Forest Market: Buy and Sell Goods with Crypto

[rockstar_z]

Hi qzl9199, first of all, thank you so much for the kind words and insight. I agree with most of your ideas, and also recognizes the missing features due to lower priority. But please let me answer your question one by one:

First, there are aspects of your project's credibility that raise doubts. You have not disclosed your registration information, team details, logistics information, or offline office address. This is an extremely dangerous signal and may lead people to believe that this is a scam website. After all, even when shopping online, people need to know — who am I buying the goods from, to whom is my money going, and from where will the goods be delivered? If these issues are not addressed, people will refuse to become your customers. I hope you can make all the convincing information public to eliminate doubts, so that the project can develop on a normal track.

I agree that credibility is critical in building a marketplace. Adding team details, and logistic information sound great. However I doubt that registration information or offline office address is really necessary as a web3 project at an early stage, as most developers are working remotely and prefer anonymity, unless we become really big like Amazon and some sort of registration will be needed.

Second, as a Chinese person, I am accustomed to using mobile devices for shopping, but it seems that your project has not developed a mobile app. Is this part of your future plans? Or do Americans prefer to purchase goods through websites? I believe that the information flow on mobile devices is smoother and more convenient.

yes mobile app is in the plan.

Third, it seems that you have only set up one customer service email. My suggestion is to create a dedicated customer service channel for each product—ideally hiring live agents to respond to customer inquiries and needs in real time. This would provide an excellent experience, acting as an online “sales assistant.”

Tbh, we don’t have that much of supporting request coming in at this point. And one person can easily handle all of them. Once we scale up, a dedicated support team is definitely worth it.

Fourth, the product descriptions are too simplistic and lack a standardized template, including details such as specifications, models, and physical demonstrations.

Good call, will put this in our to do list

Fifth, logistics — which is the core of online shopping. I am not clear which logistics company your project is partnered with. How is your warehousing arranged, and what are your transportation and delivery processes? Logistics is the most critical competitive edge, and customers need to know the delivery process clearly, including timelines, transportation routes, and delivery personnel details.

We don’t partner with any carrier rn. Seller can pick any carrier to ship their product, such as usps, ups or fedex. Once seller added the tracking number, we will pull the delivery progress from the carrier and show it to the shopper. Also we don’t have warehouse, product is directly shipped from seller.

Sixth, there is no bulk purchasing option—only single-item purchases are possible. This seems particularly disadvantageous on a blockchain, as the gas fees for single-item purchases exceed those for bulk purchases.

This feature is currently work in progress

Seventh, similarly, since your project is based on a crypto platform, you should disclose your wallet address and transaction details.

Once shoppers placed the order, they can use the transaction hash to retrieve on-chain transaction details with blockchain explorer.

Eighth, regarding the model of Forest Market, it should be a combination of B2C and C2C. I think it can be differentiated into two markets: one being a B2C market based on the United States, and the other a C2C market that allows for global expansion and enables merchants from around the world to join.

Currently we are starting from C2C,  but we do plan to expand to B2C in the future

I am excited that you are interested in joining us, and we are more than happy to have you. Please feel free to email support@forestmarket.net, we can meet and discuss more in details.

[qzl9199]

Thank you for your reply. I have a few different opinions on your answer.
1. Although Forest Marketplace is a project based on the concept of Web3, it is an undeniable fact that it connects Web2 and offline entities (logistics industry). Therefore, this project is blurring boundaries and should not be considered as a web3 project alone. In order to break through the fortresses between the various fields, certain compromises must be made. So, I think it's necessary to make some information public. Of course, you can make public the multi-signature design of the wallet, some information of team members, and the certification information of sellers based on the web3 concept.
2. I found that many of the sellers of goods in the forest market are "forests", which seems to be a bit contrary to what you say about C2C? Can you explain? Again, as I said in my first point, I think sellers need to be certified and provide certain security measures.
3. Finally, if you need me to join, what do you think I need to have?

[Vod]

I agree that credibility is critical in building a marketplace. Adding team details, and logistic information sound great. However I doubt that registration information or offline office address is really necessary as a web3 project at an early stage, as most developers are working remotely and prefer anonymity, unless we become really big like Amazon and some sort of registration will be needed.

OK, so you understand that you cannot build a marketplace without credibility.    And then you are saying you do not need to be credible until you become really big?   Can you explain what your credibility is right now?  Is there any avenue a person can take to identify you should you steal their money?

I can always tell a start up has no potential when it:

• Does not have a project plan.  Planning is also critical in projects, and all I constantly see from these one man scam shows is agreement with every suggestion and constant changes to their plan.
• Cannot set realistic goals.  Mission statements that include absurd claims like "best in field" or "#1 casino" will fail because they are all or nothing.
• Expects to be anonymous and successful.

In other words, why are you designing your own car with a bitcoin price HUD, when any car manufacturer can just add that on?

Very relevant clip:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y5K3KsuQ_M

[rockstar_z]

Vod, I DONT mean that credibility is only needed once we become big. What i meant is offline office address and legal registration ARENT the only way towards credibility. Credibility matter in any stage of the project, and we will gain credibility in a lot of different ways such as
1. users review and testimonials
2. establish a social media profile
3. community engagement
4. web3 project collaboration
5. Listing on reputable crypto directories
I am not saying we already have all of those mentioned above nor have good credibility at this point. But thats what we will be working towards and prioritizing instead of setting up an offline office or forming an legal entity while we only have tiny traffic and it matter the least to customer's satisfaction on shopping experience and the goods they received.

qzl9199
1. should be covered above
2. you can consider that user named "forests" as an individual. and you don't need to trust them, by knowing that you can get a refund if you aren't satisfied with your purchase.
3. marketing and community building

[rockstar_z]

dderekwalcott, thanks for saying that. It means a lot to me!