I feel like those kinds of communities on sites like these only really work if they are targeted and niche communities to sell/buy specific types of items. Like the mechanical keyboards subreddit that allows users to to buy and sell second hand keyboards.
Because of this I feel “The Bazaar” is much more suited to a new instance specific to being an online marketplace via lemmy. That way you would get communities like mechboards@bazaar and books@bazaar etc.
I don’t think a single free for all style community to buy and sell anything will work very well at all.
I agree with you. An instance for 2nd hand sales, with communities to categorize. Then one community for feedback so buyers/sellers can build reputation.
I used r / hardwareswap and r / homelabsales and would participate in wherever those end up in the fediverse. Of course feedback was split between the two subs so a central feedback area would be an upgrade.
I can see a huge draw for something like this. One of my core use cases for Reddit (and CheapAssGamers among other sites) was tracking video game and related sales. My default sub was a meta-reddit of just sales sites (e.g. r/SwitchDeals, r/gamebundles, r/gamedeals, etc…). Not sure if this lines up with OP’s question (which may be more market / marketplace focused) but there is a value in communities like this, from my humble perspective.
So I rather like the idea of using lemmy to launch products. The sales of linked items to subsidize the costs to maintain the servers could be collected like a tax… Up to and including paying moderators of the server. This would have implications though. Both positive and negative.
Doesn’t harm to try.
Well, just create it. It’s not related to this instance in any way.
Personally, I feel this depends on the nature of the instance in question. Though new to this, I only intend to view content I subscribe to, so I’m not bothered by communities that are focused on commerce as long as it stays inside those silos.
Additionally, this depends on the type of content being offered. I am actively excited to see a community where people advertise their hand-made, artisan, or small-business-made goods. I see the utility in a community where people share opportunities to save money on items they were already looking to purchase. I have no interest in another space for drivel I do not want or need from e-tailers like Amazon to be peddled.
addendum: Upon further review of the terminology in play, I’m not sure if an entire instance is the preferred route. A series of well-defined communities are perhaps a better choice?
