Here's an idea (coming from someone who's been involved in massive startups since the dotcom days and before):
The classified section is this sites biggest pull factor. It's one of the few places in the UK where you can deal direct with other aficionados and get goods for a great price. Sure, other forums sell bits but not at the volume seen here.
The problem is, you rely on a honor system whereby someone donates money they've made from a sale, if they feel like it. If you take the ebay method, each person enters a contract to sell goods using your servers, your reputation and so on, and if sold, they pay a percentage for the privilege.
So I'm sure the cynical lot will shout out "but dammit, I'm a broke hipster living in hackney, I can barely afford my large plastic-rimmed glasses, let alone pay", which is reasonable.
The thing is, most modern "free" portals aren't actually free. I've been involved with the monsters out there (names excluded, i'm sure you can figure them out), who sell the stats to what you do when you use these free sites. It's a fantastic market, a Internet marketers wet dream if you must and it pays incredibly well.
This isn't LFGSS, so if you want to sell your goods on here, pony up some cash and let's be honest, it's hardly a large amount.
All the things about trusted sellers, dibs and arguments over who/how they are performed, could fall away. You could turn this into the cycling marketplace for the UK.
If done correctly, you can turn this into a decent revenue stream alone, leaving the creative process to think about other areas of pushing the brand and the site further.
Happy to chat more about this, as I said earlier, I've been involved with teams who do this for a long time now, so can shed light on the approaches that work.
@dsan
Here's an idea (coming from someone who's been involved in massive startups since the dotcom days and before):
The classified section is this sites biggest pull factor. It's one of the few places in the UK where you can deal direct with other aficionados and get goods for a great price. Sure, other forums sell bits but not at the volume seen here.
The problem is, you rely on a honor system whereby someone donates money they've made from a sale, if they feel like it. If you take the ebay method, each person enters a contract to sell goods using your servers, your reputation and so on, and if sold, they pay a percentage for the privilege.
So I'm sure the cynical lot will shout out "but dammit, I'm a broke hipster living in hackney, I can barely afford my large plastic-rimmed glasses, let alone pay", which is reasonable.
The thing is, most modern "free" portals aren't actually free. I've been involved with the monsters out there (names excluded, i'm sure you can figure them out), who sell the stats to what you do when you use these free sites. It's a fantastic market, a Internet marketers wet dream if you must and it pays incredibly well.
This isn't LFGSS, so if you want to sell your goods on here, pony up some cash and let's be honest, it's hardly a large amount.
All the things about trusted sellers, dibs and arguments over who/how they are performed, could fall away. You could turn this into the cycling marketplace for the UK.
If done correctly, you can turn this into a decent revenue stream alone, leaving the creative process to think about other areas of pushing the brand and the site further.
Happy to chat more about this, as I said earlier, I've been involved with teams who do this for a long time now, so can shed light on the approaches that work.