Geek Trades

[PirateCRW]

I was wondering what people thought of my website and in terms of where I should go about trying to get it promoted? Other thoughts?

To see my website, please click here. (http://geektrades.com)

:cool:

[Pennimus]

Hmmm, you've copied eBay, right? Did you actually stop to think about whether this could possibly work as a business plan before you started, and if so, how?

Basically, you've gone in to a helluva tough market here. Actually that's an understatement -- you've gone in to one of the toughest markets there is online, because one company has already cornered it, monopolised it, closed the lid on it and nailed it shut. However you say it, eBay is online auctions. Additionally, both Google and Craigslist - no slouches either - are or will be soon further direct competition.

First things first, if there is anything that can differentiate Geek Trades from eBay, you need to make it extremely clear on the homepage what that is. You'll then need to spend millions on a huge brand awareness campaign and then basically cross your fingers and hope for the best. People don't swap the services they use unless there is a damn good reason.

If there aren't any differences then you may as well give up now; and from my overview of the site, I couldn't see any differences at all.

The design -- Functionally, it works just like eBay which is a proven system. It is more cramped and busy though, because there is more going on in the way of actual "designed" elements and because you've used a fixed width design whereas eBay is liquid. This makes it harder to use. I think this needs attending to because the last thing this venture needs is usability hurdles. You will need to invest in a professional usability consultant.

On a specific note, your blue heading bars are breaking across two lines on the wanted page.

Good luck, you will need it.

- Adam Bunn

[brett7481]

If you want specific comments on the design, I second that it is too busy. And I would also like to see it as a fluid design.

I don't think you need to spend millions on a marketing, but I do agree that you will want find a difference between you and ebay. Find a specific type of people you can serve, and then try to advertsie on their sites. If you want to succeed in this type of market you will HAVE to spend some money on marketing, and probably more money than you would like.

Good luck

[PirateCRW]

Thank you very much for the replies, and I understand where you are coming from completely, however, I think I should mention; this site isn't intended to "the next ebay". It is more or less a small community for selling, trading and buying "electronic" or "geek" toys, and strickly that. It is rather similar to ebay, and I agree with the "busy" comment, hopefully I can fix some of those. :)

[sir pannels]

He has a very strong point.
Unfortunately, Ebay dominate the market for that sort of thing.

I recon your best bet is to make it a trade site.. no money involved at all.. nothing is for sale.. only swap.. items, services.. whatever.. swap.. no money, no bidding, no buy it now ;)

[NancyJ]

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[Pennimus]

this site isn't intended to "the next ebay". It is more or less a small community for selling, trading and buying "electronic" or "geek" toys

Fair enough. The trouble is, you still have to compete against eBay. However, this should give you a better idea of how to approach the design of the site. Bearing in mind that it's not clear at all (other than from the name, which isn't enough) what the site is intended to do differently from eBay, and also bearing in mind your target audience, I think you could come up with a far more appropriate design.

At least you know the differences; it's aimed purely at geeks and early adopters (eBays recent marketing is targeted at the low end user) and you allow trading as well as selling. It's these two things that you need to hype both on your site and in your promotion activities.

I don't think you need to abandon the buying/selling side of things, but I do think it would help if you distance yourself from eBay as much as possible. This means don't use the same linguistic terms, the same layout and so on as you currently do, even if you keep the same basic functionality. Your target audience likes new things and nothing is going to put them off more than an obvious copy of an existing service.

[PirateCRW]

Pennimus,

You set me into a completely diffrent "overveiw" of my site, I feel like I am no longer interested in developing it. That is a good thing, I guess, so please do not feel bad or anything.

After hearing your perspectives, this seems very hard to accomplish! It would take lots of time to make it work; time I do not have at the moment.

I am going to sell the site (or at least the domain). Does codingforums have a section setup to sell websites?

Thanks,

Chris

[harlequin2k5]

for what it's worth pirate...

I like your site - I think it feels very cool and not at all rushed - I think it invites rather than intimidates

I currently have a store on ebay and it's so confusing (although I'm starting to get a better hang of it) and so busy and it's very difficult to compete

if you were to keep the site I would like to post some items to sell if you have a "buy it now" section?

[PirateCRW]

for what it's worth pirate...

I like your site - I think it feels very cool and not at all rushed - I think it invites rather than intimidates

I currently have a store on ebay and it's so confusing (although I'm starting to get a better hang of it) and so busy and it's very difficult to compete

if you were to keep the site I would like to post some items to sell if you have a "buy it now" section?

Indeed, I do have a buy it now section, apon placing an ad, you are given the choice between various types.

Thanks for the offer, maybe you might convince me to keep it! Who knows? :cool: