A new Delcampe site? In Australia?

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun Jan 30, 2011 22:45:53 pm

Hello all,

I have noticed many Australian people (or lover) are using this board.

During the last few years, we have receive more and more requests to open a Delcampe site in Australia.

We have finally registered the domain name (after having filed a trademark for Delcampe in Australia, mandatory :wink:

)... but to start it, we will need support from the Australian Stamp Lovers Community.

So, this thread is now only to get your opinion on this. What do you think about this ? What would be your advice ?

Thank you, Seb Delcampe

The Pom · **Posted:** Sun Jan 30, 2011 23:22:02 pm

Hi Seb,

From previous threads, it seems that the major thing that people dislike about Delcampe (the website, not the person!) is the enormous number of worthless items caused by the free listing policy.

I wouldn't suggest changing this, but I would be strongly inclined to add more options to your search engine.

Features I would like to see include (they may be there and I've missed them):

Show items over $1 only

Exclude specified sellers from searches

Select specified categories to search

Thinking about it, what I really want isn't a search, but a specified browse. Searching is often pointless as one stamp can be described a dozen different ways by different sellers.

So what I would like to see is something along the lines of:

"Show all items in Australia: 1913-36 George V: Heads, 1913-48 Kangaroos, 1937-52 George VI covers & documents, 1952-65 Elizabeth II Issues : Pre-Decimals covers & documents, FDC. Don't show anything 99c or less, don't show anything from the following specified sellers xxx, yyy, etc" Click here to save this search.

Cheers
Chris

selvedge · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 00:06:14 am

I am already a member of Delcampe so an Aussie site will be really welcome.

I would like to see spiders in the search engine for High Value items in coins and stamps set to, say, greater than $A100.00. That way I won't have to sort through reams of small value Roos to find the 10/- upwards or 5/- Harbour Bridges.

Global Administrator · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 00:19:25 am

Well if you do not try Seb .. you will never know! :lol:

Ebay is super strong for stamps here, so there must be a niche.

And I too would like to be able to sort all the "Buy Now" in descending price order in each category as they are the only things that interest me generally. Seems like they are not able to split from Auction lots right now?

To be honest a few of the policies will not work well here.

I just went to my never used account, and it says I need to get my address verified, so everything will be safe for everyone.

Sounds OK. :idea:

Then your page says I need to send you 5 Euro so you can send me a letter in the post so I can prove that I live where I live.

I'm probably busy, or lazy - or both, but that turns me right off! And it will turn off lots of folks here at least I feel sure. They will not bother.

Europeans are used to being regulated in all ways. Australians are not. And will not pay 5E to help you do it!

Anyway I did look at one seller's items as The Pom added a link to it here - saying how disorganised it all was.

I am busy, and like to do things fast, and buy instantly and never bid.

So I see this cover I can sell to a client for $A20, offered there for 8 Euro -

http://stamps.delcampe.net/page/item/id,109782296,var,Beleg-aus-Nambour-1947,language,E.html

Great ... . look at his shipping charge and see -

EU & worldwide: 5,50 â‚¬ / ab 150 â‚¬ Bestellwert, Versand kostenfrei

Have no idea what that all means, except it appears to indicate the 8E small cover will cost me at least 5.5E to mail. i.e. I make zero on the deal. Absurd, so I go to close the page.

Then I see this message -

You cannot submit a lower or group price offer for this item.
Reason: You do not have 20 ratings and 95%

So I am thinking maybe I am paying 8E, but someone else pays less?

Nah. All far too hard .. sorry!

Best of luck, and hope it all works out.

Glen

Kloster · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 02:52:08 am

Glen

Quote:

EU & worldwide: 5,50 â‚¬ / ab 150 â‚¬ Bestellwert, Versand kostenfrei

EU/worldwide 5.50â‚¬/ Purchase 150â‚¬ and above is free S/H.

There's a few folks complaining about the lack of new items, repeating low cost items - but as one topic here on stampboards tells us - there are gap fillers; after spending 2 years of searching online for a single stamp you've missed, Delcampe seems fine

Kloster

PS. Herr Delcampe, in a survey from QXL.dk, I added your page as a main interest, I haven't bought anything as funds are severely limited these days sadly.

jumet · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 06:18:47 am

I use Delcampe for Belgian "varietes", especially King Albert I (1915-1918) issues. It takes a long time and a lot of searching, but I do find them. I'll buy from Europe or Australia, makes no difference to me, but I really like Delcampe. It fills a "void" for me that E-bay doesn't address.

langtounlad · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 16:35:58 pm

I have been watching the delcampe site as it occasionally has had items in which I was interested.

BUT I am about to ditch it as one of my favourites because it has become the dumping ground for OZ crap. The bulk of the stamps are not worth listing individually and the scans are not worth a cracker.

So Sebastian if you are serious about operating in Australia make sure the crap on your other sites is not dumped here.

And make it a requirement that scans are a fair representation of what is being sold.

Regards
Frank

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 18:32:42 pm

I think your "wallet" idea is excellent and should be compulsory! In fact the current checkout via wallet is superb! :mrgreen:

As one of my areas of collection (as per my avatar) is from a French Colony, the majority of the postally used (on cover) are from France.

The French (and I am being generalist here as I worked for a French multinational) seem to have a magnificent way of only accepting local deposit and are not the slightest bit interested in MoneyBookers or PayPal. Ppfffffffff....

dukeprince · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 19:57:20 pm

Delcampe to me is at its best on International setting, because it has more listings, I assume it has all sites listings rolled into one, if the Aussie site joins in in that manner , lets go.

Delampe is a mess at times , but that is precisely why finds are possible , if everyone listed correctly with wonderful big clear scans then everyone will spot that rare stamp.

Its a bit like going into the roughest unorganised stamp shop in the world , dig and thou shalt find, the harder it is to find the cheaper it will be , not much competion thats why, as others say its too hard and takes to long to find.

Some of the listers display poor english and poor knowledge , but that also occurs on Stampboards, so we can live with that , its that elusive stamp thats important.

Maybe I should not have told you all this.

selvedge · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 20:21:11 pm

dukeprince wrote:

Delcampe to me is at its best on International setting, because it has more listings, I assume it has all sites listings rolled into one, if the Aussie site joins in in that manner , lets go.

Delampe is a mess at times , but that is precisely why finds are possible , if everyone listed correctly with wonderful big clear scans then everyone will spot that rare stamp.

Its a bit like going into the roughest unorganised stamp shop in the world , dig and thou shalt find, the harder it is to find the cheaper it will be , not much competion thats why, as others say its too hard and takes to long to find.

Some of the listers display poor english and poor knowledge , but that also occurs on Stampboards, so we can live with that , its that elusive stamp thats important.

Maybe I should not have told you all this.

I agree with you almost 100% Dukeprince. The only bit I would not have mentioned is the poor English skills. After all it is a European site. I feel equally sure that that Europeans have far better German, French or any other language skills than you or I.

So the possibility of an Australian site should reduce these language problems if only Australians were selling on the Aussie site.

But, as you mention, Delcampe is much like disorganised, rough shop where you can poke into all sorts of places and find rare treasures as many of the Stampboards members can attest. So I will still be scouring through Delcampe Europe for this reason.

One thing about Delcampe you may not know is that they have a lot more keywords you can use in their search engine to find particular stamps.

snowy12 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 21:04:14 pm

Hi
I to am a Delcampe member.I find the free listing a real pain as sellers put up page after page of the same stamp.Another problem as I used the Belgium Delcampe and can only pay using Paypal ,I wanted to be able to exclude sellers who did not use paypal.This option was not available.
I also find a lot of sellers use it as a shop ,not as an auction site.
Only other gripe is sellers are allowed to add % for paypal fees ,Ebay does not allow this.
Apart from that I find the site OK

Brian

cckerberos · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 22:45:59 pm

I use Delcampe pretty often. I agree that an option to ignore items under $1 might be useful, but I like free listing policy on the whole. I've bought a number of <$1 stamps that wouldn't have shown up on eBay.

I only have 2 annoyances with the site. First, while the site has the nice option of showing all prices in the currency of your choice, it doesn't take into account relative value when ordering listings by price. So a $550 item will listed as if it were more expensive than a 525â‚¬ one. The second one (which I don't think the site management is to blame for) is that sellers are lazy when it comes to classifying non-European stamps. 63% of Japanese stamps are in the "Other & Unclassified" category (as opposed to only 1.5% for France, 0.8% for Germany, and 8% for Britain).

waroff49 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 22:49:30 pm

I would like to be able to highlight a whole passage for translation, especially payment methods and postage costs. I saw a Footscray cover the other day from France and couldn't work out if they accepted paypal and what the postage costs would be- so I gave up and didn't buy it.

selvedge · **Posted:** Tue Feb 01, 2011 04:34:39 am

waroff49 wrote:

I would like to be able to highlight a whole passage for translation, especially payment methods and postage costs. I saw a Footscray cover the other day from France and couldn't work out if they accepted paypal and what the postage costs would be- so I gave up and didn't buy it.

You can already do this by adding Google Translator to your tool bar.

You highlight the section then click on the translator button.

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 06:48:37 am

Hello Chris,

How are you ? I am happy I met you 2 or 3 years ago

The Pom wrote:

From previous threads, it seems that the major thing that people dislike about Delcampe (the website, not the person!) is the enormous number of worthless items caused by the free listing policy.
I wouldn't suggest changing this, but I would be strongly inclined to add more options to your search engine.

Indeed, we do not plan to change our free listing policy. The democratic fee structure we propose is important to me. However we have some plans to improve this, some good ideas for the near future. :wink:

The Pom wrote:

Features I would like to see include (they may be there and I've missed them):
Show items over $1 only
Exclude specified sellers from searches
Select specified categories to search
...

Within less than 2 months, we should be coming with several features including at least 2 of your 3 wishes. The project analysis is done and programming has begun :wink:

Thanks for your message.

Cheers, Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 06:51:01 am

Hello Selvedge,

selvedge wrote:

I am already a member of Delcampe so an Aussie site will be really welcome. I would like to see spiders in the search engine for High Value items in coins and stamps set to, say, greater than $A100.00. That way I won't have to sort through reams of small value Roos to find the 10/- upwards or 5/- Harbour Bridges.

Indeed, will soon be available. And more than probably before launching the Aussie site.

Thanks for your message.

Cheers, Seb Delcampe

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:00:21 am

Hello Glen,

Nice to read you

Global Administrator wrote:

Well if you do not try Seb .. you will never know! :lol:

Ebay is super strong for stamps here, so there must be a niche. And I too would like to be able to sort all the "Buy Now" in descending price order in each category as they are the only things that interest me generally. Seems like they are not able to split from Auction lots right now?

Indeed. But we are also working on this wish presently. The most difficult point we are facing is database performance, that will still need us some weeks :wink:

Global Administrator wrote:

To be honest a few of the policies will not work well here. I just went to my never used account, and it says I need to get my address verified, so everything will be safe for everyone. Sounds OK. :idea:

Then your page says I need to send you 5 Euro so you can send me a letter in the post so I can prove that I live where I live.
I'm probably busy, or lazy - or both, but that turns me right off! And it will turn off lots of folks here at least I feel sure. They will not bother.
Europeans are used to being regulated in all ways. Australians are not. And will not pay 5E to help you do it!

I perfectly understand. An upgrade to the "verified member" program is previewed this year.

Global Administrator wrote:

Anyway I did look at one seller's items as The Pom added a link to it here - saying how disorganised it all was.
I am busy, and like to do things fast, and buy instantly and never bid.
So I see this cover I can sell to a client for $A20, offered there for 8 Euro -
http://stamps.delcampe.net/page/item/id,109782296,var,Beleg-aus-Nambour-1947,language,E.html
Great ... . look at his shipping charge and see -
EU & worldwide: 5,50 â‚¬ / ab 150 â‚¬ Bestellwert, Versand kostenfrei
Have no idea what that all means, except it appears to indicate the 8E small cover will cost me at least 5.5E to mail. i.e. I make zero on the deal. Absurd, so I go to close the page.
Then I see this message -
You cannot submit a lower or group price offer for this item.
Reason: You do not have 20 ratings and 95%
So I am thinking maybe I am paying 8E, but someone else pays less?
Nah. All far too hard .. sorry!

I am eager to be at the end of this year. I see that most our projects are well awaited wishes from many people. That helps me a lot to read all comments here, the most important thing for us remain our users and fullfilling their needs.

Global Administrator wrote:

Best of luck, and hope it all works out.

Thanks a lot, and thanks for your message

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:02:19 am

Hi Kloster,

Kloster wrote:

PS. Herr Delcampe, in a survey from QXL.dk, I added your page as a main interest, I haven't bought anything as funds are severely limited these days sadly.

I wish you the best for the future. Maybe see you soon back on the site

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:04:32 am

Hi Jumet,

jumet wrote:

I use Delcampe for Belgian "varietes", especially King Albert I (1915-1918) issues. It takes a long time and a lot of searching, but I do find them. I'll buy from Europe or Australia, makes no difference to me, but I really like Delcampe. It fills a "void" for me that E-bay doesn't address.

Your nickname being a belgian city, it is not a surprise you collect stamps from our country

... are you a Belgian ?

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:06:07 am

Hello Frank,

langtounlad wrote:

I have been watching the delcampe site as it occasionally has had items in which I was interested. BUT I am about to ditch it as one of my favourites because it has become the dumping ground for OZ crap. The bulk of the stamps are not worth listing individually and the scans are not worth a cracker. So Sebastian if you are serious about operating in Australia make sure the crap on your other sites is not dumped here.
And make it a requirement that scans are a fair representation of what is being sold.

I realize this, ok.

Thank you for your message.

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:08:27 am

Hi Pete,

Diver Pete wrote:

I think your "wallet" idea is excellent and should be compulsory! In fact the current checkout via wallet is superb! :mrgreen:

As one of my areas of collection (as per my avatar) is from a French Colony, the majority of the postally used (on cover) are from France.
The French (and I am being generalist here as I worked for a French multinational) seem to have a magnificent way of only accepting local deposit and are not the slightest bit interested in MoneyBookers or PayPal. Ppfffffffff....

Checks are very popular in France. And indeed we have lot of French people registered on Delcampe

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:11:20 am

Hello Duke,

dukeprince wrote:

Delcampe to me is at its best on International setting, because it has more listings, I assume it has all sites listings rolled into one, if the Aussie site joins in in that manner , lets go.

I confirm, this is the idea :wink:

dukeprince wrote:

Delampe is a mess at times , but that is precisely why finds are possible , if everyone listed correctly with wonderful big clear scans then everyone will spot that rare stamp. Its a bit like going into the roughest unorganised stamp shop in the world , dig and thou shalt find, the harder it is to find the cheaper it will be , not much competion thats why, as others say its too hard and takes to long to find. Some of the listers display poor english and poor knowledge , but that also occurs on Stampboards, so we can live with that , its that elusive stamp thats important. Maybe I should not have told you all this.

It is not really a secret :wink:

... our way of working is to find a balance everyone can enjoy. That's why we prefer to avoid listing fees, but allow buyers to filter the listings.

Seb Delcampe

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:13:00 am

Hi Brian,

snowy12 wrote:

Hi
I to am a Delcampe member.I find the free listing a real pain as sellers put up page after page of the same stamp.Another problem as I used the Belgium Delcampe and can only pay using Paypal ,I wanted to be able to exclude sellers who did not use paypal.This option was not available.I also find a lot of sellers use it as a shop ,not as an auction site.
Only other gripe is sellers are allowed to add % for paypal fees ,Ebay does not allow this.
Apart from that I find the site OK Brian

I am pretty sure you will enjoy the site a lot within not more than 2 months :wink:

Sebastien

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 07:15:52 am

Hello Cckerberos,

cckerberos wrote:

I use Delcampe pretty often. I agree that an option to ignore items under $1 might be useful, but I like free listing policy on the whole. I've bought a number of <$1 stamps that wouldn't have shown up on eBay.I only have 2 annoyances with the site. First, while the site has the nice option of showing all prices in the currency of your choice, it doesn't take into account relative value when ordering listings by price. So a $550 item will listed as if it were more expensive than a 525â‚¬ one. The second one (which I don't think the site management is to blame for) is that sellers are lazy when it comes to classifying non-European stamps. 63% of Japanese stamps are in the "Other & Unclassified" category (as opposed to only 1.5% for France, 0.8% for Germany, and 8% for Britain).

Against laziness of some sellers, it's difficult for us to do something. But the sorting taking an absolute value in account is also something we are working on. It is mostly a database speed issue we presently have.

Seb Delcampe

waroff49 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 08:41:17 am

Thank you Sebastian for those insights. I am a Delcampe user and enjoy the experience. I am using it now because it has the material I want for my collection. An Australian site should be very exciting - a large company taking on EBay.

Cheers Waroff49

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 13:45:19 pm

sdelcampe wrote:

Hi Pete,

Checks are very popular in France. And indeed we have lot of French people registered on Delcampe

Sebastien

Thanks for the response Sebastien!

The problem is that they ONLY accept checks or local cash deposit.

I wish that they would accept one of the accepted international agents like PayPal or MoneyBookers as well! :twisted:

Cheers

snowy12 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 14:33:29 pm

Hi Sebastien
Thankyou for your reply,will look forward to your new site with anticipation.
Brian

nightwatchman · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 18:25:08 pm

I look forward to your new website.

Global Administrator · **Posted:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 23:30:32 pm

Diver Pete wrote:

Thanks for the response Sebastien!

The problem is that they ONLY accept checks or local cash deposit.

I wish that they would accept one of the accepted international agents like PayPal or MoneyBookers as well! :twisted:

Cheers

Seeing they are allowed to charge extra for paypal why on earth would they NOT accept it?

muruk · **Posted:** Thu Feb 03, 2011 13:49:37 pm

Hi Seb,

I visited Delcampe for the first time yesterday, as a result of reading this thread. I joined, made some purchases, and spent a few hours browsing ... so these comments are from a first try user. I have also been a small time ebay buyer and seller for about 2 years.

I like the single stamp listings. I have often needed just a single stamp and have had to buy a set or selection. The Maluku Selatan cinderellas are a classic example ... many are listed singly on Delcampe. A suggestion would be to do like ebay ... where a seller has 20 of the same stamp ... instead of listing them separately, have one listing with "number available", and count them down as they sell.

The items I bought had no automated postage calculation. I had to make a guess of the item weight, then search through the postage data and make an estimate, or I needed to get a price from the seller.

Postage is generally higher than on ebay (yes, I know this is determined by the seller, not Delcampe). What I typically pay 1.00 or 1.50 Euro for on ebay costs 3.50 to 4.50 on Delcampe.

Adding paypal fees manually, typically 4% + 40 Eurocents, is annoying. This needs to be automated or discouraged. If ebay sellers can absorb paypal fees, why not Delcampe? Full points to your sellers who combine all into one on their fixed price listings ... so much simpler.

I like the variety of items on offer ... I could have gone totally broke in my short time of browsing ... much better range of what I collect than ebay. I'll be back.

Why an Australian site? I would just put up one international site, that's all. My browse must have defaulted to this, as I had sellers from all over the planet, including Australia. On ebay, I always switch to international mode before searching.

I agree with other posters that some of the scans are poor, but that is also true on ebay. Also that many items are incorrectly described ... but as has been said, that's where bargains can be found, but only by accident. But it also means the possibility of missing something that you are looking for.

Armarantine78 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:45:04 pm

I use Delcampe a lot. I actually enjoy a lot of the low listings for my country because I have picked a few unusual and different stamps.

What I do hate is the country search...urgh! I have to search under Rhodesia, Rhodesie, Rhodesien, Rhodesian, Zimbabwe. Bidorbuy.co.za is much better as it allows the seller to post under the one country category. Its so much easier to search!

I like the fact that you can off the seller a lower amount after 30 days, and I like the fact you can search for sold lots (very, very handy).

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 21:11:28 pm

Hi Pete,

Diver Pete wrote:

I wish that they would accept one of the accepted international agents like PayPal or MoneyBookers as well! :twisted:

We sincerely try to :wink:

Seb Delcampe

Diver Pete · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 21:19:45 pm

sdelcampe wrote:

Hi Pete,

Diver Pete wrote:

I wish that they would accept one of the accepted international agents like PayPal or MoneyBookers as well! :twisted:

We sincerely try to :wink:

Seb Delcampe

Seb,

Make it mandatory and we have a winner! :lol:

Cheers

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 21:20:18 pm

Hi Muruk,

muruk wrote:

I visited Delcampe for the first time yesterday, as a result of reading this thread. I joined, made some purchases, and spent a few hours browsing ... so these comments are from a first try user. I have also been a small time ebay buyer and seller for about 2 years.
I like the single stamp listings. I have often needed just a single stamp and have had to buy a set or selection. The Maluku Selatan cinderellas are a classic example ... many are listed singly on Delcampe. A suggestion would be to do like ebay ... where a seller has 20 of the same stamp ... instead of listing them separately, have one listing with "number available", and count them down as they sell.

We have this system, selling with quantities... but only for absolute identical items. That means, this system is not allowed for canceled stamps (because postmark may differ etc).

muruk wrote:

The items I bought had no automated postage calculation. I had to make a guess of the item weight, then search through the postage data and make an estimate, or I needed to get a price from the seller.
Postage is generally higher than on ebay (yes, I know this is determined by the seller, not Delcampe). What I typically pay 1.00 or 1.50 Euro for on ebay costs 3.50 to 4.50 on Delcampe.

Most of the time, postage is less on Delcampe, because most sellers only charge real postal charges. But, maybe you bought in other countries this time on Delcampe ? That may explain this difference. Btw, we are working on an automated process to calculate charges.

muruk wrote:

Adding paypal fees manually, typically 4% + 40 Eurocents, is annoying. This needs to be automated or discouraged. If ebay sellers can absorb paypal fees, why not Delcampe? Full points to your sellers who combine all into one on their fixed price listings ... so much simpler.

I agree, it would be simpler, but as we want to remain as open as possible, we allow this charge. But we plan to automate it for the near future.

muruk wrote:

I like the variety of items on offer ... I could have gone totally broke in my short time of browsing ... much better range of what I collect than ebay. I'll be back.

muruk wrote:

Why an Australian site? I would just put up one international site, that's all. My browse must have defaulted to this, as I had sellers from all over the planet, including Australia. On ebay, I always switch to international mode before searching.

The national sites are not for people like you (or me or many others), but for people who want to trade locally. I suggest you to use the international site http://www.delcampe.net, there you will find all items of all national sites.

muruk wrote:

I agree with other posters that some of the scans are poor, but that is also true on ebay. Also that many items are incorrectly described ... but as has been said, that's where bargains can be found, but only by accident. But it also means the possibility of missing something that you are looking for.

Thank you for your comments. It is always interesting for us to know the first impressions of a new user.

Seb Delcampe

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 21:21:53 pm

Hi Armarantine,

Armarantine78 wrote:

What I do hate is the country search...urgh! I have to search under Rhodesia, Rhodesie, Rhodesien, Rhodesian, Zimbabwe. Bidorbuy.co.za is much better as it allows the seller to post under the one country category. Its so much easier to search!

Can you explain a bit more ? I do not understand correctly.

Thank you, Seb

Old Yeti · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 22:32:16 pm

I have been using Delcampe for a while and I have found it much easier to use and search than eBay.

I like the fact that the 'magnifier' works on every listing and that when you want to bid; the bidding area opens in a different tab; so that you can continue searching while it loads and then just shut it off without waiting for the reload time you get on eBay.

Calculating the total cost is sometimes a little challenging but I have found that if you depress "request invoice" ...9 times out of 10 you will be emailed an easy to understand invoice.

Some sellers 'say' they don't accept PayPal, but invariably change their minds and send you an email address if you alert them to the fact that it is your only method of payment. Most will charge you the PayPal fees + 0.3 -0.4 E.

I think that an Australian Delcampe will be a bit of a waste of time, as you would end up searching the international site anyway as it is likely to have many more listings and hence a much better chance of finding what you are looking for.

I like the International 'flavour' of Delcampe, I have not found language a problem as I have Google-bar on my Firefox and also there are a lot of free-translating sites on the web, if you need to ask a question.

Finally, how good is it to actually be able to voice our opinions to the Seb directly..try to get an answer of any sort from eBay, if you live long enough!

Good work Delcampe!

Alex

Armarantine78 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 23:00:51 pm

Seb,

If I was to search for a stamp from Rhodesia (which is what I collect), you don't have a category for Rhodesia. Further, because the site is in multiple languages, I would have to try various spellings of the word "Rhodesia" to locate the product.

Just to locate Rhodesian products, I would need to use the following keywords: Rhodesia, Rhodesie, Sud-Rhodesien, Rhodesian, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe ( just a few).

Its very annoying.

Highlander · **Posted:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:21:44 am

Hi again Seb, as a fairly frequent seller on your site I love the free listings but hate the fact that most buyers then just pay and never include any postage though it is clearly stated on the listing how much it is.

I don't charge extra for Paypal or Moneybookers even but feel you should not have a system that allows buyers to just make a payment without adding postage. (I note as a buyer it just states something like , be careful as the cost has not been verified by the seller :wink:

) I have contacted the site support several times regarding this to no avail.

The only answer is to contact your buyer (usually English is not their 1st language) and request more money before sending out the samps. Not good business practice really so I absorb the cost. I may as well just list everything as free postage and put my prices up to cover this?

DJM · **Posted:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 13:12:20 pm

Hi Seb,

I jumped onto your site for a quick look, and even though I'm aware that the site isn't particularly strong in Australian stamps, I noticed that a lot of the Australian stuff that is on there is rubbish. Take for example the below stamp, currently being sold for 0.20 cents AUD by seller 'Lady and the Stamp'. I noticed this seller has filled up your site with hundred of other bits of junk like this.

It would be good if your Australian site could have some level of decency as far as listings go, as I don't see why ANYONE would want so see, or even bid on, crud like the above stamp.

I also agree with other members here, in that being able to filter out listings under certain dollar value would make looking for stamps on the new Australian site a lot more enjoyable, and perhaps give you listings that you would actually want to see.

Darrin.

sneak · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 13:26:01 pm

Armarantine78 wrote:

Seb,

If I was to search for a stamp from Rhodesia (which is what I collect), you don't have a category for Rhodesia. Further, because the site is in multiple languages, I would have to try various spellings of the word "Rhodesia" to locate the product.

Just to locate Rhodesian products, I would need to use the following keywords: Rhodesia, Rhodesie, Sud-Rhodesien, Rhodesian, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe ( just a few).

Its very annoying.

Actually, It is not that hard to do. You can use all the key words at once: Rhodesia Rhodesie Rhodesien Rhodesian Zimbabwe, and go to Search Options and choose the "One word" under "research Modes"then you get this result: http://stamps.delcampe.net/list.php?lan ... cription=N Off course then you get 10 thousand results. But when check in every week or month for new items in your area, just use the above link, or create your own search link that is accurate for your options. That makes it a lot easier.

For instance i use this page for searching for danish items listed under topics, in many different languages:

http://stamps.delcampe.net/list.php?lan ... cription=N

Delcampe has a lot of useful tools in their search options, that help finding the items you need fast and easy.

Highlander · **Posted:** Sat Feb 19, 2011 06:07:04 am

Having supported you in the past on here Seb as a good and safe site and applauded you for taking action against scammers I have just had my first experience as a buyer on your site with a shark and it is not a happy experience. I have thousands and thousands of transactions on eBay and have never lost so much as a single penny yet. They bend over backwards to help buyers at least on eBay who have been scammed, sadly I can't now say the same for Delcampe.
Having bought some stamps from a seller and paid instantly with Moneybookers I receive an e-mail from Delcampe advising me that the sellers account has been closed as a "precautionary measure" :shock:

. I am instructed not to pay , but too late. Never mind, contact the seller. How? You have closed their account and I have no means to do so and Delcampe is not helping to contact them on my behalf as eBay always would. Infact, whenever this has happened on eBay I have received an instant refund.
The following is the copy e-mail received

Our security department has closed the account of this member as a matter of precaution. Consequently, we invite you to contact the seller if you have already made the payment. If you don't receive an answer from the seller, we invite you to contact PayPal, if the payment was made by using this payment method, to ask for a chargeback. In case you have made the payment using bank transfer or Moneybookers, we invite you to file a complaint against this seller at your local police station and Delcampe will share all information we have with the police if a written request is handed in.

We thank you for understanding.

Followed later by an apparant recall of the message??

[color=#FF0000]Delcampe - Matthias (Support & Marketing) would like to recall the message, "[D*] Suspension or closure of the account of Annashobby".[/color]

Sadly, the account remains closed and my opportunity to contact the seller remains blocked. Moneybookers say tough s***.Not a happy situation and you need buyers quite desperately I suggest Seb, the one thing eBay has in abundance and simply because they know you won't be left high and dry as I have!
One thing I do recall is the seller was verified as well which you attempt to state makes the buying process from such sellers a safer experience :wink:

Highlander · **Posted:** Sat Feb 19, 2011 08:43:23 am

Compare and contrast with an eBay dispute actually from a few days later than Delcampe purchase. Not a Paypal dispute note just eBay and an immediate refund to my Paypal account as eBay had closed this sellers account. Full and curteous refund as copied below, not a try contacting the seller and shame you can't because we closed their account and you can't actually see it because it no longer exists:?

Refund information:
We have issued a refund of GBP 50.90 to the PayPal account you used to purchase this item. View PayPal transaction- opens in a new window or tab
Final decision:
This case has been decided in your favor.
eBay Customer Support comments:
We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase. For more information about this case, please refer to the email we sent you.

This item was covered for your purchase price plus original shipping. Learn more

Thanks eBay, you do have your faults but you never fail to resolve problems such as this,hence I will continue to be a confident bidder on eBay lots and a very cautious one on Delcampe.

kazza · **Posted:** Mon Feb 21, 2011 06:55:46 am

I currently use Delcampe, and I like it. I've previously bought and sold on Ebay and on OZtion, and I find Delcampe far better. It's easy to use, and I have far more success finding the items I'm looking for than on either of those sites.

I like the option of being able to buy single stamps if I wish to. This is not feasible for lower priced items on other sites because of the listing fees. Not all of us are looking for high end stamps - sometimes we just want to complete a set or fill gaps!

I've only come across one seller, so far, that I couldn't buy from because he didn't accept Paypal. I know there will be others, but only once has it prevented me from purchasing what I wanted to. But it is a sellers right to decide which method of payment he accepts. I don't have a problem paying extra for Paypal either.

At least you can see what it is you're paying for. On Ebay, those costs are added into the price of the item, or the postage, so you're still paying them, even if they're not declared as such. I don't charge extra for buyers to use Paypal, but that is my choice. The option to make all these choices is what Ebay took away from it's sellers a while ago, and one of the major reasons that I, and many others, left.

Delcampe also provides an outlet for people like me to sell off their duplicate and unwanted stamps, without them having to be valuable enough to absorb the fees charged on other sites.

Yes, it may mean that there's a lot of rubbish there, but it also means that those inexpensive, but elusive, items I'm sometimes looking for, are often there too. One man's trash is another man's treasure, after all.

There may be many fixed price items on Delcampe, but there are on Ebay too, and increasingly so.

And, from a technical point of view, I have no problems with the Delcampe site. Some of the issues mentioned here are almost entirely the result of poor listing by some lazy sellers. The size and quality of the scans, for example, are entirely up to the lister. Additionally, their bulk lister is great, and much better than Ebay's turbo lister, which used to constantly freeze.

One question I would like to ask Seb is, if Delcampe were to set up an Australian site, would we then be able to trade in Australian currency? Although I have no real issues with using other currencies (I use Euros on my listings), it would make for more stable pricing of Australian items, especially in view of the recent considerable fluctuations in the AUD exchange rate.

Iggy · **Posted:** Mon Feb 21, 2011 09:55:01 am

Seb, why do you not have a "secure" HTTPS page for registration?

I was going to register on Delcampe Uk, but there is no way I'm putting my personal details on an unsecured page.

Or am I just being over cautious?

Iggy

Faust · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2011 01:36:01 am

I just have posted some MUH kangaroos and KGV heads on Delcampe coming from a inheritance.
I am using Delcampe for a long period without major complains, i never used Ebay to sel only to buy.

Faust

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2011 23:56:38 pm

Hello,

Just, "thank you!" for all your comments. The project is on the way.

Kind regards, Seb Delcampe

RodT · **Posted:** Tue Aug 30, 2011 00:58:31 am

I've been using Delcampe for buying for a few months now and I like it.

So much so I've now set up a store on the UK site.

I make all my listings available on both the UK and International sites, at this stage I cannot see any advantage to having a separate Australian site.

With a bit of attention to html, you can spruce up the look of your sale items. For example, this is my message which is shown on my store front, and also when viewing individual stamp details:-

Mod Note - This image is no longer available.

I've even got a link to Stampboards.

sdelcampe · **Posted:** Sun Sep 25, 2011 01:31:05 am

Hello Rod,

It is funny, I just replied you some minutes ago on the Delcampe forum, glad to meet you here too :wink:

I wish you great sales on our site.

A tip: you can add a signature to your posts, why not the link to your new Delcampe store ? :idea:

Sebastien

RodT · **Posted:** Sun Sep 25, 2011 20:26:09 pm

sdelcampe wrote:

Hello Rod,

It is funny, I just replied you some minutes ago on the Delcampe forum, glad to meet you here too. :wink:

I wish you great sales on our site.

A tip: you can add a signature to your posts, why not the link to your new Delcampe store ? :idea:

Sebastien

Hello Seb,

Wow, nice to meet you too :-)

I would love to link to my Delcampe store using my signature, but Glen will not let me.

STAMPBOARDS RULE 23. Signatures

We do not wish to restrict your right to display personal views, ideology, etc. but do ask that you remain respectful of others in your signature lines. NO gifs, or still or moving images may be used in signatures. We also PREFER that they be in monocolour. And two (2) lines in usual font size is maximum as you can see looking at other member signatures. Dealers or large auctions can link ONE main business website etc, if they choose. ebay/oztion/Delcampe etc member's account names or links to them etc may not be used in signatures, but there are threads where your specific current lots can be freely highlighted to others if you choose! NON stamp related websites may not be used as signatures. Nor can links to other stamp bulletin boards, but a link to your own personal stamp blog is welcomed. If you have any questions as to exactly whether something is acceptable, send a private message to Admin[at]stampboards.com If your signature does not comply, the Moderators will amend it with no notice or advice.

I don't suppose you have any special powers to get this rule changed? :wink:

Rod

stampmogul · **Posted:** Sun Sep 25, 2011 20:45:07 pm

At least a year ago I had Delcampe saved in my "favourites" bar, & numerous times I went to the site, however I found it so time consuming to search.
Eventually I gave up, & deleted it from my "favourites", and asked to stop receiving my email updates.

If the proposed Australian address is easier to navigate for purchases I will again try it. Currently I use eBay & TradeMe.

Good Luck with your new venture, Seb.


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