How to create an auction site that will really be able to take on Trade Me!

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freitasm

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#771155 27-Feb-2013 17:19

I do get irony - being Brazilian and all, so no stereotypes apply as you have no idea of background.

And I think the topic was more sarcastic than ironic. And yes, I got it. But that doesn't mean my observation is less valid...

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jmumby

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#771321 27-Feb-2013 21:45

Hows this for an idea, how about we don't make a competitor to Tradme. The online Auction ship has sailed, not sure why everyone wants to make something 'like' Trademe, actually I do. It's the only online model that has ~~seemed to have~~ 'made it' in NZ across any facet.

If trademe were the holly grail of internet business then eBay would be killing FB,google and Amazon etc. Lets look outside the cube here a bit for things people need other than to buy and sell ~~crap~~ items online. Several good reasons for this. One you have no one to compete against including half a dozen wanna be's and two you write your own rules.

GDM

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#771641 28-Feb-2013 11:57

Wow, why is everyone so fatalistic about being able to compete.

Didn't jobs and wozniak build an ibm killer in their garage?
And trademe itself looked unlikely in the face of Ebay.
How many 'impregnable' social websites existed before Facebook?

Bring a product to market and let the people decide if they prefer it.
Trademe's weakness is it's complexity and need for revenue. Go simple, user friendly and cheap and with a new angle.
Emulating trademe is a mistake. Doing something equivalent is more likely to succeed.

freitasm

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#771642 28-Feb-2013 11:59

GDM: Wow, why is everyone so fatalistic about being able to compete.

Because what we've seen so far is just emulating Trade Me (as you said). When these people wake up and do something better than they have a chance. Until then, people will continue to point they're doing it wrong.

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#771644 28-Feb-2013 12:06

So who is running the project to make a really good classified website for NZ? Anyone out there!?

sleemanj

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#771654 28-Feb-2013 12:35

GDM: And trademe itself looked unlikely in the face of Ebay.

Trademe had a big jump on ebay in NZ. Ebay wasn't targeted at all towards NZ until TM was well and truly established. Ebay briefly had a .co.nz site, until they wisely realised that they couldn't win.

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jmumby

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#771658 28-Feb-2013 12:47

sleemanj:
GDM: And trademe itself looked unlikely in the face of Ebay.

Trademe had a big jump on ebay in NZ. Ebay wasn't targeted at all towards NZ until TM was well and truly established. Ebay briefly had a .co.nz site, until they wisely realised that they couldn't win.

So if a company that made $2.55bn profit in 2011 isn't going to take them on what hope does anyone else?

LennonNZ

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#771683 28-Feb-2013 13:14

I'm the lead dev for pricemaker.co.nz – a site that does reverse auctions. We've got 3 major appliance retailers on board (Magness Benrow, 100% and Farmers), and so we've got TVs, and kitchen / laundry appliance categories so far.

We're working on getting more categories, retailers and locations (we only service Auckland & Wellington right now) as we speak, but dealing with these big businesses can be a bit slow :)

What I've found with Pricemaker is the price I have been quoted is just near retail cost.. I was (and still are) looking for a certain large TV and the price different stores have quoted is very near what the price is in the Stores.. (or even more)

I would have thought the stores who are signed up would have given much better prices than standard retail prices.

phindmarsh

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#771710 28-Feb-2013 14:12

LennonNZ:
I'm the lead dev for pricemaker.co.nz – a site that does reverse auctions. We've got 3 major appliance retailers on board (Magness Benrow, 100% and Farmers), and so we've got TVs, and kitchen / laundry appliance categories so far.

We're working on getting more categories, retailers and locations (we only service Auckland & Wellington right now) as we speak, but dealing with these big businesses can be a bit slow :)

What I've found with Pricemaker is the price I have been quoted is just near retail cost.. I was (and still are) looking for a certain large TV and the price different stores have quoted is very near what the price is in the Stores.. (or even more)

I would have thought the stores who are signed up would have given much better prices than standard retail prices.

Thanks for your feedback LennonNZ.
Sorry the deals you've seen haven't been as good as you had hoped. We're still working hard toward getting more retailers on board, which will hopefully mean you receiving more competitive deals.

I think the power of our auction model is not just the opportunity to get a good deal, but also to save time and hassle shopping around to find the best offer.

Maybe it would help if you posted in the auction "i found this price for so-and-so, can you beat it?". I'm happy to chat about your particular auctions further if you'd like, just flick me a message

sleemanj

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#771714 28-Feb-2013 14:16

jmumby:

So if a company that made $2.55bn profit in 2011 isn't going to take them on what hope does anyone else?

None. As has been shown, many times.

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Dratsab

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#771977 28-Feb-2013 22:36

What a lot of competitors don't seem capable of understanding is that Trademe didn't start off as the beast it is now. It started small, made sure everything worked well and then started growing. "Big bang" projects very rarely work out well, no matter what they are, who's running them and how much money there is.

GDM hints at this and references Apple. Apart from the fact Apple didn't kill IBM (didn't come anywhere near it actually) they started small, got it right, then grew. It seems to me there's more than a few idiotards? out in the internet landscape that shouldn't be allowed to be anywhere near a startup.

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#773579 2-Mar-2013 11:25

Dratsab: What a lot of competitors don't seem capable of understanding is that Trademe didn't start off as the beast it is now. It started small, made sure everything worked well and then started growing. "Big bang" projects very rarely work out well, no matter what they are, who's running them and how much money there is.

GDM hints at this and references Apple. Apart from the fact Apple didn't kill IBM (didn't come anywhere near it actually) they started small, got it right, then grew. It seems to me there's more than a few idiotards? out in the internet landscape that shouldn't be allowed to be anywhere near a startup.

It wasn't all plain sailing for Apple. They got it wrong in the 1990s and were shrinking instead of growing. The stock price had tanked because of financial losses, they had aging product lines and were hardly competitive, they had several failed projects to develop new technology, and Microsoft could sink their corporate sales by stopping development of Office for Mac. Many commentators expected Apple to fail.

Apple only survived because of Microsoft's continuing support and Apple's decision to buy back Steve Jobs' NeXT to use that technology to develop new products such as OS X and the iMac.

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