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Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

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Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#12
ok. question is not about ui/mobile/web anything. it's how will you break chicken and egg. what's the creative marketing scheme to get that done? usually it involves cracking one side first vs. the other. in the used / deep discount space that typically means supply where supply siders are also users on the demand side. in b2c it means demand first.

i know local commerce like no one's business.

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#13
Looks very nice! Neatly executed. Here are a couple of quick observations/suggestions. I am not a UX designer so most of these are from my personal perspective.

- When I click on PS3/XBox 360/Wii, the page scrolls down and that's fine. However, it would be great to put a "Top" button somewhere to take the user back or ideally, make the "item" band containing Tablets, PS3, XBox 360... stick to the top.

- That brings me to my second point: This type of design is not scalable unless you are planning on supporting only Tablets, PS3s... See what I am saying?

- When I first visit your site, I would love to see you auto-detect my location instead of waiting for me to select one. See here for an example: http://html5demos.com/geo

- Too much space is wasted for each item cell. You can easily have two categories next to each other if the space permits. Think of making it resposive, for instance.

- What is the intuition behind the purchase/selling mechanism? Are you designing around some auction schemes? When I want to sell something, it does not ask me for a price. When I want to buy something, it is asking me for a price. So this seems closer to an auction mechanism than any other regular kind of a purchase. Why not explore mechanisms where you can let the seller specify a minimum amount he is willing to accept? This way you can eliminate spammy customers who are trying to purchase an iPad for $1 :)

That's all for now. Keep up the great work!

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#14

ok. question is not about ui/mobile/web anything. it's how will you break chicken and egg. what's the creative marketing scheme to get that done? usually it involves cracking one side first vs. the other. in the used / deep discount space that typically means supply where supply siders are also users on the demand side. in b2c it means demand first. i know local commerce like no one's business.

My idea is to bring the buyers first. Doing thing that doesn't scale the first weeks like inviting gamers personally and give free credits to grow the inventory. But I'd love to hear what do you suggest.

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#16
I'd love to see a typeahead especially for games. Then you import a more robust catalog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_3_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_xbox_360_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_games

have you considered more 'black hat' strategies for adoption?

http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-do...

craiglist is quite the hub for used games where I live.

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#17

I'd love to see a typeahead especially for games. Then you import a more robust catalog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_3_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_xbox_360_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_games have you considered more 'black hat' strategies for adoption? http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-do... craiglist is quite the hub for used games where I…

I was thinking about an input field with a filter function, but a typeahead is also good.

The focus is just quality and best-sellers. Not sure about bringing more games that less people had and less people want, I prefer to have the 20% that drives to 80% of sales.

I've been reading all those stories and I'll be working in something like that but more white hat :)

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#18
I like the idea a lot! I was trying to sign up but when I noticed the password as clear text that could be read by people around me in big fonts[1], it deterred me from going forward. Others may think similarly. Otherwise, the site is pretty cool, best of luck.

[1] http://tinypic.com/r/29mow12/5

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#19
post #18

I like the idea a lot! I was trying to sign up but when I noticed the password as clear text that could be read by people around me in big fonts[1], it deterred me from going forward. Others may think similarly. Otherwise, the site is pretty cool, best of luck. [1] http://tinypic.com/r/29mow12/5

This has been fixed. Now the password field is obscuring the characters. Sorry about that.

The thought about making it in just clear text was to make easier to detect a typo on the registration page. This wasn't the case of the login page, obscured since the beginning.

Re: Show HN: I built a local/fast marketplace for used gadgets, games

#20
post #13

Looks very nice! Neatly executed. Here are a couple of quick observations/suggestions. I am not a UX designer so most of these are from my personal perspective. - When I click on PS3/XBox 360/Wii, the page scrolls down and that's fine. However, it would be great to put a "Top" button somewhere to take the user back or ideally, make the "item" band containing Tablets, PS3, XBox 360... stick to the top. - That brings m…

Wow, that's a big comment with great insights. I know it's not perfect, but as the phrase says "if you're not embarrassed by the 1st version, you've launched too late". I want to add some of the UI improvements you mention.

I didn't let the seller specify a minimum amount he's willing to accept because a)the listing could stay 1 year and the price will be dropping b) she just need to scan the 1st offers, ordered by offered amount.

Yes, it will be some spammy customer trying to buy iPads for $1, but every offer cost a credit, I hope that will discourage most of them.

Again, thanks for all your comments.

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