New Board Feature- Net54baseball’s- Pre-War Cards by issue/seller/grade/price
 

We have added a new board feature to Net54baseball.com. I am sure everyone has noticed, or will notice, the words, on each of the pages:

New: Net54baseball's : Pre-War Cards by Issue/Seller/Grade/Price

Those words appear below the middle banner but above the forums. It is a pull down menu that has links to eBay and GrandSlamBids for cards most of our members collect. Through this tool, you can see the most popular prewar cards by issue, by price, and by seller on eBay and GSB. It's a great way to find cards from issues you collect, and it is also an interesting way to see what else is on eBay and GSB from prewar issues you are less familiar with. This is part of the eBay and (unique) GrandSlamBids affiliate programs… Many sites have this set up to eBay, but most don’t link directly to the things we want to see. Personally, I know I have gone over to eBay, and GrandSlamBids, many times from Net54baseball.com and this will make it a click or so easier. If it offends you please don’t click on it. :) If there are any questions please post them here so others can see and learn too. It’s sort of self explanatory. Best regards and happy collecting!!

Leon,

I like the concept...great addition. I do have 1 question and 1 issue. Is there a reason this is limited to just SGC and PSA cards?

When I search by price, I get incorrect searches. For example, for $10,000 & up it shows 61 items, but when I follow the link, it shows everything over $10. Like wise for $5000-$10000, the link provides everything from $5-$10.

DJ

thanks
 

Thanks for the heads up. As you can imagine it took a little bit of programming to set this up. We imagined there might be a very small kink, or two, we still need to work out even after we implemented it. Please continue to let us know of little bugs and we will take care of them. The content of links you see is based on what sellers put in their listings (unless there is a s/w glitch) so there could be some of those things that show up as errors, when they aren't really errors with our s/w. They are errors in data entry on the user's side. Thanks for the kind words too... regards

Woops, forgot to answer the question about grading companies. The reason there is only SGC and PSA listed is because we worked with a partner on this and that is the code that was written for this particular application. I would like to see BVG-BGS in there, but I think it might be a little while before we can get that done. I do think it will be done eventually though. We will consider others too, as well as raw cards, if they make sense and the links get used. regards

I don't suppose it's possible to have an option to view Auctions only and not BINs?

Some of the searches do not work. For example if I click on N172 nothing happens. I clicked on T3 and The T3 search worked. The same on the graded cards.

Thanks joe

Joe, I don't think this is an issue, though I would say it is a little strange the way it works. From what I see it depends on if results are available for multiple sites. When I click N172, I get a small display for either Ebay or GSB. Sort of a sub menu. By clicking one of those I am directed to the appropriate auction site with results. If there is only one site with results such as with the T3, then just clicking on the set takes me right to the site.

dj

Great addition. Thanks to Leon and others who may have worked on this.
JimB

correct
 

I expect there to be a few very minor tweaks in the future. It really does depend if folks on the board like and use the feature. If folks use the feature we will put more development into it (raw cards, Beckett etc...). If they don't then we might not. I do think it adds a bit of functionality to the forum and is a cool feature. As mentioned by dj here, if there are cards ONLY on one site, ebay or GSB, then you will be lead directly there. If there are cards from that series on both sites, then you will need to click where you want to go, after clicking the link. Also, we are aware of a bit of quirkiness in IE browsers and that will be worked on until it is close to perfect, regardless of if anyone uses it or not, it is imperative we get it working with IE, imo. Personally, I use Google Chrome for my browser (I don't own any Google stock, drats) and it sped up everything on my computer a ton when I installed it, and it's free. My 14 yr old told me about it approximately 1 week ago. I very highly recommend using it over IE.....It just speeds everything up. Thanks for the comments and keep them coming....

I'm having trouble with the grade "filter". When I click PSA 4, for example, it shows 1,844 cards on eBay. However, after clicking the link to go to eBay, it shows 7,534 results. The GSB link shows 8 results, but the resulting page shows 234.

Edited to say that I still think this is a fantastic idea. Thanks Leon, et al.

thanks for the feedback
 

I clicked on it and you are correct. There are many more PSA 4's than we show in parenthesis. We will look into that. The only saving grace is that it did indeed pull up all PSA 4's. It's just that algorithm that looks like it needs to be fixed, in counting of the cards. Thanks for the kind words too!!

Btw, our programmers/technical folks are reading the comments here so they are getting looked at as reported. The fixes might not be lightning fast (except the IE issue which we are already on) but they will be fixed soon...(think days and/or a week or two)......... Much appreciated.

My comments/suggestions:

• At least just under the "Year and Manufacturer" category, go auctions only! This is a must as eBay BIN listings are a no-longer funny graveyard of overpriced cards. But when someone selects to filter results by seller, grade, or price, then it makes sense to have BIN listings too.
• Keep it to just PSA and SGC. Beyond that it is a slippery slope to who knows what graded company, and by keeping out raw cards you keep out the huge load of reprints on eBay.
• Refine the eBay filter by selecting "Cards" > "Baseball" > "Pre-WWII". For example, if you view by grade it shows 205 cards graded PSA 10. But if you filter it as Cards/Baseball/Pre-WWII, then it shows only 11 results, a big difference! It was showing all sorts of modern and non-baseball cards before the results were filtered.

Also, why are there multiple T205 categories?

Ideas like this, no wonder he's the boss!

One more reason why net54 is #1!
 

This wonderful feature is just one more reason why I feel so strongly that net54 is the industrys leader in todays hobby.
Keep up the great work, leon and all my other net54 friends.

Leon...

Great feature... But how do I get it to go away (hide it) again? I am getting tired of scrolling way down on each new page I open, and can't figure out how to shrink this to get the format back to the way it was.

Can you possibly advise... thanks!

easy
 

Just hit the button that says "hide" and that should do it...

Hmmmm.... I don't see a :hide" button anywhere. Where's it located?

Mark,

The "hide" feature is supposed to be in a small, blue box that's centered at the bottom of the area with all the links. Like you, I experienced it sometimes not appearing after I opened the area, so I couldn't close it. I'm guessing it's one of the display problems, along with the links "floating" whenever you place your cursor over them. I finally closed all my browsers, rebooted my laptop and when I opened the link to Net54, the feature was hidden again. I just make sure I don't open it because I don't know whether the "hide" option will present itself. It's a problem I've experienced both in IE and Firefox.

So, in a nutshell, try rebooting and see if that hides the problematic area.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Rob!

I'll try re-booting, as that "small blue box" is nowhere to be found. I know I have an outdated browser, so I bet that's the issue.

Your help is much appreciated!
Mark

thanks Rob
 

Thanks Rob.....

No way in the world is the application going to be as quirky in the near future, while using IE8. We understand most folks use IE and we are working on the fix now....It could take a few days to a week to correct though. We will also be getting rid of the additional T205 link and consider all suggestions that are being made. regards

for the moment ....
 

Since there were some unexpected software issues, with Internet Explorer, when we implemented the ebay and GSB searches we have taken them down from all but the Alterations Page, for now. The reason we left it there is that it does work with IE on that page. I am sure we will have a resolution within the next week and then will reinstall the application to all forums again. There is no reason to have a neat short cut feature that doesn't work :) correctly. We will also address each of the other concerns when we get the app back up. Most of the issues observed have reasoning behind why they might not be advisable to correct them. But we have to get it working correctly first before we can address those things. I/we appreciate folks patience. Oh yeah, we took a vote among the moderators and didn't think the "rebooting your computer" trick was a good long term solution ;).

update....
 

We believe we have the Internet Explorer issue worked out and have re-implemented the Net54baseball links feature to Ebay and Grand Slam Bids. I will address a few of the issues here but most fixes, if there are any, will have to be done in the near future (maybe a month or so, with the holidays and all).

I doubt we will have a feature that will rule out everything but auctions. It is one click when you go to the links and it's already there and done on ebay, and GSB. There is some serious programming time to be spent to make changes and we have to prioritize. I would imagine, with the function already on both sites, it won't be a high priority. We might address it in the future though.

As mentioned we will have Beckett as a grader in the future, to be able to be clicked on. Our partner had written the code and it wasn't coded in, much before Net54 came into the picture. Beckett is a strong supporter of Net54baseball and one of the best grading companies in business. They will be included in the future, I am sure.

There is a reason for the results of cards, ie...T205, T206 etc...that might be duplicated. It has to do with the way the cards are listed on the site(s). When we looked at the duplicate T205, T205 is showing up twice because Memory Lane listed all their T205's in category 217, which is Sports - Other, instead of baseball. That is the way it came out in the algorithm with our links. Our software is grouped first by ebay category, and then by year and manufacturer. Unfortunately, if a seller lists cards in the wrong category, and lists a sufficient number of them such that it shows up on our top 60 list, it will show up twice. If you mouseover the link, you will see the category number in there is different - 213 (BB) for the first set of T205s and 217 (other) for the second set. (this data was from a week or so ago)

I hope these things address a few of the concerns. I know I didn't address them all so please continue to give feedback. We hope to make the experience of the links seamless and enjoyable. We can't make it better if we don't know what you want. IF enough members use it then we will continually improve it. :) regards

It seems to me that this feature isn't properly named.

It doesn't get you to Pre-War Cards... it links you to Graded Pre-War Cards. It is what it is, notwithstanding it's called.

well....
 

We were going to name it "Frank's Angst" but preferred what we went with. :)

On a related note, sometime in the future, if we see folks using the links (and I would appreciate it if you do) then we will incorporate raw cards too. It's just more programming time. best regards

Realistically, I can see if you added raw cards then you'd be adding a bunch of fakes or incorrectly listed cards, so including them seems a difficult undertaking. Still, it is what it is, and all of those cards are graded. I think adding raw cards would be difficult, but I'm no whiz at 21st century computing. I wasn't advocating adding raw cards, I was advocating a more accurate label.

it's ok
 

I was just messin' with ya' Frank, hence the smiley. We have had those debates about a thousand times. Overall, grading has probably done more good than harm, but there are strong arguments to both sides of the debate. Overall, my opinion, is that it has helped. But keep in mind I have only really been doing it about 15 yrs. Edited to add that it could be very difficult to add raw cards, I haven't thought it through....but the intent is to look at it in the future. It very well might not be doable. Don't know....

Couple things;

1. This new feature, can the title bar be moved above the main Forum, BST and Memorabila links , or simply reduced to an icon? (making it easier to reach the old links)

b. Is it feasible to add a "Wants" forum to the BST?

1. There was some major programming and development for those links. I think for the time being they will be as they are. It was more work than it looks like.

2. The BST IS already the place for wants too....I see wants listed there all of the time. The acronym WTB (want to buy) is one I see rather frequently....as well as simply the words "looking for"......Or maybe I don't understand the question?

I was thinking about requesting the same thing, I think its a good idea.

question back at ya....
 

Well, if we made a "wants" forum then all wants would be in the same place. Why isn't using the ones we have feasible? It's worked for years, but maybe I am missing something?

I was just thinking it would be easier to list all my wants in one place. For me my "wants" can actually fall into 4 or 5 of the B/S/T buckets so I just figured it would be easier to have it in one place and I can just update my one thread. Either way no biggie at all, and FWIW everything works fine the way it is.

ok....
 

Ok...I understand completely. I think that having 7-8 more forums to have only the wants would be more cumbersome and actually be more difficult. If all of the wants were in one section it would still be cumbersome. I feel that the Net54baseball BST section is one of the main attractions of our forum and we will leave it the way it is for now, until there is a better solution, or a need. For those that have only been on the board for less than several years, ya'll might remember when it was a free-for-all on the front page. There was no different section at all. Each and every BST transaction was done in a new thread on the front page. Then we went to a once a month BST thread on the front page. Then we went to one every 2 weeks. Now we have morphed it into what it is today, which is a pretty darned good place to transact our goodies. That being said it always has been and always will be CAVEAT EMPTOR, buyer beware. Please be careful over there. Get, and ask for, references. If no one knows that person, and they won't give references, please let me, or another moderator know about it. I would consider that to be a red flag. best regards

? Eliminate the BST ebaY listing, as we now have this new ebaY feature up on the front page. It all evens out... Like my nickname! (8

Works for me Leon, the B/S/T is the #1 place I turn to when I wanna buy or sell...thanks!!

kinks worked out
 

Hey Folks
We believe we have the rest of the kinks worked out with our:

NEW "Net54Baseball's Pre-War Cards By Issue/Seller/Grade/Price" button....just click on the "show" button and the drop down menu folds out to see all of the most popular categories.

If anyone sees any issues please let me know. I appreciate anyone hopping over to Ebay or Grand Slam Bids using the feature. If you haven't tried it, it's kind of neat. You can click on your favorite seller, price, grade and so forth. Thanks again!!