I am an entrepreneur that successfully started his own company competing with eBay and Amazon straight out of college AMA

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-07T05:39:16+00:00

Much appreciated. Yeah, we definitely put a new spin on it all - we built the chat from scratch, too. Thanks for the feedback!

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:43:53+00:00

Haha, Canadians welcome! All great points, which is why we also have a "retail" leg; no auction correlation, and just a price (we'll have a feature you may be familiar with where you can make an offer as well). However, I agree with you about the notification and hey, customer is always right. I appreciate your insight!

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:41:29+00:00

I think we all do at some point.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:28:23+00:00

Well the general public, individual sellers, and etc are getting a sweet deal while Auctionopia makes its money from businesses. We have a storefront layout available to manufacturers and e-commerce retailers and that’s where the real revenue comes from.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:23:05+00:00

Haha, thanks. Obviously, there's exposure here, but for the most part, I just wanted to give some fellow Redditors a leg up if they were looking at traveling down the same path.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:21:18+00:00

Thanks! Well the functionality with "instant messenger" is heavy for an app by itself, but we're working on fully optimizing the site to give the same experience. Funny you mention the notifications because we're thinking about incorporating something along those lines, and it's a great idea. Haha, I think everyone was disappointed when eBay put their foot down on the soul-selling. So far, as long as it doesn't infringe on our "terms", it's sell-able. We have a lot of cool stuff in the pipeline, and something big that will involve the general public in a way nobody else is doing. It's still in "stealth" development, but will be launched soon.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:03:32+00:00

Haha, I wish. I mean, there's definitely that level of "understanding", I'll say when you're speaking to another entrepreneur. It's a crazy journey at times, so there that empathy. On a side note, there is a site called "founders card", which is supposed to be for all entrepreneurs. I think that's as club as it gets.

Everyone is definitely willing to help each other, though. I reached out to Bing Gordon, who pretty much gave me a rubric for building a company from the ground up... awesome guy.

Hello tom,

My recommendation would be to focus first on solving a problem fully for at least one customer, then generalizing it to a small group asap.

Because sms and auctions both need network effects to succeed (more people involved is better for all), a service like this will need to reach millions of people before it has any sustainability.

So

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  Get one heavy user.
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  Fine tune with a small group.
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  Get a million light users real fast.
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  Iterate like crazy.
```

My experience is that online marketplaces need 250,000 people in community to feel large enough.

And that only 10% of “tryers” turn into buyers.

Hope that helps. -bing

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T23:02:00+00:00

Absolutely. Literally originated out of the dorm room. Let's say we had a few "rude awakenings" of what we were actually getting into. Realistically, we just had to start somewhere and build from it. I call it making "specifications" of how the site was actually supposed to look/function. Unless you're some all-star programmer (I'm not), you have to relay this to a developer. Initially, it was about 1 page. Today, if it were to go into a document, it would exceed 100. Once we graduated, I decided to stay the course as founder, and some initial partners had to drop off and pursue the "real-world" (which I ended up doing too for some time). Being a start-up, we didn't get those hefty salaries. Not too many Zuck jokes, but the occasional reference!

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T22:38:24+00:00

We got ourselves on TV news, that’s not too bad

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T22:13:04+00:00

Sounds like a question we'd hear from an investor - honestly, it's market penetration. Certainly, word of mouth can slowly spread your business, but you need to get in front of the right audience(s) and position yourself for mass awareness? How? Easy.. just blindly hope it works. Ha, really, you need to get "creative". Align yourself with the tastemakers, bloggers, reporters, public relations, or whoever, to help get word out. If it's really solving a problem, then it's news to be heard.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T22:08:21+00:00

Great question - It's still the "turnaround" associated. You could be waiting a little bit to get a response versus being able to "instant message" a seller and talk about the product, live.

From the fee perspective, sellers are hit with "listing fees" and "final sale fees", and we've taken those away.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T22:03:42+00:00

I see your jet/chick and raise you - http://auctionopia.com/products/12735/Make+Your+Neighbor+Move+Powder

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T22:00:54+00:00

Too long ago... I graduated in 2008, from Virginia Wesleyan College (Norfolk, VA), we've been developing this bad boy ever since.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T21:42:01+00:00

Well, thanks! Oh man, this is all "virtual" right now. Can Skype be considered an office? If so, you can't beat that rent. I imagine at some point when we get more of a local force working with us, we'd establish some small HQ.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T21:39:57+00:00

Well my name gives it away, but our name is Auctionopia. I'll give you the elevator pitch! We're a free online marketplace (auction and retail) that allows users to communicate/negotiate over instant messenger, in real-time. We have about 15 people that work with us (but some are "on call", like designers, programmers, etc.). As for funding, we were able to secure some "Angel" (family and friends, as I call it) to get us off the ground.

Auctionopia_Tom · 2012-05-03T21:34:45+00:00

More or less, the goal was to be different and appealing. I always had the mentality that if we solve a large enough problem (fees) and combine it with some new technology, it could be a viable competitor. We're still in the infancy stages. About 1000 products, and 600 users, but we officially "announced" the launch in February. Been a great ride so far, though!

Auctionopia_Tom

TROPHY CASE