.com. He has expressed interest in partnering with GameGavel to help administer this new European auction site. Not only does he live in the UK, but he is well versed in all things web related and will also help market GG.co.uk to the European market.

Are you in Europe? Do you want a lifetime Free Seller Account?

Currently we have a couple hundred members from Europe registered on GameGavel.com. As I indicated you will be automatically registered when GG.co.uk goes live. Since you are already a member of GameGavel I would like to also offer you a life time free seller membership (pay no listing fees/selling fees for life) in trade for some listings soon after the site goes live. If you are interested in this “Free Seller Account” offer than please respond to me at socalmike@gamegavel.com so I can upgrade your account.

If you are in Europe and not yet registered on GameGavel.com/UK then you to will be open to receiving a lifetime free seller account in trade for bringing some listings over soon after we launch.

And, again, for our European members – if you are excited about this news please help us spread the word by letting everyone know in the European gaming forums that GameGavel is coming to Europe. Word of mouth has always been our best advertising and if GameGavel is to be a successful Ebay alternative in Europe, we will need all the help we can get.

Improved Category Searching

Many of you have asked that we revise our category search system to include all items up for sale within a main category and then having a drill down menu to fine tune your searches into the secondary categories. We have been working on this and should have this improvement made in the next month or so. This will make searching GameGavel more efficient and much more enjoyable for those of us wanting to see everything for sale under a main category with one button click.

Again, thanks to all of you for your suggestions for improving the site. Everything you bring to our attention is seriously looked at and implemented sooner or later.

GameGavel is a great community of gamers and most members are filling up with significant positive feedback. I hope all of us can strive to hit 100% positive feedback. Remember, great transaction communication is one way to resolve any problems before anyone has to result to leaving negative feedback.

If you have any questions regarding GameGavel.co.uk feel free to contact either myself, or UK Mike. Thanks again to all of you for registering and using GameGavel.

So Cal Mike, Founder GameGavel.com - socalmike@gamegavel.com

UK Mike, Co-Host RetroGamingRoundup.com, GameGavel.co.uk - ukmike@retrogamingroundup.com

[Kaboomer]

Check out GameGavel's free games area. Compete for high scores with other members.

http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/arcade.php

[Kaboomer]

GameGavel Europe is now open at http://www.GameGavel.co.uk


http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com/images/ukgamegavel500.jpg



Those of you who registered for your Lifetime Free Seller Accounts in Europe can now get your listings up and running. Please try to continue to relist unsold items as needed and keep them running. It is very important during this start-up phase to have a good selection of listings.

We also ask that you help us, by promoting your listings in the UK/Euro gaming and computer forums you all participate in. There is a very cool selling tool you can use that will automatically generate “listing links” you can cut-and-paste into those forum marketplace areas. To do this simply login to your members area, click on Seller Tools. Then on the lower left of the screen you will see “Lists for Promotions”. Using the drop down menu find the auctions you want to promote and then the system will generate these cool links and all you need to do is cut-and-paste them and you are done.

We will also be doing our best to promote the site around Europe. So working together we can populate the site with listings and then with bidders/buyers and grow the site into the video gaming auction alternative we all want.

We will have bugs and glitches to be sure. Please report any bugs to admin@gamegavel.com and we will jump right on them J


If there are any other existing members from Europe who are reading this email and you do not have a Free Seller Account then we are offering you one in trade for bringing some auction listings to GameGavel Europe at launch.

Please email us at admin@gamegavel.com to request your Free Seller Account upgrade. This will get you lifetime use of GameGavel Europe without having to pay any listing or selling fees. But remember, you must list some items soon after we launch. This is a limited time offer so take advantage now.


We still have a few days left for USA/International buyers to lock-in to a Lifetime Free Seller account for only $20. If you are ever going to sell on GameGavel in the future this will be the deal of a lifetime. Pay $20 and never have to pay listing or selling fees on GameGavel ever! Contact us and request your Free Seller Account now at admin@gamegavel.com


We apologize for two emails run so closely together, but really needed to announce our launch of GameGavel Europe to everyone. All members are registered on both sites so feel free use them both accordingly. Some USA members had asked if they can list their PAL items on GameGavel Europe and that is totally cool if you want to try. Remember, both sites will require separate logins (using your same existing login information), however.

Thanks again for being apart of GameGavel.com -- the World’s premier video gaming auction alternative.

So Cal Mike, GameGavel.com
UK Mike, GameGavel.co.uk

[Kaboomer]

GameGavel.com - Video Tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVmsYARjdtM

[Kaboomer]

Buy Now vs. Auction Style Listings. Are your listings priced to high to sell?

A big trend these days, on Ebay and on GameGavel is to forgo the auction format and list using Buy Now. There are benefits attached to each of these listing methods but it seems like most buyers still prefer the “auction” format over Buy It Now. Unfortunately the “auction” style listing method seems to be disappearing from the landscapes of all auction sites as time goes by. I think this is due in part to having such a long selling history for video games, many simply take historical selling prices and use them as a starting bid or for a Buy Now price. This is fine if the Buy Now prices sellers are using are accurate. But, I have looked at a random selection of GameGavel item Buy Now prices and have compared them to the closed selling prices for the same games on Ebay and I am seeing that many sellers on GameGavel are simply over pricing all of their games and thus not selling much. If you are one of our sellers currently running all your listings as fixed price/Buy Now, I urge you to look at your items and then look at those same items on Ebay’s closed sales area and compare the two. If you see your pricing is to high, you should consider lowering your prices to increase your sales.

For Example, I looked at all the Super Mario Bros. 2 & 3 carts on GameGavel and every one of them is more than the closed selling prices of these same games on Ebay. In this day and age unless your games are priced to sell, they simply won’t sell, on GG or Ebay.

I have sold nearly 100% of all my listings. I do a mix of Buy Now (priced to sell) and Auction formats. But I also set up my GameGavel store and promote my auctions throughout the various forums. It does take a bit of self-promotion sometimes to help boost your sales. So you should all be promoting your items, at a minimum, in the GameGavel forums, if not also Digital Press, AtariAge, NintendoAge, Sega-16, etc. And again, accurately pricing your Buy Nows is key if you want to sell.

This week we went over 5,000 running auctions. And with this, our site has seen increased item views and searches of over 6,000/day so people are coming and checking out the listings. But again, if your listings are overpriced, no one will be buying.

As an incentive for you to list some “auction” style listings, we will be featuring a button on the GameGavel homepage that will bring buyers to nothing but a listing of “auction” style listings, No Buy Nows will be included in this list. These “auction” style listings will also be featured on the GameGavel forum homepage as well so they will see some additionally high visibility. This is a temporary fix which will eventually lead the way for people to search each item category by choosing to search, All istings, or either Buy Now or Auction Style listings only.

Buy Nows are still being fed into Google Shopping so it is always still good to have a large selection of these fixed price/Buy Now listings, don’t get me wrong. It is just that I think we need to have a higher % of auction style listings to help all our sellers out. So all I am asking is for you to take a look at your listings. Do you have a mix of Buy Nows and “auction” style listings? Are your Buy Now listings accurately priced to sell?

In addition we have added a writing team to deliver daily/weekly blogs, game reviews, industry opinions, etc in the forums. Since our writing team has been on board overall site traffic is up considerably so if you haven’t been to the forums lately, why not check it out. Here is a link to our blog section: http://www.gamegavel...forum/blog.php. It has always been my goal to offer a unique, all-inclusive gaming website unlike any other. And I think with all the community building features we have (forums, blogs, radio station, podcast, flash games, etc.) combined with the anchor that is the auction site, GameGavel is truly unlike any other gaming website around.

I hope to see many of you at CGE at the end of the month. If you are there, please stop by the GameGavel/RetroGamingRoundup booth and say, “Hi”.

Thanks again to all of you who are sticking with me and helping to continue to grow GameGavel into the Ebay alternative we all want.

Mike Kennedy
GameGavel.com

[Kaboomer]

We had a contest to win $250 for the GameGavel member who could create the best GameGavel Youtube commerical and the deadline for entries has come. Click on over to the GameGavel forums and check out what our members came up with and vote on the one you feel should win the $250 cash prize.

http://www.gamegavel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3210&p=17297#post17297

And, watch for future contests coming in the fall.