The Energon Pub

Greetings from Crave!

A quick introduction:
Crave (http://www.crave.com) is our new Transformers-dedicated marketplace where fans can buy & sell with each other. Our mission is to make it easy for fans to find Transformers on their want list.

What’s different about Crave’s Transformer marketplace?

- Fan-created catalog of every Transformer released by Hasbro & Takara
- Build your checklists of haves & wants
- Easy & secure way to buy and sell with fans
- Selling is free!

Bonus -- If what you want isn’t currently for sale, add it to your want list on Crave & we’ll notify you when it gets put up for sale.

Here’s what some of our 45,000 fans are saying from a recent independent survey:

“Awesome site to look for, buy and sell Transformers, with pictures & checklists.”
“When looking for Transformers, it’s the site to go, for things you can’t find elsewhere.”
“WAY BETTER THAN E-BAY”
“The team at Crave has been doing some INCREDIBLE work and is doing exactly what the fans are hoping for and want…THANK YOU!”

In just over a month since launch, Crave TF sellers are building up a wide selection of Transformers.
A sample of series for sale on Crave:
1.Generation 1
2.Classics
3.Animated
4.Generations
5.Takara Henkei
6.Takara Binaltech
7.Takara Label Series
8.Takara Encore

And many more!
If you have TFs to sell, come see how easy it is on Crave: click here for seller info.

Highlights from current Generation 1 listings on Crave

Hosehead
For sale by Jason Pacenski
Series: Generation 1, G1 1988
Condition: Loose – Complete
Quality: Near Mint
Price: $65.00 (includes shipping)


Onslaught
For sale by Jason Pacenski
Series: Generation 1, G1 1986
Condition: Loose – Incomplete
Quality: Good
Price: $20.00 (includes shipping)


Rescue Patrol (ALL 4 micro bots)
For sale by Tom Jones
Series: Generation 1, G1 1989
Condition: Loose - Complete
Quality: Near Mint
Price: $30.00 (includes shipping)


Defensor
For sale by Jason Carnley
Series: Generation 1, G1 1986
Condition: Loose – Complete
Quality: Fine
Price: $90.00 (includes shipping)


Masterpiece Grimlock
For sale by Tom Jones
Series: Generation 1, Masterpiece
Condition: Packaged - Opened - Complete
Quality: Mint
Price: $150.00 (includes shipping)

Crave’s marketplace has been live just over 1 month, so send us your feedback on what you like & what you think we could improve. Visit our Feedback tab on the site or email us (info@crave.com) with your suggestions.

You can also join 45,000 fellow Transformers fans where you can speak your mind on our Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/cravetransformers
Join today and you’ll be entered to win one of our Transformers giveaways.

Happy Holidays!
Erin & Kabe, Crave founders

Looks pretty cool to me although after browsing some of the listings I have to say that there are sellers out there who are well and truly mental. Seriously, $40 for Cybertronian Soundwave???? I just paid $9.00 for one yesterday at Target.
Still, it is a well put together site and I'm far more likely to utilize this than going to one of the shops in my area that deals in used TF's.

There are definitely some inflated prices, ala ebay style. I did get an "Alternator Rumble Civic Si" for $30, in box. I think I got a pretty good deal, seeing as he was $20 new years ago.

Well, certainly looks like it's worth a look around in terms of price-comparison. That's pretty much going to dictate whether or not I use the service.

Uh, so you're totally dependent upon the buyer notifying them they have recieved item before you recieve payment. So there is really just another middle man to go through.
I like the idea of Check Out My Cards and their selling buying policy much better. My last roomate has bought and sold on there for a while now and we would talk about how it would be such a great idea for toys, only a great amount of space would be needed.
I can see my self buying on this site, but prob not selling.

intersting, im all for this! fyi I just listed a misb Universe Hardhead for 60+15 shipping if anyone still needs him!

DISCHARGE wrote:Uh, so you're totally dependent upon the buyer notifying them they have recieved item before you recieve payment. So there is really just another middle man to go through.

Actually, Crave requires that sellers include a tracking number when shipping. The sellers put the tracking number into Crave, and then Crave can tell exactly when the product gets delivered. This protects sellers from buyers who claim that they never received anything. It also protects buyers from sellers who claim they sent something but never did.

-GG

Just a FYI for members, Crave is a site sponsor so please stop reporting this thread as spam.

Mods DO NOT lock this thread.

Thanks for your understanding.

Great idea. Too bad it seems I have to have a facebook account to sign up. I don't want facebook but I need to sell some TFs w/out the pricetag offered by ebay.

Guess what: there are not 45,000 real people following crave on facebook. They are fluff fake accounts set up to bolster numbers.

How could 45,000 transformers fans be a part of this, yet about 98% of the people on this site were unaware of the business till maybe 4 weeks ago?

Do the math.

lol look at the prices. i will stick with ebay if i need to

Starscream wrote:Guess what: there are not 45,000 real people following crave on facebook. They are fluff fake accounts set up to bolster numbers.

How could 45,000 transformers fans be a part of this, yet about 98% of the people on this site were unaware of the business till maybe 4 weeks ago?

Do the math.

While the Number might be sightly inflated, Crave has been around for awhile..They were at Botcon 2010 passing out flyers and advertising their site to the thousands of people in attendance. but is it really a big deal that they may have fluffed their numbers?

LiKwid wrote:

Starscream wrote:Guess what: there are not 45,000 real people following crave on facebook. They are fluff fake accounts set up to bolster numbers.

How could 45,000 transformers fans be a part of this, yet about 98% of the people on this site were unaware of the business till maybe 4 weeks ago?

Do the math.

While the Number might be sightly inflated, Crave has been around for awhile..They were at Botcon 2010 passing out flyers and advertising their site to the thousands of people in attendance. but is it really a big deal that they may have fluffed their numbers?

They've been advertising heavily on Facebook for a while now. Kind of makes me wonder if I threw a little bit of funds toward Facebook advertising how we could impact our followers and possibly get more Seibertronians posting here.

I could go for a bowl of Kellogs Krave right now.

Seibertron wrote:
They've been advertising heavily on Facebook for a while now. Kind of makes me wonder if I threw a little bit of funds toward Facebook advertising how we could impact our followers and possibly get more Seibertronians posting here.

You would not see the incredibly accelerated growth that this company has seen. They are using a non-facebook sanctioned service to boast synthetic growth. Unfortunately, there are not 45,000 or even 10,000 people that are actively interested in collecting, buying and selling as to befriend a transformer selling service on facebook.

Are there that many people that are interested in "transformers" at a general level? Definitely, but to the point that they buy and sell the plastic crack we all love day in day out? No.

And do inflated numbers mean anything? You must not be very deep into the world of social marketing and public image. Let's agree that it means a lot less to about 99% people out there, but to someone like me, it is just another weapon in the arsenal of public deception.

Amelie wrote:I don't personally care if membership numbers are inflated\exaggerated, the only things that matter are -

- Am I willing to pay xxxx price for this toy?
- How secure is my shopping experience?

If the answer to the above are both "YES" then I buy, and I thank Seibertron along the way for the link.

I would normally agree with you but Starscream does bring up some valid points in his post above. I can understand a small degree of inflated numbers or a smidgeon of misdirection here or there on the part of somebody who is advertising, well...just about anything these days. It's part of the advertising/sales game. But now that I take a second look at the numbers, 45k on someones page unless they are a major name is practically unheard of in a short time. We have established sellers and sponsors on here that have been with the site for quite a while and have nowhere near those numbers on Facebook. Before someone jumps down my throat for making some kind of accusation about our new sponsor, I'm not making any such thing. I said before that I like the site set-up and would likely use their service before dealing locally. I will, however, use as much caution researching them as I would any independent selling service and encourage folks to do likewise with any service they go through.

Seems like a cool idea...but, how are the prices? Seller fees? I'll look more in depth when I have some time (next week off! Yea!).

beanman wrote:Seems like a cool idea...but, how are the prices? Seller fees? I'll look more in depth when I have some time (next week off! Yea!).

There aren't any seller fees on Crave. Listing and selling are totally free. Buyers pay a commission when they purchase something.

The prices are set by the sellers, so some are great bargains and others aren't. It all depends on what the seller wants for their item.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to ask!

-GG

GrimlockGirl wrote:

beanman wrote:Seems like a cool idea...but, how are the prices? Seller fees? I'll look more in depth when I have some time (next week off! Yea!).

There aren't any seller fees on Crave. Listing and selling are totally free. Buyers pay a commission when they purchase something.

The prices are set by the sellers, so some are great bargains and others aren't. It all depends on what the seller wants for their item.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to ask!

-GG

What is the cost of commission? Is it flat fee or percentage based? Is the fee tacked into the cost of the item or is it an extra cost? I could find nothing on the site with that info, thanks.

DISCHARGE wrote:What is the cost of commission? Is it flat fee or percentage based? Is the fee tacked into the cost of the item or is it an extra cost? I could find nothing on the site with that info, thanks.

The commission is added to the price when you make the purchase. It's a percentage of the price of the item. You can see the cost of the commission on each item when you click Buy Now and go to PayPal. It's always shown as a separate line item, so you know exactly what the commission will be before you buy an item. At the moment, it is 10% of the purchase price.

-GG

So glad I found this site, I have been looking for a decently priced MP-4 but everywhere I looked it was $225 + shipping so it always turned out to be around $240-$250. I just happen to look on Crave and saw this MP-4 http://crave.com/marketplace/listing/to ... nniversary. With Crave's commission It ended up costing $198. The seller already shipped and it should be here on Tuesday!

anubis20 wrote:So glad I found this site, I have been looking for a decently priced MP-4 but everywhere I looked it was $225 + shipping so it always turned out to be around $240-$250. I just happen to look on Crave and saw this MP-4 http://crave.com/marketplace/listing/to ... nniversary. With Crave's commission It ended up costing $198. The seller already shipped and it should be here on Tuesday!

That's a great deal on that. I didn't pay that much less for it when it was new.

Welcome to Seibertron.com, anubis20!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Are there any other sites like Crave.com at the moment?