4 ms·

Show HN: Buy, Sell, Trade Platform – Looking for First Users and Feedback

15 points by xgibbousx 11y ago

xgibbousx 11y ago
allBST is a brand new "Buy, Sell, Trade" platform looking for its "first pioneering users." Create a group, post some products, invite your friends, provide feedback in the comments!
welly 11y ago
Came up against this http://i.imgur.com/DKHNnD5.png http://i.imgur.com/DKHNnD5.png I think it's a good idea however I suspect you're up against the very popular and local buy/sell/swap groups on facebook. Plus there's craigslist and gumtree. Not to say there isn't room in the market for another such offering. Good luck with it but I would say it's not immediately obvious what those front page blocks represent.
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  Thank you for the screenshot of the bugs. Very helpful! The stacked tiles is a major bug that has been tough to fix. Email error is new and I will fix that right now. I will attempt to make the tiles on the home page more obvious as to their function. Totally agree with you. Thanks so much for the valuable feedback.
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  UPDATE: 1. Error popups fixed. 2. Attempted to fix tile overlapping problem by adding in a font-loaded event listener that does a tile re-layout when triggered. Apparently, asynchronously loading fonts can cause the overlapping problem. Hard to replicate. Hopefully we don't see this again. 3. Coming up with new layout for the home page to better describe what is going on.
sodafountan 11y ago
You lost me on the mandatory selection of an avatar upon sign up, if it has to be necessary then add some predefined images so I don't have to select something from my hard drive. I was at work and I didn't have any selfies at my disposal.
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  Excellent feedback! We will make the avatar optional during registration. If you don't select an avatar, we will just use a default round allBST logo image. You will be able to update your avatar at a later date in the account section. This will be done tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to let us know about this.
joshmn 11y ago
Neat! Now someone can launder money to themselves a la someone's side project, or even better, card items that they would otherwise find on Craigslist. /s
- joshmn 11y ago
  Not sure why the downvotes. Fraud is a serious issue that can tank anyone's side project or even company. I'm curious and open to opinions on why this isn't a concern here, or why I am incorrect.
  - dang 11y ago
    It's because you put it so dismissively, which the Show HN guidelines explicitly ask you not to do. https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
z3t4 11y ago
The first page look like a random "spam site" because of the random stock images. It says nothing about bye, sell, or trade. Maybe show new and popular items on the front page instead? It would also be a good idea to explain what the site does and what's unique about it.
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  Excellent feedback! Based on yours and other users' feedback below, we are going to rework the home page so that it accomplishes the following: 1. Use newly designed interface elements for groups that, inside of them, shows the latest 4 to 6 products last posted in that group. In other words, you will basically see a large square, representing a group, with a bunch of small squares inside of it (representing the latest products in it). This will get rid of the spammy look and also emphasize the fact that the elements on the home page are actually groups of products. 2. Modify the header section to explain what the site does and what is unique about it. I will be working on these items tomorrow and should have them completed by the end of the day. Thank you for taking the time to provide your very constructive feedback.
rajadigopula 11y ago
Checked this - http://allbst.com/OCElectronics http://allbst.com/OCElectronics By the looks of the pics, it's hard to understand if the items are 'new' or 'used'. Eg. the digital clock in the end - is it used? or new?
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  Thank you for the feedback! We will add a "New or Used" option when creating a product and display that. In your particular case, the clock is actually brand new but unwrapped :]
ing33k 11y ago
congrats on launching it . I tried to signup but couldn't. The join button wont activate . if you can provide a test account, I can provide some feedback . I am not an advocate for offering social logins, but I kinda feel that for this site, it would be actually useful.
- xgibbousx 11y ago
  Thank you very much sir. Very sorry about the registration form not working. I will look into it further. Can you please ensure that you have filled out the following form fields: + email + first name + last name + password + avatar I think it may be possible that one of the fields above wasn't filled out however it's also entirely possible that they were and our system isn't working properly. Regarding the social logins, we have been asked this before. I will add it to the list and have it done ASAP.
xgibbousx 11y ago
Just wanted to stop by and say thank you to everyone who provided feedback. Our website is now MUCH better because of it. We're still working away to get everything implemented and are proud to have made Hacker News a part of our story!

15 points by xgibbousx 11y ago

allBST is a brand new "Buy, Sell, Trade" platform looking for its "first pioneering users." Create a group, post some products, invite your friends, provide feedback in the comments!

welly 11y ago

Came up against this http://i.imgur.com/DKHNnD5.png http://i.imgur.com/DKHNnD5.png I think it's a good idea however I suspect you're up against the very popular and local buy/sell/swap groups on facebook. Plus there's craigslist and gumtree. Not to say there isn't room in the market for another such offering. Good luck with it but I would say it's not immediately obvious what those front page blocks represent.

xgibbousx 11y ago
Thank you for the screenshot of the bugs. Very helpful! The stacked tiles is a major bug that has been tough to fix. Email error is new and I will fix that right now. I will attempt to make the tiles on the home page more obvious as to their function. Totally agree with you. Thanks so much for the valuable feedback.
xgibbousx 11y ago
UPDATE: 1. Error popups fixed. 2. Attempted to fix tile overlapping problem by adding in a font-loaded event listener that does a tile re-layout when triggered. Apparently, asynchronously loading fonts can cause the overlapping problem. Hard to replicate. Hopefully we don't see this again. 3. Coming up with new layout for the home page to better describe what is going on.

sodafountan 11y ago

You lost me on the mandatory selection of an avatar upon sign up, if it has to be necessary then add some predefined images so I don't have to select something from my hard drive. I was at work and I didn't have any selfies at my disposal.

xgibbousx 11y ago
Excellent feedback! We will make the avatar optional during registration. If you don't select an avatar, we will just use a default round allBST logo image. You will be able to update your avatar at a later date in the account section. This will be done tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to let us know about this.

joshmn 11y ago

Neat! Now someone can launder money to themselves a la someone's side project, or even better, card items that they would otherwise find on Craigslist. /s

joshmn 11y ago
Not sure why the downvotes. Fraud is a serious issue that can tank anyone's side project or even company. I'm curious and open to opinions on why this isn't a concern here, or why I am incorrect.
- dang 11y ago
  It's because you put it so dismissively, which the Show HN guidelines explicitly ask you not to do. https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

z3t4 11y ago

The first page look like a random "spam site" because of the random stock images. It says nothing about bye, sell, or trade. Maybe show new and popular items on the front page instead? It would also be a good idea to explain what the site does and what's unique about it.

xgibbousx 11y ago
Excellent feedback! Based on yours and other users' feedback below, we are going to rework the home page so that it accomplishes the following: 1. Use newly designed interface elements for groups that, inside of them, shows the latest 4 to 6 products last posted in that group. In other words, you will basically see a large square, representing a group, with a bunch of small squares inside of it (representing the latest products in it). This will get rid of the spammy look and also emphasize the fact that the elements on the home page are actually groups of products. 2. Modify the header section to explain what the site does and what is unique about it. I will be working on these items tomorrow and should have them completed by the end of the day. Thank you for taking the time to provide your very constructive feedback.

rajadigopula 11y ago

Checked this - http://allbst.com/OCElectronics http://allbst.com/OCElectronics By the looks of the pics, it's hard to understand if the items are 'new' or 'used'. Eg. the digital clock in the end - is it used? or new?

xgibbousx 11y ago
Thank you for the feedback! We will add a "New or Used" option when creating a product and display that. In your particular case, the clock is actually brand new but unwrapped :]

ing33k 11y ago

congrats on launching it . I tried to signup but couldn't. The join button wont activate . if you can provide a test account, I can provide some feedback . I am not an advocate for offering social logins, but I kinda feel that for this site, it would be actually useful.

xgibbousx 11y ago
Thank you very much sir. Very sorry about the registration form not working. I will look into it further. Can you please ensure that you have filled out the following form fields: + email + first name + last name + password + avatar I think it may be possible that one of the fields above wasn't filled out however it's also entirely possible that they were and our system isn't working properly. Regarding the social logins, we have been asked this before. I will add it to the list and have it done ASAP.

xgibbousx 11y ago

Just wanted to stop by and say thank you to everyone who provided feedback. Our website is now MUCH better because of it. We're still working away to get everything implemented and are proud to have made Hacker News a part of our story!