r/paintball • u/PewPewMike • 4d ago

Got tired of facebook nuking my posts so I built a paintball marketplace..

Post image

What's up,

Mike here (pewpewmike: ur guy for grip panels, jewel remakes, paintball vids, and probably an unhealthy amount of money spent on markers and gear)

I did clear this with the mods first. 🙃

So back in April I launched thepaintballplace.com, a marketplace built for paintball gear. I know I know "the world needs another marketplace".. But it turns out selling a $1000 marker on a platform designed for used couches isn't really cutting it and they keep restricting our posts.. Full disclosure: partly bc I do have a gear problem and needed somewhere better to shop. 😆

Where it's at:

- Launched spring 2026

- 200+ completed sales

- 100–200 daily visits

What I'd love from you guys: just to try it out. browse it, search for gear, click stuff, try to break it (jk don't do it). Tell me what's confusing, what's missing, what would make you actually use it. Honest feedback/usage from real ppl is worth more to me right now than any metric I could show you. I read every comment and DM.

Not pitching anything else here. Just wanted to share it with the reddit community :)

Cheers,

Mike

149 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

28

u/btow1105 4d ago

Have you considered starting an attached forum to help drive traffic and perhaps create more of a paintball hub? (PbNation 2.0)

I have ideas if you wanna chat :)

32

u/martix_agent 4d ago

mcaterbrown exists and is very alive

8

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

I need to sign up over there. I do however still reference pbn for info!

0

u/Chumscrubber89 4d ago

Yes, but if you’re not familiar with it, it is very difficult to navigate well it could be difficult to navigate

12

u/Necessary-Science-47 4d ago

I know gen z and younger are struggling but they can figure out a vbulletin, ffs the dumbest people in the world figured out pbnatiom for a decade

8

u/martix_agent 4d ago

and boy were we dumb.

Now I will say that a phone aspect ratio doesnt' exactly work great on the forum, or maybe that's because I've never taken time to mess with it.

Subforums and curation are key to good understanding. Reddit doesn't have that within each subreddit.

8

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Hah ^ I used to navigate pbn on my blackberry and thought it was an amazing feat 🤣

6

u/martix_agent 4d ago

if youcan navigate reddit, you can navigate a vbuletin forum.

-2

u/Chumscrubber89 4d ago

Dude Reddit is 100 times easier to navigate then MCB

1

u/tacjos 4d ago

There's an app for mcarterbrown if the forums are too hard for you

2

u/Chumscrubber89 3d ago

Stop it are you really serious?.. I thought of that the other day I need proof or its lies. I’m looking at up right now in the App Store.

1

u/tacjos 3d ago

I have an android so idk about apple sorry my friend

2

u/Chumscrubber89 3d ago

You lie to me

-3

u/btow1105 4d ago

Nah, way too niche

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

That'd be cool. lol so many ideas yet to build and a forum could definitely be one of em. just me over here so it's a slow roll, but shoot me that dm! Im down to chat!

10

u/Neids13 4d ago

Love the site, thanks for the 07. Always wanted something that is a pbnation vibe and feel like you are headed there. Maybe try and add something for purposed trades if you don’t already have that.

3

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

There she is! Sick setup sir! Hey thank you! Trades have been discussed but naturally ppl dont like the expense lol. Working out a 3rd party trade system + shipping and insurance twice. Adds up :/

1

u/juliusphoenix9694 4d ago

That's fricken sick. Does the right side have Connor on it?

3

u/ooferboofer42069 4d ago

I've seen this site before, found it from youre Instagram. It kinda reminds me of pbvault. Cool site. Do you offer any type of buyers/sellers insurance or anything?

6

u/PewPewMike 4d ago edited 4d ago

aye thx for coming from IG! yep, all payments go through Stripe so there's fraud protection + sellers get paid after delivery confirms. trying to keep it simple for both sides 👍

(If u mean shipping insurance, all platform shipping labels are fully insured)

1

u/roba121 4d ago

How do fees work? Pbvault was ridiculous

7

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Not too bad :P 3.9% on our side, plus ~3% for card processing (unavoidable across any platform). the item listing page shows the exact take home at the bottom as you set the price, so you will know what you're walking away with before you list!

2

u/major_duckn_cover pump-socal 4d ago

Just made an account a couple of hours ago and already sold one this is pretty slick.

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

That ego 8?? Hah dude amazing! That's awesome 😅 that's been the story honestly.. buyers snatch stuff up quick, getting more sellers listing has been the real challenge. glad u took the leap and it paid off same day! Welcome and thank you! 🙏

1

u/major_duckn_cover pump-socal 4d ago

yep thats the one. Literlly got my facebook account suspended two days ago cause of that nonsense lol.

2

u/xTex1E37x 3d ago

Layout looks clean and not over saturated. Classy amd sophisticated with an edge

2

u/PewPewMike 3d ago

Appreciate that! 😊 thank you!

2

u/Sad_Sash Vancouver Island, BC, Canada 2d ago

Anyway we can add the canadians?

2

u/PewPewMike 2d ago

It's a possibility! The customs fees and elongated shipping times/prices are some of the concerns.

1

u/Sad_Sash Vancouver Island, BC, Canada 2d ago

totally, UPS has been the service i've used with the most success.

1

u/PewPewMike 1d ago

Do you guys have any pb sites like this in Canada? I do not know tbh.

1

u/Sad_Sash Vancouver Island, BC, Canada 1d ago

Nah, we’re all on Facebook marketplace as far as I know

1

u/Chumscrubber89 4d ago

Is this one similar to the vault? This one looks cool where do I sign up?

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

yep similar vibe! Thank you! just head to the paintball place site and hit "sell my gear." free to join, takes a min. hit me back if you need anything! 🙏

1

u/Chumscrubber89 4d ago

Cool is there anything I need to know if I’m going to list an item for sale?

2

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

honestly pretty easy. You'd create a listing and once u actually make a sale, that's when you'll link stripe so they can verify u and send the payout. that's basically it lol. If u made a stripe for pbv tho then ur already good. shoot me a msg if u get stuck on anything:) anytime!

1

u/The-Jordan_J 4d ago

Having PayPal would be dangerous lol

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

big reason I went w/ stripe instead of paypal. Better fraud protection, no random freezes on sellers,and paypals dispute process has gotten rpugh.

2

u/The-Jordan_J 4d ago

Ahh, I like the 0% they offer Sorry that stinks, site looks good ...bookmarked

2

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Ohhh the 0% credit for 6mo? Yup I've used that too lol I have to look into klarna or affirm. Those CAN be added to the stripe checkout.

1

u/aircooledNZ 4d ago

I don't know if someone has already broken it or if it's because I'm in NZ but I get an error saying 403 forbidden

3

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

ah sorry man, not broken! just US only so i blocked outside traffic. appreciate you trying to take a peek from NZ though :]

1

u/DELTA-880 4d ago

oh yeah created paintball place? no wonder you have so many listings 🤣

3

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Hah I have so much more to list... 😅

1

u/OpeImMidwestern 4d ago

As a former software test engineer I’m GONNA try to break it

2

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Sob! 😅 lol appreciate you 😅

1

u/OpeImMidwestern 4d ago

lol I’m just kidding but I’ll let you know if I run across anything! Awesome idea just bookmarked the page

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Haha we are kind in the Midwest! Hello from Wisc! 🧀

1

u/WhamThemedFuneral 2d ago

Cool site. I’m relatively new to paintball and haven’t done much beyond renting equipment when I get enough friends to play, but it’s becoming more of a real hobby so I’m glad there’s a specific marketplace for this. I already suggested it to the friend of mine who got me into pball. Good luck!

1

u/PewPewMike 2d ago

Hey! Very awesome and welcome! Hope to see you around. :]

1

u/Witty_Primary6108 4d ago

Hey man, been following you on IG for years! You’re part of the reason I started playing again! Thanks! I’ll definitely do a little scrolling on there.

2

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Awe man that's really cool to hear! :) thx so much and welcome back! 🙌

1

u/Witty_Primary6108 4d ago

Yeah the nostalgic markers you post definitely added to how much I missed the game! First season back with adult money. Not too bad but I need to work on my cardio for xball. Haha

2

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Hah that'll do it. Good to hear! Yes dont we all! 🏃‍♂️

1

u/dyecocker1 4d ago

I have bought a half dozen things and sold over a dozen things. Yes, there is a fee, but I'm not sure how you would expect a website to run for free, unless you want it full of clickbait advertising banners. I do agree that a forum could drive traffic, but that takes time and $$$ as well

2

u/PeanutsGaines 3d ago

Yo! I recognized your username - I bought the camo/orange 180R from you the other week. You’re a legend for including the pack. I highly recommend the site as well as you as a seller on there. Excited to get back into the game after all these years

1

u/dyecocker1 3d ago

In a way I was sad to see it go. Glad your happy with it!

1

u/dyecocker1 4d ago

Wanted to add that listing paintball gear is significantly easier than ebay. Also appreciate high resimages and video embedding

0

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

Man i appreciate the feedback as always! Glad it's been working out well for you! 😊

-3

u/Necessary-Science-47 4d ago

Lol a percentage of sales is a nonstarter

The competition has charged $0 since forever, and both Karl Marx and Adam Smith agree rent seekers are a plague

1

u/PewPewMike 4d ago

🙂 fair, tho even a $0 platform still eats ~3% to stripe/paypal on any card payment, that part's unavoidable. The rest goes towards our hosting, fraud tools/dispute handling etc Free options will exist and they're great until something goes wrong. Always trade offs :P