Chuckwagon & Ebay

[Bojay1997]

Thankfully most people want to see the Chuckwagon succeed and are seeing Ebay for what it is turning into. Check out the other forums and see what people are saying. As for me being one guy working out of my house. That really has nothing to do with it. There have been pleny of large businesses started this same way. It is my goal to make the Chuckwagon the #1 vid game buy/sell destination on the web and that is what it will become. Give me 5 years and you will see. And I am not sitting back just waiting for this to happen, I am driving it's growth in many ways always seeking out strategic partnerships with other larger gaming entities and sooner or later one will bite. And when it does, eveyone will know about this little site and it will become the first place people think of when buying and selling video games. Trust me, there is alot going on behind the scenes that will go along way to helping me accomplish this goal. Count yourself very lucky if you bought or were gifted one of our "free lifetime seller" accounts because they will be gold in the future.

Look, I'm all about supporting the underdog, but there are certain business challenges that just can't be overcome in the real world. There are certainly lots of business which have been started by people running a business solo out of their garage, but in a situation like this where you are taking on the world's largest auction site, you need a significant amount of capital and frankly a significant competitive edge that makes your site substantially better than what the much larger competitor offers. You were sort of on to something when you were getting exclusive auction items that were super rare and almost never showed up on Ebay. Unfortunately, unless this becomes a weekly thing, it won't drive traffic. As it stands now, you literally offer nothing that Ebay doesn't and you don't offer any of the financial incentives or sheer volume of items that Ebay does for buyers.

You don't have five years. You probably have another six months. If your site doesn't catch on within the first two years, the chances of it ever becoming popular are about zero. You can talk all you want about strategic partnerships and advertising, but the real proof is in your profitability and $125K in sales which results in roughly $4,000 in net revenue to you is less than you would make if you held down a paper route for a year. I have no problem with people pursuing their dreams, but I do feel an obligation to say something when a business person is simply flushing time and money down the drain which could be better used in other ways with other business ventures.

[Kaboomer]

I guess only time will tell But for now it's a great gaming site and something that is working for those that choose to use it. My first goal was to create an alternative for gamers to buy and sell amongst each other and that goal has been accomplished. How big it gets from here on out is anybody's guess. Thankfully, I have a "real" full time job that also gives me the financial freedom to run the Chuckwagon at the same time. Couple that with the fact the site is very inexpensive to run and is continuing to grow - I see nothing but success for the Chuckwagon well into the future.

And considering Ebay generates around $300 Million in revenue from video games sales alone I would be happy to get 1/10 of 1% ($300,000/year) of that if you know what I mean. And with a goal like that I think it's very achievable.

[darkslime]

Quote from CheapAssGamer user:



Wow, what a dick response. I can tell he only cares about money than anything else. Yet he also forgets that high selling prices are due to people being super desperate when they want something. For example, that $75 Montezuma's Revege for SMS.

I don't see how that is a dick response. It is true. I sell on ebay to make money, and chuckwagon won't make me as much money on anything other than rare stuff, so why would I use it?

[Wookie]

I don't see how that is a dick response. It is true. I sell on ebay to make money, and chuckwagon won't make me as much money on anything other than rare stuff, so why would I use it?

Because competition helps keep prices (I'm referring to the price you pay in fees to the auction site) low. It's no coincidence that ebay's fees have taken a big jump since yahoo auctions folded. That trend will continue, and coupled with ebay's increasingly hostile attitude towards both small sellers and the auction format in general, you'd be helping yourself by helping keep CTCW viable.

[megasdkirby]

I don't see how that is a dick response. It is true. I sell on ebay to make money, and chuckwagon won't make me as much money on anything other than rare stuff, so why would I use it?

Not about the comment, but the way he said it.

Basically he was acting like a cocky SOB, yet he could have said the same thing in a nicer way.

[RASK1904]

Hey Kabooom! hows this for a CTCW auction?

http://www.chasethechuckwagon.com/it...tem=0000187570

Is this how I should do it?

[Kaboomer]

Looking good. And a bid already. I hope this one works out for you Thanks for listing a killer item !! I will post about it on the Chuckwagon forums as well.

[RASK1904]

Cool. Looks good.

[Kaboomer]

Cool. Looks good.

And a bidding war has commenced ! It also brought in a new user yesterday to bid on it, too.

[megasdkirby]

Rask, advertise like crazy! If you do so, on several places, it may become an "Ebay like" bidding war, which can net you a plethora of cash!

I will do that as well for my listings.

[RASK1904]

I actually googled Magical Chase Chase the Chuckwagon and it seems a couple other web sites have posted that it's up on chase the Chuckwagon. It is an extremely rare game. Like Videogame Rarity.com? I'm over at NA almost as often as here so they know and I have an acount at AA posted it there and here of course. If anyone else has there own website and wants to promote the auction of a very rare game please feel free to help me out.

[RASK1904]

I'm going to try it out. Gone will be the .99 starting price though. I will have to look up the going prices of everything. Then price them 2 dollars less with a very reasonable shipping, until the traffic picks up. Thats usually where my auctions end on Ebay. But I'll try it out.

What do you think?

[megasdkirby]

I'm going to try it out. Gone will be the .99 starting price though. I will have to look up the going prices of everything. Then price them 2 dollars less with a very reasonable shipping, until the traffic picks up. Thats usually where my auctions end on Ebay. But I'll try it out.

What do you think?

I do something very similar. When I have something for sale, I usually base myself on Ebay pricing and then lower the price accordingly. For example, if a rare game goes for $50, I willl put it for $35-$40 on CTC, sometimes with free shipping.

I've gotten hits, so I'm happy.