I had an online business and lately there are some offers to join the online marketplace came in a row. At least, there are three new marketplaces I haven’t heard the name before – and there is one which the site is not ready yet. They offered me with some facilities as lures. However, imagining that my business has “branches” on more than 2 marketplaces make me feel the headache.

Let me say that online marketplace is an old-fashioned online business – even more, compared to the booming daily deals. The pioneers are around the eBay and Amazon. In Indonesia, there are some marketplaces successfully established. Tokopedia and Tokobagus are the examples of marketplace which was built from non-corporate party. While some other marketplaces have links to local conglomeration with big money or to foreign online marketplace network.

Let’s see why online business needs marketplace. First is to get the crowd. Interesting marketplace will get thousands (even tens of thousands) visitors every day. It is good even if only 1% of them visit and shop in our shop. Marketplace provider can also collaborate to promote/advertise our product.

The second is the online display. Not all online business is completed with listing and fancy. Some of them using Facebook page and some of them sent the info through mailing list by using email, and the rest may use the free hosting which is not really legitimate. You may think that it is better not to bother ourself to make our own site because the marketplace has provided the facilities for us.

The third is payment flexibility. With many kinds of payment systems, marketplace provides comfort to customers with payment system that they like whether it is COD, bank transfer, or by credit card.

Credit card payment system is not easy to apply on small online business because the minimum transaction of the credit card provider is not a little. Here the marketplace can help.

However, if the new marketplaces cannot provides those three points, it is hard to get attention—both form merchants and buyers—for at least to visit it. The effect is the lower viral potential. As we know, and we had already done the survey, most of the online buyers in Indonesia are considering friends’ or families’ testimonial to know about the credibility or trust to the marketplace. It means that the fallen of the new marketplaces is waiting. Being able to survive for a year is a good achievement, considering the maintenance cost for hosting and other infrastructure, which is not just a few.

Just imagine if you were the business owner. There are 10 marketplaces offer you to join them. Based in the human resource and the needs, I believe that one business will only choose to join three marketplaces as trials. With the competition of David vs Goliath in this arena, I am afraid that new players (with mediocre capital) will be eaten alive in only a year.

In my opinion, before building a new marketplace, it’s better for startups to make survey what are needed by merchants. There must be any other chance to get rather joining the war arena that is impossible to win.