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Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

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Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#1

Post by TravisSc6tt »

I'm currently working on a side project. Is there any interest in a website that directs you to trusted online stores based on what you're looking for? For example, if you search "oven mitt" it will bring up results from Bed Bath & Beyond and Target (or some other "trusted" store). If you search for "headphones" it will bring up results directly from headphone manufacturer websites.

My motivation for this project is to solve the problem of fake products on Amazon and eBay, but I'm not sure how big a problem this is for other people. (Please be as skeptical as possible!)

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#4

Post by ColinWright »

Why would someone trust the proposed site? I search for "Filing Drawers" and it makes a recommendation ... why would I trust those recommendations rather than Amazon or eBay?

Trust is a difficult problem to solve ... any one can put up a website with search results and claim that they are trustworthy.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#6

Post by TravisSc6tt »

ColinWright wrote: post #4

Why would someone trust the proposed site? I search for "Filing Drawers" and it makes a recommendation ... why would I trust those recommendations rather than Amazon or eBay? Trust is a difficult problem to solve ... any one can put up a website with search results and claim that they are trustworthy.

That's a good point. Initially I would only include big-name stores. If you searched for filing drawers you may see results from Office Depot, Staples, or directly from whoever makes filing drawers. When you order from those websites, you know you're getting a product shipped directly from them. When you order from Amazon, you don't know who is selling you the product (more often than not it's from a third-party seller).

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#7

Post by TravisSc6tt »

codegladiator wrote: post #5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_web_directories ? Especially DMOZ

I remember DMOZ, but this site wouldn't just be a directory of online stores. It would search a set of reputable online stores and show you results from them. Unless I'm missing your point?

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#8

Post by brudgers »

TravisSc6tt wrote: post #6
ColinWright wrote: post #4

Why would someone trust the proposed site? I search for "Filing Drawers" and it makes a recommendation ... why would I trust those recommendations rather than Amazon or eBay? Trust is a difficult problem to solve ... any one can put up a website with search results and claim that they are trustworthy.

That's a good point. Initially I would only include big-name stores. If you searched for filing drawers you may see results from Office Depot, Staples, or directly from whoever makes filing drawers. When you order from those websites, you know you're getting a product shipped directly from them. When you order from Amazon, you don't know who is selling you the product (more often than not it's from a third-party sell…

If I want a filing drawer from Office Depot, I can just go to the Office Depot website. And if I want an oven mitt from Walmart, I can just go to Walmart. By which I mean that there's not much curation going on because at the scale of everything from filing mitts to oven drawers there can't be.

Curation of oven-mitt offerings means that there's someone who is obsessed with oven-mitts sorting through all the different offerings. If it scales it isn't curation.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#9

Post by TravisSc6tt »

brudgers wrote: post #8
TravisSc6tt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point. Initially I would only include big-name stores. If you searched for filing drawers you may see results from Office Depot, Staples, or directly from whoever makes filing drawers. When you order from those websites, you know you're getting a product shipped directly from them. When you order from Amazon, you don't know who is selling you the product (more often than not it's from a third-party sell…

If I want a filing drawer from Office Depot, I can just go to the Office Depot website. And if I want an oven mitt from Walmart, I can just go to Walmart. By which I mean that there's not much curation going on because at the scale of everything from filing mitts to oven drawers there can't be. Curation of oven-mitt offerings means that there's someone who is obsessed with oven-mitts sorting through all the different…

I see what you're saying, but I'm not curating products--I'm curating online stores on which users can then find products. Does that make sense?

Re: Ask HN: Is there any interest in a “curated” online store?

#10

Post by brudgers »

TravisSc6tt wrote: post #9
brudgers wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I want a filing drawer from Office Depot, I can just go to the Office Depot website. And if I want an oven mitt from Walmart, I can just go to Walmart. By which I mean that there's not much curation going on because at the scale of everything from filing mitts to oven drawers there can't be. Curation of oven-mitt offerings means that there's someone who is obsessed with oven-mitts sorting through all the different…

I see what you're saying, but I'm not curating products--I'm curating online stores on which users can then find products. Does that make sense?

I understand what you are doing. It makes sense in the sense that it's easy. And it makes sense in the sense that there are a myriad of webscraping "middleman" services so there's probably a business there.

However, to me, it's not curation in a meaningful sense because big box stores sell the same white label oven mitts from the same factories as Amazon. And for oven mitts and filling drawers fakes aren't a problem when purchasing from Amazon.

It's not clear to me, what problem it would solve. But I wish you all success.

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