GameGavel.com: Video Gaming Auciton site Alternative to eBay!

[MissaFX]

 

In light of the ebay fee madness, it seems like you couldn't have done this at a better time.  Ebay has had such an iron grip on the electronic aution world for as long as I can remember.

[nat]

I didn't expect it to get very far either. These projects are usually just announced, garner a little fanfare, and then are forgotten about because the person behind it just wanted their 15 minutes of fame. I still hate the name with an undying passion (it's incredibly lame and very hard to brand) but hopefully this site will actually become something.

These feelings pretty much reflect my own, although I don't personally hate the name I agree it could've been given a little more thought.

To be honest, I thought you had a great idea with your concept but I didn't expect it to get very far. Time will tell what becomes of this, but it appears you've made the proper steps to beginning the journey. Let's see if you're truly up to the task of maintaining it.

[Kitsunexus]

I still hate the name with an undying passion (it's incredibly lame and very hard to brand) but hopefully this site will actually become something.

Dude, when eBay first came out I remember thinking "Wow, that name is fucking stupid", but look at it now. Same thing with the Wii, except the Wii is still kinda stupid.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Ideas are just ideas until they are actually acted upon.

I too am usually skeptical about new ideas and whether people will follow through.... I spend way more on wine, games, and other random things than this startup task, so money wasnt an issue. We will just say, the Navy pays me very well to be a Nuclear Engineering Officer. I don't mind taking a risk, it makes life interesting. I also try to follow my ideas to fruition as well... before I start the next term of grad school (Navy Post Grad School: Masters in Mechanical Engineering) I wanted the site up and running. My wife, who is helping and cant get a job in Italy (bc she is an american citizen) will be helping run the site full time, so keeping it up should be relatively easy. Upgrades, etc will still go through me since she is not a programmer.

As far as the name is concerned....  I like it, and with random polling of non-gaming people 95% of everyone got the site type down pat.

Again, March 1 is the opening date.... I think the NEC fans will find the amount of effort that went into creating categories for NEC was a lot... there is just way too many NEC type consoles and variations etc!

[MissaFX]

I didn't expect it to get very far either. These projects are usually just announced, garner a little fanfare, and then are forgotten about because the person behind it just wanted their 15 minutes of fame. I still hate the name with an undying passion (it's incredibly lame and very hard to brand) but hopefully this site will actually become something.

These feelings pretty much reflect my own, although I don't personally hate the name I agree it could've been given a little more thought.

To be honest, I thought you had a great idea with your concept but I didn't expect it to get very far. Time will tell what becomes of this, but it appears you've made the proper steps to beginning the journey. Let's see if you're truly up to the task of mainting it.

As long as the Youtube add has him shattering a crap CD game with a gavel or breaking stuff with a gavel in general, it has a chance of getting remembered.  Most online sites have names which would probably not fly in the standard corporate world, a lot of it simply has to do with what domain names have not been taken yet.  I think the name is fine for the online world.  Heck, lately people are releasing consoles with worse names like the Wii

[Kitsunexus]

Let's see if you're truly up to the task of mainting it.

Mainting? Is that like man-painting? 

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

DOORS OPEN!
http://www.gamegavel.com

GameGavel.com has official opened, at 1200 EST!

For the next 24 Hours, $10.00 Sign Up Credit! After that, $2.50 Sign Up Credit will be standard for the first 30 days.

Welcome to the newest Gaming Auction Site!

[Kitsunexus]

Dude, your link is TRAGICALLY broken.

OK working now.

[guyjin]

kitsu beat me to it.

I'll look into it again later, when there's something to bid on. 

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

D'Oh! I feel dumb... like when you forget the semi colon or put the decimal in the wrong place in a program! Guess I shouldnt cut and paste from the vB forums at DP!

[Kitsunexus]

I'll look into it again later, when there's something to bid on. 

If you don't post anything, there won't be anything to bid on! IT'S AN AUCTION SITE!!!

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Oh, just to mention it here as well...

For the first 24 hours all new registered users get a $10 signup credit!

[guyjin]

If you don't post anything, there won't be anything to bid on! IT'S AN AUCTION SITE!!!

I do not sell, I buy.

[Kitsunexus]

If you don't post anything, there won't be anything to bid on! IT'S AN AUCTION SITE!!!

I do not sell, I buy.

I like your philosophy.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Oh!

Here is the first GameGavel.com commercial as well:

http://www.gamegavel.com/commercials/GameGavelCommercial.mov

Jasen

[OldRover]

What's with the Seller Verification thing? I did it through paypal and your site's still bugging me about it, not letting me list anything.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Rover:

I sent you a PM regarding this. However, I checked the PayPal account and it doesn't show any payments from you yet, that is probably why. Also, I noticed paypal in general has been acting a bit slow the past 30 minutes.

Jasen

[nat]

Trying to access the site just now:


Warning: include_once(includes/class_item.php) [function.include-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/gamega5/public_html/cron_jobs/main_cron.php on line 28

Warning: include_once() [function.include]: Failed opening 'includes/class_item.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php:/home/gamega5/public_html/includes/gcheckout_classes/PEAR') in /home/gamega5/public_html/cron_jobs/main_cron.php on line 28

Fatal error: Class 'item' not found in /home/gamega5/public_html/cron_jobs/main_cron.php on line 84

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Yep, CRON JOB wasn't properly setup. Fixed.

Jasen

[OldRover]

Well, it's a brand new site, so some bugs and quirks are expected. It really should have undergone testing before going live, but I guess these first few months will serve as a wild test anyways. I'm on board...anyone else?

[OldRover]

The only thing that really bugs me about the site is that it's boring-looking. It needs some pizazz.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

There was a 2 week testing period/adjustment period that I was chugging along with coding adjustments, and implementation. Unfortunately, the programmer side of me prevailed and the quirks didn't jump out (which happens on projects at times, especially when you get engulfed in it!)

The patience and understanding of the masses will be paramount in ensuring this is a success. I will be doing everything I can do accomplish timely fixes, updates, and answering questions.

So far, at just over 7 hours the community at GameGavel.com is already 20+ strong, with 2 auctions, a trade ad, and 5 verified sellers! I can now safely say, that GameGavel.com is not the WORST Gaming Auction site, but it is still a bit far from the best. Once the community is built with all of the great people that I have encountered here, at DP, and elsewhere... then it will be the BEST!

Thanks for everyone's support, it definitely makes the risk worth it!

[OldRover]

You can never find all the quirks until the site is live and in the wild. Then everyone will find them for you.

I'm going to go ahead and list a bunch of stuff...I've got tons of TG games to sell off.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Rover, you are going to make this an expensive venture for me.... first the start up cost for the site, and now new games that I can add to my TG collection! My wife is going to have a heart attack!

I LOVE IT!

jasen

[nat]

I created an account. I might be listing some stuff shortly.

[termis]

Looking pretty good.  I'll join up for sure.

[nat]

I just placed the first bid! Do I win an award for being the first user to place a bid on the site?

[Keranu]

Registered!

[CrackTiger]

I just registered. If I come across anything I don't need I'll put it up just to get some traffic on there.

[rag-time4]

I just posted a N64 console, and I tried to upload 2 images for it, but I can't seem to look at the images. Can anyone else see them? 

Here's the linky

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Eric:

I sent you an eMail, but check out the FAQ section too:

http://www.gamegavel.com/content_pages.php?page=faq

Jasen

[rag-time4]

Eric:

I sent you an eMail, but check out the FAQ section too:

http://www.gamegavel.com/content_pages.php?page=faq

Jasen

Jasen, I got the email. I've got the images up now, but I also sent you an email response. Please check it and get back to me when you have time!

[nat]

SUGGESTION: "Members Area" should be called something different.

This is obviously (after numerous visits) the equivalent of "My eBay" but it took me a while to remember that as such. I kept thinking of it as a place to go to find a user directory where I could look up someone's feedback, etc. BTW, where is that area? You should have a section that parallels eBay's "Community" area where you can look at users' profiles. I would call that the "Members Area," if anything.

The current Members Area should be called "My Account" or "My Auctions" or something along those lines.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Nat, All good suggestions.

Currently, we updated the software a little bit, now when you click to view a persons reputation, through their auctions etc... it will show the links they provide to outside sources of feedback.

Also, today we are at over 50 users, and have over 125 auctions listed! Not too shabby for the first day! I am very humbled by the support of everyone and all of the suggestions for improvement.

Jasne

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Signed up!!

Awesome site BTW!!!

[nat]

Yup I'm bidding on a few things and I plan to list a couple items after a few more days.

[nectarsis]

Joined 

[OldRover]

I've been promoting it in a few places; you might be getting some users that way. Haven't had much time to promote though but I do what I can.

[nat]

I promoted over on Neo-Geo.com. Dunno if you already did that (I didn't see it if you did).

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

You guys are all great!

I added a few FAQ posts on the site today, just because it was necessary. People are far too used to eBay, and with good reason I suppose. I cant emphasize this enough, thank you so much for your help with advertising.

If you post this up somewhere, please put the link in a post here!

Jasen

[rag-time4]

Jasen, we all have a stake too! Anyone who is trying to sell stuff on the site wants as much traffic as possible!

I'm hoping that my N64 sells for more than the starting bid of a penny! 

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

RagTime... I want as much traffic as it can get. I hope Old Rover is right and it forces me to upgrade the server ahead of schedule!

As for the N64... I am the current "high" bidder, so secretly I hope it stays at .01 for me, but gets higher than my max bid for you!

Just a quick heads up.... AndyArcade from eBay has signed up with GameGavel. If you haven't dealt with him before, he is a great guy. He lives in Japan shipping worldwide all the neat things you can get over there but not in the States. He let me know that he is going to be putting up some PCE stuff today, and I think he put up a package for BO of $79 for a PCE and 14 games.

I have personally bought stuff from him in the past, and IMO, he is topnotch. Heck, he even opened the first store on GameGavel! He does a lot of oddities, rare things, etc. so watch out for him!

[nat]

I saw him there yesterday. I'm going to list some stuff really soon.

I've done some promotion at RF Generation, Neo-Geo, etc. You really need to get ad placement on websites to further promote.

[nectarsis]

How about some kind of banner we can use on other sites via sigs, and all that?

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Standby... ill make a 400X100 banner and post the link on the site!

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Ask, and though shalt receive! This image can be found on the GameGavel Affiliates page!

As for getting a banner at the other sites, I have been trying. I contacted ScrewAttack over 2 weeks ago, and they have not gotten back with me. I will also be approaching others at Neo-Geo, DP, CAG, here, and any others you mention!

[nat]

Try over at RF Generation. They're a pretty nice crowd.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

RF locked my thread! Lol, its ok though... they did a very nice piece on their homepage! They are super guys over there, we will be setting up a link between the two sites. I even DIGGED the article. I hope to do the same, link exchange, at as many video game websites as possible!

One guy, Andy Arcade, is really excited about the site. He has listed a lot of neat things on the site, which he can do being right in the middle of Tokyo! He has one of his domains redirected to GameGavel... now THAT is some serious backing! (www.andyarcade.net) He also is the first store owner at GameGavel.com!

[nat]

Why'd they lock your thread?

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Because it was an advertisement. But, like I said, they did post up a nice article on the homepage for me