Wheedle.co.nz: experiences, comments

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification

Forums › Startups › Wheedle.co.nz: experiences, comments

Klipspringer

2385 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 286
Inactive user

#109817 27-Sep-2012 12:38

A new buy & sell website - backed by Mainfreight co-founder Neil Graham - will launch next week and claims it will provide "quality local competition" to market-dominator Trade Me.

The site Wheedle.co.nz is due to launch October 1 and says it will provide a new place for businesses and individuals to advertise products and services.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10836684

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 36

946 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#692180 27-Sep-2012 12:42

I am going to have a look just because Sam Morgan called it a joke. No other reason.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41038

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#692182 27-Sep-2012 12:43

Lots of discussions on Twitter yesterday. They apparently use "40 servers" to run the site. Whoever managed to register yesterday also found out that session information was not consistent across those servers.

My joke this morning was something along the lines of "I am still surprised Wheedle needed 40 servers to serve 503 and 404 responses."

The site was up and down a few times. I managed to register to secure my user name, to find out that going through pages would show me logged in as "freitasm", not logged in at all, or logged in with someone else's name and information being shown.

Another article says they have outsourced development to an Indian-based company. This is a shame, with so many talented developers in New Zealand that could probably do a much better job in development, deployment and management. They probably cut costs by not doing proper unit/system/integration/regresion/deployment testing.

Let's see what happens on 1st October.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7820

Lifetime subscriber

#692184 27-Sep-2012 12:46

Another one coming: http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/list-sell-trade-launching-further-competition-trademe/5/135868

BlueShift

1692 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 969

#692186 27-Sep-2012 12:47

What's with the name - Wheedle? Sounds a bit whiny really. Do people not look these things up in the dictionary before naming their companies?

whee·dle /ˈʰwidl, ˈwidl/ Show Spelled [hweed-l, weed-l] verb,
whee·dled, whee·dling. verb (used with object)

1. to endeavor to influence (a person) by smooth, flattering, or beguiling words or acts: We wheedled him incessantly, but he would not consent.

ajobbins

5053 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1279

Trusted

#692187 27-Sep-2012 12:47

Many have tried and failed to compete in the market. Reality is that it's a winner takes all type of market, and Trade Me won years ago.

These types of marketplaces work best where there is the biggest possible number of buyers and sellers, and especially in NZ there isn't room for two players. Even with an amazing product and no fees, It would likely take years for them to become a real threat to Trade Me, and they would probably go broke in the process.

Twitter: ajobbins

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2526
Inactive user

#692188 27-Sep-2012 12:47

topple trademe what a joke

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

ajobbins

5053 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1279

Trusted

#692191 27-Sep-2012 12:52

People whinge about Trade Me and their fees, but they all still use it.

Fact is, they actually have an excellent site in terms of usability. It's world class in my opinion.

Here in Oz, eBay pales in comparison on many fronts, and there is just nothing like Trade Me which is really annoying. I miss it

Twitter: ajobbins

RedJungle

Phil Gale
1108 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 46

Trusted

Red Jungle

Subscriber

#692198 27-Sep-2012 13:07

ajobbins: Many have tried and failed to compete in the market. Reality is that it's a winner takes all type of market, and Trade Me won years ago.

+1

My prediction is they will sink a massive amount of money into this, then disappear.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#692202 27-Sep-2012 13:09

It's a pity though that trade me being almost a monopoly can do what they like with fees and there's not a real avenue to go elsewhere. But without enough dissatisfaction to go elsewhere there's no drive to stand up a competing site.

It's a real chicken and egg scenario.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7820

Lifetime subscriber

#692207 27-Sep-2012 13:15

TradeMe has many organisational weaknesses and market vulnerabilities. There is room for innovative competitors, but there are none.

The competitors so far have business plans like:

1. Make auction site
2. Go live
3. Profit

The mismanaged media for the latest two is not a good sign for either of them.

Paulthagerous

698 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 16

Trusted

#692209 27-Sep-2012 13:17

BlueShift: What's with the name - Wheedle?

This is a REAL Weedle :)

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Zeon

3926 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 759

Trusted

#692227 27-Sep-2012 13:36

I don't think these guys are experienced enough in this type of field to be able to do it. Need the critical mass and I'd hardly call mainfreight groundbreakingly innovative...

Speedtest 2019-10-14

floydbloke

3646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4554

ID Verified

#692228 27-Sep-2012 13:36

ajobbins:
Here in Oz, eBay pales in comparison on many fronts, and there is just nothing like Trade Me which is really annoying. I miss it

Quite ironic really, with TradeMe being Australian owned.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#692229 27-Sep-2012 13:37

Zeon: I don't think these guys are experienced enough in this type of field to be able to do it. Need the critical mass and I'd hardly call mainfreight groundbreakingly innovative...

But if they were smart, they'd offer integrated packaging/shipping as a value add, I mean they have the distribution system already.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41038

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#692230 27-Sep-2012 13:39

davidcole:
Zeon: I don't think these guys are experienced enough in this type of field to be able to do it. Need the critical mass and I'd hardly call mainfreight groundbreakingly innovative...

But if they were smart, they'd offer integrated packaging/shipping as a value add, I mean they have the distribution system already.

You mean their logistics? Sure, but then they failed at not thinking of it.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 36