What's the deal with the Emporium?

[KevinR]

A non-paying member here cannot see the rules for buying/selling, cannot see the items that are offered for sale, and possibly cannot even see whether any items are offered for sale.

Erratum: non-paying members can see title (and poster) for Emporium threads, but not the contents.

This seems like a reasonable situation. Paying members can post items for sale with full exposure to other paying members and a hint to non-paying members. That seems like it might be a strong enough market to keep the Emporium functional, and so a benefit to subscribers.

 

[Philippe D.]

I have not yet decided on whether I'm going to subscribe, and I have no particular interest in the Emporium (most sellers are located on the other side of the Atlantic from me, anyway), but if I were to subscribe specifically to get access to the Emporium, I'd most certainly want everyone to see my sale messages, not just subscribers. So the restriction as it currently is, might actually make some people not subscribe, because the audience is not wide enough.

 

[Arch71]

I have purchased a lot of kit from gamesquad over the past 2 years and have managed to get much of the missing stuff (late returner to the hobby) by doing it this way. I still have a truckload of scenario packs and missing TPP stuff to hunt down and purchase as well and I continue to look weekly not too mention our gaming group is growing so picking up complete 2nd hand modules is always an ongoing option.

Thanks to many of the members here for selling their stuff at an affordable price as you have all helped me rebuild my hobby which I now showcase and use to bring new players to the hobby so consider your contributions as bringing new people to the game.

I guess what I am trying to say is that because Gamesquad was so easily accessible it enabled newcomers to the game to pick up kit at an affordable price which might start them on their hobby. For many, I think having to pay just to take a chance that something is for sale and affordable is a bit of stretch, this might set back new comers greatly and lets be honest, more people are leaving the game then coming onboard, I would have thought it would be encouraged to try and get new people to come along. I also appreciate that gamesquad is not solely an ASL site .

I think the big winners are going to be places like Battleschool (where I have also bought a truck load of stuff from) which is not necessarily a bad thing as it supports resellers who support us and of course BGG which I think many will now gravitate to when it comes to shopping etc.

The days of window shopping are gone

My two cents.

 

[volgaG68]

Thanks to many of the members here for selling their stuff at an affordable price as you have all helped me rebuild my hobby which I now showcase and use to bring new players to the hobby so consider your contributions as bringing new people to the game.

I guess what I am trying to say is that because Gamesquad was so easily accessible it enabled newcomers to the game to pick up kit at an affordable price which might start them on their hobby. For many, I think having to pay just to take a chance that something is for sale and affordable is a bit of stretch, this might set back new comers greatly and lets be honest, more people are leaving the game then coming onboard, I would have thought it would be encouraged to try and get new people to come along.

The $20/yr subscription comes out to .06 cents a day. This is what will keep the hobby from growing? Seriously? The newcomers have the disposable income to buy boardgame components and the .06 cents a day would be the financial straw that breaks the camel's back?

Your first paragraph explains precisely why the GS Emporium is of higher value than other markets.....there is a more than good chance you will have it sold to you for a "gamer's price", i.e. below going market price. As a side note, it always irked me when someone sought a gamer's price in the old GS Marketplace, but when they had something to sell they would post a thread letting 'their good buddies' know it was up on eBay and good luck on the bidding! Everyone wants to buy at a friend's price but sell at market. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy thinking about the comraderie.

 

[Dr Zaius]

That's good feedback, folks. Keep it coming. I'm listening.

 

[FMFCB]

Whose responsibility is that? Don's or yours? Should Saks Fifth Avenue be required to sell MMP products so more people can see them? That's the whole point of selling something, right? Please go in to Wal-Mart tomorrow and demand that they carry all ASL products. Please be sure to give the manager your logical reasoning as well as to why they should. Who should be required to pay for providing internet service to rural Mongolians so they can see what you have for sale here? Is the NY Times responsible for running a free ad for you to sell your house and 'reach as many people as possible', or is the responsibility on you to buy the ad space in the classifieds?

We are dealing with a private entity here, Don's property. If Don hadn't personally ponied up for all these years.....buyers and sellers would see nothing at all.

I'm not saying Don or GS don't need our support. I just don't think the way emporium is at present is the right fit. IMO
By the way I've never sold anything on GS.
Dave H.

 

[jrv]

I'm not sure making the Emporium pay-to-play is not self-defeating. You need a certain threshold of buyers and sellers who are able to access a market. It might work but it's easy to imagine it won't.

I suggest selling off admin privileges instead. For $20 you can ban one other user for a month. For $50 you can ban any four users for three months (or one user for a year). That ought to get the money flowing.

JR

 

[hongkongwargamer]

I'm not sure making the Emporium pay-to-play is not self-defeating. You need a certain threshold of buyers and sellers who are able to access a market. It might work but it's easy to imagine it won't.

I suggest selling off admin privileges instead. For $20 you can ban one other user for a month. For $50 you can ban any four users for three months (or one user for a year). That ought to get the money flowing.

JR

If two "admins" ban each other, will that banning be done simultaneously? I suggest an AMBUSH roll beforehand if either party is in Jungle, Kunai, Bamboo or Buildings.

 

[witchbottles]

If two "admins" ban each other, will that banning be done simultaneously? I suggest an AMBUSH roll beforehand if either party is in Jungle, Kunai, Bamboo or Buildings.

problematic, most are in buildings and almost all are concealed ( behind an avatar)...

invoke Gun Duel rules....

 

[RevJJ]

Some of the posts I used to see in the old ASL Marketplace were from forum members letting others know about decently priced oop items on ebay. I scored my copy of Yanks this way. The poster himself did not profit from the exchange of this information as it wasn't his item up for sale. He was just being a helpful community member at a time when Yanks was hard to find at a good price. Is this exchange of information now to be taxed by subscription fees or will these types of posts be tolerated outside of the Emporium?

 

[RevJJ]

I'm not sure making the Emporium pay-to-play is not self-defeating. You need a certain threshold of buyers and sellers who are able to access a market. It might work but it's easy to imagine it won't.

I can't imagine it will either. Not enough volume. You can't really compare an "ASL Emporium" to a site like the Gear Page where pro, semi pro, and hobbyist musicians are selling guitar equipment in excess of thousands of dollars on a daily basis. With the prices that kind of gear brings and the sheer volume of sellers and buyers, a nominal subscription fee for access to that marketplace makes sense. I'm not so sure here.

 

[Philippe D.]

Some of the posts I used to see in the old ASL Marketplace were from forum members letting others know about decently priced oop items on ebay. I scored my copy of Yanks this way.

Good point, I had a similar thing happen to me (though not on this forum).

 

[daniel zucker]

I'm not so sure about that. This is what I'm seeing when I click on the two threads that are in there...

View attachment 14

... What inevitably happens is you end up with a forum where each member's value is measured in dollars, and not by their contribution to the community. [all the rest cut]
Jeff

so money isn't a contribution? What if I don't want to get into "conversations/arguments" [pissing contests/shit throwing fights] with any one? That makes me 'Less' valuable then the Troll who posts a 1000 times?
Money is speech. (according to the US Supreme Court ,even if this is a international forum, that is at least a place to start and a view that is understood.)

So if it's about paying for the site, yeah I'd be happy to contribute even twice my fair share, FRU of course, so say $2 a year for every member. Jeff

Have you made you $2 contribution yet?

daniel

 

[daniel zucker]

I'm totally fine with ads to support the forum. I'm a silver-level supporter at BGG and I don't turn off the ads even though that's supposed to be one of the benefits of paying to support the site.

I don't like ads all over the web sights I do go to. So I am willing to pay to not have to see them
daniel

 

[Jeffhew]

...Money is speech. (according to the US Supreme Court ,even if this is a international forum, that is at least a place to start and a view that is understood.)
daniel

Yeah, money is speech. A doctrine not enumerated in our Constitution, nor legislated through the American Congress, but rather, enacted by seven Supreme Court Justices. It comes from the decision in Buckley v. Valeo in 1976, which was a lawsuit brought subsequent to Congress passing significant amendments to the Federal Campaign Act, even overriding President Ford's veto to do so. The FECA was further amended in 1979 as a response to First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti. It's these two rulings that set the stage for Citizens United. From an abstract point of view, one could argue that spending money can be considered a form of speech in the same way that throwing a brick through a window would be considered free speech. Interestingly, one of the petitioners in Buckley v. Valeo was none other than the infamous Eugene McCarthy, a candidate for the Presidency, at the time.

I'm sorry, did you really want to get into this debate on free speech?

Jeff

 

[jfardette]

Just signed up to support the forum. I don't have any deep thoughts on the economics of operating a web site or constitutional law. I don't know who Don is. But I do know that I enjoy coming here to listen to the chatter, get a quick reply to a rules question or pass a few minutes with like-minded people. I checked most days to see if the site was back up, and $20 is not a burden. Glad to support the community, and have no problem with others who choose a different path.

Roll low,

Jim

 

[Justiciar]

This is going south...can we move this to what was the Chit-Chat section. Please.

 

[witchbottles]

This is going south...can we move this to what was the Chit-Chat section. Please.

meh, let's just move it to the Emporium section......

 

[veron]

Before, when someone hadn't played ASL for a long time and decided to sell their whole collection, I think those were usually the most interesting ads in here. Especially for new players who might be interested in buying a lot of stuff from one seller. Now I am afraid we will not see these ads at all anymore because the seller probably thinks that he is not going to pay $20 to support a site he is not going to visit after the sale anyway. Even when that $20 is certainly less than what he would pay for eBay for example. You do get much wider audience with eBay after all - especially now when only subscribers can see the ads.

I would have rather made some other features available only for subscribers. For example, one could only subscribe to a thread if you are a subscriber. Of course, maybe the forum software doesn't support this so it would require some work to make it happen.

 

[Stewart]

I do see what you mean. But what other methods are there? Maybe Don has no choice.

What about 3% per sale?
100 transactions / month at maybe $40 avg? that's $120 from that minor avg...