new idea for website

[focalpoint]

Hi there,

I just got this idea and i wanted to share with you all and get feedback on it. few days back i had to take my pc to the hardware shop to get the cd-drive repaired. there a board on the wall which had many computers and laptops descriptions for sale. when i enquired he said that people who want to sell their pc's or laptops come with the specifications and he would display it for sale. when any one is interested in buying he contacts them and it is sold. the store guy gets some commission on it like few hundred bucks.

I thought why not use this idea on line where i can make a simple website on which buyers and sellers could meet. only for computers and laptops. sellers can just register and display their pc/laptop for sale. the buyers who want to purchase however would have to pay for registration per month. i havent decided the registration fee but it will be monthly. and when they register they can see many sellers. they can contact them and buy it. why i kept the registration fee foe buyers is because they are with money.

what is your opinion on this. is there any catch or something to improve upon. thanks

[akula]

I thought why not use this idea on line where i can make a simple website on which buyers and sellers could meet. only for computers and laptops. sellers can just register and display their pc/laptop for sale. the buyers who want to purchase however would have to pay for registration per month. i havent decided the registration fee but it will be monthly. and when they register they can see many sellers. they can contact them and buy it. why i kept the registration fee foe buyers is because they are with money.

we have a new summit for retardation

[focalpoint]

i forgot to mention that it would be only for the local people in my city

[akula]

ohh.....in that case :-)

think you've got something here

better scrap together an NDA quick fast

[focalpoint]

well the site would be mainly for advertising local peoples used pc's and laptops which they want to sell. the problems people face: that they have to wait till the hardware shop owner contacts them and tells that some one is interested in buying, so its time consuming. they have to contact more than one hardware shop to sell and everytime they have to take the pc along when someone is interested in buying. they even have to pay some commission to the shop owner.

on the site they can setup the ads for their pc's/ laptops for no cost. so there will be many people willing to sell and display ads. when there are many people who display their hardware description, image and price buyers can select any one and buy. but buyers have to register for a few bucks to see who is selling what.

doing a small math, suppose 100 people want to buy and registration fee is 50bucks which equals to 5000 bucks per month. this is wht i think. thanks for the comments and for listening.

[jck2003]

Sounds good but there are some main questions you need to be able to answer.

Can you get a suitable website built to target this audience?
I believe you would need it be a very user-friendly website for the people you are marketing it to.

What competition have you got and how can you overcome them?

Yoiu really need to take a look at this. Ebay is obviously one of your main competitors. Why would the people of your area choose your website over Ebay?
You need to be able to have a few reasons it will be better for your taregt market.

Will you be able to advertise and be able to alert the local are of thtis?
As it is marketed in one area you will have to do everything possible to get them on-flyers etc.

Regards,

John

[akula]

on the site they can setup the ads for their pc's/ laptops for no cost. so there will be many people willing to sell and display ads. when there are many people who display their hardware description, image and price buyers can select any one and buy. but buyers have to register for a few bucks to see who is selling what.

hehe. good one. keep 'em coming

we'll get Craig and Pierre to post the first listings

[akula]

Sounds good but there are some main questions you need to be able to answer.

john, I wonder if I can bid on ebay to buy you a sense of humour

[crackah]

Wow why didnt i think of this! 5k a MONTH!!! this is amazing! great! WOW!!!

dude, next idea lol.

[focalpoint]

thanks john for the valuable questions, i will look in to it.
thanks akula..i like your humour.....ur a funny guy.

[akula]

thanks john for the valuable questions, i will look in to it.
thanks akula..i like your humour.....ur a funny guy.

yeah dude, classifieds/auctions is an interesting space

obviously, you're just kidding around with all this silliness in your opening post, but nonetheless this space is not closed to new entrants (like vast.com, oodle.com, like.com, edgio, woot, amie street etc)

I'd really encourage you to follow the reading list in my signature and get a good grasp on where the opportunities exist in this space.

[jck2003]

lol Akula

[mattonline]

craigs list

[akula]

come to think of it, I reckon the better paradigm for talking about these kind of opportunities is to group them all under shopping 2.0.

making distinctions between auctions vs. classifieds vs. ecommerce doesn't make much sense. they're all do the same thing (i.e. move product).

[nellyshark]

Just from a quick look at your post, you seem to be virtualising that shelf you saw. It might be a viable idea it you created a click-and-mortar store where potential users could browse your website with computer specs etc or go to your potential store to see the real deal.

To me this kinda of setup is not really viable unless you have a store front. Alternatively maybe u and that computer guy can go into partnership where you source and sell the old computers and he has the facility and knowledge to display and answer ? bout them.

Hope this helps.

If you think its a good idea go for it.