posted on September 27, 2002 07:10:12 PM new
I see a lot of negative posts towards a lot of smaller auction sites and I thought I would share our latest accounting numbers.
They are nice for our size but really not a huge amount (compared to some of those bigger sites).
Anyhow we are going to easliy break a million and a half dollars this year and might possibly break two million dollars in total revenue =)
I believe there is a market for niche/smaller auction houses, so don't give up on all of them(us) yet =p
Shane - Player Auctions
http://www.playerauctions.com
[ edited by playerauctions on Sep 27, 2002 07:10 PM ]
You have one of the best sites I have ever seen, and it's an excellent design. I have said this several times on Mootropolis.com, and I will honestly say it here.
Keep up the good work, and best of luck to your venue!
posted on September 27, 2002 08:29:11 PM new
A real inspiration to those wanting to go the specialty or niche route with their new site. There are a few other very successful niche sites as well.
posted on October 2, 2002 05:38:15 PM new
Nice site - but noticed there are posting fees - I don't know about others, but I just don't post on niche sites that charge - there is just too much risk, and I post on some very large, successful niche sites and none charge a listing fee. I am happy to pay a FVF, but not a posting fee.
I was preparing to post on Players, but saw there was a fee, I am presuming for a week's post, and for a small site I just feel that is too much risk.
But, it is a nice site.
I am not down in niche auctions, we have been able to build one portion of our business through one single niche auction site...they are great when they are successful, and don't charge a listing fee. I just takes longer to sell on most niche auctions, and having to pay to list and relist add up fast and cuts into profits - so in the end, it is easier to put the item on ebay once and sell it and move on, the costs often end up about the same, when you count having to relist and relist on smaller sites, IF they charge a listing fee.
posted on October 2, 2002 08:18:42 PM new
The site is only for online gamers really. With the opprotunity to sell online game items to a large specialized audience the listing fees are acceptable to assure the survival and growth of the site ( just like ebay's listing fees are acceptable since it's the only real auction site with sales ).
This is one niche site that outperforms ebay in it's specialized area. Now if a few others could niche sites catch on abd best ebay too.
posted on October 3, 2002 09:58:21 AM new
I use a niche auction which performs fantastically - handling guns, knives, etc., of course eBay being in the ridiculous state of CA eliminated such categories.....thank heavens the rest of the country isn't so messed up.
Regarding fees, and Players, we have items that would post on this site, but as I said, I just don't do niche auctions which charge listing fees...if they are so great why do they have to charge listing fees? I'd much prefer to pay a higher FVF.
posted on October 3, 2002 12:24:12 PM new
We have always charged fees for posting as most sites (that I am aware of) do and it has not been a problem for our customers. I have actually never heard that complaint before heh.
Our top two sellers are bringing in more than $100,000 a month in sales and we have well over one hundred users clearing $10,000 a month in sales, so there is no lack of sales going on at PA.
posted on October 13, 2002 06:09:12 AM new
Well ...
I have been biting my lip not to ask this question since reading this post over a week ago and i am sure i am not the only one with this thought ...
Me personally , I won't register and pay a listing fee at an auction site unless they have the traffic / buyers ratio that ebay does and lets face it players doesnot , looking at the " 9,597 items in 500 categories "., clearly shows that ....
Now the question is this and this is directed to / for players auction and the response , and I quote ... "We have always charged fees for posting as most sites (that I am aware of) do and it has not been a problem for our customers. I have actually never heard that complaint before heh.<br>
<b>
Our top two sellers are bringing in more than $100,000 a month in sales and we have well over one hundred users clearing $10,000 a month in sales, so there is no lack of sales going on at PA.</b><br>
I would like to know and see the user id's of these supposed folk that are pulling in and I quote " $100,000 a month in sales and we have well over one hundred users clearing $10,000 a month " ., at Players Auction ?????
Show me that that kind of monbey is being made over there and I'll register and pay your fees ...<br>
posted on October 13, 2002 07:24:09 AM new
This is a successful niche site specializing in online game accounts and associated items. The items such as character accounts go for big bucks. They outperform ebay in their small niche and that is the only way to beat ebay.
posted on October 14, 2002 06:28:12 AM new
There are online fantasy games like Ultima Online or EverQuest that are extremely popular. A person buys the game software and game additions as they are released and pays a set amout each month to play the game. You develope a game character and advance in rank and wealth as you go. It is highly addictive game playing. After a while some players do get bored and then decide to sell their account or parts of it such as gold pieces. You can go to ebay to sell these things but PlayersAuctions has a much better selection and audience. Any listing fee is trivial as most stuff sells. These are not tangible things like a book or candle but instead for the most part are electronically transfereable segments of a game or character account. Many times the transfer is illegal by the game rules but the players find ways to get around the rules. Some companies gave up trying to totally forbid the transfering of accounts and instead charge a $50 fee to leagally transfer accounts among game players.
These are major companies like Sony. There are millions of dollars a month paid to these companies by game junkies. As an offshoot there are millions of dollars a month spent on getting gold coins and magic spells, etc. by merely paying for them from another player instead of earning them in the game. A player may develope a game character after spending several hundred hours online and then sell that character for $500 and up to a new player that wants the advanced and powerful character.
There, you got your feet wet. I do not play the online games but my son does. Ironically, he now plays a MUDD ( Multiple User Dungeons/Dragons ) game that is free and only text based with no graphics. He now prefers that to the 3D graphics of games like EverQuest. It's funny how the old things come back into vogue every so often. Saves me a bundle in fees so I'm happy.
posted on October 16, 2002 04:11:40 PM new
Tooltimes, thank you for the response, you explained it perfectly.
20/20 is doing their show this Friday night on Everquest, I believe about how addictive the game is, should be interesting and give you a darker view on the game.
posted on October 16, 2002 04:27:04 PM new
EverQuest has a serious flaw according to my son. He says it gets boring too fast as the range of things to do on the site is somewhat limited. To attain the very highest ranks it takes weeks of mundane and repeatitive "hunting" and that gets old fast.
The irony is that the no-graphics and free MUDD games offer a much wider range of things to do without the mundane hunting to advance in rank.
It's almost like kids going from reading books to watching TV and then back to reading books again. The books are much simplier than visual-oriented TV but for readers with good imaginations the TV is no match for books.
