Video Tutorial - The Patchvalues.com Advantage Over Printed Price Guides

The latest video by Jason Spangler of Scouting Hot Finds highlights how to use Patchvalues.com and the clear advantage it has over quickly out dated printed guides buy valuing.  If you like what you see, JOIN TODAY!

November Newsletter - Patchtrends.com

1. Update to Data Usage Policy, Patchvalues.com

2. Refer a Friend Program

3. No new "Monthly" accounts

4. TOR Organizers, FREE demo account for your events

Update to Data Usage Policy

First, Patchtrends.com is NOT affiliated in any way with Patchvalues.com.

I have decided that for the time being, I am going to allow anyone who is both a member of Patchtrends.com *and* Patchvalues.com may contribute Patchtrends.com sales data to Patchvalues.com.

In other words, one may use Patchtrends.com as a research tool for contributing price points to the Patchvalues.com database.

I am doing this for the good of the hobby and the fact that I believe with enough momentum, Patchvalues.com can really take off as a useful service. I want Patchtrends.com to help here.

Patchtrends.com at the present has over 1 MILLION auctions saved, and I don't want to be selfish with this data.

If you are the owner or wish to create a focused price guide website for a particular area of the hobby, please contact me. I may be willing to offer the same to your users. I don't want to overlap collection areas (e.g., Patchvalues.com focuses on OA issues). However, I would like to do the same for camp patches, csps, merit badges, etc. As long as it's a targeted type of item.

Refer a Friend Program

I an effort to reach more potential users, I am offering to existing members of Patchtrends.com with a Yearly membership the opportunity to have a FREE annual membership ($15 value).

For up to 3 referrals signing up for a Yearly account, I will reimburse the referrer $5 of the original cost of membership. Getting 3 referrals to sign up will get you the full $15 back.

Rules:

* referrer must be a Yearly members

* referred new member must sign up for a yearly subscription

* this $5 reward is one time only, members must get 3 new sign ups per year (no carry over)

I have a brief video on how to use the "Refer a Friend" tool that members will see once they've logged in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7jOgJwibY

No New "Monthly" Accounts Being Accepted

All monthly accounts will be allowed to remain active, but from now on I am only accepting annual subscriptions.

 TOR Organizers, FREE demo account for your events

If you are a TOR organizer, please contact me. I'd like to provide a FREE demo account for use by your TOR's participants for the duration of the event. The idea is to give you something to promote it as a benefit of coming - particularly for potential buyers to increase their awareness about the current value or demand of a particular item.

Finally,

Please feel free to email me directly with questions or call me at any time. I am particularly interested in continuously improving the site from the member side and offering new features. Please let me know what you'd like to see!

Thank You,

Patchtrends.com

Visitor Map Breakdown

One of the great pleasures of running Patchtrends.com, Patchlodge.com, and Patchbazaar.com is impacting so many people from the collecting world (hopefully in a positive way!!).

Below is a map of the US and from where visitors to the sites come.

Please let tell your friend about all of the interesting and useful sites, and please let me know how I can improve them.

New eBay Categories Added to Patchbazaar.com

Patchbazaar.com now indexes stores from several other popular eBay categories, in addition to Scout Patches.

• Outdoor and Camping Supplies (tents, boots, stoves, etc)
• Phones (iPhones, etc)
• Tablets (iPads, etc)
• Books (mostly used)

Please let me know what other categories you'd like to see, including other collection areas. I am toying with the following areas (not released yet):

• Disney
• Coca-Cola
• Comic Books

Please visit Patchbazaar.com for more information.

New eBay Stores added to Patchbazaar.com - the Boy Scout Patch Super Store

Patchbazaar.com is creating a Boy Scout Patch Super Store. What this means is that we are providing a simple way to search many trusted eBay stores for Boy Scout items, at once. Don't forget, you can create RSS feeds using the "Subscribe to search" feature of the site.

Here is the current list, though note that Patchbazaar.com is not affiliated with any of them:

1. Patchblanket-Boy-Scout-Memorabilia
2. Firstcalltx-Collectibles
3. Discovering-New-Deals
4. SCOUT-PATCH-NETWORK
5. The-Louisiana-Trader
6. Jodytucker
7. TSPA
8. The-Bluedevil's-Backpack
9. Patchkid's-Sales
10. Tsenolo's-Patch-Blanket
11. The-Pirate's-Alley
12. Carolina-Trader-Scout-Memorabilia
13. OLD-SOUTHERN-TREASURES
14. 2003hdman
15. 656scout-Store
16. pgit
17. Big-T-Patches-and-Collectibles
18. Surviving-Stuff-Company
19. siestabeachtrading
20. mfrock2005-Store
21. Order-of-the-Arrow-Patches
22. brushcreektrading
23. Got-To-Have-It-Collectibles
24. 2010bsa-jamboree
25. ladysmith1027
26. Wakosha-Trader
27. The-Jersey-Trader
28. Woodbadge-Store
29. Lake-Murray-Trading-Company-Store
30. Kansas-Scout-Collectibles
31. Scout-Patch-Collectibles

Patchbazaar is also working on indexing and providing a simple search experience for those interested in books, cell phones, and tablet devices.  Stay tuned for much more!

Patchbazaar.com Now Has Custom Search RSS and Permanent Links

Patchbazaar.com now has custom search RSS feeds (with filter options) and link generators for those and permanent links to the search page, with the latest results.

How Does One Use the RSS Feed?

1. go to http://www.patchbazaar.com/cgi-bin/index/search, and search for the items you want
2. click the "Subscribe to search"link
3. a text field with the URL will appear; copy that and place it into your browser or some other RSS client
4. book mark the RSS, now you're done!

Feel free to contact me with questions and comments.

Patchbazaar.com Now Has Search Filters

Patchbazaar.com is a Boy Scout Patch Super Store, and is made up of items from a growing list of trusted sellers who have eBay stores.  Our goal is to be the go-to place for finding the items that your heart is desiring. It is a sister site of Patchtrends.com and Patchlodge.com.

I implemented the same style of search filtering and ordering at Patchbazaar.com as I did at its sister site, Patchtrends.com.

The URL in the address par is also book-markable (that is, you can copy and paste it and share it with others). In the near future, I'll be implementing RSS feeds, book mark generation, and more advanced search and filtering.

If you are an eBay store and wish to submit your store for consideration, please email patchtrends@gmail.com and let us know. At this point there are no firm criteria other than your reputation and references check out.

You snooze, you lose - No more free gift for joining Patchtrends.com

As an introductory offer, we were providing the Boy Scout Prices Realized - The Complete Collection as a free gift.  Today we have discontinued the gift.

For those who have joined through yesterday, we will honor the gift. We have no plans to offer a free gift any time soon, but that's not to say we never will.

If you missed out on the free gift, you can still purchase it on eBay for a reduced price of $20.

Please check out the Free Boy Scout Patch Online Price Guide and the new Boy Scout Patch Super Store for buying Boy Scout patches from our network of trusted sellers.

Please consider signing up for a Patchtrends.com membership. It gives you access to our great site as well as access to a growing family of related sites.

Patchbazaar.com - Patches for sale from your favorite sellers

Due to popular demand, I have been working on a site that focuses entirely on active auctions and items for sale.

It's called Patchbazaar.com.

For right now, it's listing items from just a few reputable sellers. I plan on expanding the selections with your help - so please suggest some other sellers to follow. I will check them out and add them to the site if they are deemed to be highly trusted and have a nice selection of items.

Furthermore, this site will be open for all. I don't plan on member access at this time, but I may expand it to offer special active-auction services for members of Patchtrends.com.

All search options will be available for free, but member access would be required for things like alerts and saved searches. I'd also like to integrate it with the sales data available at Patchtrends. I would also like to integrate a lot of nice features for free, as well.

In the meantime, enjoy Patchtrend and Patchlodge's new sister site -  Patchbazaar.com!

Question: Who are some of the best and most reputable BSA memorabilia stores on eBay?

I am seeking this information for a new project, and would like to know what fans of Patchtrends.com think. You may suggest your own store, but please tell us it's yours! :)

You may answer in the blog comments, Facebook comments, or message me privately (anyway you know how).

Thanks!

New Dedicated Trade-O-Ree Calendar - Introducing BSATOR.com

BSATOR.com is a new site with the latest TOR information, and Patchtrends.com highly recommends it.

We are partnering with BSATOR.com, and we will soon be offering related and free services for TOR organizers and participants. Stay tuned!

Wanted: 1000 "Likes" for Patchtrends.com Free Price Search on Facebook Page

With a goal of spreading awareness of our Free Search option, we have a modest goal of reaching 1000 likes ASAP. Please share this with your friends and fellow patch trading mates.

https://www.facebook.com/patchtrendsfree

To go use the Free Price Search now - go to http://www.patchtrends.com/cgi-bin/index/trial

Thanks!

More than 750,000 Auctions So Far in 2013

We began collecting data, and as of yesterday we reached a major milestone. We have witnessed our 750,000th closing auction, and we have no signs of slowing down yet.

We had a large up swing in auctions after the end of the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree, which puts us right on track for reaching over 1,000,000 closed auctions by the end of the year.

All of this data is available to members of Patchtrends.com. Join today!

Subscribe to Custom Free Search Results via RSS! Create as many as you like.

We have now added RSS feeds to the Free Search.

This means one may now save as a "live bookmark" the latest results of a specific free search.  Steps for creating one of these links:

1. visit http://www.patchtrends.com/cgi-bin/index
2. enter search terms for the new feed
3. click the "Subscribe to search" link, this will generate the RSS feed URL

The next step depends on what browser one uses. If FireFox, it'll offer to save the link as a "live bookmark".  Chrome displays the raw content. Either way, one can use any number of RSS Readers out there.

The reader will now update the items in the list as Patchtrends.com adds new items.  There is no limit to the number of customized search feeds one may create, so go for it!

The below screenshot is what it looks like in Firefox (for example):

Free Access Ends Monday 8/26

Free access ends Monday, and we're not going to any promotions for a long while.

http://www.patchtrends.com/cgi-bin/index/search

username: JAMBO13
password: beprepared
(and enter your email address)

Fun Fact of the Day - Only 20% of BSA Memorabilia Sells

With all of the data that Patchtrends.com is collecting daily, it is interesting to see what kind of facts one can derive.

For example, at last count since the beginning of the year less than 20% of the auction listings for Boy Scout Memorabilia have actually sold!

This means several things are happing:

1. starting prices are too high
2. only 20% of the items are actually of interest to buyers
3. items of interest are priced too high

Only the member search of Patchtrends.com will show the unsold items, which is information that is arguably as important as knowing what an item sold for. The free search is useful, but not for deeply analyzing these trends.

Many auctions that we track are also the same item relisted over and over again for the same price. Seems like Einstein's definition of insanity certainly applies here.

This, however, presents a huge opportunity for buyers who are interested in less popular items. There are tremendous steals out there for older and rarer items. But because people don't know about them or collect them, they sit unsold. Find those hidden treasures!

Recent Enhancements to Free Online Boy Scout Price Search at Patchtrends.com @santeeswapper

We have been hard at work making the free search something that is useful for those not yet ready to make the jump to full membership, yet enticing enough to make them realize the value of such a yearly membership.

Below is a summary of the recent changes. Following this description is a summary of upcoming enhancements that we hope to implement very soon.

Search Result Thumbnails

When you search in the free search section, one will see tiny thumbnails of the images. While some of the most recent images may not be available immediately, most are. However, the images are not the full size and large images one will see in the membership search. It's useful, but still not what most may want.  The full membership search has much larger thumbnails and links to the full size images. The image below illustrates results for a search of Unami flaps.

Permanent Free Search Links

One may now link specific searches in the public search section. For example, the following URL contains the search terms.

http://www.patchtrends.com/cgi-bin/index/trial/2013%20jamboree

Once loaded in the browser, the search is immediately triggered as if the user clicked the "find" button. It's very convenient for linking to searches one may submit frequently.

Permanent Link Generator

Once a set of search terms has been found, one may generate the permanent search link easily by clicking the "save search URL" link. A window will pop up with the encoded URL that may be copy and pasted anywhere. This feature has a lot of room to develop, but the core functionality is there.

Auction Links

Each item that shows in the limited listing has a link that points back to the eBay auction with full information on the item. This convenience was added so that users could find out the details and find an item like it for their own if so desired.

The free search is being improved for casual use, but those interested in more detailed information and a more efficient user interface will definitely want to join Patchtrends.com as a member.  More on the benefits of membership may be seen at Patchtrends.com.

Please stay tuned for more posts about using Patchtrends.com and how we're constantly striving to improve this resource for the hobby.

Free Boy Scout Patches Online Price Search #bsa #patchtrends

We have updated the free search for Boy Scout Patch Values to include small images.

Please visit the FREE SEARCH HERE!

And consider joining as a yearly paid member for a much nicer interface and a free gift!

Free JAMBO13 demo account will be expiring in a couple of weeks. Sign up today! #jambo2013 #boyscouts

If you're interested in finding the true value of that Boy Scout patch in your hand or if you want to find out if you're about to over pay for a particular item, follow the instructions for free access to Patchtrends.com Boy Scout memorabilia pricing data in the attached image.

If you'd like to beat the rush and join, visit http://www.patchtrends.com/cgi-bin/index/join.  And don't forget about the free gift for all new yearly account sign ups - a $40 value!

Apologies for Service Disruption

While we make no promises of 100% uptime for our Boy Scout Patch Price Guide service Patchtrends.com, recently we have been plagued with some run-away processes on the server.

This should be resolved now, if not we'll get to the bottom of it asap.

Thank you!

7/30-8/5 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree #2013jambo - Top 10 Items by Bidding Activity

The top 10 most popular 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree has been shake up quite a bit this week. The lowest number of bids in the top 10 is 44, the highest 49!

The 2013 National Jamboree Northwest Suburban Council/Blues Brothers set, the Great Southwest Council/Yah-Tah-Hey-S lodge 66 OA 2013 National Jamboree, and the 2013 National Scout Jamboree Order of the Arrow Staff Set have proven to be the most popular.  

You may have ready access to this and many other data by joining Patchtrends.com today!

With out further ado:

1. 2013 National Jamboree Northwest Suburban Council/Blues Brothers set $150.00 49 bids
2. Great Southwest Council/Yah-Tah-Hey-S lodge 66 OA 2013 National Jamboree $86.00  49 bids
3. 2013 National Scout Jamboree Order of the Arrow HUGE Staff Set - Service Corps $272.00 49 bids
4. Puerto Rico Council 2013 National Jamboree Yokahu Lodge 506 DELEGATE GMY - RARE $99.88  48 bids
5. 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree - Redwood Empire Council Snoopy OA Patch NEW $79.90  48 bids
6. 2013 National Scout Jamboree - On Site - Complete Jamboree Activity Set $200.00 46 bids
7. 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree OA Patch Set with Staff COAL Patch $147.50 46 bids
8. National Jamboree 2013 Staff Welcome and Thank You Patches $135.00 45 bids
9. 2013 Jamboree OA set: Three Harbors Council, "Harley-Davidson" $39.02  44 bids
10. 2013 Jamboree Technology Quest Star Wars R2D2 pocket patch $131.49 44 bids

2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree #2013jambo - Top 10 Items by Bidding Activity

The 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree items when looked at based on bidding activity paint a much different story than those ranked by amount.    One interesting thing you seem to find when looking at the trends related to these patches using Patchtrends.com is that much more often than not, those items with many bids are a) not the same as the highest priced items, and b) often sell for less than the most expensive items.

Given the area's storied past and continued importance to national defense, security, and research I can see why the Great Southwest Council set is such a desired item.

2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree #2013jambo - Top 10 Items by Bidding Activity

1. Great Southwest Council/Yah-Tah-Hey-S lodge 66 OA 2013 National Jamboree $86.00  49
2. Puerto Rico Council 2013 National Jamboree Yokahu Lodge 506 DELEGATE GMY - RARE $99.88  48
3. 2013 National Scout Jamboree - On Site - Complete Jamboree Activity Set $200.00 46
4. 2013 Jamboree Technology Quest Star Wars R2D2 pocket patch $131.49 44
5. National Jamboree 2013 Connecticut Yankee Complete Marvel Set w/ Ghost & Shadow $757.00 41
6. 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree Sub Camp Patches -Complete New Set!  $133.55 38
7. 2013 National Scout Jamboree - On Site - Robotics Merit Badge $27.00  38
8. 2013 Jamboree - Technology Quest R2D2 Patch - Boy Scoutsat Wars - RARE! 200 Made $162.50 37
9. Marin Council 2013 National Jamboree On My Honor Yoda 8" Star Wars Back Patch $68.00  36
10. Midnight Sun Council - 2013 Jamboree Set of Three JSPs $110.01 34

This list was generated using Patchtrends.com. Join today!

Top 10 Selling 2013 Boy Scout National Jamboree #2013jambo Items, Through 7/28

The Top 10 highest selling 2013 Boy Scout National Jamboree #2013jambo items are listed below in order. The most prized item continues to be the commemorative knife sold on 7/19. This list includes sets.  The next most highly prized single item is the "2013 Jamboree NESA Staff Neckerchief Rare Prototype", apparently one of a kind.

This list was generated using the member tools at Patchtrends.com. The search link is can be viewed here. 

1. 2013 National Jamboree Commemorative Knife #1493 of 2013 $821.99 15
2. National Jamboree 2013 Connecticut Yankee Complete Marvel Set w/ Ghost & Shadow $757.00 41
3. Tecumseh Council BSA National Jamboree 2013 ONLY ONE SET 71 PATCHES $612.54 11
4. 2013 Jamboree NESA Staff Neckerchief Rare Prototype only one ever made Eagles $510.00 8
5. 2013 Tuscarora Council 296 Nayawin Rar National Jamboree COMPLETE SET 10 patches $450.00 1
6. 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree Full Marvel Patch Set $400.00 1
7. Marin Council - 2013 National Jamboree - Star Wars - C3PO CITIZENSHIP- VERY RARE $356.00 12
8. 2013 National Jamboree 23 Pc Marvel Patch Set Connecticut Yankee Council $325.00 1
9. 2013 Jamboree BSA Connecticut Yankee Council Marvel Complete Patch Set $320.00 22
10. 2013 NATIONAL BOY SCOUT JAMBOREE GYNECOLOGICAL MEDICAL STAFF PATCH $306.01 30

News Article on Patch Trading at the 2013 Boy Scout National Jamboree

GLEN, JEAN, W.Va. -- Kyle Corey stood above his display of patches sprawled out on a blanket, eyeing the value of each one.
"What do you have? Wanna trade?" Corey called out to passersby.
He did a once-over of another Scout's handful of patches, examining the stitching and coloring.
"I don't like the computer-generated ones, really," he said, shuffling it to the back of the pile.

Read more at http://www.dailymail.com/News/ScoutJamboree2013/201307230165

Patchlodge.com is Back, Complement to Patchtrends.com Yearly Members

Patchtrends.com has come a very long way, particularly thanks to the help of Jason Spanger (santeeswapper). And as a service it is in a nice place, and my focus with it is promoting it and getting new members to join.

Part of this is called "SEO" or search engine optimization. Basically, I've been working hard to make Patchtrends.com search engine friendly.

As a result, and for other reasons I have made a decision that original Patchlodge.com members will appreciate. I have brought the site back from the grave!

The deciding factor is that Patchlodge.com was well placed in many search engines, and it's just a no brainer to complement it with Patchtrends.com as it grows. I also want to be able to offer additional services other than just price look ups, and the innovative ideas and features offered by Patchlodge are not available anywhere else - and I still want to use them myself!

Access to Patchlodge.com now requires a yearly subscription to Patchtrends.com.

Join Patchtrends.com Now!

Patchlodge.com will receive little attention to new features, in fact I will likely trim some of those features that were never fully implemented were poorly implemented (by yours truly).

Any new development at Patchlodge.com will be driven by the needs of Patchtrends.com members, so eventually to fully utilized Patchlodge.com you will need a working account to Patchtrends.com.

In the meantime, feel free to login and reacquaint yourself with Patchlodge.com. Please let me know if you have any problems with the site.

http://www.patchlodge.com

In the coming weeks, I am going to be slowly rolling out this information. I am excited to get current Patchtrends.com members interested in using Patchlodge.com. Coming off of a successful Boy Scout Jamboree, I believe there are a lot of really awesome looking patches that are waiting to be uploaded to Patchlodge.com.

More details will be emerging over the next couple of weeks, but early adopters are welcome.  And as a special nod to the wonderful Patchlodge.com members who made the site what it was before I prematurely shut it down, your memberships will be honored without the requirement to join Patchtrends.com; however, the plan is to integrate member-level Patchtrends.com features into Patchlodge. Access to this will require a Patchtrends.com membership to enjoy.

Top Selling OA Flaps of the 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree Week of 7/15-7/24

Below is a screenshot of the top 10 highest grossing OA flaps or flap sets of during the 2013 Boy Scout Jamboree. That is, the hot items that have been selling during the actual event. Only time will tell what flaps compose the top 10 "of all time".

Top 10 List (7/15-7/24)

1. OA Staff Flap Set 2013 BSA Jamboree $100.00 1 bids
2. Oa Service Corps 2013 Jamboree Staff Flap $65.00 9 bids
3. Boy Eagle Scout NESA JSP 2013 Jamboree Uniform Patch Badge BSA Merit Award Flap $45.88 17 bids
4. National Jamboree Crater Lake Council 2013 JSP & Lo La Qam Geela OA Flap set $36.57 8 bids
5. 2013 National Jamboree OA Day of Service Staff Flap $34.99 9 bids
6. OA# 64 TOLOMA LODGE FLAP S-?/X-? 2013 JAMBOREE 3 PC SET GREATER YOSEMITE COUNCIL $33.88 2 bids
7. National Jamboree 2013 Tonkawa 99 Lodge OA Flap Set $33.00 6 bids
8. 2013 National Jamboree OA Service Corps STAFF Flap and Round (1/per round) Set $32.50 6 bids
9. OA Lodge Wewanoma 272 2013 Jamboree flap Texas BSA $32.00 3 bids
10. 2013 Jamboree - Connecticut Yankee Council DELEGATE OA FLAP - Owaneco Lodge 313 $31.00 5 bids

Some Screenshots, Boy Scout Patch Values and Search Interface

A picture is worth 1,000 words when illustrating how Patchtrends.com allows you to look up Boy Scout patch values.

Initial view with advanced search options.

Boy Scout patch values with thumbnails enabled.

Date selection tool.

Advanced search and date tool closed.

Boy Scout patch values listed without thumbnails.

Patchtrends.com Is Go For Launch!

Introducing Patchtrends.com!

Summary from Scouting Hot Finds Radio,

"Join me for the launch of a new and invaluable resource for the Boy Scout meorabilia collecting community.  Brett Estrade and I are formally launching http://www.patchtrends.com in this episode.  Roughly a year ago I published an episode of the radio show that finally comes to fruition tonight.  In that show on the Prices Realized Guides I longed for an online solution that would make the whole project more robust, searchable, and easily accessed by all collectors in the hobby.  When I was approached to partner with Brett Estrade on a new website that would do all that and much much more I jumped at the opportunity.  After several months of tweaks and feedback from beta users the site is now live as an online prices realized search tool for the hobby.  Catering strictly to the Boy Scout category of eBay this powerful program captures all completed sales listings (including images!) in an off-site database.  Subscribers to this new service can then type in any search term and pull up all results that match the query.  The database already has results from 500,000 listings and is growing every day.  I really feel this site will become as indispensible to collectors as OAimages.com.  However, since it is open to every niche in the hobby from OA to camps to Eagle medals anybody can use the service to value and research items.  This could be a game-changer!  Listen tonight as Brett and I explain how the idea came about, a little bit about the mechanics, and how for only $2/month you can test out the service with a money-back guarantee."

Listen to the broadcast - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/santeeswapper/2013/06/13/shf-radio-patchtrendscom-is-go-for-launch