Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Gemr: A Fun Website for Collectors :)

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful week. :) Today's post is a sponsored post with affiliate links.

I'm very excited to share some information about a website I just recently discovered: Gemr.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a staff member from Gemr, sharing some information about the site and inviting me to come check it out. I did, and thought it was definitely worth mentioning here. :)

Gemr is essentially a site for collectors. It combines some of my favorite things from some of the other social networks I enjoy online. At Gemr, you can share pictures of your collections, browse and "favorite" other user's collections, join collection-themed clubs and museums, interact with other collectors, get information about collectibles, buy/sell/trade, and more...all in one place.

According to my contact, Gemr has been around for about a year, but has experienced significant growth recently. They are hoping to gain more members and continue to grow the website even more.

"We really wanted people to have an outlet where they could share and discuss their treasured collectible items with like-minded people, and not just buy/sell/trade, although we do offer those features as well," my contact explained.

I've spent many hours on Gemr these past two weeks and have found it very user-friendly. To become a member, you need a username, a password, and an email address. Personal and payment information is not necessary for membership, although to use the buy/sell/trade aspect, payment information must be entered. The nice thing is, Gemr has an option to use Paypal, which I prefer to use whenever possible (as opposed to entering my credit card info on yet another site). ;)

Once you join Gemr, you can start exploring the site and adding your own pictures to your account. You can add up to five pictures of each individual item and have the option of categorizing them by collection. For example, if you collect American Girl dolls, you can add "American Girl Dolls" as one of your collections and then upload pictures of each of your dolls within that collection.

If categorizing to that degree is too much, you can just upload pictures of your items and keep them listed in your main gallery without dividing them into different collections. I tend to be a bit obsessive about categorizing, so I like using the collection sorting option. So far, I have a My Little Pony collection, a Lalaloopsy collection, and a Pullip/Taeyang/J-doll collection listed. Of course, I'll be adding more as I have more time to upload pictures. ;) (American Girl, Zelfs, Strawberry Shortcake, Hearts for Hearts Girls, Disney dolls...yeah, I'll be spending a few hours going category crazy!) :D

As you upload pictures of each of your collectibles, you also have the option of adding an "Infocard" to the item. Each Infocard has a generic category (doll, figurine, etc.), and then is broken down into brand, character, condition, material, production date, size, and style. You can fill out all of these bits of information or just pick and choose the information you want. This feature is great for other collectors who like your item and want more detailed information. It would also be excellent for items you list for sale. I haven't filled these out in great detail yet, but would like to go back and do so later. Which brings up another nice feature. You have the option to edit your items after you add them, so you can always start with basic information and go back and add more later. :)

Many of the items I uploaded to Gemr are things I've reviewed here on the blog, so I included a link to my blog reviews in the description. For those of you who do YouTube reviews, there's an option to add a link to a YouTube video. This is a great way to share information with the other collectors on the site.

When you add pictures, you can upload "wanted" items or "for sale" items too, not just items from your own collection.

Once your pictures are on the site, other members can comment on them and "fave" them. You also have the option of requesting more information about your pictured items or their values from other members. And there are several "awards" you can earn as a member, from awards for faves and comments to awards for the items you view, upload, or categorize.

Like Facebook, you can "friend" people on Gemr. And there are links to invite your own friends from Facebook or email to join Gemr.

One of the things that's fun about this site is that it's not limited to one specific kind of collection. I've seen everything from dolls to comic books to vintage photos. You can check out the clubs for collectors with similar interests, but there is also a search bar in case you're looking for something specific.

There are a few things about the site that I think could be improved, such as the option to rotate pictures once they're uploaded (I had some trouble with sideways My Little Pony pictures that I couldn't turn) and the option of subcategorizing the different clubs (sorting the My Little Pony club by the MLP generations or sorting the different categories of Funko Pops, for example). The site is still growing and looking for ways to improve, however, so there will most likely be some changes and growth in the future as the site itself grows.

Overall, though, I was very pleased with Gemr and am excited to see where it goes in the future. It's a fun place to meet other collectors of both similar and different interests and could be a great resource for research on specific collectibles. I think many of you will enjoy it as much as I have. :)

To check out Gemr for yourself, click HERE. :)

If you do take the time to explore the site, I'd love to hear what you think! :)

Although this post was sponsored, all thoughts and opinions expressed were my own. This post contains an affiliate link, which means I will receive compensation when my readers click the link and choose to join Gemr.

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