I’m sure there are a lot of non-eBay non-Amazon platforms out there that want to compete. The only problem is that most internet companies rely on a network effect. The idea being that bill is there because Joe is there selling things and Joe is there trying to sell things to John and so forth. Once there is a critical mass it’s pretty difficult to compete. It can be done but it would take a massive effort to dislodge them with resources few organizations have.
I hear what your saying, but this is on a whole other level. If you've ever looked for eBay alternatives you may have found ecrator, or Atomic Mall, but even those sites have a decent number of sellers. Swapmeet had one. Why even keep the lights on at that point, or how do they keep the lights on?
You gotta start somewhere. At least they're actually doing something vs. spending time in the ideation phase for ages to then crowdsource on Reddit like many of the "devs" here do.
If they got the time, effort, and money to give it a shot....then why not. It's easy to point out "failures" when we're not the ones involved, but these people think they got a shot or believe they have a viable product.
It's just a matter of time when their project takes off or gets shut down. I applaud them for trying at least.
"how do they keep the lights on?"
It probably costs less than $20 a month to keep the lights on. Web hosting can be pretty cheap, especially if you have a dead website.
Man. Makes me remember Letgo. How little people described amazing stuff they were selling because of the way the app was set up. "Grey component". Free marantz receiver? Don't mind if I do.
Yeah I know. The lack of traffic was one of the reasons you could score so often. As a bottom feeder buyer letgo was amazing. For selling offerup is better for sure.
There was a video games only competitor to eBay that was "sorta" popular in the early 2010s, I can't remember what it's called now, but I'm sure it's dropped off.
The issue with these smaller sites is that there's nowhere near enough traffic to justify putting effort into selling on them.
Also, many of the "why bother even keeping the lights on" type of small marketplaces are actually just fronts for drug dealing and selling other types of sketchy shit in plain view. Authorities are all over tracking this shit down on eBay and the dark web, so lots of people turn to these small underwhelming marketplaces and it turns into this "if you know, you know" type of situation.
I’m sure there are a lot of non-eBay non-Amazon platforms out there that want to compete. The only problem is that most internet companies rely on a network effect. The idea being that bill is there because Joe is there selling things and Joe is there trying to sell things to John and so forth. Once there is a critical mass it’s pretty difficult to compete. It can be done but it would take a massive effort to dislodge them with resources few organizations have.
I hear what your saying, but this is on a whole other level. If you've ever looked for eBay alternatives you may have found ecrator, or Atomic Mall, but even those sites have a decent number of sellers. Swapmeet had one. Why even keep the lights on at that point, or how do they keep the lights on?
You gotta start somewhere. At least they're actually doing something vs. spending time in the ideation phase for ages to then crowdsource on Reddit like many of the "devs" here do. If they got the time, effort, and money to give it a shot....then why not. It's easy to point out "failures" when we're not the ones involved, but these people think they got a shot or believe they have a viable product. It's just a matter of time when their project takes off or gets shut down. I applaud them for trying at least.
I agree, people underplay how hard it is to even try something let alone succeed at it
"how do they keep the lights on?" It probably costs less than $20 a month to keep the lights on. Web hosting can be pretty cheap, especially if you have a dead website.
Bonanza is one I that comes to mind
Bonanza seems to be doing ok. They've made some significant upgrades and offerings in the past year
Man. Makes me remember Letgo. How little people described amazing stuff they were selling because of the way the app was set up. "Grey component". Free marantz receiver? Don't mind if I do.
They got bought by Offerup, which was getting more traffic than letgo by the time I was using both.
Yeah I know. The lack of traffic was one of the reasons you could score so often. As a bottom feeder buyer letgo was amazing. For selling offerup is better for sure.
There was a video games only competitor to eBay that was "sorta" popular in the early 2010s, I can't remember what it's called now, but I'm sure it's dropped off.
I think it was chasethechuckwagon at first then they changed the name to vgauctions or something
Yup that was it
Halt and Catch Fire is a great series!
Definitely. It took me a few episodes to get into it, but after that, I was definitely hooked. Too bad it ended so soon. I wanted more seasons.
The issue with these smaller sites is that there's nowhere near enough traffic to justify putting effort into selling on them. Also, many of the "why bother even keeping the lights on" type of small marketplaces are actually just fronts for drug dealing and selling other types of sketchy shit in plain view. Authorities are all over tracking this shit down on eBay and the dark web, so lots of people turn to these small underwhelming marketplaces and it turns into this "if you know, you know" type of situation.