Hey all - Jordan from The Seller here. This project was created to test the theory that storytelling and humor can drive sales of random things. I'd love any and all feedback, good or bad.
@jordantheleast I once read about a study where the same type of trash was sold online the only difference being one lot was written by professional copy writers who embellished stories, the other with minimal description. The ones with the great story sold for a significantly higher price. Is this the rationale that inspired this?
@abadesi Exactly. We'll even be taking it a bit further to better understand what type of story telling and posting is most efficient and profitable.
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You initially state the cost of your service is “10% or $100 - whichever is lower”, but then state “we take a 20% cut… with a minimum of $100” with an example of a $200 cut. Which is it? Not to mention the “IF your item is sold” combined with the “you can’t back out” clause AND the “we handle the interation” aspect, it sounds like you take possession of the item and hold onto it for as long as you want.
The site is clearly thrown together with Loren Ipsum all over the home page and the glaring inconsistency with pricing. Interesting idea, but not an impressive advancement over eBay’s Trading Assistant Program from 2002.
@john_cockerill Hey! We actually don't take possession of items at all. The owner will have possession 100% of the time and we just handle the posting and communication with potential buyers. Happy to add that to the site for clarity.
Can you explain "clearly thrown together with Lorem Ipsum"? A single character error has nothing to do with filler text ie Lorem Ipsum. This is now adjusted to be consistent. If it’s something else I’m happy to address it.
Additionally, I think you're missing the point in comparing with eBay's program. I would highly doubt eBay will be creating creative and quirky stories and pictures to sell items in this manner. I'm not able to confirm this because the program ended so long ago. And to that point, there is a market opportunity not fill by eBay, so more justification to try this hypothesis out.
Happy to answer any other questions!
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@jordantheleast Ah, that's excellent. Never a fan of things like that. Does that involve in person contact as well - such as final handoff and sale? Last minute haggling occurs then and can be quite pushy, something that I think your service could really stand out for, if that is taken care of.
The entire homepage of your site is filled with Latin fill in. That, combined with the pricing inconsistency leads me to the impression that it was not thoroughly reviewed prior to publishing.
Perhaps I just don't see the point in quirky stories to sell an item. As an avid Craigslist browser and buyer, I don't see the benefit in stories. Certainly it shows that the seller actually cares about selling, but I prefer detailed bullet points about the item. Plus, having great images like you state is a welcome change, so kudos for that! Just a picture taking service would be welcome for Craigslist in my opinion! But, you're right. It's unfair of me to compare to such a service.
After coming across, and taking advantage of, a number of ads that were of quite excellent items, but the ads for them did not show the true nature of them - I think you're on to something here, but I think some refinement of the website is important for success.
@john_cockerill In person contact/handoff will be handled by the owner with the financial transaction happening via PayPal (no cash handoff or haggling).
In regards to the homepage, we must not be seeing the same thing . I'm seeing something similar to the screenshots attached to the product, in which I wrote the copy entirely. Is this what you see as well?
Totally get your perspective and this might be a big whiff. But you never know until you try :) A few writers on the team expressed confidence in the idea backed by similar experiences / storytelling they've done so I have reason to believe it has potential to succeed. Luckily we got some sales inquiries from this post so we can get to testing.
Thanks for your feedback and conversation!
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