
Apply HN: ESOBO – Craiglist and Snapchat , Marries Uber - v3ss0n
Problem : In developing countries like Myanmar and many South east Asian countries , it is hard to find shops due to poorly defined addresses . 
40% of Online stores in Myanmar loses sales because the delivery person can&#x27;t find address of the customer . Customers also find it hard to navigate to online stores&#x27;s physical locations .<p>Solution : GPS Powered map-based , C2C , Real-time , Buy , Sell and Delivery platform .<p>- Sellers can take a snapshot of what they want to sell or advertise . It appears instantly on the map in real time .<p>- Buyers can discover items nearby.<p>- Existing shop owners can post store catalog on the map (<i>Premium )<p>- Advertisers can put ads on the most crowded places (</i>Premium ) .<p>- Buyers and Seller can negotiate and make deals using built-in chat , which helps easy meet ups .<p>Website is at : <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;esobo.co" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;esobo.co</a><p>Android prototype is avaliable at : 
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;esobo.co&#x2F;contents&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;ESOBO.ME.APK" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;esobo.co&#x2F;contents&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;ESOBO.ME.APK</a>
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buss
I think your on-demand delivery to a GPS coordinate idea is the best part of
this!

I'm not saying don't do the marketplace thing, but if "40% of Online stores in
Myanmar loses sales because the delivery person can't find address of the
customer" is true, then you have found an _amazing_ market to tap.

Are you based in Myanmar? Can you describe what it's like trying to get
something delivered?

Is this a mapping problem, or a city organization/government problem? How many
streets are missing from maps? If OpenStreetMap or Google decided to improve
the maps would the on-demand delivery market still exist?

Here's what I'm picturing: A retailer has their normal store, either with
WhatsApp, Facebook, or maybe even with you. They include a button that says
"Buy with Esobo" which kicks the user into your app. The user gives you their
payment information and when they click "confirm" your app records their
current location (or desired location and time in the future) and notifies the
drivers who have signed up to deliver packages. A driver clicks "confirm",
drives to the store, picks up the package, and then drives to the user's
location, shown as a point on a Map. You'll be relying on drivers' knowledge
of the city for better navigation that you can get from the latest maps. You
charge a little bit to pay the drivers, you keep a bit for yourself, the
retailers are happy because they made a sale, and the users are happy because
they got what they wanted for a small delivery fee.

I think this could be absolutely huge in countries without a strong
centralized delivery infrastructure.

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ryporter
First of all, while I understand that English may not be your first language,
you're going to have to improve your grammar before investors will take you
seriously. You post is riddled with errors in punctuation, spacing, and
capitalization.

To address the content of your pitch, I don't see how your service a good
solution to the problem of poor online maps. The problem of not being able to
navigate to addresses sounds like a great opportunity for a better standalone
mapping service.

How are you able to provide better navigation than Google Maps? Presumably
you're using something like GPS in place of a street address, but a business
could also distribute that to their customers via their website, which could
then be used with services like Google Maps.

~~~
v3ss0n
Thank you very much for reviewing. Sorry for grammar and punctuation , I
posted it in a hurry. I am editing it back now.

When deals are made , buyer and seller can see location of each other on the
map , so it is easier to do deliveries and in-app chatting.

We are developing API so that existing online shops can post their items to
our platform. We used OpenStreetMap . Our main focus is C2C marketplace on the
map works in real-time. There is only Two , Main local e-commerce sites in
Myanmar.

~~~
ryporter
It still sounds like it would be more promising to focus the business
exclusively on providing a better mapping service. It's hard to build out all
of the functionality for a marketplace (including dealing with very hard
problems such as fraud), and then also to achieve the necessary network
effects. It would be much simpler and more broadly commercializable to provide
a better mapping/navigation service. As a potential investor, I would worry
that you are trying to solve too many problems at once.

~~~
brudgers
This story about mapping in areas with no addresses came to mind:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11299646](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11299646)

------
brudgers
The strength of Craigslist is control and providing the total user experience.
Craigslist converts the sale on its own.

Visiting the website, the first thing that came to mind is why limit the
service to mobile apps?

Esobo's call to action is a link to another web site owned by another company.
Onboarding the user is out of Esobo's control.

Craigslist does not require an app.

Good luck.

