Topic: Sunsetting the marketplace

I am planning to sunset and eventually close the marketplace features on deckbox.org.

The plans for the marketplace were a bit too ambitious for a tiny company & website like deckbox. A market thrives with a large number of both sellers and buyers, and with sufficient staff to swiftly address issues, develop and change features and not least deal with disputes, lost mail, payment issues and fraud.

Currently due to the low number of buyers and sellers, there are frustrations for both sides - sellers do not move enough stock, and buyers only find part of their wishlists to be available. Significantly growing these numbers would require far more development, marketing, SEO and support effort that I am able to provide at this moment.

I do not regret trying out the marketplace features, but it is time to recognize that the development & support efforts are better focused on the main thing deckbox does well - inventory management, deckbuilding and trading.

Removing the market will allow faster iteration on main website features - like the tags support for inventories, that is being released right now.

If you have any feedback or questions I will be happy to respond.

Last edited by sebi (2023-09-19 13:00:34)

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

While this is unfortunate for some, it makes complete sense. There are a lot of marketplaces out there for people to take advantage of. Just last night I was packing up a large card count order worth a very small dollar value and as I was pulling the cards (mostly basic lands) I couldn't help but to think that Deckbox is one of the only places that I have ever offloaded basic lands.
Does anyone think that perhaps trades will become a psuedo-marketplace with respect to "hey, I need these cards from you, but would like to just send you $x.xx for them"?

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

freakwerks wrote:

Does anyone think that perhaps trades will become a psuedo-marketplace with respect to "hey, I need these cards from you, but would like to just send you $x.xx for them"?

This probably already happens, right?  I guess my question would be would it break any kind of TOS with using the site?  Or does it matter if there's not going to be any dispute resolution, etc. from Sebi and team, and they basically say "do this type of dealing at your own risk."

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Sebi, thanks for your transparency and for continuing to make a great platform here. Hopefully, the time you have to focus on the trading platform will allow you to release more premium features that will encourage regular users to step up for some expanded features and help fund your work on the platform.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

LewtHoar wrote:
freakwerks wrote:

Does anyone think that perhaps trades will become a psuedo-marketplace with respect to "hey, I need these cards from you, but would like to just send you $x.xx for them"?

This probably already happens, right?  I guess my question would be would it break any kind of TOS with using the site?  Or does it matter if there's not going to be any dispute resolution, etc. from Sebi and team, and they basically say "do this type of dealing at your own risk."

Yes, this is how it worked before the marketplace existed. I did not forbid such exchanges but there was a warning on "one-sided" trades underlining that this is not a supported feature and that it is a risk the trader assumes, as we cannot moderate disputes, since we cannot "see" that money has indeed been transfered, or if disputes were filed directly with paypal, etc.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

My only suggestion is to keep card value on the site, but pull from TCGplayer, if you can. Or CardKingdom, either or, but many people I know use TCGPlayer for equal value trades.

Otherwise its sad to see this go, even if I didnt use it.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Sad to see it go, never used it but the prices were helpful to get an idea of each card value. If we could have the option for card prices from CardMarket when it comes to the European market, that'd be amazing.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Raisincineroar wrote:

My only suggestion is to keep card value on the site, but pull from TCGplayer, if you can. Or CardKingdom, either or, but many people I know use TCGPlayer for equal value trades.

Otherwise its sad to see this go, even if I didnt use it.

I agree with this, it makes trading SO much easier than back when I used to do online trading in the mid 2000's on pojo, official WOTC forums, and Salvation.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

While I do use the marketplace to buy and sell, I'm okay with the choice to focus on the main functions of the site.

It's not obvious from the post that card prices are going away, but I do hope they're not. Passively tracking the change in value of collection pieces is for me a primary component of maintaining an collection inventory here.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Bummer. Will you be communicating dates for removal of Marketplace features? Two things I'm wondering are when my final chance to export my card prices will be and when the final bill will be posted for Deckbox fees. Will Marketplace feedback be erased?

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Raisincineroar wrote:

My only suggestion is to keep card value on the site, but pull from TCGplayer, if you can. Or CardKingdom, either or, but many people I know use TCGPlayer for equal value trades.

Otherwise its sad to see this go, even if I didnt use it.

I second this great suggestion! TCGplayer pricing is used by many local games stores to base the value of their singles on, and it’s what I personally reference for every trade I make on this site as well as in-person. A +1 from me on using it to base card prices on.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Raisincineroar wrote:

My only suggestion is to keep card value on the site, but pull from TCGplayer, if you can. Or CardKingdom, either or, but many people I know use TCGPlayer for equal value trades.

Otherwise its sad to see this go, even if I didnt use it.

It used to be this way, but I am pretty sure tcgplayer has terms and conditions now that prevents profiting from thier api being used

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Avon wrote:

Bummer. Will you be communicating dates for removal of Marketplace features? Two things I'm wondering are when my final chance to export my card prices will be and when the final bill will be posted for Deckbox fees. Will Marketplace feedback be erased?

The prices will not be removed in the foreseeable feature, even after buying and selling will be disabled, so no rush to export anything. Seller feedback will not be erased.

I will try to get official tcgplayer prices for USD and cardmarket prices for EUR. After removal of the marketplace I will contact them and try to get the prices and to have a closer integration with other marketplaces (in an ideal world one would be able to directly sync his inventory between them).

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Shoe wrote:

It used to be this way, but I am pretty sure tcgplayer has terms and conditions now that prevents profiting from thier api being used

With Deckbox sunsetting the market, tcgplayer might be open to Deckbox using their pricing again.

sebi wrote:

After removal of the marketplace I will contact them and try to get the prices and to have a closer integration with other marketplaces (in an ideal world one would be able to directly sync his inventory between them).

Thank you!

Last edited by weberondeckbox (2023-09-20 09:28:30)

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

sebi wrote:
Avon wrote:

Bummer. Will you be communicating dates for removal of Marketplace features? Two things I'm wondering are when my final chance to export my card prices will be and when the final bill will be posted for Deckbox fees. Will Marketplace feedback be erased?

The prices will not be removed in the foreseeable feature, even after buying and selling will be disabled, so no rush to export anything. Seller feedback will not be erased.

I will try to get official tcgplayer prices for USD and cardmarket prices for EUR. After removal of the marketplace I will contact them and try to get the prices and to have a closer integration with other marketplaces (in an ideal world one would be able to directly sync his inventory between them).

The would probably be very open to sharing their API and possibly even giving you referal payments if you put a "Buy it on TCG / Cardmarket" link on every printing page.  This was if people are looking for a trade, and can't find a partner for it they have instant access to purchase. Plus, knowing you get a bit of money on each sale, I'd definitely use your referal link.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

This saddens me as this is by far the easiest way to sell cards from my collection compared to other sites *cough* TCGplayer *cough* or avenues. I appreciate all the work you put into Deckbox to help keep my collection in order and connect me with other great users for a seamless experience of sharing cards with others who want/use them!

I will keep checking in on the sunsetting process as it moves forward.

Like others mentioned, keeping the price listed for the cards is a godsend for selling/trading and an overall snapshot of my collection and I am glad to hear it will stick around.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

One possibility could be to add cash as a numeric amount to one side of a trade?

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

I'd just like to put on your radar Sebi that if Face to Face has API functionality for prices then it would be a big help for a good portion of Canadian traders. Even though I prefer TCG market lol. F2F just seems defacto for other sell/trade Canadian platforms and a few traders I've run across on here as well.

Another comment also recommended a "buy on TCG/Cardmarket" option which I'd imagine may also give you monetary kickbacks and may be worth your time implementing.

Last edited by KriZm (2023-09-21 16:56:13)

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

I'm devastated to hear of this. sad

Do we have a timeline for the deconstruction of the marketplace? That said it's been a good run and the marketplace has allowed me to make so many connections with other players and traders and I thank you for the venue over all of these past years Sebastian.

It's been a strong, albeit smaller, group of MTG junkies with a high level of trust that I haven't seen mirrored on Facebook Marketplace, TCGPlayer, EBay... etc.. so I gotta give a big shout out and round of thank yous to all of the buyers and sellers for helping to build a rock solid commerce community.

Being Canadian, I do like the idea of an Face2Face API KriZm brought up.

│ PROFILE │ Tradelist │ Wishlist │

FastTadpole's Website

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

LewtHoar wrote:
freakwerks wrote:

Does anyone think that perhaps trades will become a psuedo-marketplace with respect to "hey, I need these cards from you, but would like to just send you $x.xx for them"?

This probably already happens, right?  I guess my question would be would it break any kind of TOS with using the site?  Or does it matter if there's not going to be any dispute resolution, etc. from Sebi and team, and they basically say "do this type of dealing at your own risk."

I currently use this trading feature for local trades but not the marketplace on the regular so hope we don't lose it!

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Just saw this been using deckbox for years.  The inventory management and trading features are far superior to any other site.  So I hope that's able to continue. 

I made a few selling transactions on there, and it was beneficial, but really not much better than bulking things at big conventions when they come through town.

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Card details page hasn't listed prices on the marketplace for awhile now. "Interesting cards for sale" are no longer an option on the home stream. /marketplace is gone. User Profile pages don't list cards for sale. ?mode=cards_for_sale shows only an inventory listing without an Add to Cart option. Are these features gone for good now? Is the shopping assistant the only way to buy cards on DeckBox now?

│ PROFILE │ Tradelist │ Wishlist │

FastTadpole's Website

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

FastTadpole wrote:

Card details page hasn't listed prices on the marketplace for awhile now. "Interesting cards for sale" are no longer an option on the home stream. /marketplace is gone. User Profile pages don't list cards for sale. ?mode=cards_for_sale shows only an inventory listing without an Add to Cart option. Are these features gone for good now? Is the shopping assistant the only way to buy cards on DeckBox now?

As the announcement says, the buying and selling features are being completely removed. I left the shopping assistant a bit more (if you already had cards in it) since people might have orders that were almost done.

Last edited by sebi (2024-01-12 08:48:19)

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Sad to see it go! I bought cards through here a lot. Thank you for maintaining it all this time.

Last edited by fermented_sorcerer (2024-01-21 01:46:21)

Re: Sunsetting the marketplace

Do you think an option to add cash to trades would be possible? I know that I've made well over 500 sales and really like the Deckbox approach more than other sites so I only use here. Any hope of reinstituting the seller features in the future?

http://deckbox.org/sets/204167 My trades