eBay Auction Tracking System for Sideshow*Weta Collectibles

[spaceman]

thanks

Thanks All! I'm amazed at the positive response. It is gratifying to see your efforts appreciated!

the SpaceMan

 

[spaceman]

Re: thanks

Hi All --

A special thanks to user 'rodlonghi' who sent a detailed listing of mis-sorts!! This sort of initiative is a great help to streamline and improve the accuracy of this service!!

He also mentioned that the guestbook had been down. Apologies if any failed to leave a message. It is back online now.

Also thanks to user 'Radagaster' (another board) who pointed out that the Uruk Scout bust was not recording data properly. Somehow it never received a line in the filtering program. There are now almost 50 listings in place for this item.

the SpaceMan

 

[RodLonghi]

Re: thanks

Really glad to hear it helped and congrats. on the fast update.

Long life for the Perspective Virtual !

 

[spaceman]

downtime

Hey All,

Ebay regularly tweaks the inner workings of their system, and recent 'upgrades' caused the system to fail in data collection for several days. Sorry about the down-time, and a big thanks to user Mani (another forum) for the alert. I have manually added data for the missing time so that no information has been lost overall. It may take me a while to figure out how to reinitiate the automated downloads though :bang .

thanks
the SpaceMan

 

[GrishnakhMan]

Re: downtime

Great site, I don't suppose you could add a UK version of the ebay auctions? I only ask as there isn't a direct comparison between the 2 markets so using the $ rate doesn't give the expected UK price on many occasions...

 

[spaceman]

Problem Solved

GrishnakhMan -- Thanks, I'm glad you like it! I don't anticipate installing a full dual-site. However, I have retained (although it is not currently displayed) the original currency information of all non-USDollar transations. If this were posted along with the USD conversion would it solve your problem?

Also, there is some good news:
After some hard efforts and a bit of good fortune I have managed to cope with eBay's new system of operation. The automated data collection is back online. I have also implemented an email status reporter so that future downtime will be detected and diagnosed more rapidly. :yay

It does not appear that the changes were 'maliciously' aimed at operations like my own, but were simply standard 'upgrades'. I remain amazed at how often eBay changes their operation internals. I gues the programmers have to do something! :rolleyes

Lastly -- Stay tuned for future updates!! A major new feature is slated for installation in about 10 days. It is on the 'Collection Management' side of things. That's all I'll say about it for now!

the SpaceMan

 

[GrishnakhMan]

Re: Problem Solved

If this were posted along with the USD conversion would it solve your problem?

Oh yeah, that would be the icing on the cake...

 

[spaceman]

Updates

Hi All,

There are a few small updates and upgrades to let you in on. The big news I hinted at earlier is hopefully still coming next week. In the meantime:

All auctions which were originally transacted in a non-US currency now also include the native currency sales price. The USD conversion is based on the rate stored in my program at the time when the auction was processed.

There are a new class of banners available in the 'Link To Us' section. They dynamically reveal the current tracking value of a given piece and are available for all figures in the catalog. I envisioned these as a way to keep in compliance with eBay's policy(pages.ebay.com/help/polic...ks.html)on outside links. Third party service providers are allowed a small icon and a short text message. I'll be interested in opinions on whether these images are in keeping with the spirit of that rule. I'm also curious if you feel providing shoppers with this information in real time is beneficial to the auction participants. As always, I appreciate those who help new collectors become aware of the service.

Finally, I am soon to start archiving auction data on SideShow's non-LOTR lineup as well. It will be at least two months of data collection before any new product categories are publically displayed, but I'd like to poll what sort of crossover interests you have, and which new auction tracking lists would be most beneficial.

I'm out of town for the weekend, but I'll check back in with you all after that.

thanks!
the SpaceMan

 

[spaceman]

oops

It looks like that last link got garbled. Let me try it again here.

eBay Linking Policy:
pages.ebay.com/help/polic...links.html

:b

 

[spaceman]

Major Update!!



Hey All!

After much hard work I am especially pleased to announce the debut of the 'Collection Management' side of the PerspectiveVirtual.Com auction tracking system. This new feature will allow you to personalize your experience at the site in a whole new way. For the first time, you now readily track the values of not only individual pieces, but of your personal collection as a whole.

There is a full-featured login system complete with the ability to update your user profile and - for the forgetful - request automated password reset and notification via email.

You can group your pieces by six categories: Items to keep personally, personal items on order, wish list, items for sale, sale items on order and items previously sold. The total msrp/value and difference margin are calculated for each category.

I hope this is fun and useful for each of you. As always, I give my sincere thanks to those who support the site in various ways!

thanks and Happy Collecting,
the Spaceman

p.s. To visit the new feature:
www.perspectivevirtual.com/weta/management/

 

[chauvelin2000]

WOOO-HOOO!! The Gondorian Capt'n is on his way!!!

Lovely... but never got an e-mail giving me instructions for activation, as promised. ...I smell a glitch.

So it does no good to register if there's no way of accessing one's account to manage it.

Is there a time frame one must wait in order to receive the "activate your account" e-mail?

 

[spaceman]

email

Hey There Chauvelin2000,

Glad to see you found the system so fast, and sorry for your email trouble. The email should have been sent out practically instantaneously. I tested fairly carefully prior to rollout, and others have had success as well - so I believe the system is functioning properly. If you have an agressive spam filter, then it's likely that the message was misdirected. Be sure to check your junk-mail box. Failing that, send me an email request at [email protected] from the same address which you registered, and I'll manually activate your account.
good luck!:b
the Spaceman

 

[chauvelin2000]

EXCELLENT Service ... simply EXCELLENT!

Thank you. It works great!!

So nice to have all my "precious" SSW collectibles logged, archived, and inventoried!

Now, all that I've purchased for myself, sold, have on order, or hope to get or sell, is right there at my fingertips.:yay

It's great to see my Sideshow LOTR "museum" at a glance -- all my busts, medallions, statues, helms, environments, and weapon sets lined up in neat little rows of thumbprint photos with there original and current market values, plus the difference between the two!

Didn't know that what I have is already so valuable!!

It's AWESOME!!

 

[Nazgul dfx]

Re: EXCELLENT Service ... simply EXCELLENT!

i got an error when i try to activate my account.

The link i got in the email don't work

 

[spaceman]

Thanks!!

Chauvelin2000, Thanks so much! Glad you like it!

NazgulDFX, I got your email and activated the account. Sorry for the trouble. I realized the "" leading edge of the link I sent you was mangled. When this was repaired the link worked fine. Hope you enjoy the system!

the SpaceMan :b

 

[Lasher33]

Re: Thanks!!

Great job, Spaceman!!

I've just added the link to this thread to the "Popular / Must See Lord of the Rings/ WETA threads", which is a sticky topic.

 

[spaceman]

Thanks!

Peter --

Thank you so much. This is an honor.

the SpaceMan

 

[spaceman]

Site Update

One More Quick Site Update --

The stock-status icons for several figures had grown stale since I first put the system together. The 'Red Hand' has been busy lately! These values are now automatically updated nightly directly off of Sideshow's site. You can now be confident that the stock information provided is up to date!

the SpaceMan

 

[gooball]

Re: Site Update

Hi.

Thanks for the great site which is even better thanks to the new additions! I, however, am also having trouble activating my account. The email arrived instantaneously, but my link was not recognised.

My username's gooball on there as well.

Thanks for any help you can provide! Keep up the great work.

 

[spaceman]

You're Welcome

Hi Gooball!

You're certainly welcome. I've setup your account, and hope you enjoy it!


I'm really confused that some are still having trouble with the links. In any event it's no problem for me to activate them, so just let me know if anyone needs this done. As more users sign up and report their experiences it should become clear if there is really a systematic problem. I did realize a day back that the leading "https://" tag was mangled and missing the two slashes. This may have caused problems for some, but has been fixed. I suppose my web browser was able to cope with that flaw, since I had no trouble during the testing phase prior to rollout. It could possibly be that some persisting errors have to do with cut-and-paste mistakes. If your email message has the activation URL split across two lines be sure to copy them both into the browser. Also be sure there is no leading white space at the front of the address. Some activation codes may contain a period '.' -- this is part of the code and should be included.

Good Luck and Enjoy!!

keep me posted,
the SpaceMan