Why I’m Getting to Know the New TTP

I have done toy shows in the Denver area since 1992. I had a part in a small toy store, Toybox Treasures for a while and was on TTP since the mid-2000s, so I know a lot of collectors. Most of them were also on TTP and while new ones have joined a lot of the old members have left.  I wish they would come back and see the potential that I now see.

Here is my TTP journey over the last 12 months  –

I first hated it

When the change from the old TTP to the new one came in September last year it was too complicated. There was way too much information available, and it was too hard to get to.  I tried using it once 5 years ago and had at that time decided to stay with the TTP that I knew. TTP was just easy. And I saw hobbyDB mostly as a database, which I feared would not be as good for sellers like me.

Gone were some of the things I loved on the old TTP – the easy-to-surf categories, and the invoice system. It was harder to communicate with your customers.   And the new TTP was slow!  While the old one did indeed speed!

A particular problem for Sellers was that all of the cars listed transferred over to the new site, but as TTP and hobbyDB were different formats the transfer did not go well. I had around 5,000 cars listed on TTP and though they can still be found, it is not as easy as it could be. I am working on model by model – but it will take time.

Teaching old dogs new tricks is hard, especially when they are not computer whizzes. I see these same people every week or month and they have not learned how to use hobbyDB and most of the time have not properly tried.

When things turned around

I use hobbyDB every day, and there have been a lot of changes to make it easier to use.  I have worked with the folks at hobbyDB for several months. I complained a lot and made many suggestions. I have found that they bend over backward to address all issues and have made countless changes to make the site better for all of us.

There are several items that I would like to see addressed but they are on the way (they publish their plans on a document called Roadmap).  They also made the site faster again.

Listing is now so easy!

Listing is now about as simple as it gets. You can type in a car name, use the UPC or manufacturer’s number (for example those 5-digit alphanumeric codes on every Hot Wheels) to locate the car you want to list.

You can even use your phone to scan the barcode. If it is in the database, it comes up with a picture and all the info you would want to know. You can see how many of the item is currently listed and what it is selling for. Not just on hobbyDB, but eBay also. Pick your car, how many are you selling, the price, use a slidebar for the cars and package condition, list any defects, choose your shipping and list the car. All in 1-2 minutes. It is simple and quick. There are other options available for you such as special notes and your inventory number. You can change your picture too.

If your car is not in the database, you can list it as a generic item. About the same but you add your own picture. You can also add to the database, a little time-consuming (3-6 minutes) and a bit confusing at first, but you will catch on (and there is plenty of help to explain how this works). And it is nice to get these cars in the database for all to see (plus as an active contributor you pay 3% versus the normal 5%).

Finding items is different but once you know it works well

Losing the categories on the front page is still my biggest problem as many of my cars are not assigned to the database (I understand why that was not possible).  So I am working hard to either relist them or reassign them

Each listing has these two buttons that allow to assign
to a Database entry or mark a listing as a Lot)

So while I fix this you can just search for me (Hemicuda_1971) in the Member Directory – I have over 8,000 current listings (shameless plug).  A tile for that Member will come up. Click on that and his page (called Showcase) will come up showing how many cars he has for sale, how many are in his collection and what they are worth. Click on cars for sale. All of his cars now come up. Go back to the main search box, type in what you want, like Redlines and hit the Add key. DO NOT hit the return or enter key (this is important!  Add will add Redlines to the filter for this member, return or enter will create a new search search for Redlines across the complete marketplace).

All of my redlines for sale come up  –

Now you can browse, or change the sorting (top right) or further zoom in by for example typing in Evil Weevil to the search (and using the Add button). Only those will now show. Click on one and all of its info comes up. Now just buy it  😉

After your purchase

They build the ability to Request Shipping – as a buyer you select 10 cars and then ask how much that cost to ship.  I liked the idea but it did not work for me as I tend to put up a lot of similar cars, say 30 Ferraris.  I immediately got 5 or more requests with lots of cars on more than 1 request.  Thus I changed to a format that allows buyers to select cars and pay for them (if two people chose the same car the first to check out has 5 minutes to complete his transaction).

If you are in the US I now have a super easy setup, here is an example of a Checkout with some of my items  –

If you are in Australia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, or Puerto Rico I know the cost of shipping for your first car, if you want more you can request the Shipping.  If you are elsewhere I really do not know the cost – ask me and I find out and let you know!

Now I am a Fan

I am old and I really did not want to learn new tricks. But I have.  There is everything you need to know in their help (the white on a blue circle question mark in the top right corner).  The site really has become very easy to use for me.

• The database gets better every day (making listing and finding items for buying and selling easier)
• No listing fees and it is much cheaper than Amazon, Etsy, eBay… I pay 3% versus their standard 5% (and 10% elsewhere) as I help build the database

It is not perfect but they are improving every week. Let’s see more vendors with more cars! I do not mind the competition.