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This is a terrible idea. It's almost impossible to bootstrap a marketplace without participating in it. Amazon as a platform that people can sell their own stuf
by amadeuspagel 6y ago
This is a terrible idea. It's almost impossible to bootstrap a marketplace without participating in it. Amazon as a platform that people can sell their own stuff on is only possible because people were already using it to buy things directly from amazon.
- reaperducer 6y agoIt's almost impossible to bootstrap a marketplace without participating in it. This is obviously untrue. Walk into almost any store in the world, and you're in a marketplace where the owner is not also selling his own competing products. There are vanishingly few exceptions, like garden centers, big box stores, and supermarkets.
- amadeuspagel 6y agoThere are three different things happening on amazon: #1 Amazon selling third party products. #2 Third party sellers selling their products. #3 Amazon selling their own products. You're pointing out that #3 isn't necesary, and that's true, but my point is that #1 is necessary and is how every store starts, then they might expand into #2 and #3.
- amelius 6y ago#1 isn't necessary if amazon started as a logistics company, with smaller shops as their clients.
- srtjstjsj 6y agoAnd those stores arent as good as Amazon, according to millions of customers.
- ByteJockey 6y agoStores aren't marketplaces, at least generally speaking. Consignment shops might count. At a store (once again, generally speaking), the company buys things and re-sells them. In a marketplace you're buying directly from someone else (and they usually pay the marketplace operator a cut of sales afterwards, or an upfront fee to sell there).
- amelius 6y agoOk, perhaps allow for a bootstrap period.
- jedberg 6y agoThe plan only kicks in once you have 25 billion in revenue. So there is a generous bootstrapping period.
- adambyrtek 6y agoeBay and many others prove that it's definitely a possibility.