Hey Fred, et al...
I really hoped MPB would have taken off too.
I think it all comes down to one big mistake JR made. Well, not really a mistake per se. When MPB first opened, they needed to have 5 or 10 major dealers (and even more minor dealers) use the site exclusively. He needed people like Bruce Hershenson, Marty Davis, Rotman, etc... All listing posters with little or no reserves. Continually. I noticed for the first month or two, there was a decent selection of posters (and they sold for decent prices - even better than eBay). Not an eBay selection, but good nonetheless... Then nothing. I almost never check the site anymore as I know there's usually not much I'd be interested in (or the starting bid is higher than what that item would sell for on eBay).
eBay took off because there was a good selection and decent prices. Do you think eBay would ever have turned out to be the giant they are today if all of their original sellers started their auctions at high retail? Not a chance.
MPB needs major dealers to continually list great posters over and over again - to draw in traffic. But, that has never really happened. I commend Fred for sticking it out so long (and being about the only seller on the site listing good posters at good starting prices).
Bidders will come if there's good stuff to bid on. I think MPB spent far too much time drawing in bidders (and did a good job of it) - and FAR too little drawing in sellers. What MPB desperately needs is sellers! I can't stress that enough... If there were a thousand (or even a couple hundred) really good posters on MoPoBid every day for the first year, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. It would have been giving eBay a run for its money this very moment.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy... I think that most dealers are too scared of losing a great poster for a low price. So, they start it at a high price. So, bidders don't bid (and eventually end up leaving the site). So, seller's become even more scared... It's a vicious cycle.
It's not too late for MPB, but time is running out. Right now there are 35 total domestic posters (1900-2005) on the site. That should be a hundred times higher. I think JR needs to do whatever he can to draw in dealers. If that means getting rid of inclusion fees (so they don't lose anything if an item doesn't sell) or reserve price fees (why should there be a dollar charge to have a reserve price anyways?), so be it...
I've been meaning to list a few auctions on the site. But, I don't sell enough to make a difference. And as I said, one or two dealers won't help. Maybe if every dealer on the list promised to list five or ten items (all with small or no reserves) - preferably items they just sold on eBay (so they can compare their net)...
Night,
Bob www.damnthe.com/sale/
----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Sliman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 5:26 PM Subject: [MOPO] Movie Poster Bid - A Belated Testimonial
Good evening, MOPO friends,
Sorry for the belated weigh-in on this few-days old topic. I have to say that the original author here has been among the only persons to openly give a critique and opinion about the MoPoBid site. I got frustrated about soliciting information and feedback good or bad about the site on the forums, though some good feedback was given on occasion. Usually though, when I'd ask for opinions, there were usually a couple of polite endorsements and well wishes, and then a lot of silence. Sometimes in other threads, I'll see criticisms about why the author doesn't use or frequent the site. The lack of auto snipe capabilities, the necessity to log in frequently, and a couple of others come to mind.
I was literally the first person to list on MPB. I was actually surprised, because I thought there would be a "line at the door" since the hobby has long expressed the desire for a specialized site, focused on posters and other original memorabilia, with real live people running it who were in tune with both buyer and seller needs and would be there to help. With JR, the inventor/proprietor of MPB, we have that, and he has consistently gone above and beyond to make this endeavor run like the vision that I thought we all had.
Well he built it and they didn't come. Or they did, but not like in the droves that we'd have thought they would. I know of sellers that have had some damn good runs on there (one seller of mostly quads comes to mind that had a superb percentage rate of sales that would make any seller proud), but many I haven't seen back. I know of others who seem to price themselves out of the realistic market, but that's not an MPB exclusive; that can be found on the big E every day. But let me speak for myself and my experiences.
I have tried to maintain a mix of very low openers (.99 to $3), mid range (10 to 40) and higher (say 50 and up.) I have had success in all these areas. I know that serious, bigtime collectors often have little use for newer/current titles, but there are those out there who have made out nicely on my low priced runs, and I've had some good regular customers on my mid range items.
Last September I held an MPB exclusive sale that I advertised fairly strongly (though I never like to take the risk of overexposure, which can backfire and incur the wrath of list and forum members). I previewed it, listed the lots on my website with image and descriptions a few weeks in advance and held the sale over a weekend in thirds. The results were excellent, (better than I've done on ebay in ages) and a very nice bottom line. Two of the items I sold were a Some Like It Hot and Rear Window, both into 4 figures. Many other items went from 20 to 1 or 2 hundred.
Afterward, I tried reporting (again, trying to walk the fine line to avoid boasting overkill) to let others know that there was definitely action on MoPoBid, hoping it would spur others to jump on board. By and large, it didn't happen then and hasn't sufficiently to date. That frustrates and saddens me. Here is a great site, run by a good man who's there 24/7 to help in a real, live fashion. There are, or have been, posters for every budget, taste and market. So I don't have a good answer to tell you about why it hasn't taken off into the stratosphere like it logically should have. Jon makes the excellent point about habits, and ebay certainly is one to me and probably most of the rest of us on here. But it certainly isn't the only game in town.
I have sold on MoPoBid to MOPO'ers, MPT'ers, Style B'ers and a lot of new buyers looking for some good inexpensive titles. I have sold Alfred Hitchcock and Vin Diesel; Katharine Hepburn and Hilary Duff; vintage horror and I Know What You Did Last Summer. I continue to support and list on it and hope that it finds the success it so deserves during the coming year.
The listing prices and final fees are VERY favorable, and the answers to all your questions and concerns are there from a live person when you need them. The features continue to be enhanced, and new members continue to join and browse. I cannot think of a downside. So again, I urge sellers to give it a shot, if only a percentage of what they'd list on ebay in any given period of time. And I certainly urge buyers to make it a regular stop as you might find a few great bargains to meet your collecting interests. MoPoBid is too good an endeavor (not to mention the answer to what a lot of our hobby professed that they wanted all the years before it) to let flounder and fade. I hope the lights never darken and the curtains close, but I'm there for the long haul.
And, in closing, thanks again to JR, for his insight, vision and hard work in bringing this to our hobby.
Take care, Fred
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