Nz Marketplace looking for feedback ;)

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Forums › Startups › Nz Marketplace looking for feedback ;)

TRangi0623

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#324840 2-Jun-2026 01:16

Hey everyone,

I've been building a New Zealand marketplace called Sky Drop and would love some honest feedback from the community.

The goal is to create a modern marketplace that's simple, secure, and built specifically for New Zealand. Listings are free, and the platform currently supports physical items, services, rentals, vehicles, and digital assets.

Some features already live include escrow-protected transactions, seller profiles, watchlists, and a growing marketplace community.

I'm still actively improving it, so any feedback on the design, user experience, features, or overall idea would be hugely appreciated.

🌐 https://skydrop.co.nz

Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

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#3499269 2-Jun-2026 06:43

Hello.

Perhaps check out the content in this thread from earlier this year…

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=132&topicId=324537

xpd

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#3499274 2-Jun-2026 07:49

I'm always keen to find a local TM competitor so hopefully all goes well for you, but past attempts have struggled.

Questions.... honest questions that others will ask as well, just looking at the front page and FAQ.

"your money is held in escrow by Sky Drop" "When you pay, funds go into a protected account" - How is this managed/protected ? Whats to say you don't just wait for a large deal to go through, take the funds and run.

How are you verifying sellers ?

Trusted marketplace - bit early to say that isn't it :)

How is the site going to be funded - advertising or fees ?

Thanks and good luck :)

XPD / Gavin

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ascroft

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#3499276 2-Jun-2026 07:53

How do you plan to launch with sufficient listings (think thousands) to make people want to go there over alternatives.

Scale is your biggest challenge IMHO.

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lxsw20

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#3499282 2-Jun-2026 08:36

vibe code central

freitasm

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#3499286 2-Jun-2026 09:02

lxsw20:

vibe code central

Having said that, how is the safety and security assured? Do you have scheduled security scans, pen tests from independent third-parties, etc?

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gzt

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#3499305 2-Jun-2026 09:27

Are all sellers required to have Stripe? No casual sellers.

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gzt

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#3499308 2-Jun-2026 09:29

"Funds are released when the buyer confirms receipt (or automatically after 72 hours)"

72 hours is not long enough for courier service most places in NZ.

freitasm

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#3499358 2-Jun-2026 09:37

gzt: "Funds are released when the buyer confirms receipt (or automatically after 72 hours)"

72 hours is not long enough for courier service most places in NZ.

I always thought the scroll system was lopsided. What happens if the buyer receives the goods but denies having received them? Wouldn't the seller end up without money and without the thing being sold?

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deadlyllama

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#3499423 2-Jun-2026 10:12

freitasm:

I always thought the scroll system was lopsided. What happens if the buyer receives the goods but denies having received them? Wouldn't the seller end up without money and without the thing being sold?

My experience with the ebay equivalent is

you buy the item
seller ships you the incorrect item (I really wanted an HP USB-C/A DisplayLink G2 dock for my work MBP, and kept buying them and being sent G5 docks without DisplayLink)
you lodge a dispute with ebay
ebay refunds the entire price including shipping, and doesn't ask you to return the item
would anyone like an HP G5 USB-C dock, I have two spares now.

This is brilliant as a buyer dealing with sellers whose listings clearly show one product and then they ship a slightly different product to you.

It's terrible as a seller. Large sellers fit it into their margin, but Joe Bloggs selling their old laptop will care if the buyer complains and they end up with no money and no laptop.

freitasm

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#3499435 2-Jun-2026 10:23

deadlyllama:

freitasm:

I always thought the scroll system was lopsided. What happens if the buyer receives the goods but denies having received them? Wouldn't the seller end up without money and without the thing being sold?

My experience with the ebay equivalent is

you buy the item
seller ships you the incorrect item (I really wanted an HP USB-C/A DisplayLink G2 dock for my work MBP, and kept buying them and being sent G5 docks without DisplayLink)
you lodge a dispute with ebay
ebay refunds the entire price including shipping, and doesn't ask you to return the item
would anyone like an HP G5 USB-C dock, I have two spares now.
This is brilliant as a buyer dealing with sellers whose listings clearly show one product and then they ship a slightly different product to you.

It's terrible as a seller. Large sellers fit it into their margin, but Joe Bloggs selling their old laptop will care if the buyer complains and they end up with no money and no laptop.

In your case, eBay refunded your purchase. Did they pay the seller, or was the seller holding the worst part of the bargain - no money and no goods?

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deadlyllama

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#3499437 2-Jun-2026 10:29

freitasm:

In your case, eBay refunded your purchase. Did they pay the seller, or was the seller holding the worst part of the bargain - no money and no goods?

Ebay has got a "Payment dispute seller protections" policy. Given that the product didn't match the description, I expect the seller ended up with no money and no goods. The cost of shipping to me was close to the cost of goods - maybe for a higher value item I would have been required to return what I was sent.

edit: to be clear, by "product didn't match description," I mean - the listing gave the model number ("HP G2 USB-A/C G2 DisplayLink 4K dock") and pictures of an HP G2 DisplayLink 4K dock including the model number label and the front of the dock, which has the word DisplayLink printed prominently on it. The seller sent a G5 dock, which doesn't have the word DisplayLink printed on it. The G5 dock uses a DisplayPort MST splitter for its multihead support, which doesn't work on modern Macs.

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#3499441 2-Jun-2026 10:38

deadlyllama:

freitasm:

In your case, eBay refunded your purchase. Did they pay the seller, or was the seller holding the worst part of the bargain - no money and no goods?

Ebay has got a "Payment dispute seller protections" policy. Given that the product didn't match the description, I expect the seller ended up with no money and no goods. The cost of shipping to me was close to the cost of goods - maybe for a higher value item I would have been required to return what I was sent.

But if you falsely claimed "goods were not delivered", then the seller would be in the worst position. That's my point. Scroll protects buyers more than protects sellers.

Anyway, this is off topic.

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amanzi

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#3499457 2-Jun-2026 11:17

This doesn't feel like a serious startup at all. The app has that typical "vibe-coded" feel to it, and I'm guessing was built with Claude or OpenAI. That's not a big deal by itself - those are useful tools for getting an MVP out the door. The big problem is the money-handling side of things - offering an escrow service is not something to be taken lightly. There are financial regulations that apply here, and unless you have a legal/financial team on hand to help deal with this, then you are biting off way too much. Given the Sky Drop website doesn't list any associated company contact details or anything like that, this feels like a one-person startup that definitely should not be trusted to offer financial services. If you just wanted to offer a marketplace to facilitate listings, then you'd take away most of the risk, but as others have already mentioned - unless you have some way of getting thousands of listings, then you'll battle to get any foothold in the market.