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I signed up for this service this morning. It's free at present (I'm sure it will be fee-based soon). They've been updating their servers all morning and have a warning that the site is running slow.
When Andale rolled out their "Research" product, I always hoped it would do something like what this promises, but it never came to pass. Andale has a new version of it's reserach in beta right now, but it's limited to NEW item categories for the most part, and looks like it's geared toward newer stuff. We'll see.
In the meantime, if these folks have the right marketing budget to promote this through collector magazines and markets, and if they get it to work right, they are going to get RICH!
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y205/m09/abu0150/s02
What's It Worth? Analyze Collectibles Sales Data from eBay
By Phil Dunn and Amy Balsbaugh
AuctionBytes.com
September 04, 2005
Whether you're a collector or sell to collectors, the burning question in most folks' minds is, "What's it worth?"
A company called SmartCollector (http://www.smartcollector.com) offers a free, easy-to-use service to help collectors and dealers get to the bottom of the value question while uncovering priceless information on just about any field of collecting.
SmartCollector has been storing and analyzing data from eBay's antiques and collectibles categories for the past three years. They've also stored data from select subcategories of books, pottery, toys and more. They use a data analysis system, along with insights from experts, to track trends, predict future trends in collecting, and even compare trends between different categories.
One very functional feature of Smart Collector is the ability to keyword search through completed eBay listings going back 120 days. Compare this to the 15 days of listings that eBay provides for completed searches. Best of all, Smart Collector has stored the item listings pages on their own site, so not only do you get the information on final gavel prices, you can open the page, see the pictures and read the item descriptions to learn even more about the items that sold.
Collectors will also appreciate SmartCollector's personal "Manage It" database. It allows users to create an inventory database of their collections, including fields to enter the date and price purchased for each item. You can even import your purchase data directly from eBay, as well as track the current values of comparable items.
Dealers will find Market Trend and Market Mix reports invaluable, as they offer insight into the scarcity and demand of different collectibles, and what to expect in the future for selling in specific categories. You can even keep an eye on the top sellers in each category.
For example, SmartCollector can tell you how many sellers are controlling most of the sales in a particular category. It would be really useful if they gave you the user IDs of the top sellers, but they don't.
eBay doesn't disclose sell-through rates for categories, but with SmartCollector, you can get hard numbers from three years back.
SmartCollector even has a mobile device service that allows you to look up trend data on your cell phone or Wi-Fi PDA. So the next time you're out antiquing and wonder if you've uncovered a "sleeper," you can find out in an instant if you've struck gold.
Related Site
PriceMiner is another pricing tool that combines data from eBay along with two online antiques malls, GoAntiques and TIAS. You can also use PriceMiner on your wireless device, like a PDA or smart phone. http://www.priceminer.com
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Thanks!!
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Thanks for that one Bobby!
Site is slow as molasses in December right now because they are updating the servers & data base....but got in long enough to register & bookmark it.
Will definitely be checking this one out further.....looks like they took and DID what Andale should have.
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Wow... don't think I've ever bumped a post this old... BUT...
Does anyone know if this site is going to be working again...
Sure seems like a great idea versus 30 clams/month ebay stats...
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It's not working for me. I did a search on Green Cameo Depression Glass for the past 120 days and I get:
We scanned all auctions for the last 120 days and found no results matching your search. Please broaden your search criteria and try again.
But, if I go to eBay and search for completed auctions I get 224 completed auctions.
I hope it gets off the ground better.
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I hope it gets off the ground better.
I think it bit the dust already.