2 ms·

Some data: -1 developer (me) -$646 transacted in July -Over $1800 transacted last month -Shipped to 20 countries & every continent except Antartica -Avg 30

Some data: -1 developer (me) -$646 transacted in July -Over $1800 transacted last month -Shipped to 20 countries & every continent except Antartica -Avg 30k visitors a month the last 2 months

brandnewlow 14y ago
Congratulations. That sounds like a solid start. What were your first steps in getting your marketplace flow going?
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  Initially just threw it up on /r/Arduino as a question. http://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/rxyjb/would_you_support_an_arduino_marketplace_or_am_i/ http://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/rxyjb/would_you_sup...
orangethirty 14y ago
That's a pretty good visit/buy ratio. What are your future plans?
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  It is definitely moving in the right direction. Guess you'll have to wait and see!
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    Do keep us posted. Your startup is one I actively track, due to its origins and niche.
notatoad 14y ago
If you're taking 5%, that means a gross revenue of $90 for the month of August? Seems a little early to be quitting your day job.
- RobAley 14y ago
  For many projects, if you wait until you're profitable before you jump in full time, you may never take that step. Some projects just need full-time attention to get them to the point where they pay your mortgage. Presumably (or rather, hopefully!) Emile has looked at the current revenue growth and (with the attention he can give it full-time) projected the revenue he thinks it will generate in X months, X months being the end of whatever runway bootstap/funding money he has, and has concluded that at that point he will be able to pay his wages. Statistically speaking he will fail, and I'm sure he has already thought of that and has a plan B in mind incase that happens. (Thats my devils advocate speaking, its a good idea and I have no other information about Emile, so he may very well beat the odds and I hope he does).
  - emilepetrone 14y ago
    Thanks Rob! I figured it is growing, and should grow quicker if I am working on it fulltime. If I kept at a job, that growth would be slower, a competitor might emerge- who knows. Only thing that is certain is the data- site is cranking so time to kick it into the next gear
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  Fortunately, that isn't the only revenue source. More information coming in the weeks/months ahead.
connortomas 14y ago
Emile, first: this looks great, and congratulations! As somebody working on an online marketplace-style project in my spare time, I'd be interested to know: do you feel as though two months of sales data is enough to work out whether your growth is sustainable? Was there a specific "Eureka!" moment at which you realised it would be worth taking this full-time? Do you have a good way to predict sales growth over the next few months?
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  Sure it isn't much data, but to fully pursue it, I knew I needed more time than a few hours outside of work. So either I'd not perform at work or on tindie. I don't think that is fair to the people I worked with, and I couldn't just leave the site to chance. I do not have a good way to predict sales - just hard work and bust my butt to make it happen. I dont think theres any real secret to that, but I am working building this into a company and not a 'startup'
nakodari 14y ago
Great start! You are only going to gain some more traction from here. Please work on improving the "Terms" section of your site. If you want more buyers and sellers, you need to prepare a good Terms of Service.
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  On the todo! Thanks for the reminder!
yitchelle 14y ago
Awesome start for a soloprenuer! A quick question if I may. What was your strategy in generating this much traffic?
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  Seed everything. Initially posted the question of the site on Reddit, then landing page for people to signup, then seed the store with gadgets - before the site was finished. On day 1 I had products for sale. Each step, just seed it and then open it up.
brador 14y ago
That Twitter Bottstrap forum, is that custom built or a theme? How do you handle shipping internationally while keeping costs down? Good luck with the site, it has potential and gets a thumbs up from me.
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  PYBBM The sellers handle shipping so that is something I do not need to worry about (fortunately because shipping is a massive headache)

Some data: -1 developer (me) -$646 transacted in July -Over $1800 transacted last month -Shipped to 20 countries & every continent except Antartica -Avg 30k visitors a month the last 2 months

brandnewlow 14y ago

Congratulations. That sounds like a solid start. What were your first steps in getting your marketplace flow going?

emilepetrone 14y ago
Initially just threw it up on /r/Arduino as a question. http://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/rxyjb/would_you_support_an_arduino_marketplace_or_am_i/ http://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/rxyjb/would_you_sup...

orangethirty 14y ago

That's a pretty good visit/buy ratio. What are your future plans?

emilepetrone 14y ago
It is definitely moving in the right direction. Guess you'll have to wait and see!
- orangethirty 14y ago
  Do keep us posted. Your startup is one I actively track, due to its origins and niche.

notatoad 14y ago

If you're taking 5%, that means a gross revenue of $90 for the month of August? Seems a little early to be quitting your day job.

RobAley 14y ago
For many projects, if you wait until you're profitable before you jump in full time, you may never take that step. Some projects just need full-time attention to get them to the point where they pay your mortgage. Presumably (or rather, hopefully!) Emile has looked at the current revenue growth and (with the attention he can give it full-time) projected the revenue he thinks it will generate in X months, X months being the end of whatever runway bootstap/funding money he has, and has concluded that at that point he will be able to pay his wages. Statistically speaking he will fail, and I'm sure he has already thought of that and has a plan B in mind incase that happens. (Thats my devils advocate speaking, its a good idea and I have no other information about Emile, so he may very well beat the odds and I hope he does).
- emilepetrone 14y ago
  Thanks Rob! I figured it is growing, and should grow quicker if I am working on it fulltime. If I kept at a job, that growth would be slower, a competitor might emerge- who knows. Only thing that is certain is the data- site is cranking so time to kick it into the next gear
emilepetrone 14y ago
Fortunately, that isn't the only revenue source. More information coming in the weeks/months ahead.

connortomas 14y ago

Emile, first: this looks great, and congratulations! As somebody working on an online marketplace-style project in my spare time, I'd be interested to know: do you feel as though two months of sales data is enough to work out whether your growth is sustainable? Was there a specific "Eureka!" moment at which you realised it would be worth taking this full-time? Do you have a good way to predict sales growth over the next few months?

emilepetrone 14y ago
Sure it isn't much data, but to fully pursue it, I knew I needed more time than a few hours outside of work. So either I'd not perform at work or on tindie. I don't think that is fair to the people I worked with, and I couldn't just leave the site to chance. I do not have a good way to predict sales - just hard work and bust my butt to make it happen. I dont think theres any real secret to that, but I am working building this into a company and not a 'startup'

nakodari 14y ago

Great start! You are only going to gain some more traction from here. Please work on improving the "Terms" section of your site. If you want more buyers and sellers, you need to prepare a good Terms of Service.

emilepetrone 14y ago
On the todo! Thanks for the reminder!

yitchelle 14y ago

Awesome start for a soloprenuer! A quick question if I may. What was your strategy in generating this much traffic?

emilepetrone 14y ago
Seed everything. Initially posted the question of the site on Reddit, then landing page for people to signup, then seed the store with gadgets - before the site was finished. On day 1 I had products for sale. Each step, just seed it and then open it up.

brador 14y ago

That Twitter Bottstrap forum, is that custom built or a theme? How do you handle shipping internationally while keeping costs down? Good luck with the site, it has potential and gets a thumbs up from me.

emilepetrone 14y ago
PYBBM The sellers handle shipping so that is something I do not need to worry about (fortunately because shipping is a massive headache)