If only we had a crypto version of Ebay that could save us the hindrance of fee

[Bitcoinenthusiasts23]

I'm sick of the fees on Ebay it's become totally unprofitable for some items due to the massive fees. I use Facebook marketplace but that's more for local sales.

With crypto Ebay you could have near zero fees and have a decentralized marketplace model. I know there are things on TOR etc, but I just wouldn't trust it tbh. I can imagine Amazon buying this project one day for more than a billion $ as it would feel 'threatened' by the merely existence of this model and will end up incorporating it into their own business model.

I mean EarnBet (https://earnbet.io) an online decentralised casino has been the latest to solve the problem of wagering via crypto and is operating on the WAX chain currently.
If you are reading this and have the potential to make take such an initiative , please do and we, the Bitcoin community will support you.

[notblox1]

If you had some crypto Ebay you would still have to pay blockchain fees and that can go very high during congestion time, both for Bitcoin and other popular coins.
One more thing that would not work is to way to refund payments and return products, and that is something we see in ebay everyday.
Slow speed would also not be so user friendly.

[Vod]

If you are reading this and have the potential to make take such an initiative , please do and we, the Bitcoin community will support you.

With over 13,000 employees at eBay, I'm sure they are aware of crypto.  If there was an advantage to their current model to use crypto they would have implemented it already.  And like the previous poster wrote, there are still fees with crypto, and the company needs to make a profit.

I don't think any developer here would spend thousands of hours making an eBay clone if they couldn't charge fees, and the instant it started making money, eBay could add it on easily.

What you want is an auction site that doesn't need to refund/return.

[OgNasty]

We did have an eBay like site that used Bitcoin.  I forget the name but it was awesome and quite popular.  I believe it was given a notice to shut down by the government. 

This forum used to be brimming with all sorts of awesome projects where people could use Bitcoin and work together to advance Bitcoin use cases.  Unfortunately, now it is full of people who post here just to get paid from signature campaigns.  A majority of those who were building things got chased away by overzealous trolls scarred from falling for scams that take out their poor money management on the innovators who remain and regulators that want crypto businesses to account for the exchange rate at which every satoshi changes hands.

In short, if you want something like this to exist, you'll probably have to not only build it, but have the testicular fortitude to keep it running in the face of vengeful users and trigger happy regulators. 

[Harlot]

We have one already Overstock.com is something where you have an option to become a retailer, you can freely post your items there you want to sell but it is mostly similar to Amazon rather than Ebay. If you want a P2P marketplace I would recommend you trying OpenBazaar.org the last time I check is they have zero fees involve since the transaction happens between the 2 parties they are basically promoting is as some kind of free e-commerce website. Keep in mind that I don't have experience on both websites but I mostly read these websites of being a crypto focus e-commerce website in the forum.

[pooya87]

If you are reading this and have the potential to make take such an initiative , please do and we, the Bitcoin community will support you.

With over 13,000 employees at eBay, I'm sure they are aware of crypto.  If there was an advantage to their current model to use crypto they would have implemented it already.  And like the previous poster wrote, there are still fees with crypto, and the company needs to make a profit.

I don't think any developer here would spend thousands of hours making an eBay clone if they couldn't charge fees, and the instant it started making money, eBay could add it on easily.

What you want is an auction site that doesn't need to refund/return.

you are thinking too centralized.
a cryptocurrency oriented marketplace should not be centralized, everything in it should be peer to peer and without any servers or any kind of centralized authority. that means there is no additional fees to be paid to the creator/developers of the project.
i think the closest example of a serverless P2P marketplace is OpenBazaar project.
eBay can not compete with something like that. the only problem is that people aren't currently so eager to see their cryptocurrencies as currencies but rather investments so they are not ready yet.

I mean EarnBet

stop advertising this casino in (almost) every post you make!

[SFR10]

In addition to other comments, we already have "Bitify", which I believe it's the closest thing to a so-called "crypto version of eBay".
^{Take note: I'm not vouching here (DYOR).}

[Vod]

you are thinking too centralized.

Not really.  I'm thinking why would someone build this just to save you fees if they make nothing?

[pooya87]

I'm thinking why would someone build this just to save you fees if they make nothing?

not everyone enters this open source and decentralized world with money making as their goal. there are lots of open source projects that the devs hadn't made a satoshi for their work. heck why did Satoshi spend 6 years of his life on bitcoin to give people freedom if they made nothing?
by the way OP focuses on fees, otherwise a decentralized marketplace is a lot more that just fees. it is about the freedom that goes hand in hand with the freedom a decentralized currency offers.

[OgNasty]

We did have an eBay like site that used Bitcoin.  I forget the name but it was awesome and quite popular.  I believe it was given a notice to shut down by the government. 

I remembered. It was called bitmit and ran from 2011-2013.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitmit

[Vod]

not everyone enters this open source and decentralized world with money making as their goal. there are lots of open source projects that the devs hadn't made a satoshi for their work. heck why did Satoshi spend 6 years of his life on bitcoin to give people freedom if they made nothing?

I understand your reasoning.  I should have specified I meant in today's environment.  Not too many people will want to start a free project like this.  If they are smart enough to invent, they should also be looking at the uncertain future.  

You can make a decentralized and free version yourself.  Just register a non-profit, and use considerable free resources at AWS ($100,000) to architect the system and decentralize it.  Look for open source/free projects and have those developers work with you.   You shouldn't need to do any coding or spend any money.   But it will be a lot of work to design and build it.

[robelneo]

I'm sick of the fees on Ebay it's become totally unprofitable for some items due to the massive fees. I use Facebook marketplace but that's more for local sales.

With crypto Ebay you could have near zero fees and have a decentralized marketplace model. I know there are things on TOR etc, but I just wouldn't trust it tbh. I can imagine Amazon buying this project one day for more than a billion $ as it would feel 'threatened' by the merely existence of this model and will end up incorporating it into their own business model.

We will have one in the future, we now have a Decentralized Finance this is to level the playing fields and to adopt those who do not trust banking system anymore, it's only a matter of time that we will have a decentralized marketplace , sounds like a good idea once we have both worlds the Crypto community will be competitive both in the financial industry and commerce industry .

[Jet Cash]

I've had a couple of goes at starting auction sites, both online and in real life. The big problem is getting sellers to submit items, as they are not likely to get high prices until you have a lot of potential buyers. I used to put my own items in, and accept that they would not realise top prices, but it involves a lot of work.

My new Rag St site takes a slightly different approach. I want to introduce wholesale sellers to bulk buyers, and to use Bitcoin for international transactions.

[roberthays]

I'm sick of the fees on Ebay it's become totally unprofitable for some items due to the massive fees. I use Facebook marketplace but that's more for local sales.

With crypto Ebay you could have near zero fees and have a decentralized marketplace model. I know there are things on TOR etc, but I just wouldn't trust it tbh. I can imagine Amazon buying this project one day for more than a billion $ as it would feel 'threatened' by the merely existence of this model and will end up incorporating it into their own business model.

I mean EarnBet (https://earnbet.io) an online decentralised casino has been the latest to solve the problem of wagering via crypto and is operating on the WAX chain currently.
If you are reading this and have the potential to make take such an initiative , please do and we, the Bitcoin community will support you.

I agree it would make life easier for merchants and though there are a few options, it would be nice to have more available as competition always leads to better services.

[shield132]

If you are reading this and have the potential to make take such an initiative , please do and we, the Bitcoin community will support you.

With over 13,000 employees at eBay, I'm sure they are aware of crypto.  If there was an advantage to their current model to use crypto they would have implemented it already.  And like the previous poster wrote, there are still fees with crypto, and the company needs to make a profit.

I don't think any developer here would spend thousands of hours making an eBay clone if they couldn't charge fees, and the instant it started making money, eBay could add it on easily.

What you want is an auction site that doesn't need to refund/return.

People can't understand one thing: What you want and think is amazing, doesn't mean that others share the same thoughts and opinions. Most people can't understand that for example if Ebay doesn't implement cryptocurrencies, there are a reasons behind it and at the same time if someone hit market where there is open monopoly. Anyone can enter into market but no one can beat the giants. If someone wants to enter in this market with cryptocurrencies, it would cost a tons of money and then, the same action from Ebay (implementing of cryptocurrencies) and this business will dive and lose billions.

What kind of fees do a crypto version of Ebay would be able to save? Do fees change when you pay with Euro over USD? Or GBP over USD and Euro? Or take any other national currency. I want to remind you that Bitcoin is a currency, different from traditional ones but still a currency and it's very easy from governments to set fees on it the way they wish and in terms of fees make it absolutely similar of the situation we have right now on Ebay.
Cryptocurrencies aren't magical things or spells.

[aioc]

Aside from OpenBazaar, which is probably most "popular" option when we're talking about decentralized marketplace, there are plenty of decentralized marketplace (example : https://dappradar.com/rankings/protocol/eth/category/marketplaces)
Most of them either limited to digital collectibles (digital art, cryptokitties, etc.) or not reliable option, but it's a start.

It's a good start, but we need something that will cater to multi coins holder these marketplace is great but they only cater to specific coin we need something that can accept popular coins in the market and as big as Amazon, those on DappRadar are unheard of or not popular marketplace, somebody has to start this.

[Ucy]

One more thing that would not work is to way to refund payments and return products, and that is something we see in ebay everyday.
.Slow speed would also not be so user friendly.

This can work well with advanced escrow system on a decentralized marketplace.
 If you have a contract with your seller and the goods turn out to be different from what the seller claims in the agreement, you lay complaints with proofs on the decentralized marketplace. Qualified arbiters go through the complaints, if you have a good case, you return the goods and automatically get a refund.

[d5000]

OpenBazaar [...] the only problem is that people aren't currently so eager to see their cryptocurrencies as currencies but rather investments so they are not ready yet.

Unfortunately I see a second problem with these decentralized marketplaces, and that is trust. Many people like it when they can rely on a centralized authority when something goes wrong with a trade. On OpenBazaar, there is the option to use an escrower (moderated payment), but if the escrower (moderator) fails in assess the situation correctly (e.g. if a vendor presents him fake proof about an item that was sent) or is untrustworthy, all they could do is to call the police - and depending on the good they purchased, or privacy reasons, they may not want to do that.

I read from a service from a business called OB1 who "verifies" OpenBazaar moderators. However, even totally trusted people can be fooled by good scammers. Thus, in reality what would be needed would be some kind of insurance for the escrowers, but this is currently (probably) unrealistic.

Thus I think there is a niche for e-bay like crypto marketplace websites like Bitify. A big problem however could be - depending on the country they operate - that these sites must register as a financial institution if they offer escrow, or limit themselves to provide means of communication.

PS: Just got an idea I may develop further: One of the problems of decentralized marketplaces seems to be the communication with the postal service, because it's difficult to prove a vendor didn't send the correct item. What about a crypto-friendly postal service which offers an option to verify the content of a shipment? Problem may be that such a service could be costly, but what I have in mind is that the vendor should pay an additional fee which he gets back if the buyer doesn't request dispute resolution ... Is for now a very immature idea, maybe it already exists.

[gbrendeh]

This will definitely happen, more solutions are coming at a speedy rate, in the near future, there will be one that will address this challenge. Crypto is still young but we are making progress.

[pooya87]

Unfortunately I see a second problem with these decentralized marketplaces, and that is trust. <...>

that's a good point which i wasn't thinking about, whenever i think about decentralized marketplaces i see them from the perspective of the seller/shop not the buyer/customer. @stompix pointed this out to me in another topic.

in any case i think this issue could be partially solved by a rating system. for example an old shop that has been around for a long time could have reviews and points given to them by their customers. it could even be stored in a blockchain (maybe a side-chain even). although it is not a fix but it can lessen the severity of issues.

PS: Just got an idea I may develop further: One of the problems of decentralized marketplaces seems to be the communication with the postal service, because it's difficult to prove a vendor didn't send the correct item. What about a crypto-friendly postal service which offers an option to verify the content of a shipment? Problem may be that such a service could be costly, but what I have in mind is that the vendor should pay an additional fee which he gets back if the buyer doesn't request dispute resolution ... Is for now a very immature idea, maybe it already exists.

i think that requires some sort of record of such trades which also goes against the privacy that people may seek while using a decentralized marketplace instead of a centralized one. this could also bring regulations and taxation and with that limitations.