
Ask HN: How do online marketplace platforms acquire an initial user-base? - petargyurov
Hi HN. I am developing an online platform, where users can find other users to perform a specific service for them; similar to Fiverr but a lot more niche.<p>These types of platform can only work if there is a healthy portion of users that provide services <i>and</i> a decent portion of users who want those services.<p>As such, how do you launch such a platform with zero&#x2F;little users?<p>You could acquire the service providers prior to launching (e.g.: via a pre-lease sign up page and a marketing campaign to go alongside) but that has its own issues: for starters, no-one will have any reviews, and from a technical perspective you&#x27;d have to implement a way for those users to complete their profiles before launch.<p>I have seen suggestions of faking a user base, but that does not sound appealing to me and I am not sure of its legality.
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onion2k
You launch with very little content and build from there by marketing directly
to the audience that you need to join, and hope they're receptive. It helps to
have a good reputation with one side of your market beforehand.

Also note that most marketplaces take a relatively long time to really get
going. For example, Etsy has been going for 14 years.

