The WebSwap Story
It's not easy for an auction or retail Web site to find a model to distinguish itself.
Dynamic pricing? Fixed prices? Bartering? Sure. But how about all of the above? And how about letting the users decide how they'd like to transact?
No, it's not easy for sites, especially niche venues. It's crowded and competitive out there, so if you're a barter site such as WebSwap, it helps to have a way to get noticed and appeal to buyers and sellers.
Freedom of Choice
WebSwap faced competition from other barter sites such as MrSwap.com and Switchouse, among others. Moreover, the practice of bartering used items such as computers and sporting equipment online was not exactly new--folks who used newsgroups and bulletin boards had been doing it for years.
So how was WebSwap attempting to differentiate itself? The site let its users choose whether they'd like to flat-out buy or offer to barter something they already own. In other words, they decide on how they want to transact.
Consider that it's not every day that you'll run across someone with spare Nissan car parts who wants to swap them for a men's wristwatch. And consider that even if you find someone willing to trade the latest Frank Sinatra biography for a pair of used hockey skates, how hard is it to make the deal come out even-steven?
To begin the process at WebSwap, swappers registered and listed the items they "have" and the items they "want" (free of charge) in multiple categories. The site's listings consist mostly of CDs, games, and movies that people have outgrown.
From there, WebSwap's technology identified matches between multiple individuals. For the person who wishes to swap the pair of hockey skates for that Sinatra book, multiple individuals means he or she actually has a 1,000 percent greater chance of success, according to WebSwap.
The WebSwap interface then walked swappers through the steps of making an offer, negotiating the terms, and closing the deal. The site provided users the flexibility to buy and sell items outright as well as use money as a "swap equalizer."
For buyers who did not have the patience to wait or haggle, WebSwap allowed users to "buy it now"; that is, buyers can set up a deal for an item, and immediately buy when it becomes available. The seller might not need to list it at all.
WebSwap charged sellers a fee of 4 percent to 9 percent of the total amount of a sale. For example, the site reported that on a sale of $15 (including shipping and handling), it would cost the seller $1.20.
As an added service, WebSwap provided an escrow function, in which the site took over the payment transaction, holding payment in escrow for a two-week period until the buyer has inspected the shipped item. Shipment of an item was confirmed within three days.
WebSwap also offered bulk loading, free image hosting, and a $300 U.S. transaction guarantee backed by Lloyd's of London.
Webswap story continued...
Return to Webswap info homepage
Dynamic pricing? Fixed prices? Bartering? Sure. But how about all of the above? And how about letting the users decide how they'd like to transact?
No, it's not easy for sites, especially niche venues. It's crowded and competitive out there, so if you're a barter site such as WebSwap, it helps to have a way to get noticed and appeal to buyers and sellers.
Freedom of Choice
WebSwap faced competition from other barter sites such as MrSwap.com and Switchouse, among others. Moreover, the practice of bartering used items such as computers and sporting equipment online was not exactly new--folks who used newsgroups and bulletin boards had been doing it for years.
So how was WebSwap attempting to differentiate itself? The site let its users choose whether they'd like to flat-out buy or offer to barter something they already own. In other words, they decide on how they want to transact.
Consider that it's not every day that you'll run across someone with spare Nissan car parts who wants to swap them for a men's wristwatch. And consider that even if you find someone willing to trade the latest Frank Sinatra biography for a pair of used hockey skates, how hard is it to make the deal come out even-steven?
To begin the process at WebSwap, swappers registered and listed the items they "have" and the items they "want" (free of charge) in multiple categories. The site's listings consist mostly of CDs, games, and movies that people have outgrown.
From there, WebSwap's technology identified matches between multiple individuals. For the person who wishes to swap the pair of hockey skates for that Sinatra book, multiple individuals means he or she actually has a 1,000 percent greater chance of success, according to WebSwap.
The WebSwap interface then walked swappers through the steps of making an offer, negotiating the terms, and closing the deal. The site provided users the flexibility to buy and sell items outright as well as use money as a "swap equalizer."
For buyers who did not have the patience to wait or haggle, WebSwap allowed users to "buy it now"; that is, buyers can set up a deal for an item, and immediately buy when it becomes available. The seller might not need to list it at all.
WebSwap charged sellers a fee of 4 percent to 9 percent of the total amount of a sale. For example, the site reported that on a sale of $15 (including shipping and handling), it would cost the seller $1.20.
As an added service, WebSwap provided an escrow function, in which the site took over the payment transaction, holding payment in escrow for a two-week period until the buyer has inspected the shipped item. Shipment of an item was confirmed within three days.
WebSwap also offered bulk loading, free image hosting, and a $300 U.S. transaction guarantee backed by Lloyd's of London.
Webswap story continued...
Return to Webswap info homepage
WebSwap
