GarageScape - feedback requested

[atlantagirl]

I posted this in Huh's most recent eBay thread, but I don't think very many people have seen it due to the current state of excitement over the "Announcement", so take a look and give me some feedback.

I wonder if a giant, nationwide eBay garage sale might get us some press?

What if we had hundreds (or thousands) of items all for sale at the same time from all over the country, all benefitting the Save Farscape campaign.

I wonder if it might be possible to convince eBay to feature it on their front page? (Probably have to pay tons o' money for that sort of thing, but who knows? Maybe not.)

We have about 5500 members. If even 10% put something on eBay all at the same time, that would be amazing, right?

What do y'all think?

It would take some logistical support. I think most people would need to post their own items (cause unless Huh doesn't need to work or sleep I don't see any one person managing all of them at once), and we could use some kind of logo graphic to let everyone know that the auctions were all related. And the people who are uncomfortable putting up their own auction would probably still need assistance.

I'm just thinking out loud here, but what do you guys think?

I mean, in addition to actually donating the money to the campaign, do you think it might be big enough to generate some publicity?

Maybe Matt Roush would do a "TV Show Ad Campaign Funded by Giant Garage Sale" piece.

If it's a stupid idea, just let me know. I've still got a buzz going from all the pre-announcement adreneline.

[RescueFarscape]

That's cool. Will think more, post later. ;)

I've got a BB autograph I might be willing to part with.

[atlantagirl]

Originally posted by RescueFarscape
That's cool. Will think more, post later. ;)

I've got a BB autograph I might be willing to part with.

We might actually do better to post non-Farscapian items. Since we all are probably the biggest buyers of Farscapiana, we might end up kind of cancelling each other's stuff out, you know "Buy MY action figures!" "No buy MY action figures." But if we're selling off "normal" stuff, not only are we less likely to do that, but we'll also draw in more people who have never heard of Farscape and might be intrigued by our massive "Farscape CyberGarage Sale to advertise a cancelled show you've never heard of on a network you never watch." :lol

I've got a bunch of cross stitch fabric I've been meaning to get rid of, as well as miscellaneous odds and ends that never amount to enough stuff to put into a garage sale.

[RescueFarscape]

Originally posted by atlantagirl
We might actually do better to post non-Farscapian items.


Yeah, I know. But I think I've already sold most of my non-Farscape stuff off... I'll have to look around again.

[atlantagirl]

Originally posted by RescueFarscape
Yeah, I know. But I think I've already sold most of my non-Farscape stuff off... I'll have to look around again.

They also serve who only sit and shop. :huh:

[DRD2001]

I have a ton of stuff. I'm just too lazy to get it sorted and a description to Huh. I'll try harder. I'll have a ton more after Xmas. My family is known for asking what you want, and then giving you something from way out in left field that you have never heard of before.

[Shipscat]

I don't think it would garner too much in the way of publicity. I really think we wouldn't get any publicity for an ebay stunt unless we sold a kidney, or a baby...

BUT-everyone of these ebay auctions are another ad for the campaign, and for Farscape. If all of them talk about Farscape, and what the purpose of the auction is, it would be great advertising and seen by many people-and seen by people that would not ordinarily be looking for Farscape stuff, if we put other items out. So I think it's a great idea. Advertising that's not only free, but makes us money!

[I-am-so-Johns-girl]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shipscat
[B]I don't think it would garner too much in the way of publicity. I really think we wouldn't get any publicity for an ebay stunt unless we sold a kidney, or a baby...

:thud: :rofl: :signlol: :rollin:

[atlantagirl]

Originally posted by Shipscat
I don't think it would garner too much in the way of publicity. I really think we wouldn't get any publicity for an ebay stunt unless we sold a kidney, or a baby...

You're probably right, but I still think it's possible that if we got ENOUGH people all doing it at once, particularly following closely on any good publicity from "The Announcement", it might be worth a mention in something.

Of course for that to have any chance of succeeding (as a publicity stunt), we really would probably need more than a thousand people (and preferably more than 2,000) to participate at once and I'm not certain we could ever get that level of participation on any single project at once.

[Huh]

Hi,

I had a similar idea a few months ago, but I thought it might be more practical to do national yard sale day because more people would be able to participate. If there is a big scaper community in a particular area we could organize a bigger event. All of the scapers could take the items to one place for one big yard sale. For example, all of the Boston scapers could get together at one house and everyone brings at least one item to sell.

If you want to do an ebay event there are a few facts that might make things easier. Anyone who is registered to buy on ebay can just as easily sell items. It looks difficult at first, but it is actually quite easy and the fees are not that expensive. If someone writes the html for the format we can just copy and paste it into the ebay listing page. Then all you would have to do is add the description, payment and shipping info. I would suggest that you try to set up one person in charge of a few auctions, because there will be people who want to participate but will be too intimidated to set up the auctions themselves.

Anyway, just my two cents. If you need any help let me know.

[atlantagirl]

Yeah, the great thing about eBay is that it's so simple and no one even has to leave their home. If someone is on this board they probably already have the skills necessary to successfully do an eBay auction, even if they've never tried it before.

I actually supported myself for a while by selling things on eBay several years ago (back during the insane Beanie Baby years :D).

One thing people might not realize is just how many different kinds of things you can sell on eBay. Even with all the auctions that you've reported on, we've only scratched the surface.

Some of my favorite things that I sold (back in the olden days) were:

old books - I had lots of children's science type books (recent, not old), like Dorling Kindersley type books. Mostly hardback, some paperback. Things that at a yard sale you'd do well to get $1 apiece for. I got nearly full price for them (some I got more than full price :D ) Homeschool families generally snapped up my books. I also had a few unusual books (like an annotated version of The Hunting of the Snark that I bought at a clearance book sale years ago that sold for over $200).

old magazines - I had the second issue of Victoria magazine that had been tucked away in an old footlocker full of magazines. It sold for about $50

old cross-stitch patterns - I had a pattern for a cross stitch chess set that I had bought for 50 cents at a going out of business sale at a craft store. It went for about $50 too.

I got rid of so much "junk" that was cluttering up my life on eBay and got TONS more money for it doing it that way than I could have gotten at a yard sale. (My yard sales always bomb although most people are probably more successful than I am because I live in a rotten neighborhood for yard sales :(.)

Anyway, so far there hasn't exactly been a flood of people expressing interest in this idea and it wouldn't be worth implementing in this format unless we really did have a ton of people interested, but hopefully more people will donate stuff to your eBay auctions, so that's a good thing. :D