On this page we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about our project Search & Collect.
We think collecting should be easy, safe and fun.
We believe that tight integration of search engine, storefronts, community, collection tracking, collectibles catalog, and price guide is key to provide the best tools for collecting - think of all the synergies that can be leveraged.
We bring together collectors from around the world and provide them with the tools they need.
While we may offer some premium services in the future, the basic features of this site will always be free. We made this possible by participating in affiliate partner programs such as the eBay Partner Network and the Amazon Partner Program. We use so-called affiliate links on our website and our social media channels. For qualified purchases made through these links, we receive a commission from our affiliate program partners. These commissions are paid by our affiliate program partners. In short, you support our work by purchasing items through our affiliate links at no additional cost to you - a win-win situation.
This project is in the beta development phase. This development phase is about implementing more features, testing, stabilizing, and scaling up for more users. Some features are already available while others are under development and will be rolled out gradually over the next weeks and months. In this development phase, features are rolled out as soon as they are implemented, so you can already get your hands on them and test them.
Once large parts of the features are implemented, we will enter the beta development phase, where the goal is to fix issues and polish the software. If you want to stay up to date with the latest developments, please take a look at our change log.
Search & Collect is designed as a progressive web app that runs on any platform that uses a standards-compliant web browser, including both desktop and mobile devices. Progressive web apps are always up to date and do not need to be downloaded, installed, and updated.
You can email us at info@https://www.v1.am/ or contact us on one of our social media accounts.
As there are millions of listings on eBay we have to focus on the most important ones for collectors. However, we prioritize listings of members of our community. All you have to do is to register an account on Search & Collect and add your eBay username in the settings. It can take up to 24 hours until your listings have been added to our database.
Please note that there are some restrictions with regard to which items we add to our database. For example, we add listings that match our collectibles categories such as Toys, Games, Trading Cards, but will not add listings from irrelevant categories such as Fashion or Home & Garden.
Search & Collect offers a personalized feed to registered members. You can find your personalized feed in your dashboard and customize it with multiple searches as well as advanced filtering and sorting options.
You can exclude search terms by placing a minus sign (-) in front of a search term. For example, if you are looking for video games in the DOOM franchise, but want to exclude Dr. Doom (a.k.a. Doctor Doom) from the Marvel universe from search results, you could adjust your search terms to 'doom -dr -doctor'.
Absolutely. Our aim is to provide you with nothing but the best search tools. If you are missing a feature, please let us know.
We support two operators for wildcard matching: a question mark (?) matches any single character and an asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters. For example searching for 'nin*o' matches 'nintendo' and 'ninjago'. Searching for 'nin???o' matches 'ninjago' but not 'nintendo'.
We have begun to build an extensive collectibles catalog and will continue to add new collectibles. If the collectible you are looking for could not be found, it is either not yet in our collectibles catalog or there are no active listings for it at this time. You may want to check again at a later date.
In the meanwhile, Search Engine Links, a human edited niche directory that lists search engines, directories and other searchable information and resource sites, could be of help in finding more information.
The process of scanning barcodes is a multi-step process. The first two steps are locating the barcode and translating the lines into the numeric code. The third step is looking up and verifying the barcode in our database.
Translating the lines of the barcode requires sharp images. Most modern cameras have autofocus capabilities that helps produce sharp images. If your camera does not have autofocus capabilities, you can try moving the barcode to scan further away from the camera.
If the code could be scanned but was not found in our database, the scanner did not translate the lines of the barcode correctly or we do not have the code in our database yet. You are welcome to help us complete our database and submit missing barcodes to support@v1.am.
As a registered member on Search & Collect, we will create a storefront page for you that shows all your active eBay listings. The best listings of our community are featured on our social media network. All you have to do is to register an account on Search & Collect and add your eBay username in the settings. It can take up to 24 hours until your listings have been added to our database. The link to your storefront page can be easily shared with others.
Please note that there are some restrictions with regard to which items we add to our database. For example, we add listings that match our collectibles categories such as Toys, Games, Trading Cards, but will not add listings from irrelevant categories such as Fashion or Home & Garden.
Yes, we operate social media network on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where we already reach thousands of collectors spread across various collecting areas and countries. You can find our social media channels on our community page.
You can add collectibles to your collection using our Collectibles Catalog. Select the collectible to add and tap the 'Add To My Collection' button.
Our collectibles catalog is currently in the buildup phase. We will add more collectibles to our catalog soon.
Absolutely. We are looking for contributors to speed up the process of filling the catalog. If you would like to contribute, please send us an email to at info@v1.am.
We use sold auction items on eBay as the source for prices. Unlike buy-it-now items, auction items highly reflect what people are willing to pay for certain collectibles.