... But the new on allows adding custom css without having to go to the editor. The only really useful case for AI has been getting shopify's assistant to write the code for even more customisations! I've also redone the Gallery pages using lots of meta fields. Go me.

The link is here. It's available on Etsy as well if you want to go give it some love. 😍

It's like arriving at a concert venue too early. You are wondering if you are in the in the right place. Once more people start arriving, it will get busier. 🙂 Then the music starts!

I'm not really talking about a federated store front. The layout, look and feel if the store is done by the marketplace owner. The marketplace owner could be anyone. An author who sells merch by their fan base. I could sell clothing that compliments my work on my website. It could be an influencer.

For example, a marketplace could be as simple as a feed on Bluesky. That way those who want to follow a specific market can and those who don't, don't need to be inflicted by endless advertising. Call it a market-feed or something. It's a way to monetise social media without it being in your face.

I haven't thought that far. 🙂 Isn't that the problem I trying to launch any product or idea? Slow to start but once it gains momentum. There is of course a chance to integrate it initially with with an up and coming social media platform, who might be interested in branching out to ecommerce. 😉

If the n+100 marketplaces can be managed the same as n+1, then the benefit is exposure. It won't matter if they sell 1 item a year on one marketplace, they have 99 others. Back to chickens... But all the eggs are not in 1 basket. It's more secure.

They definitely won't integrate and they will likely penalise sellers, they already do. Sellers are stuck because there are no viable options to move to. If there would be one that opened the door to potentially n+100 small, targeted and curated marketplaces in one set up, then there is incentive.

Curation. You can choose not to have vendors with poorer customer service in the first place. The more curated you are the more valuable your marketplace and the more you can charge. Compare a wedding market to a Christmas fair. Or you can choose to go the other way. Less Curation... more sellers

In a weird way TikTok is closer to this than shopify. There you have a influencer (marketplace) that can choose to present merchandise from TikTok shops (sellers) on their "platform". They get a percentage of the sale. I suppose if Bluesky wanted to go ecommerce this could work for them too.

For you as the marketplace holder the benefit is that you are not responsible for customer service, payments. If a seller is not to your liking you can remove them as easily as they can move off. Each seller comes with their own reputation and reviews. You can quickly populate a marketplace.

Moving of platforms is hard because every time we join a new one we have to write descriptions, upload media and then simultaneously track inventory. Many if the things I make I only have one of. So if that sells I have to be super fast at removing it from other markets.

Say if you wanted to sell what I make. You could connect to my inventory, description, sales history, reviews through your marketplace. The customer can connect through the marketplace to my email for customer service. You would take a provision for finding the customer.

That's sort of it at least how far I've been able to get. I have very little understanding on what a protocol can or cannot do. With the last bit, payment could be through third party payment providers. Customer care can be done through email.

Yeah. Etsy has been building the system for nearly two decades and they still don't get it quite right. But the very reason etsy managed to get big is that Kalin saw that there was a need for it. I'm trying to point out there is a need for alternatives. The money is there. In each transaction.