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Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

usesold.com

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Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#61

Post by TeMPOraL »

hga wrote: post #41
zimbatm wrote: post #30

This is how this letter reads to me: Woohoo, we got acquired. Thanks a lot for bringing our valuation up buy trusting us. We started $service to solve a problem that matters to you. Because of that we're joining $totally_unrelated_product. Thanks for all the fish.

Let me add: " Because of that we're joining $totally_unrelated_product. And damaging the ecosystem that allowed us to get to this point." It bears repeating that every time one of the acquire shutdowns occurs it makes users that much less willing to take a chance on a small startup. Even a shutdown like this that isn't screwing over existing users reminds everyone of the pattern. Hmmm, maybe I should start ending thi…

Let me fix the previous sentence:

We started $service pretending to care about solving problem that matters to you so that we could extract from you as much money as possible quickly.

I don't believe what startups say anymore. They don't want to solve anything. They want to make something that looks like a solution for long enough that they get piles of money.

Maybe it's understandable, but I'd like they'd be more up-front about this.

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#62

Post by TeMPOraL »

_sentient wrote: post #34
chrisacky wrote: post #19

The opening line follows the boilerplate trend of acquisition posts. Being acqui-hired is not something that you should be celebrating with your users... PERIOD. (On a side note, I'm genuinely happy for you all. Getting paid isn't a negative. It's a huge opportunity, but don't patronise your users). "Yey us. :D We're super excited to announce we got acquired. High-five... too slow... Now go f* yourselves." It's incre…

Companies don't get acquired thoughtlessly, and I'm fairly sure the founders understand the implications for their users. I'm sure a lot of thought went into this, and one way or another they are going to have to announce their decision. It makes sense that they would approach this from as positive an angle as possible. I mean, what's the alternative? Are you going to announce to your users that your promises will go…

> Are you going to announce to your users that your promises will go unfulfilled, and that they can consider themselves shafted henceforth?

What do you think sounds better to users - the above, or the above + "and we're so so happy about this; high five, suckers."?

Also, companies indeed don't get acquired thoughtlessly, but I doubt any single thought went toward users. I'd be surprised if anyone thought, even for a second, that there's a Joe and a Jane out there who rely on their service. Startups have no sense of responsibility for the userbase they built nowdays.

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#63

Post by jakejake »

zimbatm wrote: post #30

This is how this letter reads to me: Woohoo, we got acquired. Thanks a lot for bringing our valuation up buy trusting us. We started $service to solve a problem that matters to you. Because of that we're joining $totally_unrelated_product. Thanks for all the fish.

Most likely they would have gone out of business either way because nobody is going to do an acqui-hire deal if their company had plenty of funding or was actually profitable. If I was working somewhere, I'd rather the founders managed to finagle an acqui-hire rather fire everybody.

You're right, though, there's nothing great about it for the users.

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#65

Post by annnnd »

Jsarokin wrote: post #52
RafiqM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked through the site and watched the video - I think you don't handle the logistics of it? One of the things that most appealed about Sold is that they send you a box, you put the thing in it, and that's it. For me, that's the biggest pain point. Is that something you're looking to do?

We have a different system - but yes, we do help with that. Instead of sending a box, we automatically purchase a shipping label for your item using the shipment method of your choice (USPS, UPS, FedEx). The shipping label already has the address of the buyer and everything filled out. All you need to do is drop off the package (we'll show you the closest shipping locations). From there we automatically track the pac…

Nice! But I didn't get that information by looking at your site (as apparently parent didn't either), so you might want to look into that. And while you are at it, where do I find more information about the process, about the company behind it, the provisions,...? Other than that, nice concept.

US only I guess?

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#67

Post by makomk »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #55
nl wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are wrong here. As I understand it, Sold was a service to help you sell stuff. Services like this are by their very nature used mostly as a once-off thing - someone wants to sell something they don't want anymore. Once it is sold then the "user" has no relationship with the Sold service. So now people who are selling things no longer have the opportunity to use the Sold service anymore. I think it is unfa…

> Services like this are by their very nature used mostly as a once-off thing - someone wants to sell something they don't want anymore. Once it is sold then the "user" has no relationship with the Sold service. There's people who make their entire living selling things online, and have been for at least 10-15 years (how long has eBay been around, again?)

From what I recall, Sold wasn't aimed at professional sellers - it was a middleman mostly targetted at people who just wanted to get rid of their stuff without having to deal with eBay directly, even if that meant getting less money for it.

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#68

Post by vvvVVVvvv »

chrisacky wrote: post #19

The opening line follows the boilerplate trend of acquisition posts. Being acqui-hired is not something that you should be celebrating with your users... PERIOD. (On a side note, I'm genuinely happy for you all. Getting paid isn't a negative. It's a huge opportunity, but don't patronise your users). "Yey us. :D We're super excited to announce we got acquired. High-five... too slow... Now go f* yourselves." It's incre…

I was about to say you'd fit well in Europe, then I saw you are a Brit. My comment still holds, if you see what I mean ;)

It's really something cultural I guess but I can only feel the same way as you do.

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#69

Post by rahul286 »

zedpm wrote: post #9

Can anyone comment on the motivation for Dropbox to acquire a company that apparently helped people sell things? Is Dropbox interested in working in that domain or are they just picking up devs for their own product?

I am also wondering. Sold and dropbox don't look related to each other at all!

Re: Sold just got acquired by Dropbox and closed their company

#70

Post by ersii »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #33
chrisacky wrote: post #19

The opening line follows the boilerplate trend of acquisition posts. Being acqui-hired is not something that you should be celebrating with your users... PERIOD. (On a side note, I'm genuinely happy for you all. Getting paid isn't a negative. It's a huge opportunity, but don't patronise your users). "Yey us. :D We're super excited to announce we got acquired. High-five... too slow... Now go f* yourselves." It's incre…

They don't have "users" in the same way a free blog site has users. I see no reason to be negative in this case. If your favorite taco stand owner sells out to taco bell, the owner should be free to celebrate. You won't be able to get his tacos in the future, but it is not like he broke some implicit promise to always sell you tacos, nor are the tacos he sold you in the past somehow tainted now. Shutdowns are only a…

The parent post is not saying the Sold people aren't free to celebrate. It's about how you do it in front of your former customers and users.
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