Student Buy/Sell Website?

cowboy

I've seen so many students posting threads on how to sell their stuff (2nd hand books, etc), so I was thinking....will it be good if I start a website solely for students to sell their stuff?

Currently, I'm thinking of a website with ebay-like feedback for every sellers. And the main goal is for sellers to sell their products to other students in their uni, hence saving money on p&p. No charges for listing or sales, so it'll be something completely free to use (but only open to students).

What do you guys think? If it doesn't sound like a good idea, I will not waste my money and effort in doing it. Please give some feedback.:money:

UPDATE (29/10): The beta site has gone online here - University Trade Zone

Volcano

No, waste of time.

This was already done:http://studentswapshop.co.uk/classifieds/but I believe it folded for some reason. I know my local uni has a dedicated buy/sell board for its students as an offshoot from its chat forum.

tr3mor

There have been loads of these sites come and go. If I were you I wouldn't waste my time.

cowboy

Thanks for voting and for the feedback, guys.

Do you guys know what was the reason of their failures? Is it because of lack of publicity? Lack of participation by members? Too much spam?

mikescott86

No, waste of time.

http://www.campustrader.co.uk/

cowboy

mikescott86 wrote:

http://www.campustrader.co.uk/

That's only for Uni of East Anglia....

tr3mor

The problem is with the critical mass of users I'd imagine. No one would sell their books on a site with no buyers. And no one would buy their books on a site with no sellers!

Murtle

No, waste of time.

there is this one -

http://www.eunibooks.co.uk/

don't know how good it is at selling books.....

Volcano

No, waste of time.

Campustrader has virtually nothing for sale, whilst the UEA forum has a lively buy/sell section. I'd be far more likely to trust my own ad-free university's forum than one with a "win-a-free-ipod!!!" stupid advert all over it.

ericthekidstoner

Yes, that's brilliant!

the idea itself is brilliant

the difficulty is reaching that critical mass of users like tr3mor said... catch 22 no sellers, no buyers

many have failed before tho so approach with caution

it may be prudent to start a pilot with just one (popular) uni. depending on your profit/non-profit policy, you may even get the uni to help with hosting and/or supporting the service

SimonDance

No, waste of time.

Certainly give the project a go, "nothing venture, and all that",

but instead of launching it all yourself, why not get other students involved, that way you are not only spreading risk, but also the "other" members will actively promote and push the website/ project.

It might be tough getting the website out there, and successful sites take time. Think of ebay, it has taken years to grow to the size it is today, but manay users arent happy about the high fees, paypal fees and feedback errors etc, so a new resource, that is specifically tailored to students might help to win some users.

Of course, no matter how good an idea is, it might be successfully delivered. For example, a badly designed site, that is difficult to navigate is going to turn a lot of users off, similiarly if the website hasn't any, or enough items/ users on then students might look elsewhere.... I wouldn't sell an item on your site if there was only you and I looking at it, would I?

Are you proposing a full site or just a forum?? as this will impact upon who will view, and ultimately stay at the site.

Lastly, how will you add value to the experience? what is the competition like? can you get a good memorable domain name? if you are a student can you "run" the website whilst studying?

Just some ideas, but hope it helps.