"Try before you buy" web app?
Manos Liakos
7 replies
Problem:
Not few times I've been in a position where I want to try/see something in person before I commit into buying it, especially if it's expensive. I would pay a small fee to try the product.
Solution:
A web platform where product owners can list products they own and make some money by meeting with buyers and letting them see/try the product in person.
Buyers pay owners a small fee to try their products and make a safe buying decision.
Replies
zOxta@zoxta
SimpleBackups
Hey @manos_liakos - I am unsure I understand what you mean, referring to an "app" is very board. Can you give an example of an app that would fall under this approach.
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@manos_liakos @zoxta It's not about a buyer and a seller. It's about two different types of users which are going to both benefit: The potential buyer will pay a small fee to try the product in person and the product owner will make some easy money by helping someone using something he already owns, so without expenses. I didn't exactly understand the "depreciating item" statement.
As for the fact that you can buy something and then get a full refund, I believe this is not the case in every country in the world. I think this is a common practice in the US, but not in many other countries, because of terms that you agree on whenm buying (like returning the item in the initial packaging, etc.).
Think about it this way: Imagine that, for every single thing you want to buy, you have a friend that owns it and can help you with your decision, letting you try the product in person. Also, imagine making some easy money just by meeting new people and letting them use your products for a small amount of time, while helping them out.
The kind of products that would fit this situation are mostly the ones that reside on the expensive side (like laptops, TVs, etc.) and probably mostly electronics and such devices. Actually anything that costs more than 150-200$ I believe.
@manos_liakos @zoxta Think of it in terms of a web app, a web platform like Facebook. A platform where two individuals can sign up and benefit from: Buyers and owners.
An owner would list all of his products that are available for demonstration.
A buyer would search for an owner that has the product he intends on buying.
If an owner is found, the buyer could make a request to meet with the owner and try the product in person.
- Product owner gets a small amount of money for sharing his product and helping the buyer out.
- Buyer tries the product himself before he commits into buying it.
@manos_liakos @zoxta Got it, thanks for the clarification. It seems like a seller/buyer matching app to me. Unless there is really a need, it may not be worth working on.
Now let me ask another question. What type of products do you think would fit in or would be worth trying before buying?
To me, if I want to try a phone/computer, I can buy it, use it for a few days, if I dislike it, I return it for a refund. The problem here (compared to using the platform/app) is that I have to pay for it in full before I try it. But at the same time, if I don't have the money to buy it, then trying it would not be very useful to the seller and would just result in a depreciating item that, with the cost of the rental, may not be worth renting.
Archbee
My question is: is this worth it for those product owners?; there are several ways for businesses to ensure that customers can test products with money back after 1 month, so I'm not sure if there will be enough people that are willing to invest their time into this type of app
@paul_nica In many countries, there is not a 100% demo coverage of the products. Meaning that there are gonna be some products that you cannot demo in the store. So the problem is real. As for the "buy and get a refund" practice, I think that this is also not applicable in every country. It depends on what type of policy companies have.
Invest their time? As an owner you just sign up, list your products based on the relative demand (buyers' demand to demo specific products), meet with someone letting them try your product (after a security process has taken place) and get paid!
As a buyer, you just search for a product to demo, match with an owner and meet up for a coffee and a demo, paying a small fee (based on the product's price I guess).
The funny thing is that a buyer automatically becomes an owner once buying something and he can start making money off of his otherwise "passive asset". It's a great way to making sure that the product is indeed something we wanna buy, before we commit into actually buying it and making some money after buying it.