All Things Come To An End.

After eleven years, it's time to close the coffin lid on Gothic Auctions. It has been an incredible - often absurd - ride. I started as a kid with plenty of free time, which I used to write the software behind the site and handle all aspects of what was frankly always a three man job. Now, I'm an old man with a career and obligations to it which leaves no free time to dedicate to this labor of love.

Online auctions have waned for years, now, and companies like eBay have scrambled for new revenue streams to compensate. We were always the free alternative that provided a targeted audience with no fees or ads and never selling the site to another business for a quick buck. However, that also meant that the future was always tied to my ability to dedicate time to it, which hasn't been possible in a *very* long time. In fact, this is something I should have done long ago had I not felt a distinct guilt at shutting down a long-established community that relied on the site. I finally had to bite the bullet and make this decision.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this community. You turned it into something amazing and I am grateful to every person who came along and found worth in what for me was originally just a toy project that I never expected anyone would give a damn about. I only hope that in some way you also benefitted from the existence of this site and the effort I put into it. I hope that I did not let you down.

Though I can't continue the auctions, I have created a group through which I hope much of the community will continue to remain active at http://groups.google.com/group/gothicauctions . I encourage you to join and start and participate in discussions and keep in touch with each other.

In the meantime, posting new auctions will be disabled on March 1st and the site will shut down entirely on April 1st. In addition to the discussion group above, I also welcome you to keep in touch with me through the following means:

* email
* Facebook
* LinkedIn

My best regards and sincerest thanks,

Seumas
GothicAuctions.com, Owner and Founder