New Marketplace Website

catsmaty

Hi,

I’m currently building a classifieds/marketplace website with exclusive advanced features in additions to the all features are currently available on the main players websites, I have the technical knowledge, SEO skills, strong marketing skills, enough budget to complete the website & kick start the marketing campaign and the drive /determination to succeed.

The website’s design will be modern, unique and responsive, as well as having a very strong SEO.

I also have completed my Business Plan, Strong Marketing Plan, cash flow forecast and the funding plan for the next 2-5 Years.

But there are very well established websites here as you know and was advised that it will be a struggle for me to compete.

I have no doubts about myself or my skills and my gut feeling is telling me that as long as I have the will to succeed then I will.

If you have any experience in this field, I would like to hear your opinion please.

Thank you

NeverWaining

There are countless similar posts to yours from over the years. I don't know what it is about classified websites but a hell of a lot of people attempt to go down that route.

jimmii

If you really have the big bucks needed to compete with the established market leaders then it's probably worth the relatively small amount to hire a professional to do a feasibility assessment for you. I would have thought this was a 7 figure project to get to the level you are suggesting.

Graham

Two sided marketplaces are always incredibly difficult to establish. Unlike a traditional e-commerce venture, you have to attract two sets of customers, the buyers and the sellers. You also have to attract them in enough volume that there's a good likelihood that your sellers will be offering what you buyers are looking for.

Adverts.ie took long enough to establish and that's with the benefit of tens of thousands of subscribers here on boards to cross-market to.

Unless you come up with a unique way to pre-populate your marketplace you're pretty much doomed before you start unless you have a substantial marketing budget as jimmy already suggested. SEO alone just won't cut it, all the traffic in the world won't keep the eyeballs on your site if there's nothing to buy. Pre-populating the site with a handful of your own sales is unlikely to be anywhere near enough, it's been tried thousands of times as have competitions, give-aways, incentives........

TLDR: Your project will live or die based on your answer to the question 'How are you going to populate your site with a substantial number of adverts?'.

catsmaty

Thank you Graham and the same to Jimmii too, I have a big stock of products from a previous business which I was planning to list at the beginning to encourage users and I have merchant friends who will be listing their merchandise , also the listings will be free, users will only pay for upgrades, I have planned to advertise in different media channels.

Graham

catsmaty wrote: »

Thank you Graham and the same to Jimmii too, I have a big stock of products from a previous business which I was planning to list at the beginning to encourage users and I have merchant friends who will be listing their merchandise

If your previous business was Woolworths you might have a chance. Without knowing what/how much you've have I would guess you don't have enough or a wide-enough range.

That might not apply if you're targeting a specialist niche and you have enough product to entice that niche to your site.

catsmaty wrote: »

I have merchant friends who will be listing their merchandise

That's starting to sound like you intend to compete with Amazon. Also starting to sound less like a classifieds site.

catsmaty wrote: »

listing in 98% of the categories will be free, users will only pay for upgrades and this 2% of categories

even if it's free people won't bother unless your site looks like it has enough products/visitors to make it worthwhile. Also leads onto the obvious question, if it's free where's your revenue?

catsmaty wrote: »

I have planned to advertise in different media channels.

See comment from jimmii, that 7 figure budget would be handy.

jimmii

There was a group looking to start something similar may 7 or 8 months ago they were on to us 3 or 4 times trying to get us to sign up. They were targeting both business sellers and general public. They were going to offer free ebay style "shops" to businesses and free listings with a charge only for sold items (although when I asked how they were going to stop people just marking things as unsold and removing the listing they didn't know they hadn't even considered it!) their plan was to have a bidding system like AdWords with for homepage/search adverts. I haven't heard about them since but I thought it was a good way to monetise it so people can use it for free if they wish but for the people looking to really make some sales they can push their products that bit more too.

Cianos

Even if you launched a conventional site that was better and cheaper than Adverts & Done Deal you'd still have a massive undertaking getting people to care.

Classifieds websites haven't changed much in the last couple of decades, the format must be due for a bit of a disruption with a mobile-first approach.

catsmaty

Thank you Guys, I'm planning only to charge for 2 (child) Categories, sell banners and charge for upgrades modest amounts to make a living.

jmcc

catsmaty wrote: »

Hi,

I’m currently building a classifieds/marketplace website with exclusive advanced features in additions to the all features are currently available on the main players websites, I have the technical knowledge, SEO skills, strong marketing skills, enough budget to complete the website & kick start the marketing campaign and the drive /determination to succeed.

Read up on how Donedeal.ie was built. Then read up on how many years it took to gain significant market share. You keep using "I" when all good classified sites tend to be built by a team of people. And then read up on the late eBid .ie and how it wanted to take on eBay in the Irish market and totally messed it up. (Ebid is no longer registered to the same bunch of people.)

The website’s design will be modern, unique and responsive, as well as having a very strong SEO.

Who cares? Your customers won't even notice.

I also have completed my Business Plan, Strong Marketing Plan, cash flow forecast and the funding plan for the next 2-5 Years.

The business plan is the first thing that does not survive contact with reality. All that wishful thinking is no use when bills are due. You did include a section on how you will deal with fraud and fraudulent advertisers/puchasers?

I have no doubts about myself or my skills and my gut feeling is telling me that as long as I have the will to succeed then I will.

Good for you. But this is a business and all the life coaching and positive thinking stuff is for the RTIQs on day time TV. You've got to think like a business person and as a web dev, that's probably going to be a big culture shock.

Be prepared to know when you should walk away and to know when you have a viable business.

And don't put the site on shared hosting with a mickey-mouse Wordpress classified ads plug-in. Plan the site well and make it scalable.

Regards...jmcc

StupidLikeAFox

Just as another tale of woe, also look up the history of buyandsell.ie.

Back in the 90s every builder and farmer and everyone in between had a copy of the buyandsell paper in their back pocket. They literally owned the monopoly on classified newspapers, it was a huge phenomenon.

When the Internet came around, set up a complex, feature packed website and established a sales team which would give the hard sell (was on the receiving end of it once ot twice but I remember that it cost a bit of money for their package of ads, banners etc)

Anyway, donedeal.ie came around and set up a website that was easy to use, no bells and whistles, it was so simple to use that anybody could figure out how to place an ad and they only charged €3 a pop. Probably coincided with smartphones becoming popular too

Buyandsell suddenly started to haemorrhage customers, despite their huge history and a brand name that was ingrained in a lot of people's weekly routine for years. They then relaunched their website by creating an almost carbon copy of donedeal.ie, right down to the layout and colour scheme. This didn't work either so they relaunched the website as an eBay style store where businesses could have independent shops on the site to list their products etc. This also didn't work so buyandsell.ie is now defunct it now redirects to appliancesdelivered.ie which sell fridges and they like

At each of these relaunches, huge money was poured into marketing, national ad campaigns, sales teams, the works.

I won't be as harsh as some on here, but I will say that if you are committed to this you need to focus on doing what donedeal did back in the day and somehow turn the "marketplace" format on its head, do something different instead of trying to be another eBay or amazon clone. What problem are you solving for people (buyers and sellers) here?

4068ac1elhodqr

Very steep hill to climb, if you have an abundance of stock, simply sell it off by the palette load as commercial liquidation stock.

It's a crowded marketplace, there is a crowd in the North than run both usedcarsni and Jookit, that have done both extensive tv, press and even billboard ads. According to their (in public domain) companycheck it's still only just marginally profitable.

jmcc

Nearly forgot about buyandsell.ie. It even made the front of Business and Finance magazine giving away "shares" in its company because some dodgy dotCOM bubble company did it too.

Regards...jmcc

catsmaty

jmcc wrote: »

Read up on how Donedeal.ie was built. Then read up on how many years it took to gain significant market share. You keep using "I" when all good classified sites tend to be built by a team of people. And then read up on the late eBid .ie and how it wanted to take on eBay in the Irish market and totally messed it up. (Ebid is no longer registered to the same bunch of people.)

Who cares? Your customers won't even notice.

The business plan is the first thing that does not survive contact with reality. All that wishful thinking is no use when bills are due. You did include a section on how you will deal with fraud and fraudulent advertisers/puchasers?

Good for you. But this is a business and all the life coaching and positive thinking stuff is for the RTIQs on day time TV. You've got to think like a business person and as a web dev, that's probably going to be a big culture shock.

Be prepared to know when you should walk away and to know when you have a viable business.

And don't put the site on shared hosting with a mickey-mouse Wordpress classified ads plug-in. Plan the site well and make it scalable.

Regards...jmcc

First: Thank you for being brutally honest, even though I don’t agree with some of your statements.

The reason I kept saying (I) because I’m in the initial stage and I have no partners, I was a Customer Service Supervisor and can give lectures about Teamwork but realistically not many businesses start with a Team unless you have bags of money.

A lot of people care about the design, if it doesn’t appeal to you, it doesn’t mean it is not important to other people, using a none responsive design while at least 40% of the people uses mobile phones & tablets to go online is ABSLUTELY useless.
Also If the website design is outdated or it is similar to other established websites, automatically users will start comparing and won’t return back even if the services offered for free.

I agree with you regarding the rest, especially using a shared hosting service or generic software.

Graham

catsmaty wrote: »

Also If the website design is outdated or it is similar to other established websites, automatically users will start comparing and won’t return back even if the services offered for free.

Craigslist/Plentyoffish?

catsmaty

Craigslist was established in 1995 and have millions of returning customers and that’s why users put up with it (Even though it has an outdated but responsive design), POS it actually has a modern & responsive design.

gctest50

catsmaty wrote: »

Craigslist was established in 1995 and have millions of returning customers and that’s why users put up with it (Even though it has an outdated but responsive design), POS it actually has a modern & responsive design.

and that’s why users put up with it

what are you basing that on ?

maybe it's because it doesn't look like it was designed by a kid with a bad case of add ? .........look pointless clicky thingz etc

catsmaty

gctest50 wrote: »

what are you basing that on ?

maybe it's because it doesn't look like it was designed by a kid with a bad case of add ? .........look pointless clicky thingz etc

Which website would you prefer to use in regards to the overall design, function and ease of use? DoneDeal/Adverts.ie OR Craigslist?

Graham

catsmaty wrote: »

Which website would you prefer to use in regards to the overall design, function and ease of use? DoneDeal/Adverts.ie OR Craigslist?

Adverts 1st, DoneDeal 2nd, eBay 3rd for niche products. Design doesn't enter into it.

jmcc

On the design side, if people are oohing and aahing about the design, then the designer has failed. The design should be invisible (and intuitive) and people should be concentrating on the content.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

Graham wrote: »

Craigslist/Plentyoffish?

This is the guy who built Plentyoffish explaining how he did it:
(The technical side.)
https://www.webmasterworld.com/forum23/4496.htm

(The monetisation.)
https://www.webmasterworld.com/forum89/13958.htm

They are quite a good guide to taking on the big guys and winning through superior programming and some very clever use of technology.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

catsmaty wrote: »

The reason I kept saying (I) because I’m in the initial stage and I have no partners, I was a Customer Service Supervisor and can give lectures about Teamwork but realistically not many businesses start with a Team unless you have bags of money.

Perhaps it might be a good thing to get people who have skills that compliement your own as partners or at least somehow involved. And if you can't get them involved from the start, identify people who could be possible team members if the site is successful. As for the teamwork thing, there's a world of difference between being a manager and being a leader. When you are running the business, everything begins and ends with you.

A lot of people care about the design, if it doesn’t appeal to you, it doesn’t mean it is not important to other people, using a none responsive design while at least 40% of the people uses mobile phones & tablets to go online is ABSLUTELY useless.

Do your research on your likely customers and how they access the web. The technology churnalists love to recycle press releases about how the web is going all mobile but these people are basically ignorant of technology, statistics and anything beyond the press release they are recycling. Do your own research! Find out how your target customers are accessing the web and accessing similar websites. If you are friendly with them, ask them.

The old business studies approach of "the market is x,000,000 and if we get n% of that we will be successful" is rubbish. You have to identify the market, identify the people who will use your service and identify the kind of revenue that they will generate. If your customers are going to be hitting the site with desktop/laptop computers and high end tablets, then don't over-concentrate on the mobile web. If you want to service the mobile web, have an app created and that way you've got better lock-in and stats.

Also If the website design is outdated or it is similar to other established websites, automatically users will start comparing and won’t return back even if the services offered for free.

If the users are appreciating the fine design, they are not looking at the content. There is a simple expression with e-commerce and that is that "ugly sells". Ugly designs sell well because they give the user no other option than focusing on the content. It is the web equivalent of Always Be Closing.

Regards...jmcc

Cianos

jmcc wrote: »

If the users are appreciating the fine design, they are not looking at the content. There is a simple expression with e-commerce and that is that "ugly sells". Ugly designs sell well because they give the user no other option than focusing on the content. It is the web equivalent of Always Be Closing.

Regards...jmcc

I wouldn't necessarily say it's as simple as this, I think it very much depends on the content and what you're trying to sell. "Ugly" classifieds sites work great because people go on to these websites looking for a bargain - if the site looks 'cheap' then it reinforces that notion that they're not going to be spending a lot of money. Plus within the context of an ugly looking website 2nd hand stuff with bad photos, spelling mistakes in the copy etc etc (ie user generated) doesn't look as bad because it's not contrasting with a clean minimal design with loads of white space. Again people are primarily there to get a good deal on something.

If you're focus is on high quality premium products you want to look more slick and clean with big images that show off the level of finish as well as the higher photography standards, and empty space to give the notion of luxury and exclusivity.

Take a look at etsy.com for example - they use a lot more empty space and put an emphasis on quality over quantity. The products are exclusive, artisan, bespoke and sell for relatively high prices. An ugly website would not carry this across and would really detract from the products.

jmcc

Cianos wrote: »

I wouldn't necessarily say it's as simple as this, I think it very much depends on the content and what you're trying to sell.

The content definitely matters so it might have been an oversimplification in some respects.

Take a look at etsy.com for example - they use a lot more empty space and put an emphasis on quality over quantity. The products are exclusive, artisan, bespoke and sell for relatively high prices. An ugly website would not carry this across and would really detract from the products.

This does get back to the importance of clearly identifying the target market for the site. The Etsy.com market has high expectations of good design. But there's the same narrowing funnel of options for the user. Beyond the front page, most well designed e-commerce sites are actually limiting the options for the user so that the user is drawn into the site to make a purchase. To do it well, it requires well thought out Information Architecture and planning. The user is increasingly concentrating on content and the site navigation almost fades into the background. This focusing of the user's concentration is a part of all well designed e-commerce sites and the designers do it so subtly that the user is completely unaware that their options are being narrowed down. (Sounds rather mercenary but that's what e-commerce sites are about.)

Regards...jmcc

SBG387

catsmaty wrote: »

Hi,

There are very well established websites here as you know and was advised that it will be a struggle for me to compete.

Some great examples provided by others already - ebay, ebid, buyandsell, donedeal etc.

It could be a tough one to crack alright.. unless you can do something significantly better than the existing solutions out there.

What are your thoughts on the following questions:

1) Who is your target audience on the seller side? Who is your target audience on the buyer side?

2) What problem or pain will your site solve for your target seller and/or buyer in a significantly better way than any of your competitors?

kevin212

I had an idea many years ago after finishing university i bought the web domain onthemarket.ie (which i still own) i noticed that more and more farm animals where being sold online, a lot of people thought i was mad!! obviously the project had a lot of complicated variables but i listened to the negativity and nothing happened i have seen this grow from 1000 listings online to some 4000 odd to date on done deal alone i'm not suggesting i would of executed the plan and looking back it probably wasn't a good fit for my skill set. if you have the technical skill it probably is worth a go you will learn many lessons which will open even more doors!

Graham

kevin212 wrote: »

I had an idea many years ago after finishing university i bought the web domain onthemarket.ie (which i still own) i noticed that more and more farm animals where being sold online, a lot of people thought i was mad!! obviously the project had a lot of complicated variables but i listened to the negativity and nothing happened i have seen this grow from 1000 listings online to some 4000 odd to date on done deal alone i'm not suggesting i would of executed the plan and looking back it probably wasn't a good fit for my skill set. if you have the technical skill it probably is worth a go you will learn many lessons which will open even more doors!

Somebody is currently attempting a similar product in the UK with some fairly heavy names and a £200k + crowdsourced investment behind them:

https://www.seedrs.com/sell-my-livestock

Now that is an interesting idea.

Much more appeal/potential than yet another classified adverts site.