Ask YC: Feedback on our startup/application

17 points

18 years ago

http://www.onista.com

On October 2nd we (I and two of my friends) released the Alpha version of our dreams, ideas and execution called Onista. We are extremely excited to release it in open alpha with tons of hard-work behind it. I and two of my friends completed this version in part-time (completely moonlighting) and now we feel that it is ready to get feedback from expert folks. So far we have informed only our friends/contacts so we can get feedback and iterate from there.

Onista is an auction-less social marketplace where people can buy and sell products. Onista is an amalgam of eBay, PriceLine, LendingTree, Alibaba.com, and LinkedIn. Onista allows instant price negotiation and enables buying products without searching.

Here is quick summary of Onista Features,

   1. Auction-less format
   2. Instant Real-time price negotiation resulting in Instant Gratification for consumer
   3. Buyers can buy products without searching and hunting for products using Request for Quotes and Price Quotes model like Alibaba.com
   4. Free listings for sellers
   5. Sellers get open access to qualified sales leads and targeted product placements
   6. Support for multiple payment systems (Paypal, Amazon etc..)
   7. A Social Network to build trading communities and mitigate the propensity for fraud

Please visit http://www.onista.com and enjoy the Onista Experience. To understand more about Onista, please do not forget to watch our Demo Video by clicking icon Demo Video on right-bottom corner of Onista index page. Alternatively you can also watch this video at http://www.vimeo.com/1594866

Please provide us feedback about how we should improve Onista. Any feedback is welcome. To give you an idea on what kind of feedback you can think of, (but again, any feedback will be appreciated)

  * What is your first impression of the home page and also other pages?

  * What was confusing and what was not in entire site

  * What is complicated to understand, and how we can do it better?

  * Would you use this site to buy or sell products? if no, why? what can we improve so it appeals to you? If yes, would you invite your friends to join?

  * We understand that we have lot more functionality for alpha version. Does it help or it confuses you more?

We also need your much appreciated help in spreading the word. If you find Onista useful, please let your friends know by becoming member and inviting your friends from http://www.onista.com/invite.php

If you still reading this portion (meaning Onista is little bit interesting) then please list some products to sell. Our initial goal is to get many products listed because unless there are products to sell, the site would not be very useful. If you need any help in listing products, Onista team can also help

Thank you very much in advance,

43 comments

1. Auction-less format 2. Instant Real-time price negotiation resulting in Instant Gratification for consumer 3. Buyers can buy products without searching and hunting for products using Request for Quotes and Price Quotes model like Alibaba.com 4. Free listings for sellers 5. Sellers get open access to qualified sales leads and targeted product placements 6. Support for multiple payment systems (Paypal, Amazon etc..) 7. A Social Network to build trading communities and mitigate the propensity for fraud

* What is your first impression of the home page and also other pages? * What was confusing and what was not in entire site * What is complicated to understand, and how we can do it better? * Would you use this site to buy or sell products? if no, why? what can we improve so it appeals to you? If yes, would you invite your friends to join? * We understand that we have lot more functionality for alpha version. Does it help or it confuses you more?