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: 13% [?]
Entries (RSS)