Ask HN: How would you build a better auction site?

1 pointcalbear811 comment

aka. how would you beat Ebay? I know this one was on PG's list of ideas he would be interested in funding and I started thinking about it a bit more yesterday and inherently ran into the issue of the ecosystem/platform moat that Ebay+PayPal has built.

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Here are some weaknesses I see that may be good openings:

- Ebay has horrible design IMO and there's an opportunity to build a better way to browse and discover. - Discovery/Exploration is lacking and simplistic based on categories + filters. Most people have already done their product research before they get to Ebay. A better site could attempt to build a better product discovery engine. - Fees - Maybe undercut them on fees or move to a flat rate model to encourage platform adoption and growth.

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