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NewsvineYet another student from Computer Science 377W: “Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook” has created a promising Facebook application. This one, though, is a little different.
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Josh Liptzin ‘08, along with an alumnus from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has designed HotBid, an auction-based application. The program is remarkably similar to eBay, but for one significant difference — it is completely free to list an item on HotBid.
Liptzin said that he hopes his application will become the alternative to eBay. By eliminating unnecessary and complicated features, HotBid aims to provide a fun and free environment to connect buyers with sellers.
“I created this application because I wanted to put the fun back into online auctions,” he said. “I remember using eBay nine years ago when it used to be a cool site — fees were low and you could quickly and easily list stuff for sale and transact with real people and not companies.”
Liptzin explained how HotBid is unlike its other competitor, the Facebook Marketplace.
“[HotBid] uses the online auction model to ensure that sellers get the best price for their stuff,” he said. “The Facebook marketplace is basically a version of Craigslist on Facebook.”
Since HotBid is integrated into Facebook, users can easily choose to view auctions that are only visible to friends or their networks; or, for maximum visibility, they may also opt to list items across all Facebook. In addition to having access to data from HotBid’s feedback system, a user will know a seller’s real name, the networks a seller belongs to and his or her friends.
“So, for example, if you see a seller from the Google network who graduated from Stanford and has 400 friends, it’s unlikely he’s out to scam you,” he said. “If you are thinking of bidding on an item from John Smith who has few friends and doesn’t belong to any networks, then you would have to rely on his HotBid feedback history to make your decision.”
Since HotBid officially launched seven days ago, it has garnered 4000 users and 1000 auctions. Liptzin pointed out that the most popular listings consist of textbooks and jewelry, although some people have even listed cars.
Liptzin and his friend from MIT even took their application and officially incorporated it into a full-fledged company last week. They call themselves Phase 2, Inc. because, according to Liptzin, they aim to build the next phase of social applications — applications that don’t annoy people but instead provide real value to users.
According to Liptzin, HotBid is superior to eBay in a number of ways.
On eBay today, a seller can lose money if a listed item does not sell due to the costs associated with putting the item up for auction. Since there are no fees on HotBid, Liptzin anticipates that many more items will be available, since users do not need to worry about losing money.
eBay has recently announced new policies, set to go into effect today, that will reduce upfront costs such as listing fees and make gallery photos free. At the same time, though, new policies will increase the commission eBay receives from each sale. Top sellers will be rewarded with greater visibility and protections, but sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers.
These policy changes have led to some frustration among sellers, who have begun to look for new channels to sell their products. Consequently, alternative marketplaces — like HotBid — are seeing significant jumps in new-user registrations.
According to Liptzin, eBay is attempting to squeeze as much money out of its users as it can by continuing to hike up fees.
“It also got a lot more complicated to use over the years and takes way too long just to list one simple item,” he added, “unless you are a power seller who has mastered the art of creating thousands of new listings per day.”
With the changes to eBay’s policies, as well as the restructuring of their fee system, Liptzin is optimistic for the future of his application.
“We want to become a viable alternative to eBay,” Liptzin said. “If we can displace just one percent of its market share, then our application will be a huge success.”