Discover Tabletop Junkie the New Hub for Buying and Selling Second-Hand Board Games

Board game lovers know the thrill of finding that perfect game to add to their collection or passing on a favourite title to someone new. Yet, hunting for second-hand board games often means scrolling endlessly through Facebook groups or juggling multiple platforms that don’t quite fit the bill. Enter Tabletop Junkie, a fresh website designed to make buying and selling used board games easier, faster, and more fun. Developed by Joe, a software developer with a passion for board games, this platform aims to solve the common frustrations players face when trading games online.

WBG has nothing to do with this site or Joe. We were simply asked to provide access to our back catalogue of reviews so that games being sold could have a review section. We accepted, got intrigued by the idea, so asked for an interview.

Joe’s Journey from Player to Platform Creator

Joe’s story starts far from the board game industry. Originally from Bristol in the UK, he moved to a quiet village in the south of France seeking a slower pace of life. Though not an industry insider, Joe has always been a dedicated player and an avid reader about board games. His love for the hobby sparked an idea that had been brewing for years: a dedicated platform for trading second-hand board games that actually works.

He noticed that despite the popularity of Facebook groups for buying and selling games, these groups often fell short. They were easy to use but lacked features that could make trading smoother and more reliable. Joe even pitched the idea during a job interview three years ago, showing how long he had been thinking about this problem.

Why Tabletop Junkie Stands Out

Many platforms exist for trading second-hand items, but few cater specifically to board games. Joe saw that most people in the UK still defaulted to Facebook groups because they were local, familiar, and felt personal. Yet, these groups have clear downsides:

• Hunting for specific games means scrolling through multiple groups every night.

• Posts get buried quickly, forcing sellers to repost constantly.

• Lack of essential features like easy search filters, notifications, and secure messaging.

  
  

Tabletop Junkie was built to address these issues directly. It offers a clean, user-friendly interface focused solely on board games. Users can list games with detailed descriptions, photos, and prices. Buyers can search by game title, category, or location, making it easier to find exactly what they want without endless scrolling.

Features That Make Trading Easier

Here are some of the key features that Tabletop Junkie brings to the table:

• Local Focus: Users can filter listings by location to find games nearby, reducing shipping hassles and encouraging face-to-face exchanges.

• Smart Search: Advanced filters help buyers narrow down options by game type, player count, and condition.

• Notifications: Sellers get alerts when someone shows interest, so they don’t miss potential buyers.

• Secure Messaging: Built-in chat keeps communication safe and organized within the platform.

• No Clutter: Unlike Facebook groups, there are no unrelated posts or distractions, just board games.

  
  

Joe’s goal was to create a platform that feels as easy and personal as Facebook groups but with the added benefits of a dedicated marketplace.

How Tabletop Junkie Benefits the Board Game Community

The board game community thrives on sharing and discovery. Tabletop Junkie supports this by making it simple to:

• Find rare or out-of-print games without endless searching.

• Sell games quickly without worrying about posts getting lost.

• Connect with local players who share your interests.

• Save money by buying second-hand games in good condition.

  
  

For example, a player looking for a specific expansion pack can set up alerts and get notified as soon as it appears. Sellers can track interest and respond promptly, increasing the chances of a sale.

Getting Started with Tabletop Junkie

Signing up is straightforward. After creating an account, users can start browsing or listing games immediately. The platform encourages clear photos and honest descriptions to build trust among buyers and sellers.

Joe plans to keep improving the site based on user feedback, adding features like wish lists and trade offers in the future. The community-driven approach means Tabletop Junkie will evolve to meet the needs of board gamers everywhere.

So, lets sit down and talk with Joe...

How would you describe the site to someone completely new to it? How can they benefit from what it offers?

It's  community-driven marketplace for buying and selling second-hand board games, with zero fees.

It’s designed to make selling as fast and low-effort as Facebook groups, but with proper structure and features built specifically for board gamers. You can bulk-list dozens of games from a single photo. Just add the titles and prices, and the system takes care of the rest. It creates individual listings automatically, fills in game specs, remembers your seller preferences, and adds BGG links and third-party reviews where available.

As a seller, it means you can get your listings up quickly with minimal effort. As a buyer, everything you need is right there: game specs, links to the BGG page, third party reviews, and filters that let you browse by genre, mechanic, theme, feature and more.

The fine-grained filters let you narrow in on exactly what you’re after - search for Kickstarter editions, filter by player count or playtime, or limit results to accessories and expansions for a specific game. If you’d rather not check the site every day, you can import your BGG wishlist and get an email the moment something on it pops up at your target price.

And if you prefer to keep things local, you can filter and sort listings by distance to skip postage entirely.

At its core, everything is built to be fast, presentable, intuitive, and highly automated, giving users maximum control and precision without friction or clutter.

What have you learned so far from this project?

I regularly ask for feedback on Reddit and elsewhere. I'm particularly interested in why people stick with their current platforms and what would actually make them switch. One of the biggest lessons is the realisation that the majority of people prefer familiar friction over unknown ease. Loss aversion often outweighs improvement, even when an alternative is objectively better.

I'm in a minority of people who obsess over finding the best possible solution. I will spend an unhealthy amount of time analysing and comparing until I am convinced something is genuinely superior. Whether that's time spent optimising my game collection, finding the right platform for a specific task or buying a pair of socks. Seriously.

But most people aren’t like that. It doesn’t matter how smooth or easy to use Tabletop Junkie is - just clicking the link and registering takes effort. For the average person to bother, it can’t just be slightly better. It has to be significantly better. It has to offer things people actually want and can’t get anywhere else.

What are your hopes for the future of the site?

The initial goal is to reach a liquidity tipping point where the marketplace starts growing organically within a single country. The platform works anywhere, but for now the focus is on building traction in the UK. Once that’s happening consistently, I’ll shift the focus to other English-speaking markets.

In some countries, such as France and Brazil, there are already well-established second-hand board game platforms that are extremely popular. I want to replicate that kind of success in English-speaking countries.

As the userbase grows, local selling on the platform will naturally become a bigger focus, so you can expect new features to support and enhance that experience.

Beyond that, the aim is to keep improving the site by listening to what users actually want. Most of the features so far have come directly from user feedback, and that’s how I plan to keep building it. It’s a long-term project, and I’ve got a backlog full of ideas and plenty more I want to refine and improve.

What are your own personal favourite games? 

None of my friends play games, so I almost always play with my wife. We tend to gravitate towards highly competitive head-to-head games.

Inis was the first game I really fell in love with. It’s elegant, quick to get to the table, and simple on the surface, but super tight and crunchy. I much prefer it at two players, it’s far more predictable and cutthroat that way. It also made me far less tolerant of over-engineered fiddliness and gave me a real appreciation for elegant game designs.

Brass: Birmingham is another favourite for similar reasons. I haven’t played Lancashire yet, but from everything I’ve heard, I might like it even more since it’s meant to be a bit harsher.

That said, I’ve been really enjoying 6: Siege, which contradicts everything I just said. It’s fiddly, with lots of edge-case rules, a long setup, and takes over the entire kitchen table. Despite that, I can't keep away from it.

I’m also into duelling games like Unmatched and Exceed, but my favourite of the bunch is Battlecon.

Any to look out for in the future you have your eye on for 2026?

Rather than chase shiny new things, in 2026 I’ll be digging through what 2025 left behind. I usually spend more time reading about games than playing them, and tend to cherry-pick once the dust has settled and the consensus is in.

Company of Heroes: Second Edition has been on my shelf for a month, and Ironwood is set up on the table, still waiting for its first play. I'm looking forward to diving into both. I’ll also be grabbing The Old King’s Crown once it’s available again.

I want to say Brass: Pittsburgh as well, but that depends entirely on how well it holds up at two.

Head here to check it out for yourself. - https://tabletopjunkie.com/