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neilt81

Specialized auction site

19 years ago

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of starting up my own online auction site specializing in antique wares for antique buyers and sellers.

Now my mum and step dad deal in Noritake and Poole and one thing that constantly comes up is that they don't really sell online and that they travel to many fairs around the country (whilst meeting some good friends), even tho they enjoy it it puts a toll on them, the car and the bank account (more so if they don't sell anything).

Also what I found out whilst doing some digging on the subject is the lack of sercurity againist fraud and scams with in the antiques trade (coins and notes in particular).

What i'm looking to do is visit a few fairs with in my local area of northampton to talk to stall owners about open stores on my auction site and also gain some insight into why they don't sell online.

Now here comes the content of the site bit, the site will only list antique auctions and stores, it will be free to list, free to own a store, free to up load pictures, and only a 1% end of auction fee.

Also what i'm planning to do is have a sub site that will have have articles written by people in the trade, fair dates, a buyers guide and price list, and promo articles on antique stores and stalls.

What do you guys think?

Comments (8)

  • 19 years ago

    Sounds good if you can get it up and running.
    Linda C

  • 19 years ago

    I should be able to get the site up and running by middle of april.
    What i'd like to know is if there is anything you would like to see in the site as buyer or seller?
    One thing that i thought of is a fair guide, so that it lists when and where antique fairs are happening. As i was talking to a nice couple today at a local fair and what they were saying is that going to fairs is really enjoyable but they don't get many people going to the fairs.
    Any way let me know what you wanna see with in the site.

  • 19 years ago

    Hi neilt81, Your idea is interesting. I have been thinking about something similar. I collect and deal in Insurance Ephemera, especially insurance policies etc. For a long time I have been dealing through e-bay, but what I was missing is my own space where I could put items on display, not necessarily for immediate sale. This implies having and supporting another website of my own - not so great as I have no idea in website building. Another issue is the difficulty to access some of the dealers in antiquities. I frequently go to antique fairs, but, as youy can guess, I can cover only those close to my home. Therefore, I miss potential finds elsewhere, and that is because most of the dealers have no sites. And when they do have, it is difficult to find them. ANd when I find them - then there is a question of honesty, trust, payment, postage and all that. I am sure many collectors can say it is frustrating. What you are suggesting is good. Maybe you can gather some ideas from the site I have been using: www.mythings.com I list there my collection but also items for sale. There is no option of selling through this site, but there is a very valuable (to me) option taht they have announced to be coming soon - the portfolio that I have there, will be directly connected to e-bay. That means that you can have a stock of your items on Mythings and you can send them automatically to ebay for sale. Before I started using them I actually talked to their developing team (they are in London), nice lads. With your idea, I suggest you talking to them, because I can see that your idea can work very well with their already existing platform, and you will get the traffic of their site! :) If you go there, make sure you pop into my portfolio, my screen name there is Jacob. All best Jacob.

    Here is a link that might be useful: For your info

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks Jacob for your idea about mythings.com, i'll be taking a look into that tonight.
    It would be a great advantage to buyers and sellers if i can work with them.
    Mainly due to the Ebay factor, alot of the people i've spoken to have stopped selling through them due to the high fees.
    I just don't get why they need to have so many fees and all pretty high too.
    I worked it out over the weekend that if i only ever did a 1% end of auction fee, it would be enough to do what i want to do with the site and pay for my bread and butter too.
    The good news is that the software i'm using to maket the site does have a fully featured stores option so you can list in there as well as have your own personal web URL.
    Of course no store fees as i don't believe that any one should pay for something that they do all the work on lol.
    Jacob i like your collection you have so interesting stuff there, i like the engraving from a tomb of calventius quietus in particular. How did you come about something like that?

  • 19 years ago

    Well, Calventius engraving - I got the whole book of those engravings, sadly it was already taken apart. But I suppose this is not the place to talk about it, as we will be SPAMming the forum :) you can give me a chat on mythings portfolio.
    As to your site, I absolutely agree with the fees issue.

  • 19 years ago

    But there are also those of us who enjoy the conversation!!

  • 19 years ago

    The conversation is good lol, for a short term goal i'm going to talk have a word with the guys from mythings and try an idea with them that your collections over there can be sent to my site for auction or into your store.
    I think it is very do able and would be a very unique there is a flip side to that but not sure if i can do it but will keep you guys posted.
    any way the site is coiming along really well i spent most of last night inputting fonts and images. so in fact i'm going to aim for a server upload for april 14th.

  • 19 years ago

    Linda, I am absolutely pro conversation :) Well, I like antique illustarted books. Even though this is my side income, a lot of the stock I buy settles in my collection - this is alway a problem, to part with something you like :) Nowdays it is not very difficult finding classical engravings on the market, and the prices are low (talking about England). Somehow people moved away from such things. Here is the link to the Calventius engraving neilt81 was talking about, and some other similar bits. Sorry in advance for a mess in my portfolio :)
    Roman sculpture:
    http://www.mythings.com/viewitem.aspx?itemid=212329 Hercules:
    http://www.mythings.com/viewitem.aspx?itemid=212342
    A bunch of Parthenon scenes: http://www.mythings.com/portfolio.aspx?userid=1158

    Here is a link that might be useful: Calventius Engraving

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