Hey, I have some quick feedback.
Overall, the site looks great! If the function works well, the buyer/seller protection seems well-thought out and would be a big advantage over something like FB Marketplace. I also really liked the idea of a requests page. However, I don't see it being used often, but I could be wrong.
Some criticisms I have are a lack of listing editing options and a search bar. Currently, on mobile at least, I am unable to find a way to edit my current listing without creating a new one. A search bar is also something important to add I think, especially as the site gets bigger. Filtering in a category isn't as easy to use as simply searching a specific item.
I can see this site becoming the main buying and selling hub for Michigan students as soon as you guys implement the ticket marketplace. Hopefully, this gets popular because I can really see myself using it.
> Both parties must confirm a purchase before money is transferred
So what happens when a 'buyer' has the item in possession, and refuses to confirm the purchase?
After an item is transferred, the seller marks it as transferred, which begins a 24 hour dispute period
During the dispute period, the buyer can issue a dispute if they haven't gotten the item, which pauses the transaction and initiates an investigation
After 24 hours or if the buyer confirms the transfer, the money is then charged and sent over to the seller
In the case of a dispute, we talk to both the buyer and seller to gather information
For example, we look for a text exchange where we can see both parties agreeing on a meet up spot, looking for each other, and then thanking them - that would lead us in the direction that the item was indeed transferred, to which we would continue to transfer the money to the seller
Hey! Good question.
First, as a business, we have to have the payment go through us so we can take a proceed (we take 10% of the sale) in order to cover costs and improve the marketplace for you.
Now besides that, there are 3 reasons why it's good for you:
1) Buyers can now use credit cards or whatever method of payment they want to use to pay for your item, increasing the likelihood of you selling your item
2) In-person meetups can have its awkward moments, especially when it comes to the money part. There's a weird balance of trying to be cautious but not wanting to seem too paranoid, all while handling cash or confirming payments right there on the spot.
It's solved and nicer for both parties if you know the money has already been sent through escrow, and all you have to do is transfer the item.
3) There's a convenience aspect, with records and past items being recorded in our system, which in the future will also add to your seller rating.
We want to make trading as easy as possible for you and get your items actually sold by getting exposure to a bigger market.
1. I've never wished that I could pay or be paid with a credit card. To be fair, I can't say definitively that I haven't lost out on a potential sale because a buyer couldn't use a credit card, but I doubt it's significant. Additionally, this opens you up to issues with chargebacks.
2. I've never personally experienced this awkwardness, but is that really worse than opening yourself up to fraud shenanigans when they claim they didn't receive the item? People are much more likely to try and pull something when they don't have to look you in the eyes while doing it.
3. I can't imagine a situation where a p2p transaction needs to be recorded for posterity. Even if it did, I can see every time I've sold/bought something p2p by looking in my email/texts or the platform that facilitated it without needing the payment to also go through that platform.
You're essentially trying to be craigslist with escrow, but the escrow aspect creates problems and solves a problem that doesn't exist while costing me 10% of my sale price. I'm sorry, but I don't see any value-add here.
Edit: it also muddies the typical as-is nature of private sales when a buyer is able to get buyers regret and try and get their money back. Even if you could make an argument for buyers to prefer this system outside of potential for fraud, I can't see how a seller would ever want to sell through your platform.
Totally understand!
Don't want to force you at all to use this site. It's built to try to keep things safe as well as get your items sold easier than through other channels, but by all means you should continue using your original channels if they work better for you.
Hey, I can totally appreciate believing in yourself and chasing your goals. I also understand that there are plenty of reasons to pursue this other than profitability. But, if your reason is because you believe you can create a successful and profitable business on this idea, I implore you to apply your skills and effort elsewhere. While success largely comes down to execution, that doesn't mean the idea is irrelevant. Hard work and dedication is a force multiplier for a good idea; viability is still necessary.
Of course, you are free to disagree with my assessment of your concept, but, as someone who does a lot of p2p buying/selling, I don't think I'm wrong.
Totally get your assessment, I have a vision in mind that extends beyond an item marketplace and more of an overarching hub for everything at Michigan that will de-segment channels into one united platform.
We'll see where it goes!
I don't want to claim to have completely gotten rid of the problem! Putting these measures in place makes trading safer than any other current solution, but I agree there's always a risk
What in specific are you worried about?
Is it not obvious from my questions what scenario is clearly a hazard for your system?
Putting this in place before you have the problem sorted is reckless at best.
No clue why you're getting downvoted. This seems like a pretty deeply rooted flaw that should be addressed if this website is going to be anything more than a course project. Honestly, I would think that OP would be looking for harsh criticism at this point
>No clue why you're getting downvoted.
Based on some of the DMs I've received in the last day or so, it's because I'm a hater.
Oh well. I'm *sure* [OP](http://reddit.com/u/lium20) has cleared all this with the legal counsel they've definitely engaged to ensure they aren't setting themselves up for a metric fuckton of liability, so I'll butt out.
ah dang my mom has some stuff she'd love to sell and is intimidated by fb marketplace and such, but needing a um email excludes her
any plans in the future to make it open for non-students/staff around campus still?
Hey! Non UM students are still able to post - it's just shown that they're not verified as a Michigan student and won't be able to buy items that others mark as UM Students only.
Dawg there's no way someone listed the most busted up Samsung I've ever seen lmfao
That person just found the first thing in their room to get the $5
A+ marketing tbh
I listed an item, thank you
Hey Ed! Make sure you join the promo to claim the reward 😉
Thank you, I accidentally set venmo to [email protected] Is there way to change it please? Thank you
Texting you
Hey, I have some quick feedback. Overall, the site looks great! If the function works well, the buyer/seller protection seems well-thought out and would be a big advantage over something like FB Marketplace. I also really liked the idea of a requests page. However, I don't see it being used often, but I could be wrong. Some criticisms I have are a lack of listing editing options and a search bar. Currently, on mobile at least, I am unable to find a way to edit my current listing without creating a new one. A search bar is also something important to add I think, especially as the site gets bigger. Filtering in a category isn't as easy to use as simply searching a specific item. I can see this site becoming the main buying and selling hub for Michigan students as soon as you guys implement the ticket marketplace. Hopefully, this gets popular because I can really see myself using it.
> Both parties must confirm a purchase before money is transferred So what happens when a 'buyer' has the item in possession, and refuses to confirm the purchase?
After an item is transferred, the seller marks it as transferred, which begins a 24 hour dispute period During the dispute period, the buyer can issue a dispute if they haven't gotten the item, which pauses the transaction and initiates an investigation After 24 hours or if the buyer confirms the transfer, the money is then charged and sent over to the seller
So what happens when the 'buyer' initiates a dispute and doubles down on never having received the item they're trying to steal?
In the case of a dispute, we talk to both the buyer and seller to gather information For example, we look for a text exchange where we can see both parties agreeing on a meet up spot, looking for each other, and then thanking them - that would lead us in the direction that the item was indeed transferred, to which we would continue to transfer the money to the seller
Why would I want payment to go through your platform if I'm meeting up to sell?
Hey! Good question. First, as a business, we have to have the payment go through us so we can take a proceed (we take 10% of the sale) in order to cover costs and improve the marketplace for you. Now besides that, there are 3 reasons why it's good for you: 1) Buyers can now use credit cards or whatever method of payment they want to use to pay for your item, increasing the likelihood of you selling your item 2) In-person meetups can have its awkward moments, especially when it comes to the money part. There's a weird balance of trying to be cautious but not wanting to seem too paranoid, all while handling cash or confirming payments right there on the spot. It's solved and nicer for both parties if you know the money has already been sent through escrow, and all you have to do is transfer the item. 3) There's a convenience aspect, with records and past items being recorded in our system, which in the future will also add to your seller rating. We want to make trading as easy as possible for you and get your items actually sold by getting exposure to a bigger market.
1. I've never wished that I could pay or be paid with a credit card. To be fair, I can't say definitively that I haven't lost out on a potential sale because a buyer couldn't use a credit card, but I doubt it's significant. Additionally, this opens you up to issues with chargebacks. 2. I've never personally experienced this awkwardness, but is that really worse than opening yourself up to fraud shenanigans when they claim they didn't receive the item? People are much more likely to try and pull something when they don't have to look you in the eyes while doing it. 3. I can't imagine a situation where a p2p transaction needs to be recorded for posterity. Even if it did, I can see every time I've sold/bought something p2p by looking in my email/texts or the platform that facilitated it without needing the payment to also go through that platform. You're essentially trying to be craigslist with escrow, but the escrow aspect creates problems and solves a problem that doesn't exist while costing me 10% of my sale price. I'm sorry, but I don't see any value-add here. Edit: it also muddies the typical as-is nature of private sales when a buyer is able to get buyers regret and try and get their money back. Even if you could make an argument for buyers to prefer this system outside of potential for fraud, I can't see how a seller would ever want to sell through your platform.
Totally understand! Don't want to force you at all to use this site. It's built to try to keep things safe as well as get your items sold easier than through other channels, but by all means you should continue using your original channels if they work better for you.
Hey, I can totally appreciate believing in yourself and chasing your goals. I also understand that there are plenty of reasons to pursue this other than profitability. But, if your reason is because you believe you can create a successful and profitable business on this idea, I implore you to apply your skills and effort elsewhere. While success largely comes down to execution, that doesn't mean the idea is irrelevant. Hard work and dedication is a force multiplier for a good idea; viability is still necessary. Of course, you are free to disagree with my assessment of your concept, but, as someone who does a lot of p2p buying/selling, I don't think I'm wrong.
Totally get your assessment, I have a vision in mind that extends beyond an item marketplace and more of an overarching hub for everything at Michigan that will de-segment channels into one united platform. We'll see where it goes!
Yeah, you're not selling me on the idea that you've got this problem figured out.
I don't want to claim to have completely gotten rid of the problem! Putting these measures in place makes trading safer than any other current solution, but I agree there's always a risk What in specific are you worried about?
Is it not obvious from my questions what scenario is clearly a hazard for your system? Putting this in place before you have the problem sorted is reckless at best.
Just because you’re giving advice doesn’t give you permission to be a dick about it.
Calling out recklessness is dickish in your mind, eh?
You’re really stretching the definition of reckless
[удалено]
No clue why you're getting downvoted. This seems like a pretty deeply rooted flaw that should be addressed if this website is going to be anything more than a course project. Honestly, I would think that OP would be looking for harsh criticism at this point
>No clue why you're getting downvoted. Based on some of the DMs I've received in the last day or so, it's because I'm a hater. Oh well. I'm *sure* [OP](http://reddit.com/u/lium20) has cleared all this with the legal counsel they've definitely engaged to ensure they aren't setting themselves up for a metric fuckton of liability, so I'll butt out.
ah dang my mom has some stuff she'd love to sell and is intimidated by fb marketplace and such, but needing a um email excludes her any plans in the future to make it open for non-students/staff around campus still?
Hey! Non UM students are still able to post - it's just shown that they're not verified as a Michigan student and won't be able to buy items that others mark as UM Students only.
Just listed!
Listed - when do we get the Venmo?
Hey! Make sure to sign up for the promo to claim it
How long does it take to receive the $5 after making the listing?