Nowadays everything is becoming more socialized. We want to not only let our friends know what is going on in our lives but we also want to share things with them that we find on the internet that we find interesting or that we think may interest them. Beamsnap is a startup looking to take advantage of this constant social sharing, and potentially rewarding people for their sharing.
To put Beamsnap into simple terms, it’s like Ebay, only with a much heavier focus on social sharing. Anyone can post something for sale. The sellers aren’t charged any fee for listing their product or item for sale. That fee only needs to be paid once your item has sold, and these fees depend on how much your item was sold for. Also, realizing its roots, Beamsnap allows any seller to bring over their Ebay listings and ratings simply by entering the necessary credentials.
Beamsnap has aimed to make buying just as simple as putting something up for sale. It divides its items into different categories and lets you search for whatever you are looking for. When you find it you can purchase the item either using your PayPal account or with major credit cards like Visa and Chase. You can also save items you are on the fence about so you can easily find them again. If you find a particular seller that has products of interest to you, Beamsnap will let you follow them akin to Twitter. That way you are always updated as to when they have a new item for sale.
So up until now those features don’t really make Beamsnap distinctive at all. However, what makes it unique as a startup is its concept of beaming. Basically if you find a product that you think your friends would like you can ‘beam’ to your favorite social networks. If your friends use the link then and then buy the product you earn a commission. This commission increases with the price of the item sold. You can also multiply earnings if it is a multi-quantity product and a handful of your friends buy it.
The concept seems great. People get free advertising for the stuff they are trying to sell and those doing the advertising get a little something in return should they be successful in converting a buyer. However there are some flaws in the model that Beamsnap has set up here. The first is inherent in just being a startup. There really isn’t anything on the site that’s worth buying. There are few items to begin with and many of them are just things I don’t see being beamed any time soon, let alone bought. There is also the issue of motivation to beam things. The commission rates are pretty low barring a really expensive item, and I don’t know how well people’s friends and followers will like it if they are frequently advertising products being sold on Beamsnap.
That said, Beamsnap holds potential and just needs to get more items and users so it can truly combine social sharing with buying and selling.
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3 comments
Well, the prices on Beamsnap don't look that great, and neither does the variety. I'm sure that the same thing was true in eBay's early days. I am not going to buy anything just now, but I'm going to keep an eye on this site.
This is definitely a site to watch. Just imagine if you had got in early with ebay back when it was just an idea made barely real on the internet. The people who were are now billionaires!
A social marketplace just might work, now that I think about it. People dont generally like to be advertised too, so this is a good way to advertise to them without making them feel like they're being snookered.
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