Survey: The Good, The Bad about eBay - Worthwhile Coin Websites & Alternative Ideas?

Hi.

I'd like to divert myself away from certain other threads/arguments without
more killfile entries, so let me see if I can find some good feedback on the
subject indirectly, and do a little brain storming.

Ok, we all know that eBay is currently the king of the online auction. I'm
about done reading a book called "Boom!" in which they talk about how kings
(companies) can and do fall off of the thrown. Sometimes it takes a long
time and changes in environment, but it can happen. I'm on a tangent
already. I'm not looking to suggest competition with eBay ... that would be
silly. But what alternatives might be out there?

My primary collecting interests are coins, although this isn't always
apparent on eBay. I dabble in other things - stamps and covers in
particular. In the world of stamps, they have a couple of interesting "for
sale" web pages. I've only really found value in 1, although I haven't
given the others a fair shake yet ... buying singles isn't my emphasis at
the moment. This one web site allows sellers to list items for free, and
charges a very low fee if/when they sell something. Now, from what I
understand, sales aren't massive; my $20-50 orders often get a "thanks for
the large order!" note. I'm doing it again.

QUESTIONS:

Can anyone provide a reference to a coin trading/selling/buying web site
that they find worthwhile and valuable? Does anyone buy from a particular
site often? Or perhaps a dealer who has a particularly useful site?

Are there any central repositories of "coin links" that are worthwhile?
Perhaps a page that categorizes sites my type (trade, for sale, reference,
dealer, etc.,.)???

ARE there any coin auction pages that an average collector can list on other
than eBay? Fixed price or offers? Any that seem to have potential?


Ok, so not as many questions as I had first thought. But lets see what
responses I get, if any. I mean, I have a web server 10 feet from me. It's
not very high-powered, and it's now on a cable connection (means my uploads,
or outsider's web hits)are slower than when I had DSL). But it's a more
dependable connection, overall. I'm going to make a list of my world-wide
proof sets I have for sale and post it. I'll then post links in various
places and try to get interested parties to look. So, is there a central
place on which to try and get mentioned? Could/should there be?

Craig's List is an interesting model. Well, as much as I know about it.
I'm going to try and see how that ticks. But I wouldn't list coins on
Craig's List. There's much to be said for non-local buyers and anonymity.

What if there was a google-like thing specifically for coin sites where
dealers and collectors could list their wares? Perhaps labeled somehow as
collector/dealer or something in between? Hard to do, I suppose. Perhaps
it could list a reasonably limited number of things/items/notes and allow
references to individual web sites. I would suggest a simple list of
external links with a short blurb about the site, but what about the guy who
doesn't have a web page OR has space at his ISP but doesn't know how to set
it up? You don't have to be a webmaster or HTML-whiz to get a
decent-looking ad on eBay.

Cost. Ideally "free" would be nice, eh? Free could be done for awhile.
Remember "always free"??? If a site got particularly popular, you'd start
having some issues. Bandwidth could become an issue, if you were lucky ...
a million hits a day would be too much for a simple cable connection .
How much support would it demand? Hmmmmm. Well, I'll think
small-medium potatoes for now and worry about popularity when/if it
happens, remembering of course this is all hypothetical. Thinking out loud.

Would the average collector be interested in listing their items at a fixed
price? Can they do this somewhere NOW (other than eBay)? Or perhaps take
offers, realizing that with no final "auction is over" deadline, offers may
not be prompt or competitive? Still, if you've got the goods and someone
wants them ... maybe there is a connection to be made. Personally, I've
owned most of my for-sale proof sets for many years. If I could have list
them all once and sold a few a year, I'd me in much better shape now.

Add your favorite reference sites? Folks looking for a good reference site
and finding this list at the same time MIGHT just come across a forsale, or
WANTED listing. Wanted listings! There's something I could personally use.
What it it was primarily a WANT LIST site?

Link to pictures of your own coins / collection?

A feedback system of some sort? Ick. Liability issues. There may not be a
"simple" answer that works here anyway, noting eBay's constant changes. Is
this type of "venue" a liability even in its simplest form? A simple web
page where you let users register, then list there web page? Minor
moderation would be required to keep the porn-peddlers away. Perhaps some
type of "recommended" counter where other members can validate a particular
lister?

Coins only? Related items? If you expanded to "miscellaneous", you'd lose
any target audience, which would be bad. I would suggest a limited scope.

Ok. Enough. This is the kind of thing I do at work, only it's usually a
live group discussion with instant feedback creating mutations and different
ideas. Thanks in advance for any replies (crossing my fingers) ... even the
ones I won't see

Nick