Collecting online community database hobbyDB has now completely merged with acquisition Rareburg. We wrote about Rareburg in Autumn 2015.
As they say at hobbyDB: “We’re working hard to create a community where we can share our collecting successes, ask questions, and work together to document every collectible ever made. As a quick reminder, on hobbyDB you can do all of your favorite things – researching collectibles, managing your collection and buying & selling. You’ll also have access to exciting new features like the wish list, which you can use to keep track of what collectibles you want – and get an email alert when they come up for sale.” You can read a full statement on the hobbyDB website here.
The eagle-eyed of you will note that this comment comes from November last year. We should have written about it back then but it didn’t hit our radar so, it’s a useful reminder to please send us these tip offs. ;o)
Tamebay is convinced that the future is about smaller and honed marketplaces doing clever things for dedicated communities. When it comes to the likes of the giants, eBay and Amazon, one size might fit all but never in a snug, comfortable manner.
We expect to see, and welcome, more specialised marketplaces that shoppers can trust. That’s become easier with the rise of social and mobile. Enthusiastic shoppers really can build up a relationship with a myriad of shops rather than one single marketplace. Bring it on. Here’s looking forward to more news from hobbyDB.
4 Responses
This post is completely wrong. They have not merged. Rareburg ceased to be a selling platform because of a lack of traders getting onboard. I spoke to them many times. hobbyDB is just is where members from Rareburg now communicate. Rareburg was way ahead of eBay in technology & visually it was stunning. It’s a crying shame that they never got enough traders onboard. They imported all 4,000 of my listings in 20 mins & I was up & running for nothing. Sometimes people can’t see a good thing when they are looking at it. Rareburg was the only hope of combating the greed of eBay but they shut down due to lack of interest from traders. Very sad. RIP Rareburg
Here;’s the goodbye email I received when they closed down in November!
A final farewell from your friends at Rareburg
Hi there,
We wanted to take a final opportunity to thank you for all of your support over the past few years. We couldn’t have built such an awesome community without you and we couldn’t be more grateful.
Also, don’t forget to check out our friends over at hobbyDB. Powered by collectors, for collectors, we think hobbyDB is a great place to do all your favorite things – researching collectibles, managing your collection and buying & selling. You’ll also have access to new features like the wish list, which you can use to keep track of what collectibles you want – and get an email alert when they come up for sale.
Here’s an example of some of the awesome stuff you can find at the hobbyDB –
What we like best is that the hobbyDB folks are all collectors themselves, so we know they will be doing great things for the collecting community. You can give hobbyDB a try by setting up a free account at hobbydb.com.
Sign Up for a free hobbyDB account
We wish you all the best and thank you again for all of your support.
Happy collecting!
The Rareburg team
My comments are the same as Jon’s above, Hobby DB act as an on-line catalogue and not a market place and I too had the same very final sounding email. I was in the process of putting together some suitable listings when I received it so never got the chance to try them out.
For those readers that this market sector might appeal don’t think of Etsy instead but rather take a look at Catawiki (https://www.catawiki.com/) . . they have gone from strength to strength, are well set up – I’ve had no issues selling on there – and ALL of what you would have wanted to use Rareburg for is covered by Catawiki . . you just have to keep an eye out for their themed auctions.
I am one of the admins on hobbyDB and would agree that Rareburg did create a very nice platform. But I also think that having a classified site that competes with eBay is not going to work. While the experience for collector sellers (and buyers) need to be improved from what eBay offers I think having just a better looking interface, cheaper fees or being more understanding of collectible sellers on its own is just not enough.
We believe that Bricklink with its database that has attracted 600,000 users and 11,500 stores is the example to copy and that is what we are doing. For example we now have a database of 36,000 Hot Wheels entries covering more than 99% of Hot Wheels items produced and are working on getting the same coverage for other toy segments, vintage automobilia and pop culture before moving on to other segments. We now have around 250 curators that help with this arduous job (please reach out if you like to get involved!).
You can find our first 50 stores here – https://info.hobbydb.com/store-directory/