Goozex Auctions.

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kevlar51 replied on 08-20-2008 8:19 AM

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taintedzodiac:

TheCatt:

But also my expert opinion as an Economist with a Finance MBA.  So yeah, I know a few things about how markets work.

Glad to have another experienced economist among the community. I hope you stick around long enough to see that Goozex breaks the mold when it comes to the standard view of how trading economies are supposed to function. Much like eBay did for selling junk, and Amazon did for selling books (and is doing with their Kindle products), Goozex is a new take on an old market. While flawed, I think you'll find that most users find that the "flaws" are of small importance compared to how much time is saved by not having to worry about the things you'd have to in an old-style economy.

Agreed. Many of the perceived flaws are comforts to the many users who don't want to worry about a price. Goozex's draw to a majority of its users is the casual nature of the system.

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Shadin replied on 08-20-2008 9:15 AM

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TheCatt:

The current Goozex form is simply inefficient.

Example: Like a lot of people, I have Forza Motorsports 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the X Box 360 because they came with each of my X Boxes.  Are they worth 550 and 400 points each, if there is currently a "long wait" for each?  Hell no.  They are nearly worthless, as demonstrated by their eBay values.  Who in their right mind would give up Guitar Hero 3 like points for those crappy games?  No one.  And, as demonstrated by the 0 offers of GH3 with guitar, who would dare give up all that for just 1000 points?

If people want something, they should be able to bid it up to where they want it, and if people have something that is in demand, they should be able to get more points.  That's simple supply and demand.

The nice thing about Goozex is that there is no exchange of $, and the overhead is much lower than that of eBay from a user's perspective.

The socialist aspects of fixed prices, however, is just poor, and should be abandoned.  Let the market dictate prices, and more trades will happen.

So we should all just start using Ebay, is what you're saying?  Give it a little time and actually make some trades and you may find that the Goozex system works well.  But saying that it doesn't when you haven't even used it is asinine. 

There are already sites (besides Ebay) that run on the free market model, where people have to bid and haggle and it's just a pain in the ass.  But if that's your thing, go there.  I actually traded my Guitar Hero III w/ Guitar on PS2 for 1000 points, as you can see in the profile.  Why?  Because that's worth a $50-$60 new PS3 game, and that's way more than GameStop or anywhere else would give me for it trading it in.  And if you do an Ebay search, as I just did while typing this, one of the first listings shows a Buy it Now of the 360 version for $49.99.  A PS2 version is there for only $34.95.  So actually, I made out better on Goozex with that trade than I would have selling it on Ebay.  So 1000 points is a good level for Guitar Hero, it just so happens that a lot of people want to keep that game right now.

Make your offer list, make your request list, sit back, and relax.  If you're trying to trade games as some psuedo-corporate model of agression, then no, this is not the website for you.  If you don't care about squeezing every possible cent out of your collection and you just want to openly trade games because you're a gamer, then I think Goozex fits just fine.

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txa1265 replied on 08-20-2008 9:28 AM

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Shadin:

So we should all just start using Ebay, is what you're saying?  Give it a little time and actually make some trades and you may find that the Goozex system works well.  But saying that it doesn't when you haven't even used it is asinine.

Actually, analysing a business model without using it isn't a problem ... but as most of us have said there is much more to the system than that - first and foremost being that this is a site for gamers, not eBay profiteers.

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TheCatt replied on 08-20-2008 2:15 PM

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I believe it is quite simple.  If you don't want auctions, just have buy-it-now like listings.  People put up their item, and the # of points they want (or are offering) and people can simply pick up the item or not.  I'd be happy with 600 or 700 points for GTV IV instead of the 1,000 listing, but that simply isn't an option for me.

If I have a game that someone will spend 25,000 points for, why shouldn't I get 25,000 points worth of value?  It'd be dumb to sell the game here if it were only 1,000 points.  I'd just go to eBay, sell it, and then either a) be able to buy points here and get games or b) buy games on eBay.

I completely understand and appreciate the site being dedicated to gamers, I'm just saying make it work better and provide better value for gamers, and more trades.

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taintedzodiac replied on 08-20-2008 2:26 PM

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TheCatt:

I believe it is quite simple.  If you don't want auctions, just have buy-it-now like listings.  People put up their item, and the # of points they want (or are offering) and people can simply pick up the item or not.  I'd be happy with 600 or 700 points for GTV IV instead of the 1,000 listing, but that simply isn't an option for me.

This is still an auction-type system. People will underbid others and it will become a twitching contest to see who can sit on the site and watch offers all day. The beauty of Goozex is that you don't have to do that.

Again, use the site for a while and you will understand what we are trying to tell you.

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cheeznrice replied on 08-20-2008 2:34 PM

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taintedzodiac:

This is still an auction-type system. People will underbid others and it will become a twitching contest to see who can sit on the site and watch offers all day. The beauty of Goozex is that you don't have to do that.

Again, use the site for a while and you will understand what we are trying to tell you.

But are you an Economist with a Finance MBA?

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writinguy replied on 08-20-2008 3:04 PM

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Well, I just think it is funny we are having this conversation about having an auction system when Ebay wants to move away from that model themselves towards a fixed price model.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/20/business/ebay.php

I like the current Goozex system myself.

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txa1265 replied on 08-20-2008 3:05 PM

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Well, TaintedZodiac said what I was thinking ... your system is nothing like the spirit of Goozex and shows that you have done very little to understand how the system works.

The people here like the flat & fair economy - some of the point values are messed up and we all work to identify them.  But in your system someone could wait 6 months with a game at 500 points and then have someone look to buy it for 450 and have another person swoop in as soon as they see it.  That is a wonderful free-market thing that exists at both eBay and GameTZ ... but is counter to the spirit of Goozex.

On those other sites you can ask for $200 for Pokemon Diamond ... or to trade Daikatana for Rock Band for the 360 ... and maybe someone would go for it.  But while there has been discussion of allowing >1000 points for certain games, the idea of direct trading is counter to the basic tenets of the site, and allowing folks to pay to line jump is also anathema.