Review: WebUnload – Unload your Stuff
Posted by Jon Lee in Reviews, Sponsored, tags: marketplace, money, review, webunload
I was asked by WebUnload to write a review of their service and I was very impressed by the implementation of the site but more on that later. Let’s start with the basics.
What is WebUnload?
In a nutshell, WebUnload is a completely free marketplace where you can sell your stuff online. “Stuff” in this case refers to non-tangible online material including:
- Websites
- Domain Names
- Wordpress Themes
- E-Books
- Freelance Services
How it Works for a Seller
If you have something you want to sell, you can register for a new account or use an existing login from another site (Facebook, Yahoo, AIM, OpenID, AOL). This is a great feature because people usually don’t like registering for sites.
Once you’ve registered and signed-in, you can post a listing. If you’re a blogger, this step may seem strangely familiar to you. That’s because the entire WebUnload site is implemented in Wordpress! How’s that for extensibility. As a seller, you basically become a contributing author to the “blog” and your listing is essentially a “post” under a certain “category”. What a creative and innovative use of Wordpress!
How it Works for a Buyer
Anyone is free to browse the marketplace. If a potential buyer sees something that he likes, he can contact the seller through a link (which requires registration to use). Alternatively, if the seller opted to leave contact information in the post then the buyer can contact the seller directly.
It should be noted that WebUnload is simply a marketplace and not a complete transaction gateway so payment will have to be arranged privately by the two parties (usually through Paypal). There is an option for InstaPay which will set up a Paypal transaction but again, it is up to the parties to make sure that the transaction is completed smoothly.
How does WebUnload make Money?
WebUnload makes money by offering premium add-ons for sellers. This gives sellers a way to make their posting stand out and attract more potential buyers. This system is similar to eBay but without the base listing fee or selling fee.
Areas for Improvement
Although registration is made easy by allowing login IDs from a few popular sites, I don’t think buyers should need to register to contact sellers. Personally, being forced to register in any sort of way is a turn off for me. I think the ease of use for buyers is one reason Craigslist has been so successful.
Another thing is that the marketplace seems to be flooded with cheap and “spammy” e-books and scripts. In order to become a powerful online marketplace, the content should be of higher quality in order for it to seem more legitimate.
Conclusion
WebUnload is itself a great feat of Wordpress engineering. It should be on the front page of Wordpress to show what that software is capable of! As for being an online marketplace, it is off to a great start to overcome some of the more popular ones (SitePoint, DigitalPoint and other forums that offer a Marketplace feature). In fact, it is the first online marketplace I’ve seen that is a marketplace first, not a forum.
I’d definitely recommend everyone to check it out, even if you’re not interested in buying/selling anything, you can stare in awe at this “Wordpress site”.
Popularity: 35% [?]
Entries (RSS)
Yes, I’ve used WebUnload quite a few times, it’s a good place to buy/sell stuff, and also advertise your services.
Yes, that is all that I could do – stare at it in awe! Great review. My compliments.
That could come in really handy – digitalpoint is becoming a bit spammy and I have been looking for somewhere else
Love how it is on WP
I will try checking it and see how it works:) Thanks!
When you said sell stuff online, i was thinking ebay! Do you need to pay an intial deposit to become a member?
Webunload is cool, another place to buy the stuff i need, hope it does well, Can’t believe it’s a wordpress site, it’s amasing what you can do with that software. Not sure about the dog image on the front page, looks a bit unprofessional, other than that a good site which is bookmarked in my promotional bookmarks folder.
I would be interested in looking at the legal issues that this could bring up. Could a publisher for example assert that you are duplicating content?
I had no idea that something like this existed but it just proves the adage that there is a buyer for anything, if only you can find the buyer.
It seems like a very interesting new site. The only problem is if they’re reliable…=/
-Mike
This is a sweet site! nice find…
The quality of DP is dropping for many months, while prices asked are often ridiculous and many shady people are trying to make a fast buck. Been looking for new places and WebUnload looks very promising.
Having been created in Wordpress is a bright idea. Those with less experience with the web, but know the wordpress interface will be happy. Though those selling and buying websites are likely to have enough knowledge that any interface would do nicely.
Never heard of this website but like the idea of it, especially the fact it is on wordpress. Will check it out.
I have always checked it, browsed the marketplace, but never actually gave it a try. I do believe, by the looks of it, it will try to overpower the other similar ones such as sitepoint.
hmm I think I will give it a shot and see if I can do some business there – hard to believe it runs on wordpress
thanks for this post jon.. now i have a new place to sell my sites, other than dp and sitepoint..
Thanks for a handful of advices here.I might put some of my stuff on auctions.Atleast now I have alot of options.
Cool, defo need to have a look at this, I’m a member of DP but I think the quality is slipping.
I think the ease of use for buyers is one reason Craigslist has been so successful.
Wow this is great stuff. It’s like a blog site for selling. How does the buyer make direct contact with you then? Do they log their query like commenting on a blog or is it different in that respect?
But I do think it’s a great concept.
Sounds like an interesting site. I’m always looking for ways to sell things online and might have to look into this one.
so these site acts or something similar to ebay? is it reliable?
I have to agree with MOJO, Digital Point is going down hill fast, pity, was a great site once, but boy, there are so many crooks on there, you would be crazy to do anything any more on there.