Another Trade Me competitor: SellShed

Forums › Off topic › Another Trade Me competitor: SellShed

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

3964 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1728

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1158321 20-Oct-2014 11:41

Welcome to Geekzone - good to see you here Peter.

A question re app development - why aren't you following a more integrated development strategy such as the one mentioned here? This way you'd be able to release an app for the iOS/Android/WP8 platforms simultaneously.

SellShed

20 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

SellShed

#1158327 20-Oct-2014 11:52

Hi Dratsab,

Thanks for the comment.

We started building the iOS version 12 months ago part time. At the time, iOS and android were, give or take, 50/50 in the market.
During the build period, the market started shifting to Android. We have a small team so the decision was made to finish the iOS version
first and then start building the Android version. We built our responsive website after we launched the iOS app so anyone on any device
could use SellShed. Now the heat is on to finish our android app :)

Thanks

DravidDavid

1907 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 305

#1158353 20-Oct-2014 12:05

This is obviously very early days...But looks incredibly promising. It's the best take on things I've seen since TradeMe and has a serious chance in terms of leveling the playing field.

Sales on social networks was not something I would have considered a year ago, but now it is. Facebook has hundreds of pages where people buy and sell specific things to general items. A popular application connected to a central hub that millions of people already use becoming popular will draw a bigger and bigger crowd and has the potential to take over.

Wheedle failed for various reasons...It's ridiculous name is one of them. SellShed is appropriate and could become a household name like TradeMe if developers listen to their customers and play their cards right. Participation on Geekzone is an awesome start! :)

SellShed

20 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

SellShed

#1158357 20-Oct-2014 12:11

DravidDavid: This is obviously very early days...But looks incredibly promising. It's the best take on things I've seen since TradeMe and has a serious chance in terms of leveling the playing field. Sales on social networks was not something I would have considered a year ago, but now it is. Facebook has hundreds of pages where people buy and sell specific things to general items. A popular application connected to a central hub that millions of people already use becoming popular will draw a bigger and bigger crowd and has the potential to take over.

Wheedle failed for various reasons...It's ridiculous name is one of them. SellShed is appropriate and could become a household name like TradeMe if developers listen to their customers and play their cards right. Participation on Geekzone is an awesome start! :)

Love it, thanks for the support DravidDavid :)

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7810

Lifetime subscriber

#1158525 20-Oct-2014 14:59

It is good to see you will deliver other login options and look forward to seeing the full functionality delivered outside facebook as well. Inside facebook exclusively I would be unlikely to use it. I have a facebook account but I don't live there ; ).

DravidDavid

1907 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 305

#1158529 20-Oct-2014 15:02

gzt: I have a facebook account but I don't live there ; ).

You're definitely the minority! Haha :)

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

mattwnz

20515 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4795

#1158557 20-Oct-2014 15:16

Looks good. The facebook page though is really just a noise of postings, so not easy to find stuff. Perhaps if it was focused more to the buyer, where a buyer posts what they are looking for, and the sellers then can tender with their item.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#1159120 21-Oct-2014 11:30

Given that TM's fees have become somewhat excessive, a "free" option seems like a good alternative but I do wonder what the long term business model is as a result.

The site is very "big" which makes it a little hard to sift through results for a specific item on the site (Around half of which seem to be listed by the same person).

Edit: Just got a notification on my Android device that "SellShed is available from the Play store". Doesn't look like that's actually the case.

@KnightNZ

macuser

2120 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 506

#1159152 21-Oct-2014 11:51

Yea I've had a little play with the website, the UI is far too big for a browser, and puts too much focus on individual items.

I imagine you designed this website with some amazing stock images that looked great large, but now that actual users are putting up their junky photos I don't think it works so well for small goods.

I think you can afford to increase your information density by a large amount on desktop.

Cheers, good luck

kiwitrc

4123 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 833
Inactive user

#1159257 21-Oct-2014 14:39

SellShed: Hi kiwitrc,

We are creating alternative logins in the coming weeks.
Our website is responsive so it can be used on mobile devices.
Our android version is currently being built.

Peter

Popping sound is head coming out :)

Good to hear. I rarely use the TradeMe app, and pretty much prefer a PC when buying ~~sex toys and drugs~~ kittens on TM so a basic web login would get my attention.

tcpdump

311 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#1159270 21-Oct-2014 15:15

stevenz: Given that TM's fees have become somewhat excessive, a "free" option seems like a good alternative but I do wonder what the long term business model is as a result.

I'm assuming it was a rhetorical sarcasm?

If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product being sold.

http://www.ethannonsequitur.com/facebook-you-customer-product-pigs.html

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7810

Lifetime subscriber

#1159278 21-Oct-2014 15:21

This is not entirely fair. Many startups do move from a free model to a subscription based or paid service funded model over time. Another model is charging premium customers for access to the market while retaining free services for everyone else. Still interested in the answer myself but it's not always as simple as customer is the product in every case.

loceff13

1089 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 340

#1159564 21-Oct-2014 20:26

It's rather impressive, still going to be a wild west like the hustle live pages and scams I imagine

Lurch

1061 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 71

#1159566 21-Oct-2014 20:34

Will be giving it a miss. Don't want to use my Facebook log on, and how about some WP8 love? Will be sticking with Ebay, WP8 app and no forced Facebook nonsense.

DravidDavid

1907 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 305

#1159641 21-Oct-2014 21:50

Lurch: Will be giving it a miss. Don't want to use my Facebook log on, and how about some WP8 love? Will be sticking with Ebay, WP8 app and no forced Facebook nonsense.

Facebook was probably the easiest way to allow for logging in at the time and hundreds of thousands use it. I'm not for logging in to anything foreign with my Facebook account either, but they've already mentioned more login methods are being added soon.

Scams and shady deals are always an issue, even today with EBay and TradeMe. I am subscribed to a lot of the "deals" pages on Facebook and a lot of obviously stolen goods as well as drugs come up on a regular basis. I would hope SellShed would add an extra layer of security over the current wild west system that is posting goods on a page and getting people to PM you. An address verification and feedback system would give the users a better idea regarding previous transactions on a platform everyone already uses.

I sound like a fanboy already, but I honestly think this is the best approach I've seen in a very long time...To the point where I wish I had thought of it. :|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4