[ Closed ] Release 3.0: Deckbox Market (Page 3 of 4)

You can.  If you create decks and you click on the link to a card's page it will tell you which decks you have that use that card. Assuming you keep your decks accurate you could use this to track whatever random stack of cards you want.  If you want to track a binder make a deck called binder 1.  This does have the limitation however of not tracking the specific edition.  So for a card like Artisan of Kozilek that I had to track down last night I had to check two places because one had the commander version and one had the Eldrazi version, but at least I knew which two decks to look in.

Last edited by gumgodMTG (2014-03-25 15:50:07)

It is this limitation that is the problem. I can't set the edition. I can't set the foil status. I can't set it's promo status. When I have 10+ Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, some of which are foil, and some of which are the release promo, I can't keep track of where they are in my 10,000 cards, 20 binders, 6 Modern decks, 5 EDH decks, and multiple column boxes. Now imagine it is something much more complex, like Wrath of God, which is an auto-include in most white EDH decks, and has more editions and promos than almost anything else. I have to check up to 10 places to find that one card. Per card. It is massively inefficient to only have a list of everything that has, 'Some kind of Wrath of God in it'. That's why I have my spreadsheets. And Deckbox currently doesn't replace Excel as an inventory management system due to it's severe limitations on card information.

As has been pointed out above, it is a difficult thing to do physically (though I have already done it.) However, it is trivial to do, even with something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet, to so electronically. You simply have to be able to list what exactly is where, and do a reverse look-up to find each location that the exact card is. A text field is indeed inefficient, and entirely unnecessary. When the location changes, you update the inventory. Every store that I've ever been to/worked for has an inventory management system that can track individual items of a large stock. This is even simpler, as you only need a specific type (The foil Buy-A-Box Celestial Colonnade, for a recent example). I shouldn't have to go through every binder/deck/box that has some kind of Colonnade in order to find one. It's the ability to walk across the office, pick up a single container, and find exactly what I'm looking for, which an inventory management system should offer. I hope it's in the works eventually, but until then, I have my system in place, externally from this website.

First, let me say, Ripptor, that the idea of putting a version to what is in a deck would be nice. That neatly solves (or mostly solves) what I thought of with a text field, at least for decks. 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.

...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.

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.

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.

Last edited by Xan (2014-03-25 18:58:48)

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm attempting to make a purchase from user "reliquary tower". When I go to check out, it has me select my address (which I did), and is requiring me select a shipping option -- but there is nothing from the drop-down menu, and I'm unable to proceed. Any suggestions?

I came here to ask this. Good to see I'm not the only one with this question.

Sorry for that, it was a display issue. It should now say you haven't got any orders that need your attention again.

Is the 6.9% figure firm? Combining that with PayPal fees brings the transaction cost to near 10%--pretty weighty. The transaction fee (sans PayPal fees) is more than twice typical merchant fees for handling credit cards.  Personally, I'd be more likely to sell if the fees were limited to not more than 3.5%.

I realize it's your business, so I don't want you to feel strong-armed away from the model you've decided upon. I'm just lobbying for the house to keep a smaller percentage of the take.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

Ripptor, you're of course right about the shortcomings of the inventory. We want to add for one, the option to make the inventory private, and secondly, a system of 'tagging' to help with cataloguing. This has been promised years and years ago and I did try out some things once or twice but did not find a satisfactory UI / workflow for them. But this time I am commited to find one If you have suggestions of inventory products ( not necessarily for Magic) that have intelligent systems I could research for this, I'd be very grateful.

Actinide, we thought about the "selling the old way" issue and its implications. I added a response for in at the bottom of the FAQ. The TL;DR is that we will not forbid it, but also we will not provide any support or dispute resolution for it (cause we can't, not in a satisfactory way). We will also post a warning on these trades to let the "buyer" side of them know of the risks.

With regard to the "Accept button" for sellers, there has been some more feedback in this Site Feedback thread, also with a lot of great points. I have posted my thoughts there just now. TL;DR is that I think canceling orders that cannot be shipped & refunding the money might be enough for the exceptional cases. Negative feedback from buyers would act as a deterrent for the sellers abusing this.

We also changed our mind on the rule that we will bill the refunded payments too. It was a stupid rule, and I'm sorry for that, my reasons for having it make no sense in retrospect . So, to clarify, we will NOT bill any Deckbox fees on payments that sellers refund.

Party on!!!

This is a WAY LONG TIME COMING feature!!!

Congratulations Sebi on this new announcement and I really look forward to take full advantage of this new service.  I already sell on TCGPlayer and I totally hate to keep track of two inventories and on top of that, TCGPlayer is super annoying when it comes to wait for their payment for over a week or so.

KUDOS!!!

I just received my first order. I was disappointed to see that there was no way to "accept" the purchase and then automatically add the cards into my inventory and remove from my wishlist -- I thought that integration into my inventory was one of the big selling points with the new marketplace function, but it doesn't seem to do that very well yet, at least for buyers.