Our vision for the initial launch of PipeTrader.com community will include, in addition to blogs (see previous posting), a robust trading and e-commerce platform. This engine will provide not only standard auctions, but also dutch auctions, fix-priced sales, classified ads and trading.
We plan on making this engine cleaner and easier to work with than other big auction sites and, to go one better, given it's "narrow" focus on pipe smokers and carvers, will bring more and better traffic. In addition to ensuring that we have a great number of listings when we launch, we will be backing this up with significant advertisements in relevant trade publications to drive traffic.
In addition to creating listings, everyone will be able to define payment terms (like PayPal, etc.), shipping methods, preferred currency (we currently support estimated conversion rates for USD, AUD, GBP, CAD, EUR and can add more as requested), pricing (starting, reserve and Buy Now), start dates, end dates, auto relisting if not sold and counters, PipeTraders can also elect to upsell their listings. Opportunities for upselling include being featured on the home page of the PipeTrader site, being featured on the home page for the category chosen for the object for sale, to have the listing highlighted, to make the listing bold or additional images beyond the initial 2 free images.
Descriptions for listings can be created using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that looks like most word processors with as much fancy HTML as you'd like.
Since buying (and selling) online can be a chore for some people, we also plan on offering a service called PipeTrader Certified Estate Pipes. For a single low price, we will accept pipes from our members (also known as PipeTraders) for reconditioning and listing. We will clean them, photograph them and list the items for sale on behalf of the seller. Buyers will gain the confidence that when buying a PipeTrader Certifed Estate Pipe, they have the ability to return the pipe, unsmoked, within 10 days to ensure that what they bought and what they thought they were buying were the same thing! Every Certified Estate Pipe will get a pre-defined package of upsells and will be listed on the Certified Estate Pipe storefront until it is sold or until the seller pulls it off the market.
Storefronts, you ask? Well storefronts are locations in the PipeTrader system where individual traders, carvers, retailers and clubs can list all of their items on a single page, branded to them, with a unique address (URL) that they direct their customers to.
If you can think of other features you'd like to see added, please use the comment form below and we'll be glad to carry on this discussion online.
The next posting should discuss more about the Pipe Wiki on PipeTraders.com so stay tuned for more great information. As always, you can subscribe to this information using RSS feeds using the image at right, clicking on the XML button at top left or by using the address http://blogs.pipetrader.com/Updates/RSS.aspx.