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What we are building, and what we are learning
Notes from the people making Metzee, and from the sellers on it.
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Why trust is the product
In a market of strangers selling things that are not uniform, trust is not a feature of the thing being sold. It is the thing being sold.
The discount bidders apply for uncertainty
An undescribed flaw is not hidden. It is priced in, at the worst case, by everybody in the room.
How an auction finds a price
A room of people revealing what they will actually pay produces a truer number than any seller guessing. Except when it does not.
What people collect in India
An honest look at which categories have depth of buyers here, and which are still thin.
Your buyers may not read your language
A practical argument for describing things in a way that survives being read by somebody whose first language is different.
Selling from outside a metro
Two real disadvantages, and one advantage that beats both.
Bank and UPI limits that stop a payment
The commonest reason a payment fails, and the one nobody thinks of first.
UPI, and why it suits a live auction
Instant, familiar, and already on the phone you are bidding from. The hand-off is the only part that surprises people.
Monsoon, humidity and what it does to stock
The damage is slow, invisible for weeks, and permanent by the time you notice.
Selling and shipping around festivals
Demand goes up, courier capacity goes down, and the gap between them is where promises break.
Shipping across India, realistically
Metro to metro is easy. Everything else varies more than any courier's website admits.
What is a boost?
Paying to be seen first, labelled Promoted, for a set time — with the numbers shown and the unspent budget returned.
Inviting a friend, and what you both get
₹100 to you and ₹50 to them — paid when their first order of ₹299 or more is actually delivered.
What is a pre-bid?
A sealed bid left before the auction opens, where the seller allows it. You see whether yours is on top — never anybody's amount.
What are Metzee Credits?
Promotional credit that comes off an item's price. Earned, never bought, and capped at a quarter of what the item costs.
What is a maximum bid?
The most you are willing to pay. Metzee then bids for you — the smallest step that keeps you on top, never past your number, and nobody is ever told what it is.
Who can sell on Metzee?
Anyone with a verified seller account, selling almost anything. Makers, resellers, collectors, shops — the check is on the person, not on how they got the thing.
Which notifications you get, and which not to turn off
A short list, what each one means, and the one that costs you money if you mute it.
The video keeps buffering or will not play
Six causes in the order they actually happen, each with the fix.
What you need to watch a show
A browser, a connection and not much else. The specifics, with real numbers.
Messages and pages that are not from Metzee
What we never ask for, and the specific scams aimed at auction buyers.
Keeping your Metzee account secure
There is no password to steal, which changes what you have to watch for.
How Metzee makes money
A commission on each sale. That is the whole answer, and the reason for saying it plainly.
Where your money sits between paying and delivery
The flow, in order, named precisely — written for the sceptic rather than the reassured.
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