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If your dealer had a smartphone app
MidLifeCrisis
Posts: 10,618 ✭✭✭✭✭
iPhone, Droid, etc.
What would you want it to do?
PCGS CoinFacts has a mobile app/webpage that is very good for what it does. Is that enough? Is the dealer's website enough?
What would you want it to do?
PCGS CoinFacts has a mobile app/webpage that is very good for what it does. Is that enough? Is the dealer's website enough?
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In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Outside of that the two things I need/want the most on my phone are pricing guides and accurate pictures. I like to compare, contrast get a feel for price.
<< <i>I don't even own a smartphone.
I couldn't pass the test to get one
Practice makes perfect & nobody is perfect. So, practice being nobody and be perfect !
not much typing, mostly clicking
easy search
good pics.
<< <i>I don't even own a smartphone.
TomB, we all love ya like a brother, but be honest,
you don't have a cell phone that is ever turned on !!
As a matter of fact, I am surprised you have one at all !!
Smartphone ? They don't do enough to satisfy you yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
1. Provide a bourse floor map
2. For each table on the map, annotate with the dealer name and a link to their website.
3. Permit me to add annotations to each table before or during a show such as:
3.1 whether I need to visit it, have visited it (and when), or must avoid it
3.2 add voice or text notes to a table
4. Approximately one click opt-in to a dealer's e-mail list.
5. Instant message the message center
6. Recognize a QR-code assigned to the dealer for the show as a means for annotating a dealer and opting in to a mailing list.
Bonus points if the map updates itself as initial dealers leave and hermit crabs take their tables.
(Edit to add QR-code awareness.)
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>fast browsing of inventory
not much typing, mostly clicking
easy search
good pics. >>
I agree with that. I've purchased a few coins at Apmex before via their mobil site when I've been on travel and it's a breeze. Considering many dealers don't want to bother with a website, or the hassle of keeping it updated, I think it will be quite some time before we start seeing mobil sites/apps for regular coin dealers. I expect all of the larger online dealers to have mobil sites soon (MCM, coastcoin, etc.), but it will be years before the typical LCS starts keeping an updated website.
1. inventory browsing
2. wantlist entry (might not need to be specific coins, but something like "tell me about all buffs that come in"
3. push notifications on news, esp those that are wantlist hits
4. where is the dealer
5. news from dealer
Actually, it is funny you should ask this as for the last few months I have been kicking this idea around with my website guy who knows how to build apps. I always figured that the most important thing of the app would be to see inventory, show reports, archive, etc quickly and fluidly (I.e. faster than just pulling up their website via the phone web browser). In my case, I have many colonials pictured on my site from a collection of a customer, so I thought that it might be a good idea to have these photos available for collectors at the "touch of a screen". After fooling around with it for awhile it seemed like it just would not be as useful for collectors as I thought it might be.
Graysheet app, Coin Facts app, Coin World app, Heritage app, I can see these being used by collectors. I guess if someone perfected their own app (which I certainly have not been able to do) then it could be useful, but in practice I am not sure how many people would use them. Just my two cents.
Certain apps are very helpful, but in a lot of cases I find it quicker just to pull up a website for a company then use their app (as an example the eBay app is quite difficult to use compared to just their mobile sized website and also it is faster IMO)
I upgraded to the iPhone 4S...was playing with it and started wondering.
Heritage and the other guys needs good apps to easily pull up auction lots. Those sites are a pain to navigate even with a laptop going thru the website. If they had a good app I would probably actually prefer to use a pad over a laptop to browse them.
I do want a smartphone but, i,m afraid i,d end up like
one of those guys on tv doing dumb things, on smartphones..