Member driven ATS as venue marketplace?

I was looking for a custom collar for my dog and cant exactly find what I wanted..so Im asking on Etsy for someone to craft this thing to my specs. Made me think.. has there ever been an idea to make a member driven marketplace on ATS? As in "official" and not just members selling/buying from members, but having a small manageable venue.. like a mini Amazon or the ebay BIN.. or links to members ebay stores/etc... paypal or the like for buyer protection or something? The reason I thought of ATSers is that with some of the art and things here.. the GOOD stuff, Ive seen some pretty fantastic creativity. I havent thought out all of the gory details, but it was a passing brain fart. LOL!

May be a goofy idea, given the rampant paranoia here at times.. but a thought! Dont kill me Bill.. hopefully this idea isnt heart attack producing.. but Id personally pay more for a custom item that would cover a seller fee to the venue. Id pay more for a handcrafted soap with ingredients to **my** specs.. than the things I see offered premade everywhere. Hell, Id love to find someone in my area who would refinish an antique Prie Dieu the way i want that I dont have the talent to do myself.. and keeping money and networking within the place among some of the like minds would be a bonus! I loved the idea of a heirloom seed exchange/trading post! ON my board we sell/breed a very specific and small pool of things.. so its much more closed and less traffic/members. It wouldnt work in the same way for ATS, but it might be a future idea.. or a headache from hell and too much of a liability!

An example of what I was looking for.. but I needed it tweaked!
img0.etsystatic.com...

reply to post by Advantage


I've thought it would be fun to have a Barter Forum for members. I make products I do sell...but, I know there are members here, who are not in a position to purchase them. I'd be more than willing to barter with other creative members in a trade situation.

Des

reply to post by Advantage


Asian ebayers would swarm ATS. But i do like this idea tho. If they could do it where it was like etsy it could work. Art and other things of that nature would be awesome. Would help the artist community and hobbiest. Say silver smithing and the like. People could ask silver smiths on here for custom designs. Would be very cool too since its an ATS based audience. Esty not everyone is on the same wave length.

reply to post by Advantage


make it like the silk road and use bit coin... no illegal stuff though of course.

It's been proposed.

Originally posted by Advantage
or a headache from hell and too much of a liability!

And there you go.

Once you reach the number of members and viewers we have, it suddenly looks to be good grounds for a variety of different things. The owners have been consistent with wanting to retain the site as a discussion forum, exclusively. I certainly strongly support that decision. Not to say things will never change, but for anything I can see on the horizon I don't think the focus of our being purely for discussion will be changing.

one of the key issues was raised in your opening post.

the community is such that they might not be too keen on sharing personal info, like their address, with other members.

the liability is also a huge factor.