Be warned, over the next few weeks, we may be a little bit self indulgent as we head towards Tamebay’s 10th birthday. The official birthday is the 11th November 2016.
Chris and I are, not to put to fine a point on it, really proud we’re still here and writing about eBay and Amazon and ecommerce every day. Not many things like Tamebay last so long. We are also daily pleased by the emails we receive and input that readers send in. We get our best stories from readers.
We had a first birthday party back in 2007 and now we’re celebrating #tamebay@10. Do come along. It’s in London on the 10th November. And we’d love your nominations for the Readers’ Award too. Let’s spread the love. All the details are here.
I have one certainty and one hunch when I consider why, after 10 years after Chris, Sue and I cooked up what would become Tamebay in Exeter in 2006, has persisted.
My hunch is that Tamebay would never have got this far if we’d started it out as a commercial enterprise. Sure, that’s where we’ve ended up and that’s fine by me. ;o) But that wasn’t the the idea behind Tamebay. It was conceived as a labour of love and was largely unprofitable for near the first five years.
My certainty is that Tamebay could not have continued and grown if it wasn’t honest. I know that some of our more cynical commenters will say we are overly eBay positive and often optimistic. And I make no apology there. Others will say that the new arrangements have impaired our independence. I don’t buy that.
Being forward looking and positive and optimistic is actually one of our values. It is too easy to be negative and lead with a gripe. But we think one of Tamebay’s roles is to look ahead, make and suggest the best way forward and encourage people to prosper.
Other sites might be cynical. We like to be more circumspect. The Tamebay way is to help you make the best of the situation.
Chris and I will be writing more posts in the next few weeks on Tamebay’s first ten years. What should we be writing about?
One Response
I think you are right Dan, Tamebay had to start life out as a labour of love and this certainly helped build the community initially. But as with many good ideas (when executed correctly) – it just become too useful to not become commercially viable. I was proud to have been Tamebay’s first advertiser (whilst at CA) and have always valued the support yourself, Chris and Sue have offered over the years. Keep up the good work and here’s to the next 10 years. John W. Hayes