Bitcoin Forum

Hay Bitcoiners,

Im looking at opening a site that clones eBay's (structure) but with my own logos and site setup, i would like some advice from the community to what features or aspects of the site could help make the site user friendly for both sellers and buyers as well, heres what i think

1. a place where new/established bitcoiners can purchase bitcoins, mining rigs, bitbills, currency, and anything to do with bitcoins only.

2. buyers choose to purchase via paypal, bitcoin transfer etc.

3. Fees will be half that of ebay and based on flat fee structure.

4. a comments and feedback section that can't be removed and strict policies that removes any user that abuses the site (like more than 3 negative feed backs get removed or blocked)

so thats it in a nut shell just want to get your suggestions, or if you think its a stupid idea please let me know or on the other hand if you like it again let me know as well.

cheers
Gorkalitus:-)

My opinions:

1. John Doe won't use it if he cannot sell his banana phone. Limitations scare users away.

2. Paypal will close your account. They (and ebay) dislike Bitcoin.

3. Fees need to be cheap to make users switch away from the established ebay.

4. No need to remove users. Someone who does business with a -100% feedback seller deserves his losses.

Hay thanks for your opinion every bit helps, do you think if i run the site more like an exchange will this make a difference?

Not a dumb idea, just, I don't see how this could work out realistically the way actual exchanges are set up with third parties.

The only way I could trust this, is if Mt Gox were to make GoxBay, already having a built in system of confirmed/trusted btc exchanges that can be tracked in some way.   Now I joke saying Mt. Gox based on the public trust in the site, but it would take something, maybe not that level, but pretty big to make this work imo.

The ebay system can work because you basically only change the currency and payment system. But you need to aim it towards everyday users who are not involved with the tech aspects of bitcoin. Keeping that in mind, you would probably need some sort of automated bitcoin exchange too.

You can start small and first target bitcoin users to build up a user base.

Get to work  8)

Try and come up with a name that's simple yet catchy AND is original. Please, please, please nothing like BitBay  :o

 How about eBit?!?

 lol.

 I'd love to see an ebay-style website. 

I assume you've already seen http://bitcoinhop.com/ (http://bitcoinhop.com/)?

I just mocked this up, and got the domain for $1.50 from godaddy. I can get the ebay clone script, but making it accept bitcoins, well im not sure if that's possible.

http://image.bayimg.com/iaibaaadp.jpg

You don't seem to be competent enough for me to be willing to trust you could run good enough security.

hay thanks will do

You don't seem to be competent enough for me to be willing to trust you could run good enough security.
[/quote]

Security for what? To run an auction website? Maybe your remark is better ignored.

I like the idea and have some things I would list.  Early adopters get the best rates right?

I not trust Mt Gox. Too many hacked this days.

The basic idea is good.  Just need to change something to work in real situation.

If you want call me to discuss how to build it for you. I am a asp.net developer.

Update time just about finished the website just putting the finishing touches here is a copy of the Category


Bitcoin Mining Contracts
Bitcoin Mining Rigs (1)
Bitcoin Wallet (pre-loaded)
Exchange Bitcoin To
Exchange Currency to Bitcoin
Exchange Precious Metal to Bitcoin

you can buy now, auction, and dutch auction

cheers gorkalitus

coinzaar   :)

Sounds great but i have one question...

if you get scammed on ebay/paypal they refund you your cash how would that work with bitcoins?

I got my ebay clone site up and running. It's not live for purchases but it's fun to play around with. Would be nice to sync the BTC currency automatically. I'm thinking about only letting reputable sellers who verify have stores(*scams). I'm interested to see your site once it's ready.

http://www.bitoffer.com

I wonder how big bitcoin needs to get before mainstream catches on?  To the point that Ebay/PayPal & other big merchants would accept it the same as credit cards, etc.

Probably a long way off, but sure would be nicer than having to scrape together an ebay clone site.

Jon 

Ebay + Paypal will always have high fees. It's up to the little guy to change that. You can pretty much give up on the ideal that Ebay will except Bitcoins. What's alluring is the ideal of trading with low to no fees at all. I know I choose not to sell on ebay sometimes because of the large hit in fees. We need to go back to the early days of Ebay when they didn't gouge.

Bitcoins are way too complicated and niche at the moment. Make it simpler to purchase them first. Or would it be a case of 'if you build it, they will come'...

I think such a bitcoin marketplace would need some kind of trusted institution, like an escrow service. It should look something like this:

The buyer (B) buys an item on the marketplace.
He hands the cash to the escrow (let's just call it BitPal for now).
The seller ships his item to BitPal.
BitPal checks if it has the ware and the cash.
If both is at BitPal, it ships the item to the buyer and the cash to the seller.

Using this system would make transactions a lot easier, because now you just have to trust a single institution instead of hundreds of individuals.
Of course, this would kinda destroy the anonymity of Bitcoin because BitPal would have a lot of money and a lot of personal data, but it's just a thought on what is possible.

Tell me what you think!

The escrow service adds too much to the cost on smaller ticket items. BitPal service + paying shipping twice.
If BitBay(ebay clone site) was also BitPal(escrow service), it would cut costs and offer what we want. low to no fee trading.
You could offer No fees at BitBay(keeping the allure value) and still make a profit from the BitPal escrow service.
BitBay will need some Reputability to pull this off though(probably couldn't do it alone).

I would definitely be on this. I wonder how 'normal' people would buy though, since it is complicated to get BTC. Sure, you can buy them on ebay, but they are expensive. You can mine, but that's complicated. You can use an exchange, but really who will jump through those hoops? If you had an exchange built into the system, now that might work.

this is correct, i will need some Reputability to pull this off , hay by the way i like your site bitoffer. well done

cheers gorkalitus

love the idea.

I was thinking of doing something like this

Have fun :)

It would be interesting to see, but do take note that virtually all attempts to compete with eBay in the mainstream have either gone under, or settled into a happy rut, despite eBay spending years getting worse and worse on sellers via policy and price changes, without providing much in benefit to buyers along the way (ie. eBay buyers are not much better off than they were five years ago, but sellers are notably worse.)  This says nothing about non-mainstream attempts -- there have been many sites over the years that attempted to be the "eBay of digital currencies," especially after eBay banned the use of e-gold and other digital currencies for payment, and they universally failed despite good platforms, ample promotion, etc.   

Finally, the whole notion of an "eBay clone" in any context may be an idea whose time has already come and gone -- according to eBay's own financials, revenue from auctions has been steadily decreasing for years, and now accounts for less than one-third of their income (although for certain items, eg. cars and collectibles, auctions are still dominant.)   


Frank

... just saw http://www.btcrow.com/ (http://www.btcrow.com/).
Looks good at first glance, but as the contact page is 404'd, I'd be careful.

Yes I agree, you can start out with Bitcoin stuff but you have to let people trade whatever they want.  Your market distinction is that you only pay in BTC.

Hi I'm the owner and founder of BTCrow.com, I just noticed your post.
there's no contact page so can't be 404'd: it lead to our contact email: info@btcrow.com
Can you please tell me how you get this error ?

Also there's the official thread and some people already did transaction and posted review:
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=21544.0

If you need informations or have comments / suggestions you can reach us at this address: info@btcrow.com or post it into the official thread.

Thanks
Jules

BTCrowned! lol

At the time I checked, the Contact link lead to /contact.html, which (obviously) wasn't there. Using FF 5 with NoScript and AdBlockPlus.
Now it correctly points to the mail addr.

started this site to get something in motion, taken on all your feedback so here is part one the site is

www.worldbitcoinexchange.com

1) you asked for no listing fees = and ive done that no listing fees
2) the only fee is the success fee which is 0.75% (to help pay the bills)same as other popular exchanges
3) 24hr (with upto date exchange rates) or 7day auction
4) Buy Now feature= free
5) re list feature =free
6) Home page feature= free max exposure
7) Feedback and Rating system that regulates fraud.

so go and have some fun and help me start an exciting community

thank you to all that have helped

gorkalitus


plus more.......... features to come

Nice Job!   The site looks pretty good.  I created a listing just now for a Google Chromebook Laptop.  I put it in the Mining Rigs category.  Hope that's alright  :D

http://www.worldbitcoinexchange.com/item.php?id=73

Thanks for making this site, I hope people will give it a try!
Jon