Forum

Anyone interested in launching our own sellers market site ?....
 

I was banging my head against my PC desk today trying to figure out the lunacy of eBay, IOffer, and all the other sites that continue to make it harder for us to make money.
Seriously folks...its like jumping thru flaming hoops, and sliding barefoot down razor blades just to make a buck.
And then it hit me ....

Its enough of us here to launch our OWN sellers market !
Think about it for a minute....
These are just a few advantages we would have.


1) We could control who we allow to sell.
2) We could control what we allow to be sold.
3) VIP Members could pay 1 fee...Yearly, Bi yearly, or Monthly.
4) We could have our own dedicated server.
5) We could have mixed auctions (timer and bid), buy it now and (best offer) auctions.
6) We could also have classified ad auctions.
etc etc...

The possibilities are endless.
And as far as promoting the site, a simple link from your existing stealth eBay, Amazon, IOffer, and any other virtual sellers marketplace would bring you your own customers WHILE HELPING ADVERTISE THE NEW SITE !

It would take a bit of work at first of course...such as a catchy domain name...an eBay clone site script (which I can find and install very easily) and a few modifications tp give us a unique look and feel.

But the bottom line is, if they can do it...who says we cant do it and be even better at it ?

I'm really serious about this...lets hear your take on the idea folks.

Good luck! I hope you have a lot of spare cash and time :P

Its not expensive at all...
I can download eBay clone scripts for free.
I already have 2 websites and can get a domain name for under 10.00 and add it to my semi dedicated host for now.
Websites arent as difficult as people perceive them to be.

The website isn't the trouble, it's the people using it. And many who are smarter than you, which then in turn brings on the stress and abuse that has forced EB and others to iterate the strict policies that exist today.

I love the way you are thinking OP but I have to agree with this.

imjustme is already a long way down this track.

I wish you nothing but good with it and if I can do anything to help give me a shout but my opinions on Foo-Foo are well known on this forum

And who will own it? The problem with a community of sellers contributing to something that may later on get quite big is the question of ownership. It's like the guys who claim Mark Zuckerberg stole their Facebook idea. :D

If you're planning on doing something together with a few other sellers, I would recommend PCI-DSS compatible Shopping Cart Software & Ecommerce Solutions: X-Cart. Free shopping cart trial is available. . It's nothing like eBay, but works great combining several sellers into a single storefront.

Now, if you're planning on going bigger, like Etsy, eCrater or iOffer prepare to sacrifice at least a year of your personal life, your family, your friends, to develop the software and the overall project. I'm working on something like that right now and there's much more involved than downloading an eBay clone script and uploading it to a dedicated server with a pretty design. Not to mention most eBay clone scripts are very poorly written and unsafe in terms of data storing (not PCI compliant).

If you read the stories of the guys that created Etsy or Bonanza, they all spent at least a year working on it before it went public. It's an insane amount of work.

PEOPLE are. :faint:

There's the first weak link and the one that makes the most problems.

Overall, I like the OP's attitude in terms of thinking outside the "eBay box". My first company grew out of an idea like this, out of being unsatisfied with another company's service that I was using at the time. I had very little knowledge about the industry at that time and started with nearly nothing. I ended up creating an industry leading company over 3 years with thousands of monthly paying customers. And I was barely 18 back then. If I had told anyone what I was about to do, they would have told me it would never work. I've had competitors who spent hundreds of thousands in advertising and they never grew as big as my company did. I spent less than $1000.

You have nothing to lose. If you don't do it, you've already failed, so you may as well try. And what comes out of it may take you into a whole different direction in life than you've ever imagined.

It's like Steve Jobs who would have never founded Apple had he not attended that calligraphy class after dropping out of college. And Apple might not be what it is today had he not been fired from Apple and then re-joined the company 10 years after. if Steve Jobs had not dropped out of college because his parents couldn't afford it anymore, I would not be writing this from my iPad right now.

And if eBay had not kept closing my selling accounts over the past few years I may have never started developing an eBay alternative. :D

:clap:Well said imjustme - well said indeed:clap:

The world is full of 'gonnas' they're gonna do this and they're gonna do that and never do anything

I agree with everyone else.. it will be a lot of hard work, BUT if you are truly dedicated, and have plenty of time on your hands, it may just work!

Good luck!

WOW opening a website like that would be a mission. But I guess it is possible

Hi all, i made an auction site mainly to sell used football shirts as that is what i was doing on ebay. I have a few sellers on there at the moment, but finding the buyers is proving difficult. I have done a lot of things with to get the word around but it takes up a lot of time and i have had no social life for around 6 months atm.

This is the problem

Finding the buyers isn't difficult. The problem is creating the back-end software and making sure that you can handle the buyers. Because if they come and you can't handle them, they won't come back.

Yes I concur with all of the suggestions as well.

Prior to my very first eBay (VERO) suspension last year I did create my own website selling NFL jerseys.

(Out of respect to Aspkin I wont list the link here), but yes its the PEOPLE that create the problems first, and the security and integrity of the site itself running a close 2nd.

Buyers have found my site without me spending a penny on Google ads, or me having to spam. Even though I'm not pushing the product and product name as much as I should last year was a good year...this year not so good. LOL

But...I'm really absorbing all the various feedbacks givin thus far and hopefully use the points as an advantage if I undertake this project.


Keep 'em comin guys.

Thats soooo very true...but this is why we have the ability to control WHO and WHAT is listed.

We would have similar policies in place but not as strict and anal as feeBay.
So for example....a new seller would have an initial review period unless they were a VIP vendor. This is one way to keep out the riff raff and some (not all though) of the foo foo items.

Bans by IP and home and shipping addresses for repeat T.O.S offenders would also be in order. And NO STOCK images would be allowed onsite. The vendor would have to either use an image from our item category library, or upload there own.


Its a lot of ways to help combat the idiot legion without having to resort to becoming part of them like eBay has.

When do we start?
:clap:

As much as ebay, ioffer, amazon, whatever site.... makes it harder for us to sell, there is a reason behind it. It's always money. You will end up doing the same thing. Even craigslist is regulated.

Also true. CL is nothing like it used to be. The hammer keeps getting bigger and stronger...and a lot less fun/easy/stress free like it once was.

Lets do it!!!! Im in all the people who want could invest in it, im sure I would, use facebook to get the word out also, youtube, we can make a facebook like ebay auction site. Ill do all the promoting on it we just need good sellers, all the small sellers to support it. can leave business cards to the customers on ebay and say we are moving business, we can use ebay against them. will take time and hard work.

You guys need to realize the people that run amazon, ebay, and paypal, are not idiots. There are reasons they do the things they do! They are a business, and the reason is ALWAYS profit.

I am in a business and marketing career and I can tell you that 99% of you have no idea what you are doing or talking about.

Wow - who are the other 1%?

He is probably right..... haha... but I think more of us are in the 1% category than he realizes.

I would think a big rule of marketing is to not sound like a pompous @ss.

Sorry, 99.99999999999999999999%

Reality is an ass.

Well, I know it's sad, but we can't all be as clever as you

When will you be launching your Presidential campaign?

thinking of hiring you as my running mate. do you have a us citizenship? maybe we can use your slogan

"Everybody has the right to be stupid - but you are abusing the privilege -
please stop it and give someone else a chance!!"

LOL - I doubt they would let me in never mind citizenship

I had an incident with a little bit of Black Morrocan 35 years ago
:D

Where's your website?

Huh?

If i had any clue on how to do all that i would be first in line to help but unfortunately i am no steve jobs... :pry:

But if you get this going, you can count on my VIP membership fee. This would cut out A LOT of sunk costs and greatly increase efficiency.

My point exactly.

Why would I need to devote my life and all possible money to hope to create another ebay/amazon when I can not only live off the money I make on online, plus add in the income from a real job, and I have my finances on lock.

The majority of people that complain and want to create another site, since they keep getting kicked off are doing several things consistently: not following the rules, selling phakes, no customer service, etc.

Why did you get suspended? For following all of the rules?

As long as you sell on ebay, you work for them, and do not have a business that is your own.

Someone who is so experienced with marketing should know that you gain no brownie points by being condescending. Like, I said, where is your website? Is too HARD for you to do? You need help with registering a URL? Web hosting? Programming? marketing?


Maybe the majority of people that want to make another site realize that ebay isn't as powerful as they seem and want to branch out... maybe they just this, maybe they just that.... who cares? I HATE.... and I mean HATE people on this forum that have nothing to add and would rather complain about others instead of help. The point in this forum is to HELP people. That's it.

Oh btw... what is a real job?

Got suspended 9 years ago, for being an idiot. Learned my lesson (unlike most on here) and havent had an issue since. Since then I have build an empire and I have 10+ ebay accounts with zero policy violations on all accounts for over 9 years now. I also have several amazon accounts in stealth and several in real info. And yes I do have my own website that brings in more than ebay.

I do not need to create an alternative to ebay, when I have income from 10+ ebay accounts, 4+ amazon accounts, website, and a job.

You dont know what a career is? Gone to college.....graduated....hired by a large business/marketing firm....consistent and reliable income....contract.....

People are so negative on here towards others that have something going for them.

Uhm Red Shooting Star, I've pretty much kept quiet in regards to your commentary as to not appear biased.

But here are a few things I have noticed about your self proclaimed, "I'm smarter than you attitude".

You act as if you are a one man marketing whiz and project your opinions in a condescending manner.
So I'd like to know exactly where is it carved in stone that you know more than anyone else here ?

Secondly, if necessity is the mother of invention, then the creation of an alternate sellers marketplace (for us, by us) seems like a necessity to me.
As I stated earlier I have had some success without even promoting my website that caters to NFL jerseys online. While I'm not making the 48K (in 4 months) that I did on eBay before my suspension (which was based on an entirely different product item) it pretty much is evident that you are wrong as 2 left shoes.

So what you went to college...but to quote your very own words,

it seems to me your'e pretty pompous as well as hypocritical.
Unless...you have a crystal ball connected to some psychic hotline and are capable of seerseeing into peoples homes and lives you really don't have the right to assume who does or doesn't have something going for themselves.

The bottom line ? Offering constructive criticism is one thing, but being a self righteous jerk is another.

Attempting to derail the thread with ME, ME, ME isn't going to work.

I offered this idea to those who were willing to share input (both pros and cons) about the feasibility of launching a new sellers market site, and as far as any of us know this is the very same way feeBay was launched, with a simple idea and a discussion.

Right now this is the planning stage. And the comments are learning tools to be used to foreshadow the structure of the site.

I'm very much aware of that you feel YOU may not need to create or participate in an eBay alternate. But considering the fact that not all of US feel the need to comply and bend over and play by the rules of a corrupt corporate entity, then perhaps you might realize that some of US do feel the need to explore different avenues that we could have better control over.


In any event the worst that could happen is it fails. But I'll guarantee you and your 99.999% that SOMEBODY will make some sort of money (be it .10 or $10,000) if and when an alternate site is launched. Because I assure you they are springing up online in small pockets and communities everywhere.


And on that note, I wish you continued success, just stop trying to derail this thread.

Did you take the class on trying to get people to not think you're a d!ck? I would think that's marketing 101....

I this
I that
I blah blah blah

You're projecting yourself onto others....


So like I said, where's your website?

If that's your definition of "career", then more than half of the world's top 100 billionaires never had a "career". Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Ralph Lauren, Ted Turner (CNN) ..they're all "career-less" and obviously don't have a clue. But you seem to know better, good for you.

You guys act worse that the average customer

<.><.>

That's because we are

The Average customer Buys something--Recieves it ---Leaves Positive feedback--- NO ONE who reads your comments on this thread has ANYTHING Positive to say about your comments,,,,

You got a Lot of Balls trying to Proclaim yourself as some type of Expert or Guru,,,,Your Avatar,,Is that a RAT,,VERY appropriate,,,

Here is the TRUTH,,,There are MANY on this forum who FORGOT more about Successful Business Practices than You will EVER Know.

You point out that Education is key in Being Successful, actually you make it seem as if it is the ONLY thing.

Another KEY to being Successful is how you carry yourself (attitude) how well you work with others,,Here you FAIL Miserably,,this is CLEAR from your Postings on this thread.

The "Career" you so Joyously Describe is to me the Life of a Drone,,you will ALWAYS have someone to awnser to. And Please do not allow your Intellectual short commings to defend this position. It is My Opinion and I am Entitled to My Opinion, Living in USA gives me that Right.


As Imjustme Pointed out above there would be NO Entrepreneurs to create New Companies and even INDUSTRIES,,,,,,you know Places and People that YOU would work FOR.

You have EVERY Right to Disagree with the OP,,,Hell I Do,,and I will get to that in a Moment,,,But to Argue that the Cerebral capabilities of 99.9% of this forums Members are inept, or as you infer intellectually unequipped to even Discuss such a Venture, is simply Arrogant Presumption. Then to further your point of View in following Posts CLEARLY Demonstrates your Continued Predelection to Demonstrate the Irrevelencies of your arugment within the confines of this Discussion it also provides Clear insight of your paltry intelligence quotient.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the REAL Discussion here, One of the BIG Expenses in operating a Site such as Ebay is the Legal Expenses. Ebay is CONSTANTLY under attacks from Companies that do NOT want their Merchandise on an Auction site,,to Companies protecting their Intellectual Property, Counterfeits, to Buyers suing for for ALL sorts of stuff and Even seller taking court action for things like Unfair practices, Promoting Buyer Fraud, and Much More, this is the Main Reason Yahoo stopped their Auction site and Google NEVER Launched one.