Business Idea for BUS122

The Idea:

Initially, I set forth to do an online photo publishing and art creations style of studio. Allowing users to submit digital imagery for prints and quality reproductions on anything from canvas to a cereal bowl. The idea was fairly simple and start-up was the initial drawback. The more I thought of it, the less I liked the idea.

I decided to change my mentality and set forth for another online business venture. One that would incorporate already popular models of websites, such as eBay, craigslist, and social networking such as myspace, and incorporate them into a business area that needs a fresher appeal.

The website will be named Set Filler Cards (http://www.setfillercards.com). The site will cater to individuals seeking completion to their favorite sports card and memorabilia sets, and eventually incorporate other collectibles into the model. With SetFillerCards.com, we'll have provide a medium for dealers, buyers, sellers, amateurs and everyone in between a forum to buy, sell or trade their favorite collectibles. Sports cards and memorabilia has seen a decline since the late 80's, despite recent innovations in marketing and new products. We need to help move this same popular form of collectibles and hobbies to a more current and updated appeal. Kids to grandparents still have baseball cards. How many times has someone asked about a collection they once had, and the reply is almost always the items are in an attic or basement somewhere. This gives the folks who don't want to deal with an eBay style crowd, that are consuming mass items on a global scale, but want to deal with target specific audience while using an eBay style website.

The Plan:

The initial plan is a simple one. Setup a forum and online bartering site for users to share, trade, and sell memorabilia and collectibles. In the beginning the plan will not be one of competing with the giant eBay or similar sites, what we'll strive to do is allow individuals to set prices for cards and collectibles, including trades for the items. Users will have a feedback and reliability system to grade others on, this will allow for proper review from potential buyers or sellers.

We will be for the most part a hands off site. We'll allow users the forum and medium for the transaction while collecting our fee (more to come on that). Users will review and rate others in order to regulate individuals. We will on occasion need to step in for disputes and act as arbitrators. In that event, the final decision is left in the sole discretion of the website with users abiding by the decision or face punishment. Set Filler Cards will encourage users to resolve disputes between disagreeing parties before seeking website interaction. We want to remain as hands off from the transactions as possible. For this reason, we will employee moderators who will monitor and maintain forums for proper applications of the terms of service of the website. Moderators will act as representatives of the website for recommendations in forums for remaining within the guidelines of the website. Moderators decisions do not make decisions in regards to disputes but can assist in being a reference point to where the dispute falls within the rules of the website.

Set Filler Cards is in the market to profit off of these transactions. For selling items on the website, the user listing the item will pay a monthly fee of 4.99 or a one time fee of 55 cents. For trades, Items listed will be listed for a fee of 25 cents, no matter how expensive or low priced the item may be, the upload fee is 25 cents. The user who accepts the trade for whatever goods or services will match that 25 cents fee for completion of the deal. All fees may be requested refunded to the purchaser or the seller except the monthly fee, if submitted within 24 hours and the transaction has been cancelled. The website retains the right to review and accept or deny these requests for refund if it chooses.

The Expectations:

The first six months of business will be difficult and heavily laden with advertising expenses. We'll encourage linking of our website where ever possible to encourage higher traffic. We'll also be advertising on individual websites for increased exposure. TV and radio ads may not be in our future but depending on the market, billboard ads or newspaper ads may be able to pursue.

After pursuing our advertising dollars as widely as possible, we'll look to build a consistent user base. If we look to attain a consistent user base, we can attain a healthy profit margin dependent on daily transactions. Initially, all transactions will be set to three days so as not to lag down the server with dead transactions.

If we can meet and maintain transactions in the numbers of 100 a day that's 50 dollars per day of incoming revenue in trades, and anywhere between 10-50 dollars per day for transactions (depending on monthly subscriptions). Our operating budget, after initial start-up, will be in the range of 10 dollars per day before labor additions. With labor costs factored in, we'll be around 250 dollars per day with three employees, material and operating costs considered. Obviously, in the short term those numbers do not add up and signal a 200 dollar loss per day. That is where the reliable user base comes in, with 1000 transactions per day, we are looking at an income level of 100-500 dollars for selling and buying, and/or 500 dollars for trades. The larger the user base, the more the transactions, the increased revenue we see.

The Social Networking Aspect:

One thing we'll have on top of others, we'll allow a youtube or myspace style individual home page for users. Buyers, Sellers, and others may create a web space that allows individuals to comment on potential sales. For example, if users become familiar with one another enough they can notify them of sales or trades they're interested in. Our moderators will also incorporate this method to notifying individuals, when not in the forums. These moderators will also review pages to make sure they conform with terms of service and decency standards. We want all individuals to use our site, but prefer content stays on topic and tries to remain decent and somewhat family friendly.