I talked to 80+ electronics sellers. They're all paying a "visibility tax" and nobody's solving it.
I've been building a marketplace for the past year and during seller outreach I talked to over 80 small electronics sellers — refurbished laptop sellers, phone resellers, small eBay/Amazon shops.
The same story kept coming up, almost word for word:
"I spend more on being seen than I make on the sale."
Here are the real numbers from a $500 refurbished laptop sale on eBay:
Final value fee: $66 (13.25%)
Promoted listing: $50 (8-12% — basically mandatory now)
Payment processing: $15
Total gone: $131-139 on a $500 item
Two years ago promoted listings were optional at 2-4%. Now sellers told me if they turn off promotion, their listings vanish from search overnight. It went from a growth tool to a survival cost.
Amazon is the same but worse. 15% referral fee + mandatory PPC (25-35% ACoS on new ASINs) + FBA fees. One seller told me his all-in cost was 45% of revenue. "At that point I'm working for Amazon, not for myself."
The thing that struck me: these sellers aren't paying for a service. eBay isn't finding them new customers. Amazon isn't building their brand. The buyer was already searching for that exact product. The seller is just paying for the right to be the one the buyer sees.
That's not marketing. That's a visibility tax.
What I'm building
Baqqla is a reverse marketplace for electronics. The model is simple:
Buyer posts what they want ("MacBook Pro 14", budget $1,800")
Sellers get notified and send competing offers
Competition is open — sellers can see each other's prices
Buyer can message sellers anonymously to negotiate
Best value wins. Payment held in escrow
The seller's cost: Stripe processing only (2.9% + $0.30). No commission until Sep 2026. No advertising — ever. On that same $500 laptop, the seller keeps $485 instead of $361.
Where I am now
Launching April 21 in Chicago (first pilot market)
Onboarding founding sellers (25 spots, 0% commission through Sep 2026)
Mobile app live on iOS + Android
Web dashboard live for sellers
The cold start problem is real
The hardest part isn't the tech — it's getting both sides to show up at the same time. My approach: sellers first, narrow category (electronics), one city (Chicago), and a strong enough financial incentive (0% commission) that sellers have almost no reason to say no.
The bet is that once buyers see 4-5 competing offers on their first request, the experience sells itself. But getting to that first request with enough supply is the real challenge.
What I'd love feedback on:
For anyone who sells electronics: would you test a channel like this alongside eBay?
The anonymous negotiation feature — is that a real differentiator or a nice-to-have?
How did other marketplace founders here solve the cold start? What actually worked?
Site: baqqla.com
Happy to share more about the build, the numbers, or the mistakes I've already made.
