

Ask HN: What you think of my startup idea? Knockoffs & China: huge problem - lostintech

I am double posting this because i just got (1) one feedback with the original post, and i badly need more. I would not post this anymore, do not worry. If nobody cares probably the idea is doomed, anyway, let's go ahead.<p>The concept behind the idea, is well grounded. I will give you an example : I have been selling watches on ebay lately, and i noticed that at least 95% of the questions i received from people were: "Is this a original watch? or a knockoff copy?", but this phenomena extends to other products as well, such as perfumes (which are more dangerous when fake because they can contain harmful chemicals impurities), bags, handbadgs, and a ton more kind of goods. I was thinking to the relation this service could have with china, and its economic rise, and the fact that here fakes are almost legal. Chinese government made promises to the international community when joined WTO in 2001. They told they were going to make counterfeits good illegal. Some days ago i've asked a a smart woman who was selling counterfeit watches in Shenzhen LuoHu Commercial City :<p>Alberto Armandi: hey do u think china will ever put a stop on this ? 
Chinese Woman : do u really want to know the truth ? Alberto Armandi : yes, of course. 
Chinese Woman : i think China will never do that because we , and our economy depends heavily on that.<p>So given the Chinese economy growth, and the seriously diffused "Chinese entrepreneurial mindset make money fast with counterfeit goods", i think ebay will have to cope with a lot of those nasty stuffs in the future. This gives room for this kind of service i think. I already bought domains : spotebayfake.com and fake-howto.com. Both are related to keywords such as "how to spot fake", keywords that outputs some nice results if you look at volume of searches on google monthly.<p>It would not be billed with a monthly or whatever, subscription model, instead the customer would pay only for the item(s) he's interested to check, and when he or she wants, the model i am thinking is "pay per consumption". I was thinking to SMS because transactions will be vary small. I have to read how Paypal deals with micropayments. Regarding how the service would work, let's say you find a watch on ebay, like a Rolex watch, and you want to know it is fake or not, you come to our site and submit the request for investigation, i will check the object ( i know something about how to spot counterfeits and replicas, i am in china since 2005 ), and i will provide you an aswer, in terms of probability. All the process would not take more than 5 minutes, i do not think that real-time informations matter that much in this specifical case. You will then pay let's say 1 USD to me for the information, and go on with your purchase or discard it.<p>here is a link to get a, not very precise, big picture of the market :<p>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&#38;source=hp&#38;q=how+to+spot+fake&#38;aq=f&#38;aqi=g10&#38;oq=<p>There are also some forums on ebay :<p>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&#38;newwindow=1&#38;q=ebay+forums+how+to+spot+fake&#38;aq=f&#38;oq=&#38;aqi=<p>What do you think ? is it worth implementing it ? let me know your feedback. it is precious.<p>Thanks so much in advance. Alberto Armandi
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maxklein
It could work, but no matter how you ask us, we would just be guessing. So
stop asking and start testing:

Write the text above on your website, make a simple form that is free that
people can upload the pictures of the watch, and then spend $50 on google
adwords to see if people are at all interested in your idea.

If you spend $50 and nobody takes you up on your offer even though it is free,
then it will be tough to sell it.

(On a side-note, you can't get certain brands in Shenzhen Luohu market any
longer. For example, Marcopolo has been taken out of the market, but some
other brands like Armani are still there)

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mattm
Yes, that's why I said to go for it on your other post. Just do it and at the
minimum you will learn something that will help you on your next endeavor. You
have the idea for a reason.

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ubu
the idea is ok but your business model not so great. why not instead of
checking each product do a background check on vendors and certify them. maybe
charge the vendor annualy. this model already exist for busnesses in general.
but I guss for fake products this could be a niche.

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lostintech
Hey, thanks a ton for your input. I thought about pay per consumption because
it is more suited for the casual ebay user that wants to purchase an item but
does not want to pay for a service that will use in a discontinued fashion.
What do you think ?

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ubu
how can the customer trust you are correct. also how can you be sure if a
product is fake or not 100% of the time? even if you are 5% incorrect you are
going to get negetive things said about your service.

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lostintech
Well, it is the same story on the ebay forums.. people is asking to other
people, mostly watch sellers, they've got some credit because they sell
watches so it is obvious they must have some kind of expertise. Why shouldn't
this work for a company that focuses on this? being 100% perfect is
impossible. Nobody can achieve that. Thanks a lot for your point of view. Let
me know what you think. Alberto

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lostintech
Thanks for all the comments, yet. I just want to clarify that i do not want to
walk on ebay's feet with this. They would just throw a Cease & Desist if i go
ahead by issuing "certifications" for their vendors. I am sure about this.
What do you think ?

