Moving into the modern age

It's called Ebay.

Hey.......the OGR Forum has a "for sale/trade"  and a "wanted to buy"........section.  Look around !   And NJC Joe is correcto mundo!  Also, there are Train Auction sites...........other model railroad sites...........FWIW, the closer the date of a York meet comes on the calender, you will see folks selling trains and including the phrase "also available for York pickup"!      I bought from a TCA member just 20 minutes before the "gates opened"  on Thursday, at an October York.

Sorry I do not agree this is how Ebay works

For those who do please send me a link that I can use to access the section of Ebay where I can say "I want to buy a Lionel NYC Hudson post war at the York show" and have a seller who will be at York reach out and offer me one.

Or say you are at a show and buy a loco and want a passenger set to go with it.  Would it be beneficial to you as a buyer and to sellers to be able to go to a site or an app and ask if anyone has the passenger car you want?

I understand there are auctions and other ways to buy what you want but what I offered was another way to do so if someone who was computer savvy would implement it

But then every new idea here gets dismissed out of hand because after all this hobby is just perfect and the elephant in the room of declining interest and declining attendance at shows etc is nothing to be concerned about and best be ignored.

I suppose that might work, but first you have to find someone willing to create, host and manage your "York Clearing House" concept. Maybe suggest this to EDTCA, or even National, for them to create and host on their existing website.

Your problem is, I never go to York, and I'm sure I'm not alone on this. So If I have something you want, you're going to have to deal with me via the mail. And once you're willing to take that step, then you might as well shop on eBay, or any of the other train sites. 

The thrill of the hunt is a part of what makes this hobby go 'round. I go to shows, I have a list. Some things I find, some I don't. Especially thrilling is finding something that's been on the list for some time. Last York I found some stuff that I thought I'd never find, and almost took off the list.

I see some significant flaws in the 'app' proposal. What 'computer savvy' person do you expect to write such an app? Do you expect people to respond to this imaginary app and then each hold the same item at their table hoping you'll come and buy it? And what if someone makes a better offer for your 'reserved' piece? The one who presses money into the vendor's hand first is the winner, right? 

Making a private transaction, non-show related is perfectly legit IMHO.

The other idea of not liking how Ebay works, how the 'classified' section on this or any other site works, how auctions work, and the constant "NO, NO, NO, I don't like those options, give me another!" and grumping about the options you do have doesn't fly well either.

IMO no one is going to put the time ($$$) into developing an app/piece-of-software/maintain-a-website for such a niche (small) clientele. The evidence for my argument is that no one has already done it.  Having said that, there are useful things one can do, for example posting a WANTED right here. Also, eBay allows you to put a "watch" on for something and you will receive a message when a seller lists that item.

Lew

What, they allow cell phones at York?  The next thing you know they'll be taking pictures and letting in the general public!  

They tried this about 10 years ago at one of the world's largest antique shows, which was held in the Atlantic City Convention Center. The dealers felt it was awkward and time consuming to list everything they had...in other words, not worthwhile for them. Also worry about getting customers mad that may have been on their way to the item in question, only to find it sold.

Another snag that may occur is: How do you describe the item? Dealer describes it one way, buyer another way. Same item.

FWIW there are already some similar apps out in the world.  Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and ask where a particular product is located and the clerk types the name of the product in their hand held device and tells you 'it is in aisle 27, bin four.'

It will not be long before grocery stores have similar apps where you will be able to enter your shopping list and then the app will guide you aisle by aisle to each item.

And if progress like this makes me someone who is 'grumping' well you bet your sweet a** I am the king of the grumpers.

Of course they exist.  They paid for them.  They already had backend systems with the data.  The technology is not the issue.  I agree with the earlier comments that vendors aren't going to spend hours entering their inventory nor are they going to hold anything for free.  

Brendan

Brendan, you are not following what I am proposing.  A BUYER will post saying "I want to buy X" and sellers will post that they have X available for sale and where at the show they are located.

Unlike E bay Sellers will not have to post anything just respond if appropriate.

So what you are really proposing is the York version of "reverse eBay" where buyers say what they are looking for and sellers can say "got it, for X price, over here". 

Doesn't that kind of go against the premise of York? I agree with CJ's comment  above, part of the fun of this hobby is the thrill of the hunt. This is like shooting fish in a barrel.

If you are a member of the TCA, there is a side where you can sell and where you an list ‘wanted’ as well.  Again, I think you need to be a TCA member but here is the site. I would think you can pursue York delivery as an option with a seller.

http://tcabuysell.org/index.ph...amp;uq=5c75ccf751b3e

JPS posted:

Brendan, you are not following what I am proposing.  A BUYER will post saying "I want to buy X" and sellers will post that they have X available for sale and where at the show they are located.

Unlike E bay Sellers will not have to post anything just respond if appropriate.

You threw me off with the Lowes app comparison.  

Brendan

This is a dumb thread.

Not going to happen,

Dave

JPS posted:

Unlike E bay, sellers will not have to post anything, just respond if appropriate.

OK, but what seller is going to want to read through everyone's wish list to see if they have anything that someone wants to buy? Aren't they busy enough talking to the people in front of their tables? Pretty soon, nobody will actually go to York, they'll just "phone it in". Oh wait a minute, that is eBay.

Be it York or any other large train meet, I always felt the point as a buyer was to search out trains you wanted and get what you perceive to be a deal. Oh yeah, and have fun doing it. If it isn't fun anymore, don't do it. 

eddie g posted:

This is a dumb thread.

I'm beginning to think Eddie is right, and I don't usually do that.

eddie g posted:

This is a dumb thread.

I love dumb threads. Life should be full of laughs. 

Free things online... absurd 😲

What's dumb is you have concept that works elsewhere in life, "the want ad"; and folks saying it could never work because of the print format being more updated/timely, and localized..all factors in folks likelyhood of response.

It's such an outpour of negativity I have to wonder if some folk aren't scrambling for the copywrite paperwork or hoping thier brand hits market first.

Want ads are not as effective as sales ads, but they do work.  Need for better exposure to the item sellers is the drawback, and here is an answer for attracting a motivated seller. There is no better grouping to attempt this with; If you've never said "I didn't see it first pass" you have great focus.

The fact he two parties are on one plot of land for this reason already increases the likely hood of a mutual meet and agreement being made very quickly too, imo. 

Free applications are all over the place today. Free with ads (some appropriate in amount, some so full of ads they become usesless) and 100% free & clear type free as well (a good free app may land you a nice job coding more sophisticated stuff ...some folk do it for fun/personal reasons and share....imagine that... )

  The small software sales game of today is free apps missing some of the better features, paying only for premium features, $2-$20, normally about $5, commercial use allowances vary.

  We have monitors at our dmv that list phone numbers and paper ticket numbers as placeholders for who is next in line and you get a text when your # hits the top five. Simple stuff. 

Change to alpha/numeric list vs timestamp, and limit wanted input.  Charge per listing or per electronic contact to an ad, or both.

  Seller abuse of the system being most likely means any reply charge should go that way imo. 

Early requests could be key to a seller loading something into the trunk or not.

Serving it via Bluetooth, wifi, messenger/messages etc. becomes the only real devolper cost issue.

It would actually do good for the various organizations that promote the venues to institute features like these to appeal to both vender and shoppers alike. 

I'm not saying it appeals to me as a world shaker, but it doesn't make me say I wouldn never use it to quickly snag my needs so I could casually explore my wants.

Active sellers won't have time to read these, and I guess some might prefer the naps and reading the paper to a list of good sales leads, but I'd likely watch it like the boards at a horse race when things got slow.

Note I'm usually the anti-tech dinosaur in the room around you folk too.

Great idea JPS. The "WANT TO BUY AT YORK" app. Or an OGR "WANT TO BUY AT YORK" forum. I often thought the same thing, especially after my legs are worn out from walking through all the halls, searching for an item I really want. People who never been to York can't imagine how big it is and how many miles are put on ones legs trying to get through every isle in every building. I'm sure table holders would look at it and get very excited when they see an item come up that is sitting on their table. They come to sell and I'm sure anything that would help would be very appreciated. York is great because not only do you get to hold the item in your hands, but also get to test if it works. Buying over the web just can't compare. I noticed you said nothing about people listing what they'll have at York, so how did that come up? That would be as bad as walking the halls with worn out legs. Your eyeballs would get tired. LOL