Posted By:
Brandon CacekHello Everyone,
First, I have to point out that due to the harsh criticism that we have received, Brockelman & Luckey Auctions will no longer be able to advertise with us. Ways to go...a few have ruined it for everyone. (I am kidding of course, and I hope you can catch that tone in the above comment).
I have read each of the posts and I would like to try to answer a few questions/comments that have been breeched. I will apologize ahead of time if I do not answer everyone in this post.
Whitehse - regarding your "lack of serious posters" comment. - These boards are designed to allow everyone to come on and give their own opinion. Unfortunately, with that we will see a number of posters that take advantage of it. (I actually read a thread last night between two or three posters that said nothing more than "what are you up to?...nothing on this end how about yourself". It was nothing more than a transcript of a phone conversation. Thank you for your second post where you stated that you would still give our site a little more time to iron out the kinks.
Kevin - We did Beta test the site, and there were a number of issues that were addressed during that phase. I'm sure that you will understand that with the Beta testing phase still in progress, our site is not complete as of yet, and there is a huge difference between a typical in-house Beta test, and actually going live in Beta mode. I will be honest and say that there are a number of aspects on the new site that employees of Beckett are actually trying to get worked out too, so it is not as if we launched with the intention that everything was going to go smooth. However, what a better way to do it than actually going live and listening to feedback from our users.
Leslie - Sorry that the old site has gone away, and I am also sorry that I cannot get you that $5 gift card that you were hoping for. I will ask the higher ups, but I cannot promise anything. 
Paul - I appreciate that you are willing to give it a try a few times, and please feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call if you get snagged anywhere on the site, and I will do my best to help you out.
Tim - Yes, we did adjust our publications slightly in the last year, but it was not with the intention to take away anything from the collectors. If anything it was to provide that much more information to you without bombarding you with magazines every so many weeks. We still have the four core sports titles that deal with raw cards within their specific sport (includes the material from the previous monthly and plus titles), and come out an average of seven issues a year (4-5 within the season, 2-3 outside of the season). Then our new Mutlisport magazine only fills the holes as far as new material is concerned. Therefore, if there is a long stretch between this issue of baseball for example and the next one, someone could potentially pick up the multisport title to get the latest news. Then all of the Graded cards have been encased in our magazine Graded Card Investor (six issues a year). We are also not trying to eliminate our customers, actually, we are trying to allow them to be more involved with the hobby by being able to submit information into our Beckettpedia feature, and adjust the site as a whole with comments, price suggestions, etc.
Matt - We have heard a lot that the discussion boards are a mess, and I assure you that is one feature we are working hard to fix as fast as we can. Even internally, we are having a few issues with this section of the new site, so I completely understand where you are coming from.
Tom - We just want people to know that with all of the drastic changes from the previous site, it might take a little time to learn to navigate. I know that I frequent sites on the web that were not always the easiest to figure out. Heck, there are some that I am still learning all of the features and how I can use them. We really are not trying to take customers for granted. Actually quite the opposite. This site was designed with collectors in mind and through extensive research within the hobby as a whole.
I hope that I have been able to help a few of you out with our new site. I really do understand that a number of you are frustrated with the site, and I cannot even begin to tell you how helpful it is to hear your concerns and questions. Just like everything else that we produce, the only way to please our customers is to listen to what they want, and do our best to give it to them.
As you can see, even on the Net 54 board (where you all gather with a relatively similar collecting niche), there are many opinions on how it should/could be ran. With our site, we have numerous collectors that range from the person collecting pre-war cards with specific backs, to the guys/gals who are collecting the most modern of cards. Then there are the large numbers of collectors who fall in the middle.
Thank you all again, for everything and I really do appreciate the feedback, and I hope that I was able to help you out a little.
p.s. - I should note that I do not get a bonus at work for putting nice comments on line. If I did, I would be on here a lot more.
Brandon Cacek