theamateurphilatelist
Member 
Keep calm and collect stamps!!
Posts: 317 
What I collect: India, Machins, India, Laos, Austria, Russia, Commonwealth omnibuses, Covers, Birds
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Post by theamateurphilatelist on Jul 14, 2021 7:47:39 GMT
A photo from July 2020 popped up recently in my computer memories. This was The Stamp Forum's virtual meeting in July 2020. I realized I have not visited TSF for a long long time. I am not sure if there were more such virtual meets that I missed out during the last year but I am hoping to catch up with everything happening here soon. What have I been up to? Well, lost my job last year and decided to convert my hobby into my profession. With eBay going out of India market, I felt there was a need for an auction/sale site for collectibles. While there are a few existing sites, auctions are generally not for everyone on these sites as a seller. So I launched BidCurios.com, an ecommerce marketplace for collectibles. Conceptualized on 4 Jul 2020 and launched on 15 July 2020, initially it had mostly philately listings. Over one year now I have over 40 sellers listing their stamps, coins, art, antiques and other collectibles. Currently the site is mostly advertised in India, though we have had a few customers from USA, Israel and China. PayPal is enabled on the site for international payments. Last month I also released the BidCurios Android mobile app. I am still far from making it sustainable and earning equivalent of what I was earning in my job, but I am seeing traction so I am hopeful. As the site and business model is stabilizing, I am hoping to get back to my own collecting and participation in forums as a collector. I have always felt a connection with this community so thought of sharing part of my story here. Wish me luck!  |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,551
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jul 14, 2021 8:55:54 GMT
Cheers Manesh , sorry to hear of your job loss.I know a lot of that happened during 2020 and 2021 world wide.
Best of luck with your internet project , I do hope it takes off big time. You say eBay does not work in India? Then there is a niche too Fill for sure.
Alex (vikingeck)
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Londonbus1
Moderator 
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 5,064
What I collect: Wonderland; 1912 Jubilee International Stamp Exhibition, London ('Ideal' Stamp, ephemera); French Cinderellas with an emphasis on Poster Stamps; Israel and Palestine Cinderellas ; Jewish National Fund Stamps, Labels and Tags; London 2010, A Festival of Stamps (anything); South Africa 1937 Coronation issue of KGVI, singles or bi-lingual pairs.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Jul 14, 2021 10:19:02 GMT
Manish ( theamateurphilatelist)....strange looking group of guys in that picture !! Do I know them ?   Welcome back to TSF ! I was curious about your eBay remark. Did you mean there was no eBay India ? Or eBay is not available in India ? Or simply that it is not popular ? Good luck with the new site. Londonbus1 |
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Post by dosamaniac on Jul 14, 2021 10:43:09 GMT
Did you mean there was no eBay India ? Or eBay is not available in India ? Or simply that it is not popular ? Londonbus1 eBay Inc. sold its ebay.in business to Indian e-commerce company Flipkart Internet Private Limited, Bengaluru in 2017 because of the stiff competition from other Indian e-commerce companies and amazon.in. www.insightssuccess.in/ebay-india-got-acquired-by-flipkart/Indians can buy from eBay but not from its ebay.in site. |
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Jul 14, 2021 11:37:23 GMT
Sorry to hear of your job loss, but kudos to developing that web site!
Looking at that photo, is someone driving a car while in that meeting?
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Londonbus1
Moderator
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 5,064
What I collect: Wonderland; 1912 Jubilee International Stamp Exhibition, London ('Ideal' Stamp, ephemera); French Cinderellas with an emphasis on Poster Stamps; Israel and Palestine Cinderellas ; Jewish National Fund Stamps, Labels and Tags; London 2010, A Festival of Stamps (anything); South Africa 1937 Coronation issue of KGVI, singles or bi-lingual pairs.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Jul 14, 2021 13:15:19 GMT
brightonpete.....It was kostia84 who was meeting and driving, did pretty good too if I remember well. dosamaniac....so who can buy and sell on eBay India site ? Seems most odd. Why have a site at all ?
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theamateurphilatelist
Member
Keep calm and collect stamps!!
Posts: 317
What I collect: India, Machins, India, Laos, Austria, Russia, Commonwealth omnibuses, Covers, Birds
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Post by theamateurphilatelist on Jul 14, 2021 14:55:58 GMT
Like nillionaire mentioned, ebay.in was sold off. eBay.com and all other ebay country sites are accessible in India. Just that one cannot buy in INR anymore in India. Many of the Indian audience may not have an international card, or are vary of buying internationally. Shipping costs are prohibitive specially tracked shipping. Even if I buy from Indian sellers, I still need to pay in foreign currency. So...
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theamateurphilatelist
Member
Keep calm and collect stamps!!
Posts: 317
What I collect: India, Machins, India, Laos, Austria, Russia, Commonwealth omnibuses, Covers, Birds
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Post by theamateurphilatelist on Jul 14, 2021 14:56:42 GMT
Thank you everyone for your wishes. That's why I love this community :-).
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theamateurphilatelist
Member
Keep calm and collect stamps!!
Posts: 317
What I collect: India, Machins, India, Laos, Austria, Russia, Commonwealth omnibuses, Covers, Birds
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Post by theamateurphilatelist on Jul 14, 2021 15:00:06 GMT
so who can buy and sell on eBay India site ? Seems most odd. Why have a site at all ? eBay.in is defunct. I think it probably redirects to ebay.com. |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,912
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jul 14, 2021 17:18:53 GMT
Hello, Manish ( theamateurphilatelist): Great to hear from you! It's amazing that you should be posting now, as I was just thinking about you and was going to send a PM. Sorry to hear about the loss of your job. I can empathize, as it happened to me just two months after I joined TSF. It seems like your initiative is starting to pay off, though. I checked out the website, and there is some great stamp material there. I wish I had the money currently available for a couple of those big classic British India lots.... wow! In any case, I am so glad to see you back with us, and I wish you every success with the new site!  |
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theamateurphilatelist
Member
Keep calm and collect stamps!!
Posts: 317
What I collect: India, Machins, India, Laos, Austria, Russia, Commonwealth omnibuses, Covers, Birds
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Post by theamateurphilatelist on Jul 14, 2021 19:38:40 GMT
Thanks for the kind words Chris. Glad you liked the site. You can always make an offer on some of the lots you see out there ;-)
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kostia84
Member
Posts: 192
What I collect: Pharmaceutics (thematic), WWII (thematic), Israel (chronologically)
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Post by kostia84 on Jul 14, 2021 20:01:05 GMT
Wow, does this bring up some memories (thanks Londonbus1 for tagging me in this thread). I can't believe a year has passed since then! Time flies by too fast. theamateurphilatelist, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour, really hope it will be successful and profitable. brightonpete , I did drive a car in that meeting. I really waited to participate, but then got a call and had to leave urgently for some family crisis. But as I had a two-hour drive ahead of me, I figured I can still participate, even if driving simultaneously. It sure didn't make the meeting less enjoyable for me. Speaking of a year passing by. It was really chaotic for me. We had a new baby boy born in August, and since then I had absolutely no time for the Forum. The year was crazy, with all the COVID stuff. We also had some major problems with the rented apartment we are living in. Luckily I was a winner of a grand giveaway by darkormex which really (really!) cheered me up. Then we entered a turnoil of buying apartment of our own. That was one tough experience. At the end we did buy an apartment. Now we are waiting to move in in October. So with all this going on I regretfully was out of the TSF business (even more, I absolutely neglected my stamps; they are just lying, waiting for me to return). I lurked here now and then, but mostly was inactive. Anyhow, thanks again theamateurphilatelist for bringing up nice memories. I hope I will be back more active when all the stuff calms down. Since then, happy collecting to all. Kostia |
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Welcome back to TSF !
