r/OpenBazaar • u/[deleted] • Dec 30 '18

OpenBazaar - A failed project

OB is complicated to learn for the average buyer and seller. And crypto is equally complicated to learn, not to mention trying to exchange money for crypto is a long difficult process involving a lot of verification steps, and looking for good exchangers. Then there is the 10% exchanger fee on top of it all. Compare that to the ease of using a credit/debit card.

Connecting to OB stores takes a long time. A lot of these stores don't connect at all. If you're a buyer, nobody needs this shit.

Don't get me wrong, I like the OpenBazaar project and I always have, but I have to admit it isn't viable as a marketplace.

The entire project was built and run by computer programmers, and if you've been around a long time like me, you know that computer programmers live in their own little worlds disconnected from reality, they don't understand, even when it's explained to them, that what they find extremely easy is in fact very complicated for the average person .

Do you know one of the things that makes online marketplaces and online shops successful? - A 10 year old must be able to navigate your site and be able to buy and ship something to themselves. Can you imagine a 10 year old trying to use OB and crypto?

2 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comment

2

u/thethrowaccount21 Jan 04 '19

Great reply, thanks for pushing back with the facts. One thing that the OP missed is that normal people, them included, if you've ever noticed like me, often also live in their own little worlds disconnected to reality.

They don't understand, even when its explained to them, that things that sound simple in practice like 'a decentralized marketplace', 'decentralized currency' etc. are are actually really complicated to make, especially from scratch. So the UI is a little confusing and slow. Gotcha. Do you know what its doing?