Xan wrote:But unless you are making a "deck" for every storage box, with the thousands of cards in any one box, it won't solve the problem you presented.
Yes, as was suggested above, that is what would be entailed. It wouldn't be a good inventory management system if I couldn't put my inventory in it.
Xan wrote:...Or you could simply remove from your decks the items you are selling and label your boxes. If you are selling a Wrath of God, that would mean you aren't using it, so you don't need to check your decks. The version/promo/foil/whatever wouldn't matter, since you picked one to sell and that one would be in one of two locations: a box labeled "White Rares," or a binder labeled "White Trades" or whatever. Splitting things into multiple places is an inherently bad inventory practice, for the exact reason you explained- it adds complexity.
Any system that is implemented for 'convenience' should
enable the user, not disable them. A system that requires me to entirely change the way I do business and cripple my ability to do what I want, in any way, is undesirable by definition. I don't run proxies, and I'm not going to start. I don't own a single binder large enough to compromise my 'White Trades'. I run many binders of cards (such as full card sets, dollar rares, EDH staples, etc.) in order to reach different audiences of traders/sellers. I don't need a system that gets in my way, and neither does any business. Splitting things in different places is common inventory practice, which is why inventory management systems exist. If you don't need one personally, that's your personal situation, and one that many people don't share.
Xan wrote:Until a version option is added to the deck lists, you could proxy something if you want to run it until trading/selling it. If you are going somewhere that discourages proxies, you could just remember that your promo Wrath of God is in that deck. This isn't a problem most users are going to have.
If your solution to inventory management is, 'Just remember where it is,' more power to you. There is a reason, however, that
actual inventory management solutions exist in the IT world, and are thriving businesses. Not everyone can keep track of over 10,000 items that are constantly moving around.
Xan wrote:When the computer says there are 11 items on the shelf, the back room has 5, 3 are in the mail and 1 is out for RMA, and you count the items but get 18, you know something is wrong and no database or spreadsheet can tell you where the missing items are.
Sigh... Irrelevant. User error has never, and will never, mean an IT solution is better/worse than another. If we assume everyone in the world is incapable of doing anything correctly, than no system is safe from the idiocy of its users. Typing in wrong/random information will confuse any system, including the simple 'card list' inventory. When you're holding a card, and it's not on the list, the list doesn't explain to you why it's not on there, does it?
At any rate, your argument for Deckbox being an inventory management solution seems to mainly stem from one point: Make a 'card list' inventory work for you. The simple counter-point to that is: Why lose functionality and efficiency to match an inventory system that lacks functionality and efficiency? If I want to be able to do more than simply store my cards in alphabetical order, in one box on one shelf, there is no compelling reason to go back to that system. Especially when what you currently have accommodates you just fine, allowing you the freedom to manage your inventory in the way that bests fits your selling practice.
Really,
the point of my saying that Deckbox isn't an inventory management system was to point out that a simple 'card list' inventory is not something unique to Deckbox, or what sets it apart from it's competition (as was put forward by another user). You can find that anywhere. What sets Deckbox aside is the cooperative community of people working together for the mutual benefit of all those involved. It puts it in a unique position to offer something that not many other platform can currently provide, and I pointed out that maybe it should continue to explore the options available to continue that community cooperation throughout the next stage of this platform's life, the marketplace.
This platform operated as a bazaar, as far as trading went, where one would go from stand to stand looking for someone willing to make a deal with them from which they mutually benefited. Adding money into that situation could change very little of that lifestyle: One simply offers a crisp 5 pound note at each stand, instead of a sleeved Steam Vents. If a stand owner was willing to deal, they could barter to a point where they were both happy, and they were both free to walk away at any time.
Instead we're seeing a machinated system where people approach vending machines instead of people, insert an amount of money, and expect the machine to do as it's told. The machine can set certain conditions, but it really boils down to this: It's not allowed to say 'no'. I believe the loss of humanity in that in that system, and the loss of the 'mutual good' mentality, is far removed from the origins, and special capabilities, of a platform that started out as Deckbox had. I am merely putting forth that other implementations should be considered, to keep this platform unique and closer to its roots, and community.
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