My fault for not reading the shipping costs
Great concept, but the app needs some serious work
The trade system needs work. I should be able to decide if a card is even available for trade. If I want to trade something, let me mark it for trade and set a reasonable range I would accept. Someone shouldn’t be able to offer $50 worth of cards for a $400 card unless I choose to allow offers that far apart.
The trade UI also needs work. The Accept button is huge and sits right where you swipe up on an iPhone to switch apps, while Reject and Counter are smaller above it. I don’t know what happens after pressing Accept because I’m not willing to test it on a valuable card. There should be a clear confirmation screen before any trade is finalized, especially when cards worth hundreds or thousands of dollars are involved.
There also needs to be a way to completely lock cards. If I want to keep a card vaulted with Arena but don’t want to sell or trade it, I should be able to lock it from everything. Keeping my property in your vault and making it available for transactions should be two completely different things.
Selling needs work too. Asking prices should have some connection to actual comps instead of people being able to put whatever value they want on a card, especially when those values can affect trades. There should be room for negotiation without turning the marketplace into made-up prices.
If storing and insuring locked cards indefinitely isn’t sustainable for Arena, offer a reasonable monthly vault plan based on the number or value of cards being stored. I’d rather pay a small transparent fee and know my collection is protected than feel like I need to ship valuable cards home just to completely remove them from transactions.
Arena Club has a great concept and that’s why I use it. But when people are trusting the platform with cards worth hundreds, thousands, or more, better owner controls and protections should be a priority.
