Today I have some great news to share: The Boardgames Chronicle is becoming an official review partner of Tabletop Junkie – a community-driven, peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling used board games, with no fees. From now on, my reviews will appear automatically on every current and future listing of the reviewed game, each linking back to the blog. So next time you are hunting for a used copy of a wargame, you will be able to check my opinion about it right on the listing page. The blog joins a great group of existing partners – Board Game Quest, Space-Biff! and Meeple Mountain.
To celebrate the partnership, I have invited Joe, the creator of Tabletop Junkie, to tell us more about the marketplace, the idea behind it and his plans for the future. Enjoy!
To immediately jump to Tabletop Junkie follow the below links:
- Tabletop Junkie – used board game marketplace
- Wargames on Tabletop Junkie
- Example listing – see how partner reviews are displayed
Michal: Hi Joe and welcome to The Boardgames Chronicle blog! This interview is a bit different from the usual ones here – we will not talk about a single game, but about a place where games find new homes. Let us start with you: please tell the Readers a little about yourself. What do you do for a living, how did you get into the hobby, and what games are currently hitting your table?
Joe: Hi! Thanks for doing this. I am a software developer from Bristol in the UK who moved to the south of France a couple of years ago to enjoy pungent cheeses and cheap wine – among other things.
I have been into board games since I was a kid, when my dad introduced me to Risk, although it has always been something I have enjoyed in phases rather than a constant in my life. I will have periods where I play loads of games for a couple of months, then nothing for months or even a year, only to go through another obsessive phase for a few months.
The last “phase” I went through was a couple of months ago, when my wife and I played a lot of Ironwood, which we both really enjoyed. We also forced ourselves through the entire campaign of Undaunted: North Africa and, if I am being honest, neither of us really enjoyed it.
Michal: Tabletop Junkie is, as you openly say on the site, a passion project built by one guy – you. What was the spark? Was there a particular moment, a frustrating sale or a game you could not find, that made you think ‘I need to build this myself’? And how did you come up with the name – are you a true junkie yourself?
Joe: I had been carrying the idea around in my head for at least a couple of years before I actually started building it. I used to buy and sell a lot of board games, and many of the ideas came directly from that experience.
What struck me was that there was not really a platform well suited to it. GeekMarket was built for exactly that, yet in the UK at least, people still largely rely on Facebook groups – which says a lot about how poorly the alternatives cater to board gamers, both in terms of user experience and the features they offer. So I decided to build the kind of platform I wished had existed when I was buying and selling games myself.
As for being a junkie, I definitely am – just not only when it comes to board games. I tend to become obsessed with whatever happens to grab my attention, whether that is board games, another hobby or a new project. Building this website is probably one of the biggest examples of that.
Michal: For the Readers who have not visited the site yet – how would you describe Tabletop Junkie in a few sentences? And there is no shortage of places to sell used games – eBay, Facebook groups, Vinted, BGG’s GeekMarket. Why would a gamer choose Tabletop Junkie over them?
Joe: It is a community marketplace for buying and selling board games. The idea is to take what works well about places like Facebook groups, eBay and GeekMarket, while addressing their pain points and adding useful features they are missing, all designed specifically around how people actually buy and sell board games.
The difficult part is explaining it without word-vomiting a huge list of features. On the surface, it might look like just another marketplace, but spend a little time using it and you start to see how all the small details fit together.
The whole platform has been designed around board games, with everything aimed at making discovering, buying and selling them easier. Rather than jumping between different sites to find games, research them or compare prices, the idea is to bring all of that into one place.
Michal: The site charges no buyer or seller fees, and buyers and sellers deal directly with each other. That is great news for the community, but it naturally raises two questions – how does Tabletop Junkie sustain itself, and how do you build trust when buying from strangers? Can you tell us about the feedback system and your recommendations for payments and shipping?
Joe: I fund it entirely out of my own pocket. It does not currently generate any income that I could re-invest into ads so I rely entirely on raw determination and boots-on-the-ground promotion – like this interview, for example.
Server costs actually are not that high for a project of this size. They will increase as the site grows, but there are ways to cover those costs without charging people to buy or sell. Honestly, though, I am not thinking too much about monetization right now. My focus is simply on growing Tabletop Junkie into the go-to platform for buying and selling board games while keeping it completely free.
In terms of trust, there is a feedback system, so sellers build a reputation within the community as they complete successful sales. Users decide between themselves how they want to pay, but cash on collection or PayPal Goods & Services are strongly recommended because of the protection they provide. Other payment methods are allowed, but the site displays a clear warning about the risks before proceeding.
There are also clear rules in the Terms of Use. Essentially, if a seller has been paid and the buyer does not receive the item – even if it was accidentally lost in the post – it is the seller’s responsibility to refund them. Refusing to follow those rules can result in a permanent ban. Thankfully, touch wood, we have not had to deal with that situation so far.
There is also a fairly sophisticated automated defense system designed to stop scammers before they can target users. A common online scam involves impersonating a platform and sending someone a fake payment link, so Tabletop Junkie blocks links from being shared in chat, automatically detects and bans certain suspicious behavior, and alerts me immediately when something potentially concerning happens so I can investigate quickly.
Michal: What struck me when browsing the site is how much it is built specifically for board gamers – filters by player count, weight and mechanics, BGG data filled in automatically, price history, the Deals page ranking listings by percentage off retail, wishlist alerts and the community ‘Most Wanted’ list. Which features are you most proud of, and which ones should new users try first?
Joe: I am probably most proud of the way all the smaller features work together rather than any single headline feature. I would recommend just going with the flow. What people find most useful will depend on the kind of user they are, their board game tastes and habits, and what helps them decide which games they want to buy.
If you have a bunch of games for sale, definitely check out the “Wanted” page and tick the “Email Notifications” button. It will show you which of the games you have for sale would trigger email notifications for users who are waiting for that game to be listed.
Michal: Let us talk about the content partner program, which – as announced at the top of this article – The Boardgames Chronicle is now joining, alongside Board Game Quest, Space-Biff! and Meeple Mountain. Why was it important for you to bring independent reviews into a marketplace, how does matching reviews to games work behind the scenes, and what do both creators and buyers gain from it?
Joe: Reviews are a big part of how I decide whether something is worth my time or money, so I wanted to bring that kind of information directly into Tabletop Junkie. If a game catches someone’s interest, they can check out available reviews straight from the listing page and make a more informed buying decision without having to go digging around the internet. They can also click through to BoardGameGeek to see user reviews there.
So far, I have manually linked more than 6500 reviews from board game media sites to games in the database. It is a tedious process, but once a review is linked to a game, it automatically appears on every future listing for that game, so it is well worth doing.
As a community website, I am also a big believer in partnerships within the industry. We all do different things and have different things to offer, and a lot of those things complement one another. Review partners who take part also benefit from free exposure, as users can discover their reviews and click through to their websites directly from Tabletop Junkie.
Michal: Now a question close to my heart. The Boardgames Chronicle is mostly about wargames, and wargamers are a specific crowd – big boxes, out-of-print titles, games which are almost impossible to get years after publication. Do you see wargamers as part of your community, and is there anything in the platform that serves this niche especially well?
Joe: Absolutely. In fact, the wargame page has additional filters that you will not find elsewhere on the site because they are specifically relevant to wargamers.
If you go to the Explore tab and then Wargame, you will find a timeline filter that lets you browse by era, from the ancient world all the way up to modern warfare. There is also a scale filter where you can choose between tactical, operational and strategic wargames depending on what you are looking for.
I definitely intend to cater to specific niches within the board gaming hobby with small details like this. That is also why it helps when users from those niches send me suggestions for things they would like to see, because they will inevitably think of things I have not.
Michal: Right now the community is mostly based in the UK, although the site is not tied to one place. What are your plans for expansion? Is continental Europe – and, dare I ask, Poland – on the map? And what about the Conventions section – which events would you love to see there?
Joe: The site was designed to work globally, no matter what country you are in, so there is nothing stopping anyone from anywhere in the world from listing games for sale. The tricky part is getting the ball rolling in a new country. People are understandably less likely to start listing games if there is nothing already for sale there, but you cannot build up those listings until people start using the site. It is a classic chicken-and-egg situation.
I started with the UK because that is where I am from and, as I am only one person with no external funding, I would rather focus my resources and attention on one country than spread myself too thin for now.
That said, there are already a few hundred listings in the US, and I would love to get things moving there too. The goal is to become established in the UK and other English-speaking markets first, then expand further wherever there is enough demand.
And if you are someone with a bit of standing in the board gaming community in your country, or you run a business and would be interested in partnering up to help promote Tabletop Junkie there, I am all ears!
Michal: Beyond the practical side, how do you see the role of the second-hand market in our hobby? With game prices climbing year after year and shelves full of games played once or twice, is trading used games becoming more important – both for players’ wallets and for sustainability?
Joe: The second-hand market plays an important role for combating waste, especially for board games. Being a tabletop junkie may be one of the few addictions that is not damaging to your health, but we still need to be conscious of the fact that it is pretty damaging to the environment – and, obviously, to our wallets.
Having hundreds or even thousands of brand-new games sitting on a shelf only to be played once or twice is not particularly sustainable or environmentally sound. Buying games that are already in circulation, and then passing them on to someone else when you no longer want to play them, is one way of reducing the environmental impact of the hobby.
That is one of the reasons, among many others, that I am so passionate about this project.
Michal: What is next for Tabletop Junkie? Which features are on the roadmap, and how much does the community’s feedback shape what you build next?
Joe: The most immediate thing I would like to implement is a system that recognizes when a seller drops the price of an item, adds a price-drop tag to the listing and pushes it back to the top. At the moment, if someone lowers the price of a game, there is no easy way for users to spot it and the listing can remain buried among everything else.
Beyond that, I have a big backlog of ideas I would like to implement, along with others that I have not quite developed enough yet to turn into reality. I am also constantly making small tweaks to the UI and UX because I am always thinking about how things could work or look better. Every small detail matters.
Community feedback absolutely shapes what I build next, so if there is a feature you would like to see, a request you have, or even a tiny change that would make your life easier, please message me. I cannot guarantee I will implement every idea, but even when I do not, hearing what matters to users often leads to other ideas and improvements.
Michal: Finally, for the Readers who are about to check out the site – what would be your advice for a first-time seller and a first-time buyer? And what is the best way for them to support the project and help it grow?
Joe: For first-time sellers, I would say do not be afraid to give the listing process a try. The system is very flexible and you might be surprised by how quick and simple it is to get your games listed.
If you are used to selling through places like Facebook groups, Tabletop Junkie tries to accommodate that too. You can list multiple games under a single image showing them all together, sell several games as a bundle, or list game accessories. Some of those options might not be obvious until you actually give it a go.
It is also worth clicking into one of your listings once it is live. At the bottom, you will see the cheapest available retail price for that game, which can help you work out a fair asking price.
For sellers who already have listings on eBay or GeekMarket and would like them mirrored on Tabletop Junkie, the process is very straightforward. Simply use the eBay or BGG import feature, enter your username, and I will take care of the rest.
For buyers, take advantage of the tools built to help you find what you are looking for. Add games to your wishlist so you are notified when they are listed within your chosen price range, check price history and retail prices to judge whether a listing is good value, or head to the Deals page, which ranks listings by how much cheaper they are than retail.
If you are attending a convention or event, it is also worth checking the Conventions page to see whether anyone is selling games you are looking for there, so you can arrange collection and save on postage.
The best way to support Tabletop Junkie is simply to use it and tell other board gamers about it. More listings bring more buyers, and more buyers encourage more people to list, so every new person helps make the marketplace more useful for everyone.
You might not sell every game as quickly as you would in a big Facebook group while Tabletop Junkie is still growing, but just putting your games on there really helps move the whole thing forward.
And if you like what I am building, sharing Tabletop Junkie with your local gaming group or online communities makes a huge difference. There are no marketplace fees and no funding or budget, so growth really does depend on the community spreading the word.
Michal: Thank you very much for the interview, Joe! Any last word you would like to add?
Joe: Thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it.
If you are a business or content creator within the industry and you have ideas for collaborations or partnerships – ways we can help each other grow and complement what the other is doing – please do not hesitate to reach out. Likewise, if you are a small business and there is any way Tabletop Junkie can help you, I am always open to hearing ideas.
I am a strong believer in lifting each other up, helping each other where we can, and growing together rather than treating everything as a competition.
Looks like a great site.
Now if somebody would invent a counter “counter”, I’d be more interested in buying/selling used wargames. It is absolutely soul-crushing to begin counting 1,200 counters, even setting aside the horror of losing count, or miscounting.
That also sounds like a great idea!