Using a forum to sell

[danval]

Hello. I had an idea and im trying to put it to work pretty soon. Like everything else, i like to get other points of view for every idea. This way, its easier to forsee problems that i might be overlooking.
I want to start a forum to sell items.
What are the pros and cons in your oppinion?
thanks a lot and every input will be appreciated.

[DeniseTaylor]

Hi

One drawback to starting a forum is time. In the beginning, until a forum becomes known and well trafficked, it can be quite vacant. As the forum owner, you may find yourself doing all the work (meaning, answering all the questions, keeping the conversations going, etc.) and fending off spammers day and night. Until you can't get quality traffic going, it can be very discouraging. And it can become a bit of a burden.

Some people find it more rewarding to create niche sites instead. You have more control over your time and content.

[bluestellar]

Yeah I agree with that. If you are really eager, you must have lots of administrators to take control of spammers. Everyone wants to sell online think about that.

[danval]

What types of items are you looking to sell?

car parts, but in a more specific way. What i like about forums is the ease to explain and discuss about topics, thats why i thought of doing it like this.

[danval]

Hi

One drawback to starting a forum is time. In the beginning, until a forum becomes known and well trafficked, it can be quite vacant. As the forum owner, you may find yourself doing all the work (meaning, answering all the questions, keeping the conversations going, etc.) and fending off spammers day and night. Until you can't get quality traffic going, it can be very discouraging. And it can become a bit of a burden.

Some people find it more rewarding to create niche sites instead. You have more control over your time and content.

you are absolutely right. Ive read about this and thought of it as well. Im looking to invest some amount of time on a daily basis. This also brings me to another question, i heard that you can hire moderators online somewhere. How does that work? and what do you think of the idea besides being time consuming for me? thanks a lot

[danval]

Hi

One drawback to starting a forum is time. In the beginning, until a forum becomes known and well trafficked, it can be quite vacant. As the forum owner, you may find yourself doing all the work (meaning, answering all the questions, keeping the conversations going, etc.) and fending off spammers day and night. Until you can't get quality traffic going, it can be very discouraging. And it can become a bit of a burden.

Some people find it more rewarding to create niche sites instead. You have more control over your time and content.

you are absolutely right. Ive read about this and thought of it as well. Im looking to invest some amount of time on a daily basis. This also brings me to another question, i heard that you can hire moderators online somewhere. How does that work? and what do you think of the idea besides being time consuming for me? thanks a lot

[danval]

Yeah I agree with that. If you are really eager, you must have lots of administrators to take control of spammers. Everyone wants to sell online think about that.

right! everyone does! :/ its a double edge sword..

[daveb1]

Hi danval,

Starting an online buy / sell / exchange is a clever idea but is probably very hard to manage. Essentially Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon could be looked at as big online forum marketplaces. Maybe try to take the best features of all 3 and then make the buying and selling experience more forum like. I think you might be better off to just create a niche forum on your favorite subject and then just have a market place sub-forum to begin with. Once you get a feel for the business then you can expand to larger and more complex forum concepts. It looks like you like cars? What is your favorite passion or niche?

[vietnamguide]

Using a forum to sell is not easy. If you have good product, you can do that.

[danval]

Hi danval,

Starting an online buy / sell / exchange is a clever idea but is probably very hard to manage. Essentially Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon could be looked at as big online forum marketplaces. Maybe try to take the best features of all 3 and then make the buying and selling experience more forum like. I think you might be better off to just create a niche forum on your favorite subject and then just have a market place sub-forum to begin with. Once you get a feel for the business then you can expand to larger and more complex forum concepts. It looks like you like cars? What is your favorite passion or niche?

Thats exactly my idea when all this came to my head. These websites that you mention are massive, and when you try to look for certain things, it becomes sometimes frustating. I want to create this as a niche for the topic that i know. The only thing is how to get it known..

[danval]

Using a forum to sell is not easy. If you have good product, you can do that.

i wouldnt be selling my products, but offering a platform for others to sell their stuff.

[danval]

Good Luck!!...

Best Regards,
Prakash Joshi
Online PC Backup Services

thank you!

[surf]

best off just selling on other forums that already have members