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Author
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Topic: Novaspace's Astro-Auction shutting down
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Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-02-2010 01:42 PM
   
We will be shutting down Astro-Auction effective 9/1.Kim Poor
novaspace.com |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2476
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 08-02-2010 01:49 PM
So sorry to hear that. I have added a number of items to our collection via that service. Thanks Kim, for the time you have put into it! |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 08-02-2010 03:15 PM
Hey Kim, thank you for everything you've done for collectors. AA was a great service but as they say "all good things must come to an end." |
StarDome
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 08-02-2010 03:17 PM
Why is it coming to an end? Costs? |
Murph
Member Posts: 108
From: New York, NY USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 08-02-2010 05:04 PM
Wow, I am going to really miss Astro-Auction. I bought a lot of great stuff there over the years. Thanks Kim |
Michael Clemente
Member Posts: 186
From: Atco, New Jersey, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 08-02-2010 05:54 PM
Thanks for the great ride while it lasted. I added some really nice stuff to my collection from your auctions and met some really great guys. |
Safecoat
Member Posts: 93
From: Austin, TX
Registered: Sep 2007
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posted 08-02-2010 06:00 PM
As a seller on A-A, I appreciate your generosity to all of us over the years. Many thanks. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-02-2010 06:13 PM
So sorry to hear this news. AA was one of the first sites I hit when I entered the hobby and I have bought and sold some great pieces there. Thanks to the folks at Novaspace for keeping the site alive for as long as they did! |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-02-2010 06:22 PM
Kim, thank you for running Astro-Auction. I know I will be sorry to see the site close down. Some of the best pieces in my collection came via you and Astro-Auction. I hope that someday you open the site up again. Thanks. |
rjurek349
Member Posts: 1190
From: Northwest Indiana
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 08-02-2010 10:03 PM
Kim, a big, big, big thank you to you, Sally, and the whole crew for running a first class auction site. As both a seller and buyer on AA over the years, it has been a priceless addition to the hobby. Very sad to see it go. AA will be greatly missed. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-03-2010 01:31 AM
Count me as another person who will be sorry to see Astro Auction go away. I filled a lot of holes in my collection thanks to AA. And it was refreshing to have this resource available for free to the community, with no buyer or seller fees.It would be nice if someone could step up and develop an Astro Auction Mk II for the hobby...even if it requires modest fees to keep it running. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 08-03-2010 05:48 AM
I am also grateful for Astro-Auction. Kim screened sellers and took any negative feedback seriously. He and the site will be sorely missed. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 08-03-2010 09:53 AM
Perhaps, in an effort to keep AA going it is time Kim charged a modest commission... to raise funds in order to keep the site operational? |
Safecoat
Member Posts: 93
From: Austin, TX
Registered: Sep 2007
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posted 08-03-2010 10:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
It would be nice if someone could step up and develop an Astro Auction Mk II for the hobby...
Don't think anyone could match the high quality that Novaspace provided on Astro-Auction. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-03-2010 10:11 AM
A logical expansion for collectSPACE if Rob wants to take-up the gauntlet. |
SRB
Member Posts: 258
From:
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-03-2010 10:56 AM
Kim, let me add my thanks to you for AA. You provided a great service the the space collecting community. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-03-2010 12:58 PM
Thanks everyone, but it wasn't costs which dragged us down, it was lack of customers. A free auction, with absolutely unique and authentic items will never work, for a lot of reasons. Looked good on paper, though. P.S. Thanks to our super sellers. |
machbusterman
Member Posts: 1778
From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Registered: May 2004
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posted 08-03-2010 04:08 PM
Kim, Sorry to hear that Astro-Auction will be closing down. I added a great many flight test and MGA item to my collection via Astro-Auction... without it I don't think I'd have half as good a collection as I do now. As one who has sold a few items over the years via AA I will be sad to see it go... Its a shame that there weren't enough buyers to make keeping the site up and running worthwhile.Kudos to you Kim and thanks for allowing us to sell our items with no commission charges... I will miss AA... actually maded a number of very good friends via selling on Astro-Auction... without it I'd likely not have enjoyed meeting them at various events around the US. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-03-2010 06:22 PM
Derek made a good point I neglected to mention...I also made several good friends through buying and selling on AA. My experience with this hobby would have been much less rewarding without AA.Perhaps a free auction site isn't something everyone wants to run. But it would be nice if someone had the time and energy to develop a safe "marketplace" for buying and selling their items. Instead of an auction format, sellers could just list items for a set asking price. The item would remain listed until it either sold or was removed by the seller. In some respects, that already takes place on the buy-sell-trade section of collectSPACE. But this would be a more formal marketplace, with photos posted for items and a searchable database for items. To maintain the marketplace, a flat listing fee (maybe $1 per item) could be implemented. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-03-2010 07:16 PM
Mark and Derek, Thanks so much for the kind words. I was going to say collectSPACE's Buy-Sell forum is already more successful than AA, although it is exposed to a fraction of the total market, it is even freer than AA because anyone can post (we required of sellers proof of quality, in items, pictures, and customer service.) In every bad feedback situation, SOMEONE was banned. Since we grilled the sellers beforehand, usually it was the bidder.Contrary to some beliefs, we're NOT going out of business. My vanishing health requires that I use my time more wisely. Nova Space Art, Astronaut Central, and Spacefest will be our foci now. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 08-03-2010 09:21 PM
Leaving for a trip to Durango, CO early in the morning, but I had to take a break from packing and jump in to say how much of a pleasure it was to visit Astro-Auction a couple of times a week. I bought the best flown item in my collection from the Jim McDivitt Garage Sale, and several other items from different sellers. When I get back on Tuesday, I'm going to try to put a couple things up for sale, as I've been meaning to for a while. Thanks, Kim, for keeping it running as long as you did.I take it, by the way, that the astronaut garage sale items will now be sold directly through Astronaut Central? |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-09-2010 06:30 AM
As a fairly long-term buyer and seller on Astro-Auction I'm certainly sad to see it go. As I've mentioned in the past for me one of the biggest advatages of AA as a seller (and much more important than the fact that it's free) is that international sellers on AA reach exactly the same market as US-based sellers.On eBay international sellers are at a distinct disadvantage because the default search settings for US-based buyers show only items from sellers based in the US. Even if I list directly on eBay.com and offer free international shipping the vast majority of casual eBay users will never see my listings or those of anyone else living outside the US. So, I'm sorry to see it go, but have to thank Kim and the gang for providing such a great service to buyers and sellers for so many years. |
dss65
Member Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 08-10-2010 10:04 PM
I'm very saddened by this news, too. I have usually visited this site every evening, and more than a small portion of my modest collection came through AA. It was comforting to have confidence in the authenticity of the items for sale. I'll miss it. I wish Kim and Sally the very best. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-11-2010 06:36 PM
Thanks for the support, guys. The same dozen or so people won most of MY auctions. Usually there was only one bid. I'm grateful there were that many. Robert Heinlein was fond of saying "TANSTAAFL", but AA really WAS a free lunch. |
Spacefest
Member Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-24-2010 07:16 PM
I have uploaded my final listing for Astro-Auction, including an Alan Bean original. My listings all close Sunday the 29th. The auction closes 9/1.Kim Poor
"Novaspace" |
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