Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

swapidy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 60 posts

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#51

Post by mrchess »

theswapdaddy wrote: post #42
illumin8 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they don't want you to do normal math and realize how much you are being ripped off...

We have the conversion ratio posted on the homepage itself and want users to know what it is. $1 = 10 Honey. Also, we are giving users more than market value on products and selling brand new products under retail. The same products would be more expensive if you were to buy them directly from the store.

If this is true it would make even more sense to drop down to 1:1 so that users would "get it" and not have to familiarize themselves with a new market.

Converting $1 = 10H might seem like a simple conversion, but you'd be surprised how difficult it can actually be for many general consumers. I've seen people bring out calculators to split a $130 bill evenly between 13 people.

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#53

Post by theswapdaddy »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #22
theswapdaddy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With Honey, we can offer you more instead of what Gazelle or eBay would offer you. Ex) Instead of selling your iPhone for $400, we could give you $440 in some cases. Does that answer your question? -Adam

You do understand that would be a pyramid scheme, right? You can't sustainably create currency out of nothing like that. At best what you're doing is the same as what the Fed does when they print money, i.e. causing inflation, so that at least there is no big crash at the end where everyone left holding your currency loses everything (though that is exactly what would happen if your site ever experiences a significan…

Thank you for the comment.

First off, as mentioned in the other comments, this is not a pyramid scheme.

Your currency will always be worth the same conversion rate of $1 = 10 Honey. The value won't ever change. As for the products, we try to buy high and sell as low as we possibly can. The aim right now is to get users on board so they can see how awesome the experience is.

The reason we can buy higher than market value is because our overhead is lower than sites that pay up front cash. At the moment, we will buy new products out of pocket for you in exchange for your used product + any difference, if any. Eventually, those used products will be available to the market too for a cost lower than market value.

I invite you to try the site out and see for yourself how it works. Again, the value of the Honey never changes and what we buy your product for always remains of the value you sold it for. Whatever you buy, we will fulfill.

I hope that gives you a little bit of insight of how what we do is possible.

Feel free to ask for any clarifications.

-Adam

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#54

Post by theswapdaddy »

ktsmith wrote: post #31
theswapdaddy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the moment, we're not offering redemption of Honey but we may consider it in the future. The value you're getting of selling your product over market value and buying under wouldn't require you to ever take out money anyway. Also, if your product is worth as much as a product we're selling, you won't have to pay a single dime. -Adam

> The value you're getting of selling your product over market value and buying under wouldn't require you to ever take out money anyway. This is only true if the difference between the sold item and bought item(s) is small. If the seller is looking to offload a macbook but only to buy an iPad a cash transaction would make significantly more sense. In this system the difference in values is tied up in honey which has…

Think about it this way... A lot of people try to sell their iPhone 4S's or 4's when the new model came out. So what did they do? They went to eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Gazelle, etc. to sell it. Once sold, they used the money to pay for it plus the difference.

Think of that whole experience done on one site... Swapidy. You sell your stuff to us, get paid instantly, and buy whatever you want right away.

As for the remaining balance goes. New products come out all the time and more often that not, you will purchase a new product in the future, right? You can use that currency that was left over to buy the next best thing whenever it comes out. And better yet, we will always be updating our product lines. So there will always be something new to buy.

So think of it as savings in your bank that's used for something else down the road. The value is never going anywhere... it always stays the same ($1 = 10 Honey).

Let me know if you have any other clarifications I can make.

-Adam

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#55

Post by theswapdaddy »

mrchess wrote: post #51
theswapdaddy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have the conversion ratio posted on the homepage itself and want users to know what it is. $1 = 10 Honey. Also, we are giving users more than market value on products and selling brand new products under retail. The same products would be more expensive if you were to buy them directly from the store.

If this is true it would make even more sense to drop down to 1:1 so that users would "get it" and not have to familiarize themselves with a new market. Converting $1 = 10H might seem like a simple conversion, but you'd be surprised how difficult it can actually be for many general consumers. I've seen people bring out calculators to split a $130 bill evenly between 13 people.

Understandable and I think your point is certainly valid.

We're testing to see what works and what doesn't right now. If you think about it, people are more likely to buy or sell if the number is higher. But we will only know if people get used to it within a matter of days.

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#56

Post by theswapdaddy »

RaphiePS wrote: post #36
ktsmith wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The value you're getting of selling your product over market value and buying under wouldn't require you to ever take out money anyway. This is only true if the difference between the sold item and bought item(s) is small. If the seller is looking to offload a macbook but only to buy an iPad a cash transaction would make significantly more sense. In this system the difference in values is tied up in honey which has…

Another downside is that your money is tied up in a company that could fail. In the event that Swapidy goes under, there's no guarantee that you could get all your money out safely. I think Swapidy is a great idea -- a dynamically-priced, peer-driven marketplace sounds awesome . But the currency lock-in seems very sketchy.

Totally understandable. However, that scenario is highly unlikely.

Your currency is always worth that amount and will never change in value.

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#57

Post by theswapdaddy »

ankurb wrote: post #48

How do you guys manage warehousing / storage for all your inventory?

Great question!

We have a very efficient inventory system that updates on its own as someone does a transaction both when they buy and sell.

Currently, we're running out a small space where all the products are stored. As we grow... our logistics will get more complex of course.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

-Adam

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#58

Post by ktsmith »

theswapdaddy wrote: post #54
ktsmith wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The value you're getting of selling your product over market value and buying under wouldn't require you to ever take out money anyway. This is only true if the difference between the sold item and bought item(s) is small. If the seller is looking to offload a macbook but only to buy an iPad a cash transaction would make significantly more sense. In this system the difference in values is tied up in honey which has…

Think about it this way... A lot of people try to sell their iPhone 4S's or 4's when the new model came out. So what did they do? They went to eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Gazelle, etc. to sell it. Once sold, they used the money to pay for it plus the difference. Think of that whole experience done on one site... Swapidy. You sell your stuff to us, get paid instantly, and buy whatever you want right away. As for the rem…

I'm not confused about how your product works, virtual currency systems are great for the vendor but the lock into the marketplace carries risks and downsides for the consumers using the marketplace.

> New products come out all the time and more often that not, you will purchase a new product in the future, right?

That's assuming a lot. New products come out all the time, however I have no guarantees that your marketplace will have another product that I want at any time. If I have a balance of honey I'm taking a risk that I will find continued utility in your marketplace. That same risk doesn't exist if I sell or trade my goods for real currency instead of virtual currency.

> So think of it as savings in your bank that's used for something else down the road. The value is never going anywhere... it always stays the same ($1 = 10 Honey).

It's nothing like savings in a bank. My bank pays me interest and allows me to withdraw money at any time for any purpose. Converting money, or my used goods, to honey locks me into your ecosystem and has a significantly smaller value to me in utility and opportunity cost than actual cash. Additionally, if my bank goes out of business my deposits are insured by the FDIC. If swapidy goes out of business the honey evaporates into thin air and it's just a loss.

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#59

Post by ktsmith »

theswapdaddy wrote: post #56
RaphiePS wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another downside is that your money is tied up in a company that could fail. In the event that Swapidy goes under, there's no guarantee that you could get all your money out safely. I think Swapidy is a great idea -- a dynamically-priced, peer-driven marketplace sounds awesome . But the currency lock-in seems very sketchy.

Totally understandable. However, that scenario is highly unlikely. Your currency is always worth that amount and will never change in value.

Unless like the parent said, you go out of business. In that case the honey is worth $0 because it's virtual currency. It's also not highly unlikely as most new businesses fail.

Re: Show HN: Swapidy: Trade up your old stuff for new stuff

#60

Post by jwallaceparker »

brilee wrote: post #19

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but your use of virtual currency strikes me as an attempt to later coin your own currency to "buy" other peoples' goods for free. It doesn't bode well for trust, in any case...

Help me out here because I don't see how that is possible.

If they "coin" more of their own currency it doesn't change the economics for someone who is interacting with their web site.

Swapidy extracts value from users who:

1) Send them a physical good in exchange for virtual money 2) Send them actual dollars in exchange for virtual money

The founder Adam could create his own user account and give himself a billion units of Honey, but if he spent it all at Swapidy he'd simply be ripping off his own company.

Am I missing something?

It's fascinating to think about, so thanks for the original comment.

Post reply on HN