Make Money on Facebook with RadicalBuy
January 24, 2008
RadicalBuy is a Facebook marketplace application that allows users to buy and sell personal items. Unlike other marketplace applications though, RadicalBuy allows third party users to push items for you, promoting sales via a commission system. This slick combination enables users to easily complete sales without having to worry about how to market and advertise to potential buyers.
The selling process is very easy to understand thanks to a 4-step process provided on the application homepage.
The first step in the process is to list your sale item. This requires several basic pieces of info, including a listing title and description, item location (e.g.: your city or country), the product’s category and subcategory, item condition, the desired sale price, shipping method, and accepted payment methods. In addition, several optional details can be provided to help increase chances of a successful sale, including a product photo upload, item keyword tags used during user searches, and quantity available.
The review screen provides full details on your item setup, including a breakdown of the seller fee and commission amount to be applied if sold by another Facebook user.
Upon listing an item, RadicalBuy even goes the extra step to help secure a sale by allowing you to cross-promote your item for free in Facebook’s Marketplace, all with the single click of the mouse.
Once you have completed the item listing process, your item is added to “My RadicalBuy”. This page displays an overview of each item you’ve listed, including the product image, listing title and description, and pricing information. There are also simple buttons provided to edit listing details and end listings prior to the end of the one month period.
In addition to listings appearing here, they are also placed into the RadicalBuy box appearing on your profile. This allows friends and family who are not currently RadicalBuy users to encounter your item listing while visiting your profile. In addition to promoting your sale items via another method, it also helps increase direct sales, thereby avoiding commission costs and raising your bottom line.
Finding items available for sale is equally simplistic. Located in the top-right corner of the application is a search box for finding items with a matching title, description, or tag, as well as a browse link to go through all recently listed items. Items can also be further narrowed down by category, adding more ease to the whole process. Sellers who are buying for the first time and vice-versa will have little to no difficulty familiarizing themselves with the interface: listings located in the search are laid out in an identical fashion as items appearing in the prior screenshot. Only the action buttons located to the right differ, allowing users to purchase listings and to submit requests to help sell items in order to earn commissions.
While searching for items to purchase, one important piece to note is the feedback system. By paying attention to users’ feedback ratings and reviews, you will have greater insight in determining whether or not you should consider completing a specific purchase or allow a user to sell your item for commission.
RadicalBuy is very well polished, with many small touches offering a significant amount of extra appeal. For example, sales can occur in various currencies beyond the US Dollar: Canadian Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Euros, Rupees, and Yuan are all options. Similarly, various payment methods can be selected, including PayPal, Google Checkout, Check, Cash, and more. Once you begin selling items, the interface also provides easy-to-see alerts to notify you of other users who are interested in helping sell your item for commission.
One thing that was not completely clear when setting up the item was how payment would occur. Many services that involve payment via third party services such as PayPal require that the user’s PayPal email address be collected in advance such that the transaction can be completed. Fortunately, RadicalBuy’s customer service quickly addressed this question posted on their help forum, explaining how transactions occur. Unlike other services, RadicalBuy does not collect this information, as payments currently occur through personal interactions between buyers and sellers. As a result, RadicalBuy sends monthly invoices that must be paid by the seller.
Considering the current setup, one major improvement to the selling process would be for RadicalBuy to be a middleman for transactions by allowing buyers to immediately send money to RadicalBuy, at which point RadicalBuy automatically deducts any fees and commission, forwarding the remainder to the seller. However, this may simply be a matter of preference, as some sellers prefer to interact directly with their potential buyers.
In all, RadicalBuy is easily one of the most advanced, functional applications available to Facebook users to date. Navigating the interface is very intuitive, and getting started — whether buying, selling, or promoting items — couldn’t be easier. Before running to eBay the next time you need to sell something, RadicalBuy is definitely worth taking a look at first!
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