Could it work..?

[manticon]

Hey people,

do you think a type of ebay would work in a 3rd world country, the only thing we have is classifieds, we dont have mail, like the united states postal service, we have fedX, UPS and DHL but i dont know if it works internally like in the country, i think its just outgoing and incoming mail from other parts of the world.

This is an idea that im trying to develop...!

What do YOU think..?

[HeyIdea]

Absolutely! If all you have is classifieds.. merely one source of listing and selling previously owned items.. You can think of something that might serve your country better.

A 3rd world country would be filled with people looking to make extra cash and save extra cash..

I'm not sure of how it would work.. but as a general idea it is a good one. Now is the time where you need to play out the pros and cons of using different strategies. If you need help brainstorming.. send me a private message.

[ScottRobertson]

Sounds like there is also an opportunity for a local courier company. Something else for you to consider.

[speedguy]

Although it seems like a a good idea I think there are a lot of practical pitfalls to why ebay type sites have not really taken off in third world countries:

1. Everyone needs a snap of the product before buying it. Digital pic is not really that easily accessible in 3rd world countries and neither is PC/internet. Not to say there are not many people who are internet savvy enough to go for online shopping. Remember that all this reduces your target market.
2. You will be competing with the small stores and street vendors who also buy/sell used stuff. People can actually see the stuff there before making a purchase.
3. What about payments? A lot of people are not going to have credit cards and you will not like to sell without seeing the cash

Not impossible but I do think that its more difficult then many people think it is.

[manticon]

Thank you guys for your posts.

HEYIDEAS: Im going to start this auction site for my country, thanks for your help.

ScottRobertson: True we need one, your more than welcome to come and open one , me as the manager jajaja, jk, true we need one.

speedguy: You are right in everything, but i just can say 1 thing, ITS WORTH THE TRY, and not regret if someone else does it, about the credit cards, yes we have lots of people with credit cards, the government pays their people with debit cards, how is this, i dont know if they open an account for everyone working for the government but i know that when you start working for them, they give you a debit card, and they deposit your money every month..!

Another thing, me and my business partner we are thinking other ways of payment for this..!

[manticon]

Come on people, someone else with other ideas..?

[Usman Sheikh]

I have some friends who have attempted this business in model in some developing countries and as speeguy mentioned in his post the biggest problems have been payment difficulties. When you have to rely on a system that works on a cash on delivery model it cannot scale the way ebay has.

Some solutions to these problems have been the implementation of pre-paid cards that have the capability of being refreshed by your mobile phone etc. However all of these hurdles pose a big challenge to the ebay model. The business model requires massive scale to become profitable. With impediments such as delivery and payments this will be quite a challenge.

However nothing is impossible and the first one to figure this out will definitely make it huge. If you require more feedback please let me know as I have a lot of experience dealing with web based models in developing countries.

[manticon]

i really understand Usman Sheikh, thanks for your help, i will try to figure it out for all of us, you will see.!

[manticon]

nothing more..!?