USA and distant-from Europe/UK buyers, do you bother looking at the Bazaar of Obscurities

[eilif]

Forgive the placement, here, but the folks I'm addressing this too might not see it in a Bazaar posting.

The Bazaar seems to me to be a mostly UK/Europe centric place. That seems to reflect much of the character of Lead Adventure and for the record I don't think that character is a bad thing. However, being stuck on the ocean shipping from over there is usually prohibitive. I've tried digging through it to find US sellers, but it's just not been worth my time and I don't bother anymore.  I wondered if others who are post-prohitively far from Europe/UK have felt the same way.  So my question is.

USA and other distant-from-Europe/UK members, do you bother to search through the Bazaar?

If not, my followup is...

Would you be more likely to use the Bazaar if location of seller or regions seller will ship to was displayed in the message subject lines?

For my self, I'd love to use the Bazaar, but it's just not currently setup in a way that make it worthwhile to search for items for sale or to post such items for sale.

[3 fingers]

I'm a novice at selling things online but I've shipped miniatures on here to Europe and recently Australia from the UK ,so long as buyers willing to pay postage or an agreement between parties is made over it,it's not a hassle really.

[Cory]

I am in the US and have bought and sold figs on the bazaar here, both to and from sellers overseas. That said I don't go bargain shopping there as I understand shipping is likely to be prohibitive. It would be nice if seller location was mandatory to use that board though.

[warlord frod]

I think it would be useful if there was a sub-board that was USA centric so that we might sell and buy more easily on this side of the pond. While I have sold or traded with overseas parties it can be costly at times. Searching through the bazaar to find that one US seller can be time consuming

[6milPhil]

I think it would be useful if there was a sub-board that was USA centric so that we might sell and buy more easily on this side of the pond.

I think this would be a better idea than an additional tag. And perhaps one for Aus/NZ while they're at it. Our antipodean chums not only suffer the postage costs but also a much smaller domestic marketplace for anything to do with gaming. Even FoW, made by a Kiwi company is more expensive there than in the UK and the US...

[robh]

I think the Euro centric nature of LAF is a valuable counter to the "US only" nature of the TMP sales/trades boards. For some reason there seems to be much more willingness from Europeans to deal abroad than there is from Americans.

Personally I would not support splitting the Bazaar threads, but think posting your location is useful (and should be a requirement) when making sales/trade postings.

[eilif]

Good points all around.  Two additional things I thought of.

-Having buyers display their location in their profile is a partial fix, but then the buyer still has to click on every single ad topic to see where the buyer is located.  Putting their location in parentheses  (Europe/UK, USA, Worldwide, etc) in the subject line would make it easy to see whether a given sale thread is of interest.

-I have noticed that Lead Ad sellers do seem to be willing to ship worldwide, but for many, the issue is the postage that it would require to ship the item makes them not worth pursuing.

[fitterpete]

I don't usually look at the bazaar.Postage is usually too prohibitive to make it worth it from anywhere besides stateside and there are too few US sellers/traders.

I use Bartertown.Its set up for it,not a hassle, you have some kind of back up(if you're careful), and there is a rating system.
Like rob h said you have TMP too, and Bartertown, that are US centric.

And robh it might be because US gamers are used to cheap postage cost and sending overseas is quite the shock to most.Not to mention having to fill out customs forms,getting a weight (and then making sure the buyer still wants to buy), and such is a pain.Most times sending within the US I just get a prepaid box (based on box size not weight) pack it at home and drop it off or they even pick it up.
I don't even like shipping to Canada just because of the above.
I see plenty of UK only sellers too.

Pete

[FramFramson]

I look at the bazaar now and again. I've bought things from EU or UK members. If it's something I want badly enough, postage won't matter much. If it's sort of a borderline want then I've passed on things that would cost too much to post before. It really depends. '

Also if it's just one fig it's harder to justify international shipping, but if you're buying a half-dozen or more, then the shipping's easier to take.

[inkwell]

OMG TMP sucks! What a hot mess. Makes me ashamed to be an American 

[beefcake]

I've purchased many times. But I think coming from NZ whenever I look I expect the shipping to be large. Putting the seller location in the top might be useful though. I think splitting boards would prohibit sales for those people and make some that have been after certain minis miss out on them even when they may be willing and able to pay higher prices for postage.

[grant]

I've sold loads on LAF and will ikely continue to - as far away as New Zealand, and as close as in the same town.

Never had a problem, don't see the need for more tags etc. Never use TMP as its a hot mess.

[starkadder]

I live in Oz (Australia to the perverse)

Although I do not post these days, I do look at the Bazaar quite regularly and have made some quite large purchases from overseas, including a whole Western town from the USA, two large figure collections (USA and Europe) and a few individual purchases.

When you live in Oz, you become used to high postage costs. The exchange rate is more significant to us at the moment.

I apply one rule. What is my time worth? If the item (postage and all) costs less than it would take me to assemble, paint or base then it is a valid option.

Scurv: PMT is indeed a hot mess. A dreadful place.

[Constable Bertrand]

As an Aussie myself, I'd have to agree with starkadder.

I have purchased on the bazaar and have been prepared to buy a lot to reduce shipping per item. But as mentioned our dollar is at a 3 year low, and is the biggest blockage to making sales from the UK.

I think putting "location/only or worldwide" in the title would speed up the browsing process. I have liked some sales threads minis, only to read the big red " Europe only " in their body text.  

I would like more aussies and kiwis selling stuff I want, haha, that would solve my concerns.

Cheers
Matt

[Neotacha]

I look.  If I see something interesting I inquire about price or shipping or whatever.  Seller can chose to sell to me or not.  Where they're from is not a big deal to me; if they ship to the US is.  Yes, sometimes I'm interested in stuff that won't ship across the Atlantic, but at my age I'm used to dealing with disappointment.  Someone, somewhere, will have the minis I want and be willing to ship them to me or I don't get them and life goes on as normal.

That said, it would be kind of nice to have some sort of warning about limited shipping ranges in the title of the thread or in the first line or two of the initial post.

Edited for appalling grammar.