I see there are a lot of questions and uncertainty about what we are doing with our auction platform and Collector-Model Trains. So with this rather lengthy post I will address to the best of my ability.
Is TrainzAuctions dead? No. TrainzAuctions will still be TrainzAuctions, now they'll just be at DASH. We'll be pointing the domain name (www.trainzauctions.com) over within the next week. We have to wait for everyone to finis checking out on the old site first. There are ads and links all over the internet, so it's easier to just move the domain than fix all the links.
Will Trainz.com still sell on eBay? Absolutely, we list items to the market that makes the most sense for that particular item.
Is DASH a captive site for Trainz.com? No. We have a very strong partnership with DASH but they are building a community and marketplace around model trains that is open to all, we just happen to be the first. The biggest thing we have done for them and for you is shared our database. We have by far the best database of model trains and parts in the world. We have been building it over the past ten years by capturing and creating a catalog of every item. That catalog is now public information on the Collector-ModelTrains site in their catalog tab. We hear eBay bashing all the time, well, now Dash is here, we think it is the answer for us and for you. With all the data and information we provided them, it will make it easier for you to sell your trains there if you want to do-it-yourself.
Is DASH a mess? The DASH guys are in the learning phase right now. They're constantly monitoring the performance of the site in relationship to the traffic. They're deploying new servers and making code changes every day. We're a tough first seller to have hosted on the site due to the amount of traffic that we bring with us. Trust me when I say those guys aren't getting a lot of sleep right now.
Is the old TrainzAuctions site dead? Not yet, but we will close the doors on it soon.
Is Trainz.com a multi-location national powerhouse? We wish. We're all in Buford, except for a few remote Customer Service and Sales reps. When you receive packages from other states you're actually receiving something from one of our partners.
Tested or Not? We run a business, so we have to balance our responsibility to our customers with our responsibility to our employees. That's marketing speak for we have to make money. Quick tested means we powered it up and checked the bells and whistles. Some items go to our repair shop for more extensive testing and repairs when it financially makes sense for us to do it. All of our listings have an Operational Status included to help make things a little more clear. The bottom line is that if we say something works, we'll back that up.
Description errors abound? Not really. We process and sell around 200 items a day in a normal month. We do make mistakes, but we learn from them. Our returns, refunds, and credits typically account for less 2% of our total sales. We track it every week. We recently gave every department within the company an opportunity to define their own goals for the next year, and every single one chose reducing that number.
Is the buyers premium a scam? We don't think our customers are dumb. We fully disclose the buyers premium at every opportunity, and fully expect you to adjust your bids for it. The buyers premium helps us be more competitive on our consignment deals. We thought about selling consignment items with a buyers premium, and items we own without, but just thinking about that can get confusing.
Does Trainz.com double dip on markets? Yes and no. We list our new products on multiple markets, but our "collectible" items we only list to one market at a time. When you see something on both places at the same time it means someone in IT messed up, or we really have two of them. Juggling 200 new items a day isn't easy, and we're constantly finding new ways to mix things up. We're also constantly working towards making improvements to keep it from happening again.
What happened with the roofs? There are three or four people checking in deals in our receiving department every day. A lot of our collections are packed and boxed by our sellers or consignors, so everything isn't always where you think it should be, and sometimes things just aren't there at all. One day someone unboxed the cars and a few days or weeks later someone else found the roofs in another box and just figured the cars were missing. It's a big warehouse with lots of people milling around, no one person is aware of everything.
Is Trainz.com anything like a circus? Some days, Yes, but most of the time it is a well choreographed play - it has to be with the transaction volume we do. Southwest Hiawatha… We'd love to have you over to watch the show. Drop us a line, and I'll pick up the plane ticket and we'll provide all the popcorn you can eat. Actually, I am serious, contact me at 866-234-1800 and I'll have you as our guest for the day and you can see and judge for yourself.
What happens to the free DASH Club membership after a year? We're not sure yet. Right now we're focusing our efforts on getting DASH off the ground, once we're happy with how things are working we'll have that conversation with the DASH guys. The one thing I can assure you of is that we will always make sure our customers are taken care of.
Is DASH or the old TrainzAuctions better? We obviously think DASH is the answer. These guys are laser focused on providing something that works for the train collecting community at large. DASH is taking all the feedback it is receiving into consideration, and we're passing along all the feedback we receive. With time DASH will only get better.
Thanks for reading.
