Marketplace like Etsy or Aliexpress

[nickgraham1234]

Hey Fastlaners!

I've had a lot of time to think of business ideas lately, and recently had an idea of a potential business model.
This would be on online marketplace, or hub, for sellers to post their products. Very similar model of Etsy, or Aliexpress. Although, it would be confined to a medium sized niche. The industry I have noticed is growing, and there are many 'startups' or sellers on Instagram and other places. There is a slight barrier of entry for these sellers, as they would need a website, and more importantly advertising. This marketplace would make it easier for sellers to upload products, lowering the entry barrier. More importantly, similar to selling on Amazon, there would be no need to advertise their product on the platform. The customers would benefit as they would have a one stop shop for unique items in this niche, being able to browse between multiple sellers and products. The business model would get revenue from: advertisements-(as businesses could capitalize on ready to buy shoppers in their niche), a transaction fee-(which could bring a much higher ROI then ad-spend), or/and a monthly membership fee for sellers accounts.

For a business model like this, a market hub basically:

1. What are some potential problems with something like this?
2. What kind of entry cost would be needed for such a website?

Any thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated. This only came to mind yesterday so it is extremely half baked.

 

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[Val Okafor]

You will have an easier time building a refinery than executing this idea. A two-sided market place is a nightmare to build. Your problem is not the $14+ million investment you need to get to product-market fit, the challenge is talent. The people you need to hire to get this off the ground are working at one of the FAANG.

Have you heard of something called a Blog? That you can start tomorrow and amongst its benefits is - clarity. A clearer understanding of your intended target market and the real addressable need you are CAPABLE of providing. You are not capable of executing on a two-sided market at this time, otherwise, you won't be asking.

Remember the quote from George Washington Carver - start where you are, with what you have and never be satisfied.

 

[nickgraham1234]

You will have an easier time building a refinery than executing this idea. A two-sided market place is a nightmare to build. Your problem is not the $14+ million investment you need to get to product-market fit, the challenge is talent. The people you need to hire to get this off the ground are working at one of the FAANG.

Have you heard of something called a Blog? That you can start tomorrow and amongst its benefits is - clarity. A clearer understanding of your intended target market and the real addressable need you are CAPABLE of providing. You are not capable of executing on a two-sided market at this time, otherwise, you won't be asking.

Remember the quote from George Washington Carver - start where you are, with what you have and never be satisfied.

Valid points, I’m sure there are other ways to connect the niche’s startups and customers, just thinking of ways to monetize it. The need I’m trying to fulfill is definitely there on both ends, as the businesses have trouble getting exposure because they lack advertising and presence. I want to bring a spotlight on these sellers whilst showing them to active buyers. How else would I monetize this? Care to go more in depth on blogging?

 

[Andy Black]

I think it’s helpful to NOT make it a goal to build a marketplace.

Instead, make it your goal to *help* people? HOW you do it shouldn’t be your goal.

I say this having worked for a startup “building” a social network/marketplace that blew through €25m in funding.

Here’s a deck I’ve present to various businesses. Normally it falls on deaf ears. Let me know your takeaways:

• Stop Building Stuff

Next, get one side of the marketplace first?

• AndyTalks with @Scot about Sales, Silence, and Building Marketplaces

 

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[nickgraham1234]

I think it’s helpful to NOT make it a goal to build a marketplace.

Instead, make it your goal to *help* people? HOW you do it shouldn’t be your goal.

I say this having worked for a startup “building” a social network/marketplace that blew through €25m in funding.

Here’s a deck I’ve present to various businesses. Normally it falls on deaf ears. Let me know your takeaways:

• Stop Building Stuff

Next, get one side of the marketplace first?

• AndyTalks with @Scot about Sales, Silence, and Building Marketplaces

Andy, thanks for leaving some valuable input as always.

I checked out your thread, its very insightful. It is definitely important to recognize the opportunity to provide value. To step back and look at the 'WHY' is something I need to engrave in my brain. My goal with this, would be to provide value to these new businesses: Giving them an outlet, with traffic, to have a second sales source other than their websites. Some are solely selling on Instagram, so I want to make it easy for them to setup an additional sales channel. I also want to help the consumers, by giving them a single website for them to browse these smaller, quality focused brands. There are definitely other ways I am going to explore that can help fill this gap.

I listened to your call with @Scot this morning as well. I love listening to a good brain dump. It gave me a lot of outlook on the situation. It is important to look for other places that value can be given, find more needs etc. @Val Okafor Mentioned a blog, which is actually seeming like a good place to start. I know this niche pretty well, as I would be a customer on the site I want to build. Getting one side of the marketplace first is intriguing to me. As Scot was saying, he first wanted to acquire customers first, then businesses. I feel it would be important to get a lot of sellers/merchants on board pre-launch, so as soon as you start driving traffic it wouldn't be an empty market.

I'm going to continue thinking about how I can provide value here, thank you both for your insight as it is greatly appreciated!