Should I Build It Should I Build It
10 Apr 2025
Shopping

a platform for collectors where they can showcase what they collected ...

...and users get alerted when an item they marked goes for sale

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

You're entering a 'Swamp' category, meaning there are already several solutions in the market for collectors to showcase their items and receive sale alerts, but none have truly captured the market's heart. With 17 similar products already out there, competition is considerable. Average engagement, indicated by the average number of comments on similar product launches is pretty low (3). While we don't have explicit 'use' signals, the absence suggests a neutral sentiment. Interestingly, there is a surprisingly strong positive buy signal from the users of similar products (top 5%!), which indicates that users are willing to pay for such a solution. However, this doesn't guarantee success, since existing solutions haven't become wildly popular. To succeed, you'll need to offer something significantly different and more appealing than what's already available.

Recommendations

  1. Given the number of competitors, deeply research why existing platforms haven't become 'the' platform for collectors. Analyze their shortcomings in user experience, features, or marketing to identify gaps you can exploit. Look closely at the criticisms of similar products – like concerns about security (HTTPS) and lack of platform support – to understand potential pitfalls.
  2. Focus on a specific niche within the collector community. Instead of trying to appeal to all collectors, target a smaller, more defined group (e.g., vintage toy collectors, stamp collectors, etc.). Understanding the specific needs of each niche and tailoring the platform accordingly will help to stand out and attract a dedicated user base. Also think about integrations with other tools these collectors use.
  3. Explore building tools or services that enhance existing marketplaces or platforms instead of creating a completely new one. Consider creating a price tracking tool specifically for collectors on eBay, or a wishlist management extension for Etsy that can give collectors access to discounts and restock alerts. This approach would allow you to reach a large audience quickly and leverage the existing infrastructure.
  4. Carefully consider your go-to-market strategy. Given the existing competition, a generic marketing approach is unlikely to be effective. Instead, focus on building relationships with key influencers in the collector community, participating in relevant online forums and groups, and creating high-quality content that educates and engages your target audience.
  5. Prioritize building a strong mobile experience. The Chestr example shows that users criticize the lack of mobile support. A seamless and intuitive mobile app is essential for collectors who want to access your platform on the go. Make sure the mobile platform is easy to navigate and provides a good customer experience.
  6. Address security concerns early on. Ensure your platform uses HTTPS and has a valid security certificate, and prioritize data protection. This is especially crucial when dealing with valuable collectibles and personal information. Transparency and robust security measures will build trust with your users.
  7. Since there is a positive buy signal from the users of similar products, focus on a premium pricing model for additional functionalities. Try to understand which would be these functionalities by directly talking to users of the existing similar products.

Questions

  1. Given the existing solutions and the 'Swamp' category, what truly unique value proposition can you offer collectors that isn't already available? How can you ensure that your platform doesn't just become another mediocre option?
  2. Considering the low engagement observed in similar product launches, how will you foster a vibrant and active community on your platform? What strategies will you employ to encourage collectors to showcase their items, interact with each other, and provide valuable feedback?
  3. The metrics show there's a willingness to pay, but what specific features or services are collectors most willing to pay for? Have you conducted thorough market research to identify the pain points and unmet needs that justify a premium pricing model?

Your are here

You're entering a 'Swamp' category, meaning there are already several solutions in the market for collectors to showcase their items and receive sale alerts, but none have truly captured the market's heart. With 17 similar products already out there, competition is considerable. Average engagement, indicated by the average number of comments on similar product launches is pretty low (3). While we don't have explicit 'use' signals, the absence suggests a neutral sentiment. Interestingly, there is a surprisingly strong positive buy signal from the users of similar products (top 5%!), which indicates that users are willing to pay for such a solution. However, this doesn't guarantee success, since existing solutions haven't become wildly popular. To succeed, you'll need to offer something significantly different and more appealing than what's already available.

Recommendations

  1. Given the number of competitors, deeply research why existing platforms haven't become 'the' platform for collectors. Analyze their shortcomings in user experience, features, or marketing to identify gaps you can exploit. Look closely at the criticisms of similar products – like concerns about security (HTTPS) and lack of platform support – to understand potential pitfalls.
  2. Focus on a specific niche within the collector community. Instead of trying to appeal to all collectors, target a smaller, more defined group (e.g., vintage toy collectors, stamp collectors, etc.). Understanding the specific needs of each niche and tailoring the platform accordingly will help to stand out and attract a dedicated user base. Also think about integrations with other tools these collectors use.
  3. Explore building tools or services that enhance existing marketplaces or platforms instead of creating a completely new one. Consider creating a price tracking tool specifically for collectors on eBay, or a wishlist management extension for Etsy that can give collectors access to discounts and restock alerts. This approach would allow you to reach a large audience quickly and leverage the existing infrastructure.
  4. Carefully consider your go-to-market strategy. Given the existing competition, a generic marketing approach is unlikely to be effective. Instead, focus on building relationships with key influencers in the collector community, participating in relevant online forums and groups, and creating high-quality content that educates and engages your target audience.
  5. Prioritize building a strong mobile experience. The Chestr example shows that users criticize the lack of mobile support. A seamless and intuitive mobile app is essential for collectors who want to access your platform on the go. Make sure the mobile platform is easy to navigate and provides a good customer experience.
  6. Address security concerns early on. Ensure your platform uses HTTPS and has a valid security certificate, and prioritize data protection. This is especially crucial when dealing with valuable collectibles and personal information. Transparency and robust security measures will build trust with your users.
  7. Since there is a positive buy signal from the users of similar products, focus on a premium pricing model for additional functionalities. Try to understand which would be these functionalities by directly talking to users of the existing similar products.

Questions

  1. Given the existing solutions and the 'Swamp' category, what truly unique value proposition can you offer collectors that isn't already available? How can you ensure that your platform doesn't just become another mediocre option?
  2. Considering the low engagement observed in similar product launches, how will you foster a vibrant and active community on your platform? What strategies will you employ to encourage collectors to showcase their items, interact with each other, and provide valuable feedback?
  3. The metrics show there's a willingness to pay, but what specific features or services are collectors most willing to pay for? Have you conducted thorough market research to identify the pain points and unmet needs that justify a premium pricing model?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 17
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 29.6%
    • Positive use signal: 29.6%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 5.1%
    • Positive buy signal: 5.1%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Evy – An app for collectors to manage and share their items

05 Aug 2024 Productivity

Hello, HN!I am excited to finally share a little tool I have been building for some time.Evy is an app for collectors, both professional and casual, to help them keep track of their items and share it with the world. Currently there are either overly complex inventory management systems, which are overkill for casual collectors, or generic social platforms, which are "fine" for everything, but great for nothing. My goal with Evy is to fill this gap by offering an easy way for any collector to manage their items.In short, it is an asset management system tailored specifically for collectors.I have been collecting stuff since I was a kid and wanted such tool to exist for a long time. I have used Excel sheets and notes to manage my ever-growing keyboard collection, but eventually decided that it is time to turn that into an app. This first version covers only basic features which I want to use myself.In the future I plan to focus on social aspects of an app and steer the projects towards social platform for collector communities.I'd love you to try it out and share your thoughts on the idea.You can sign-in with email demo@evy.app to see some dummy data inside the app. You can also check-out my keyboard collection at https://evy.app/minajevs/keebs

Avatar
3
3
Relevance

Get real-time alerts for your eBay searches

24 Apr 2023 E-Commerce

TL;DR - I'm looking for people to try out the newest iteration of my side project @ https://www.nerdcrawler.com/ebay to get real-time alerts when new original art, comics, action figures, and more drop on eBay that match your saved search.——I've been working on Nerd Crawler (nerdcrawler.com) in my free time for about a year (previous HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31855732) to help solve a problem I had with collecting.I would miss out on deals or new products because I wasn't constantly refreshing websites waiting for products to drop. Other site monitoring tools existed, but nothing was designed specifically for my two passions: collectibles and original comic art.So I built it myself, starting with crawling specific original art and toy websites and checking when new products dropped, but one piece of feedback I kept getting from users is to make a version of this for eBay because eBay doesn't support real-time alerts.Today, I'm sharing this new eBay integration that leverages the eBay API to monitor for new product drops based on a saved search and then sends an email, text, slack, and/or discord message to you. You can try it out at https://www.nerdcrawler.com/ebayYou might be wondering why the product has limited categories to filter with. The long story short is that eBay has a pretty strict limit on the number of API requests you can make per day. To solve for this, Nerd Crawler is targeting niche collectors of original comic art, collectibles, and figures. But, you can use the "All" category + some good keyword and exclusion keyword to create a save search for just about anything on eBayLooking forward to your feedback to keep making this app better!

Avatar
1
1
Relevance

Auctionista – Automated eBay notifications for your saved searches

02 Apr 2023 E-Commerce

Hi everyone, I'm excited to share my new tool, Auctionista, with the Hacker News community.Every so often, somebody will post an item for sale on eBay with a buy it now price which is far less than the item is worth. These items normally get snapped up straight away, but if you're quick, then you can get some great bargains. Auctionista lets you set up saved searches which notify you immediately by email.I built this tool originally for myself - I buy a lot of old film cameras on eBay and I've managed to get some great deals, such as a Nikon F80 for £20 and a Canon Sure Shot for £4.75.I'm now releasing Auctionista commercially, in the hopes that it can help other eBay users get some great deals, too.

Introducing Auctionista for eBay deal notifications.

Avatar
11
1
1
11
Relevance

We Built a Tool to Create an Online Catalogue so You Can Sell More

12 Jun 2024 E-Commerce

Shortly after we built our first inventory app, we realized that resellers quickly get lost in their stock... not only that, they would love if their customers could also see what they have on sale - in a bit easier manner, than scrolling over a feed.So we got down and started making it! We currently only deal with shoes, in the fashion sub-genre, but soon want to add clothing as well!

Developing inventory app for resellers, expanding to clothing soon.

Resellers get lost in their stock.

Avatar
1
1
1
1
Relevance

We made a Public Inventory to Track and Showcase Fashion Stock

19 May 2024 E-Commerce

While building a highly customisable inventory app, we realized that resellers often struggled with keeping up their stock and not only that, they also had a hard time showing them off in a nice manner: the resellers we worked with, usually had Instagram stores or private Facebook group which... did not give a good customer experience to say the least. :/Upon one of our customers' request, we added a public inventory view, which he and his customers absolutely loved! This single feature quickly became our main selling point, so we quickly pivoted into providing a "public inventory for fashion resellers".

Added public inventory view for fashion resellers.

Instagram and Facebook groups lack good customer experience.

Avatar
1
1
1
1
Relevance

Chestr Wishlist 1.0 Web + iOS App - Save products, get discount + restock alerts & more

17 Jul 2023 iOS E-Commerce Chrome Extensions

Chestr lets you save products and monitor discounts from any stores online. No more copy-pasting links, keeping 100 tabs open, or screenshots. Price graphs. Restock notifications. And many incoming AI integrations with your wishlists! 🤖

Chestr is receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback as a helpful tool for managing wishlists and streamlining the online shopping experience. Users praise its ease of use, intuitive design, and cross-platform functionality, particularly the Chrome extension and iPhone pairing. The price graphs are considered useful, especially for tracking clothing sales. Several users highlight its effectiveness in organizing gift ideas and tracking items across different stores, consolidating lists and eliminating tab juggling. Many are excited about the AI features and potential integrations. Several users also congratulated the team for their successful launch.

Users criticize the lack of mobile platform support, focusing primarily on desktop solutions. Negative feedback surrounds the online shopping experience. Suggestions for improvement were put forth and some found social media annoying. One user expressed initial skepticism due to a lack of interest in shopping.

Avatar
240
47
55.3%
10.6%
47
240
55.3%
10.6%
Relevance

Price Tracker - Helps you to buy your favourite items at their lowest price

16 Jul 2024 SaaS Web App Shopping

Price Tracker helps you buy your favorite items at their lowest prices. Just add the product URL and your desired price, and the app will notify you when the price drops below your target or if there’s any price change. Track prices on any website effortlessly

Users are enthusiastic about the price tracker's ability to automate price tracking and provide instant price drop alerts, saving time and money. Many appreciate its simplicity, versatility across websites, and organization. The tool's usefulness for finding deals and efficient shopping is repeatedly highlighted. Questions were raised about price drop notifications, international site compatibility, and the number of items tracked in the pro plan, especially in relation to holiday shopping. Several users congratulated the creator on the launch.

Avatar
129
15
53.3%
6.7%
15
129
53.3%
6.7%
Relevance

PriceNice – Sale Watchlist App

05 Apr 2024 SaaS

PriceNice is a shopping watchlist app that returns current prices and deals on items which are added by the user. Users click a button to update prices and check for coupons or promos on their items. Other features include price tracking with charting and desktop notifications for price changes. The app was built with the Electron framework, and works through a small local database to store item info and preferences.This idea began when I realized how much time I was spending checking for sales on bookmarked items. I wanted a way to automatically check prices while I got ready for work (or did anything else), and also something I could review and operate my way with real time data. PriceNice has been in development for over a year now and I think it's finally worthy of sharing with a broader group.The app is available on the Microsoft Store with a 7-day free trial and is currently on sale for $3 through the weekend for those interested. Thanks for checking out my project - I hope you find it useful and any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Users are inquiring about plans for other platforms, noting an invalid certificate issue and lack of HTTPS. The app is now available on macOS.

The product has been criticized for having an invalid certificate and not using HTTPS, which raises security concerns.

Avatar
1
3
3
1
Relevance

AnyTracker - Track numbers, text and prices from virtually any website

08 Aug 2023 Shopping Personal shopper Productivity

Track the price of products from any website, get notified and changes and get the best deals! With AnyTracker, you will save a lot of time by gathering your shopping list in one place. This handy mobile app can even notify you when products are back in stock.

The product launch is wished good luck and described as cool. Users find the tool useful for price tracking, particularly for handmade products on Etsy, and gaining a competitive advantage in business. Congrats on the AnyTracker launch!

Avatar
105
3
33.3%
3
105
33.3%
Top