9 ms·

Show HN: Simplest chat for platforms and marketplaces

47 points by bevenky 14y ago

suren 14y ago
How is this different from Olark?
- ad93611 14y ago
  Olark cannot be used by sellers at Ebay or at Etsy for instance. Gagler is for people who sell at other websites like marketplaces and platforms.
- nedwin 14y ago
  So it's different in that Olark can't be used by two sides of a marketplace without using a chat application like Adium and having accounts?
  - ad93611 14y ago
    Yes. This can be used without any Adium or other IM accounts. Sellers could choose to use any IM client, if they prefer.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
haxplorer 14y ago
Wonder why Olark didn't build it. I just didn't realize that this was missing.
- ad93611 14y ago
  The problem that they want to solve and what Gaglers solves are for different people.
  - bevenky 14y ago
    People? I thought this was supposed to be for marketplaces right?
    - ad93611 14y ago
      Yes, this is for sellers at platforms and marketplaces to interact directly with their prospective buyers.
tymekpavel 14y ago
Why is the logo of such poor quality?
- ad93611 14y ago
  Sorry, that was a quick design work to get the product out. We are working on making the design better.
  - tymekpavel 14y ago
    It's not so much the design. Rather, the image quality is very low, like it's a fully compressed JPG? Just save it as a GIF or PNG.
prezjordan 14y ago
Very similar color scheme, layout, and design in general. Big no-no for me, but I applaud the effort.
- ad93611 14y ago
  The similarity is unintended. We are a group of programmers, and so we picked up a theme from themeforest for now. We are working on a better design for the site.
nirajr 14y ago
This is a wide open space, and I think a tool like this definitely adds a lot of value to engagement on e-commerce sites. Everytime I've bought an item on eBay, I've had questions for the seller, and getting the answers quickly on chat would definitely have helped me a lot. From what I understand, that is exactly the use-case that Gaglers is targeting.
- ad93611 14y ago
  Yes, that is exactly the problem we want to solve. Thanks Niraj!
aacook 14y ago
Olark and other live chat systems work well when you want to provide all of your own customer support... you're basically in the middle of the transaction. This doesn't scale too well, especially when you have to query both parties to get answers and provide them. You have to become good at knowing the transaction, have good answers and information beforehand, and become good at knowing what questions to ask to reduce loops. Real time support on a marketplace this way is a challenge. This system allows you to onboard all of the costs above onto the sellers in the marketplace. My feeling is this would well in a marketplace where your supply side is tech-savvy. Otherwise you'll need a desktop client to keep them signed on. Even if your sellers are tech savvy, they'll need to keep your browser window open all the time. Sure, you could build an app and push notifications, but it's hard to provide real time chat support on your mobile device. Integrating with Google Chat, Skype, etc... may be the way to go (this works well for me when using snapengage). I'd be really interesting in using this as soon as that ability is offered on the buyer-side.
- ad93611 14y ago
  Just to be clear. Sellers using Gaglers can be using any IM client or Gtalk as well. For sellers who do not want to configure an IM client, they can just use the browser. On the buyers side, buyers have to use the browser to ask their quick questions. You can have the buyers use a IM client, only if you know the buyer ahead of time. Can you explain how else you envision buyers using Google talk or any IM client? We'll be happy to collaborate with you to do this.
minouye 14y ago
How would you embed this in a marketplace listing? Pretty sure that'd be a no-no on eBay.
- ad93611 14y ago
  eBay will have to deploy this for their marketplace.
hessenwolf 14y ago
How does this compare/contrast with ZenDesk?
- ad93611 14y ago
  Gaglers and Zendesk seems complementary to me. Do you think there is any overlap?
  - hessenwolf 14y ago
    I don't know yet - I was hoping I could be lazy and let somebody just tell me. I've actually been meaning to try the whole live-chat with customers, but haven't gotten around to it; it'd be interesting scaring the bejesus out of a few potential buyers.
nostromo 14y ago
Cheers for the MVP, but jeers for the copying of Olark's branding. I used to work for a business chat company and I bet moderation will be your biggest challenge. When you put an open chat box online, the amount of times it ends up as sex chat approaches 100%. Think chatroulette, but text.
- ad93611 14y ago
  There is no copying of Olark's branding. As I mentioned earlier, the website is a template from themeforest. You are also wrong about this being a open chat. This is a chat initiated with a seller of a product for a specific purpose. Can you please try to understand the product before commenting on it.
joyinsky 14y ago
Does it exist something open source like this?

47 points by bevenky 14y ago

suren 14y ago

How is this different from Olark?

ad93611 14y ago
Olark cannot be used by sellers at Ebay or at Etsy for instance. Gagler is for people who sell at other websites like marketplaces and platforms.
nedwin 14y ago
So it's different in that Olark can't be used by two sides of a marketplace without using a chat application like Adium and having accounts?
- ad93611 14y ago
  Yes. This can be used without any Adium or other IM accounts. Sellers could choose to use any IM client, if they prefer.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

haxplorer 14y ago

Wonder why Olark didn't build it. I just didn't realize that this was missing.

ad93611 14y ago
The problem that they want to solve and what Gaglers solves are for different people.
- bevenky 14y ago
  People? I thought this was supposed to be for marketplaces right?
  - ad93611 14y ago
    Yes, this is for sellers at platforms and marketplaces to interact directly with their prospective buyers.

tymekpavel 14y ago

Why is the logo of such poor quality?

ad93611 14y ago
Sorry, that was a quick design work to get the product out. We are working on making the design better.
- tymekpavel 14y ago
  It's not so much the design. Rather, the image quality is very low, like it's a fully compressed JPG? Just save it as a GIF or PNG.

prezjordan 14y ago

Very similar color scheme, layout, and design in general. Big no-no for me, but I applaud the effort.

ad93611 14y ago
The similarity is unintended. We are a group of programmers, and so we picked up a theme from themeforest for now. We are working on a better design for the site.

nirajr 14y ago

This is a wide open space, and I think a tool like this definitely adds a lot of value to engagement on e-commerce sites. Everytime I've bought an item on eBay, I've had questions for the seller, and getting the answers quickly on chat would definitely have helped me a lot. From what I understand, that is exactly the use-case that Gaglers is targeting.

ad93611 14y ago
Yes, that is exactly the problem we want to solve. Thanks Niraj!

aacook 14y ago

Olark and other live chat systems work well when you want to provide all of your own customer support... you're basically in the middle of the transaction. This doesn't scale too well, especially when you have to query both parties to get answers and provide them. You have to become good at knowing the transaction, have good answers and information beforehand, and become good at knowing what questions to ask to reduce loops. Real time support on a marketplace this way is a challenge. This system allows you to onboard all of the costs above onto the sellers in the marketplace. My feeling is this would well in a marketplace where your supply side is tech-savvy. Otherwise you'll need a desktop client to keep them signed on. Even if your sellers are tech savvy, they'll need to keep your browser window open all the time. Sure, you could build an app and push notifications, but it's hard to provide real time chat support on your mobile device. Integrating with Google Chat, Skype, etc... may be the way to go (this works well for me when using snapengage). I'd be really interesting in using this as soon as that ability is offered on the buyer-side.

ad93611 14y ago
Just to be clear. Sellers using Gaglers can be using any IM client or Gtalk as well. For sellers who do not want to configure an IM client, they can just use the browser. On the buyers side, buyers have to use the browser to ask their quick questions. You can have the buyers use a IM client, only if you know the buyer ahead of time. Can you explain how else you envision buyers using Google talk or any IM client? We'll be happy to collaborate with you to do this.

minouye 14y ago

How would you embed this in a marketplace listing? Pretty sure that'd be a no-no on eBay.

ad93611 14y ago
eBay will have to deploy this for their marketplace.

hessenwolf 14y ago

How does this compare/contrast with ZenDesk?

ad93611 14y ago
Gaglers and Zendesk seems complementary to me. Do you think there is any overlap?
- hessenwolf 14y ago
  I don't know yet - I was hoping I could be lazy and let somebody just tell me. I've actually been meaning to try the whole live-chat with customers, but haven't gotten around to it; it'd be interesting scaring the bejesus out of a few potential buyers.

nostromo 14y ago

Cheers for the MVP, but jeers for the copying of Olark's branding. I used to work for a business chat company and I bet moderation will be your biggest challenge. When you put an open chat box online, the amount of times it ends up as sex chat approaches 100%. Think chatroulette, but text.

ad93611 14y ago
There is no copying of Olark's branding. As I mentioned earlier, the website is a template from themeforest. You are also wrong about this being a open chat. This is a chat initiated with a seller of a product for a specific purpose. Can you please try to understand the product before commenting on it.

joyinsky 14y ago

Does it exist something open source like this?