New auction style website

[Woosty]

Hi all, please have a look at my new website when you have a minute and please offer any ideas or tell me about any problems!

 

https://www.airsoftexchange.net

 

This is (afaik) the only auction style Airsoft site for the UK but you can also buy and sell as normal without using the auction feature.

 

The big different to the famous online auction site is that you won’t get sniped (pun intended) at the last minute as if a bid is placed within the last 30s, the timer will add on another 2mins so everyone should get a fair price and chance.

 

Please contact me via the site with any ideas for improvements you would like to see.

Social media releases coming soon as well.

 

Please share with as many people as you can as that is the only way that the site will gain traction 

 

Thanks all and I hope you have a good weekend of airsofting planned!

[Woosty]

Hi all, please have a look at my new website when you have a minute and please offer any ideas or tell me about any problems!

 

https://www.airsoftexchange.net

 

This is (afaik) the only auction style Airsoft site for the UK but you can also buy and sell as normal without using the auction feature.

 

The big different to the famous online auction site is that you won’t get sniped (pun intended) at the last minute as if a bid is placed within the last 30s, the timer will add on another 2mins so everyone should get a fair price and chance.

 

Please contact me via the site with any ideas for improvements you would like to see.

Social media releases coming soon as well.

 

Please share with as many people as you can as that is the only way that the site will gain traction 

 

Thanks all and I hope you have a good weekend of airsofting planned!

[johnnyj]

UKARA Compliance

Comprehensive UKARA verification system for both buyers and sellers. We ensure full legal compliance for RIF transactions while keeping two-tone replicas accessible to all users 18+.

 

bug of mine I use PASS and have done since we needed a defence.. 

I get using the shop system helps you but will put a lot of players with legal defence that's not UKARA. 

[Chev Chelios]

"Please contact me via the site with any ideas for improvements you would like to see."

 

Hard to trust a site when the owner does not seem to grasp how and why a Forum exists.

 

Spoiler

Hint - its not to post an add, have zero participation and then fuck off

 

[Austeyr]

12.9% fee for using this new website, 2.9% fee from PayPal, then postage on top

 

So if I sell a pew via your website for say... £200, I then receive £174.20 from your fees, PayPal takes their fee which leaves me with £169.15. Postage on top would vary, but for sake of argument lets say it's an AR sent 48 Hour tracked, that's another £11.10

 

So from £200 to £158.05 selling via your new website, whereas I could avoid the 12.9% fee (Which is a large chunk, lets be real) by selling it on here/prefired/usedairsoft and end up with £183.10 once it's posted and PayPal fees are taken out...?

 

The same math but the replica is £1000, you cap the 12.9% fee to £75 so it leaves me with £925. Minus PayPal fee gives me £898.18 then postage off leaves me with £887.08 selling via your site. Same math but selling via the other established selling sites leaves me with £959.90 after fees and postage. That's just over £70 difference from selling privately via your website

 

So what else do you offer other than an auction feature that selling privately via UsedAirsoft/Prefired doesn't already do? AFUK has more than just classifieds so it can't exactly be lumped in with the other two but even then AFUK has profile feedback/offers and messaging

 

 

[Tommikka]

7 hours ago, Woosty said:

Hi all, please have a look at my new website when you have a minute and please offer any ideas or tell me about any problems!

 

https://www.airsoftexchange.net

 

This is (afaik) the only auction style Airsoft site for the UK but you can also buy and sell as normal without using the auction feature.

 

The big different to the famous online auction site is that you won’t get sniped (pun intended) at the last minute as if a bid is placed within the last 30s, the timer will add on another 2mins so everyone should get a fair price and chance.

 

Please contact me via the site with any ideas for improvements you would like to see.

Social media releases coming soon as well.

 

Please share with as many people as you can as that is the only way that the site will gain traction 

 

Thanks all and I hope you have a good weekend of airsofting planned!

Bit of a red flag that on entering random information with a fake name and non existent email address that it takes me to the page with a green box confirming that the non existent email address has been verified 

[Tommikka]

7 hours ago, Woosty said:

 

 

 

This is (afaik) the only auction style Airsoft site for the UK but you can also buy and sell as normal without using the auction feature.

 

 

You don’t appear to have conducted much research bearing in mind a site exists under airsoftauction.co.uk

[Galvatron]

Am I missing something but how does adding 2 minutes ensure than people get a fair chance and price? I don't see how this prevents another snipe within that extension.

 

The energy calculator references needs some work with they are not just misleading but could put liability on your side.

1. The joule count is not representative of the fps and weight pairing on either CQB or AEG/Outdoor
2. While it rightly says a local site's limits may differ, 375fps on 0.2g is literally illegal for an AEG unless the owner has a Section 5 firearms licence but it's not something they will be able to sell to the general public, even if that member of the general public has a UKARA defence.

 

Why does that BBs and consumables image look like something from a Müller corner crunch? Those AI images don't inspire confidence.

 

What qualifies Airsoft Exchange as the most trusted marketplace when it hasn't got off the ground?

 

Several links on the page just redirect to the home page.

 

It's all well and good that you want the site to gain traction but you really need your bases covered. I see more red flags than at a CCP parade.

[Tackle]

8 hours ago, Woosty said:

The big different to the famous online auction site is that you won’t get sniped (pun intended) at the last minute as if a bid is placed within the last 30s, the timer will add on another 2mins so everyone should get a fair price and chance.

Isn't that the whole point of auctions, you bid what you're prepared to pay & if you get pipped at the post, 'ces la vie.

The system you're implementing surely means that the end of the auction continually extends ?, that's going to get boring very quickly & the only beneficiary would be the seller.

That's the problem with the internet, every wannabe whizz kid wants to reinvent the wheel.

I think I'll pass👎

[Austeyr]

20 minutes ago, Galvatron said:

I see more red flags than at a CCP parade.

Regular attendee? 😂

[Fatboy40]

8 hours ago, Woosty said:

Hi all, please have a look at my new website when you have a minute and please offer any ideas or tell me about any problems!

 

You've been spamming this shit all over as many airsoft subreddits as you can, give it a rest FFS!

[Anonymoose]

8 hours ago, Woosty said:

The big different to the famous online auction site is that you won’t get sniped (pun intended) at the last minute as if a bid is placed within the last 30s, the timer will add on another 2mins so everyone should get a fair price and chance.

 

On sites like eBay the highest bidder always wins. Regardless of when the bid is entered the highest bidder will win. Your idea is largely pointless.

[GiantKiwi]

Oh look, another badly configured Wix site.

 

Also, linking to a variety of sites including here without actually checking for permission to do so first, which is a big no no given the uninitiated might take inference that those sites approve of this bullshit website.

 

 

[Tackle]

@Woosty im going to have to agree with GiantKiwi, you need to remove the afuk link from your site, its presence appears to give credibility to your venture, when in fact all the replies you're seeing on your posts here all show the general consensus is the polar opposite. 

[Enid_Puceflange]

It’s how a lot of the police auction sites operate 

(johnpye) etc

Its not a new idea, but certainly a pain in the ass if you are buying as Tackle mentioned, it just drags out the agony

[Lyndication]

9 hours ago, Tackle said:

Isn't that the whole point of auctions, you bid what you're prepared to pay & if you get pipped at the post, 'ces la vie.

The system you're implementing surely means that the end of the auction continually extends ?, that's going to get boring very quickly & the only beneficiary would be the seller.

That's the problem with the internet, every wannabe whizz kid wants to reinvent the wheel.

I think I'll pass👎

 

Guessing the idea is to emulate real auctions, which go on as long as there's two or more people bidding on the lot. 

 

That said, yeah eBay covers that by auto bidding for you and allowing you to set an upper limit. Getting sniped just doesn't really happen unless the price exceeds your upper limit anyway. 

 

But then, can't sell RIFs on eBay, so maybe there's a niche there.

[Diemaco]

Maybe ypu could make a tv show to support it? Maybe something where people drive about the UK buying second hand guns, then auction them off to see which team makes the biggest profit?

 

Yoy could call it The Airsoft Roadshow 😉

[Jedi_Master]

How are you going to stop under 18s and people without a valid defence from buying/selling RIFs / IFs ?

[Tommikka]

1 hour ago, Diemaco said:

Maybe ypu could make a tv show to support it? Maybe something where people drive about the UK buying second hand guns, then auction them off to see which team makes the biggest profit?

 

Yoy could call it The Airsoft Roadshow 😉

@mods

 

Please delete this post so that I can steal the idea 

[GiantKiwi]

I'm confused, isn't this about the same website as this thread, from the same author? 

 

 

[Punisher3990]

I don't want to be harsh, but why would anyone put their gun up on there and have to pay a seller's fee when they can just list here, Pre-Fired or Usedairsoft and not have to pay a fee? 

 

As a seller, I would want to get the maximum I could for a RIF. Why would I do that on a site that's going to swipe 12% of my sale? Might not sound so bad on a £100 sale, but if I sold a big lot for £500 that's like £50-60 going just on a seller fee. To me, that's a significant drawback to this approach.

 

Umm, Private sellers on eBay do not pay fees, so this is incorrect (I am an eBay seller, so I can confirm this). There's a reason EBAY removed seller fees for private sellers because it pushed people to use their competition, like Vinted. 

 

Also, Auctions suck; I would rather just negotiate a price with a buyer rather than wait 7 days or however long an auction goes on for. And if it's going to be buy it now, then I may as well just list somewhere like here for free and not have to pay a fee. 

 

Sellers will ALWAYS choose the option that loses them less money. Paying Fees, even if it's just 12% is still losing money when there are free alternatives.  

 

I also agree with the comments about the auto-extending auctions. Sniping a bargain by bidding at the end is part of online auctions. Is there any defence to stop me just upping it by 1p to annoy the other bidders? 

 

ALSO: Your website is broken af, so many dead links that just reload the homepage. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Punisher3990
grammar and comments about autoextend

[Punisher3990]

These feel like they are posting as adverts rather then actually caring about our opinions  

 

"Please contact me via the site with any ideas for improvements you would like to see."

 

Bro, your website's contact us page is broken and just reloads the home page lol 

 

I feel like this is going to be the case for a long time:

Edited 14 hours ago by Punisher3990

[Dogsbody100]

Speaks volumes that despite the high numbers of replies to the post, many with valid and pertinent questions, the OP has seemingly disappeared. 
 

If it was me trying to start a business like that I’d be all over this thread with answers and general participation, because that’s what a genuine business owner would and should do in this age of online presence. 

[Tackle]

22 minutes ago, Dogsbody100 said:

Speaks volumes that despite the high numbers of replies to the post, many with valid and pertinent questions, the OP has seemingly disappeared. 
 

If it was me trying to start a business like that I’d be all over this thread with answers and general participation, because that’s what a genuine business owner would and should do in this age of online presence. 

Like I said previously, wannabe Internet whizz-kid, no interest in the game, just the 12.5% he thinks he can generate from each sale, even the timed auction extension is about increasing his end auction revenue.

I'm in two minds to lock/hide both of his threads, yep no doubt he put them up as a method of free advertising for his site, but the amount of negative responses show his intention has clearly backfired, & him linking the forum, & other airsoft portals without first seeking approval is an absolute pisstake.

@Woosty 

[Cannonfodder]

On 26/09/2025 at 13:38, Woosty said:

Hi all, please have a look at my new website when you have a minute and please offer any ideas or tell me about any problems!

A quick look at your site and I think it's easier to say what you've got right. Here's a few of my favourites.

 

Half the site doesn't work. This doesn't inspire confidence in the site or the admin running it 

 

Fees. Charging a listing fee, taking a percentage of the total and also charging a payment processing fee is quite frankly taking the piss and sounds like you're just trying to screw users out of as much money as possible.

 

Ukara. Calling a defence "ukara membership" is wrong as only shops  can be members of ukara (you know, with it being a retailers association). Players have site membership which may or may not be put on the ukara database. Second, why do sellers need to be on the ukara database?

 

Tbh I'm not expecting the op to take any of this onboard but the whole thing looks at best like a 6th form IT project and at worst a straight up scam

 

Oh and another massive red flag is the company address in the privacy policy section

 

 

Were you anything to do with the airsoft exchange Ltd which was dissolved in 2018?

Edited 7 hours ago by Cannonfodder