66.8k views
-icon.svg){kind=icon}
66.8k views
66.8k views
Access expert answers by becoming a member
You'll get access to over 3,000 product manager interview questions and answers
Recommended by over 100k members
Gold PM
I will start by paraphasing the case prompt and asking clarifying questions around - consumer, company, & competition.
Next I will layout the structure as follows:
- List down the company mission
- Note down the product mission
- Take note of the product objective
- Idnetify the user segment & classify it
- Identify the user pain points and prioritize it
- List down the different solutions and identify the trade-offs
- Identify the North Star Metric
- Summarize
I am assuming that the product's mission is to build a 2 way platform that enables buyers and sellers to transact antiques. The goal could be to increase the total transactions taking place on the platform. ICP here for buyers is - individuals who are passionate about art, urban, upper segment of the society (financially). Seller - Artist - Young, creative, rebellious, re-sellers, urban dwellers.
Pain points -
- Identifying the categories
- Ensuring a smooth on-boarding experience for both buyers and sellers
- Transparency of pricing
NSM - # of buy-sell transactions/month. Solution :
- Mobile & web platform - buy & sell on a commission model. Have multiple categories of items. Price is fixed.
- Mobile & web platform - buy & sell on an auction model. Platform gets a commission on sale made. Price is based on auctions.
Build a product that ensures smooth on-boarding for buyers & sellers. Given the NSM of #buy-sell transactions, go for auction model (after incorporating transparency in pricing) - this is because most users place high premium on the value of antiques and are willing to shell out a premium. This step will increase the popularity of our application, resulting in more people using it.
My framework will be:
Clarification questions.
Should we build this as a meta product or should we build this separatly?
- Background, business product.
Background - Antiques are gainning a lot of attention and popularity. Mainly, after covide time where many people use that time to start renovating their homes. Furthermore their is a raise in awarness for the environment and instead of purchasing new products people are investing more in a second hand or antique products.
If we were building this as a Facebook product, I see some connection as we see we have a similar product such as the marketplace where users can easily but and sell product without necessarly having a shop. So if I look at a specific domain as antiques, I think Facebook could benefit from it as it will incorporate an additional segmentation of users to use facebook and uncrease the user traffic.
Later on we will decide should we use this as an extension of the market place or build a new product.
- Users
| Seller | Buyer |
| Antique shop owners | Collectors |
| Personal owners (heritage) | Newies into the antiques domain. |
Platform (Facebook or other itnerface)
- Painpoints - Buyer
| Step | Painpoint | Opportunity |
| Awarness - I am renovating and I would like to include a piece of antique | ||
| Search - I go to the web or ask friends | Boutique - hard to find. Not necessarly nearby. | Provide a place that will be the one to go for purchasing antiques. |
| Choice - Found the shop and I need to pick one of the products | - Lack of trust: on whether the product requires fixing or treatment | Provide a full report and history of the product. |
| Purchase: I want to buy a specific piece. | - Lack of knowledge on the price: whats is it really worth. | Base on the report we could provide a price estimation on what the product is really worth. |
| Delivery- Big piece might need delivery | ||
| After purchase: purchasing and replacing parts | It is not always easy to find parts | Create a community for antiques. |
- Solutions
- Market place platform: Upload products for sell and purchase. (e-commerce)
- Product report: Use image recognition to scan the product and provide precise info about the product, where does it come from, age, ledger.
- Price prediction: Based on the report, incoporate a price prediction to be transparent on the price and gain trust from the buyer. Whether if it neesd repair - could impact the price.
- Price bargaining: enable the buyer to discuss about the price depending on the demand of the product.
KPI:
- The average number of transactions made per month/week
Additional metrics:
Sellers/ buyers rate.
Retention: Number of purchases per buyer - annually
Clarifying questions
Would this product be within Meta’s ecosystem?. You can choose
Are we focused on Mobile or Desktop? You can choose
For this question, can I build it out for the US and if we have time perhaps consider an international expansion?
Is there a particular user demographic or if there’s a specific age range or market segment Meta might want to prioritize? (e.g., older demographics who may have more affinity with antiques).
Awesome, I will take a moment to prepare some thoughts.
Establish Structure: I want to walk you through the way I am thinking about going about designing this product. I want to start off with a quick Product Overview / Business Model then dive into user segmentation and prioritization to better understand who we want to focus on. Then dive into metrics and goals ensuring we understand how to measure the success of the product then a launch plan and recap.
Product Overview / Business Model: My understanding of antiques is that they are often older, harder to find items such as limited edition coins brought in by people to physical businesses such as Pawn Shops who operate on a Consignment model where they sell items for customers and take a fix %. For the context of our product, it likely makes sense to take a more digital approach utilizing an ecommerce solution or exploring ways to integrate into Meta’s ecosystem such as in Facebook Marketplace. Once we prioritize the users, this will be easier as we move to building out the product. From a business model perspective, we can focus on revenue drivers using monetization and commission from selling item. My instinct is saying that a product like this would make sense within our Meta ecosystem given our current product offering of Facebook Marketplace along with the connection to Meta’s mission as antiques have a way of bringing people closer together particularly with the ability to bring people back to the past and reflect when seeing certain items. From what I have said so far, I want to build this product out within Meta’s ecosystem focusing on monetization and commission revenue drivers. Are you aligned with this approach?
I need to address features: Consider briefly mentioning any unique product features that could enhance the value of buying/selling antiques online, such as historical verification tools, digital provenance records, or an authenticity certification process. These features could provide value to antique enthusiasts and differentiate this product from general resale markets.
User Segmentation and Prioritization:
Within users, I thought of two key buckets being Business Owners and Non-Business Owners.
Business Owners
Small size local mom and pop shops: Likely boutiques selling unique clothing items, household decorations, etc. May attend occasional antique shows, could also be pawn shops
Medium sized local mom and pop shops: Likely has multiple boutique stores across a city, a big attender of antique shows.
Large sized antique: Multiple locations, likely sells a high volume of items, may not be as focused
Non-Business Owners
Lifelong Collectors: Likely majored in fields such as history, grew up with a love of antiques and collecting items, may attend an occasional antique show and likely a heavy thrift shop goer
New Adaptors: May have recently gotten into antiques, consider these people newly converted to antiquing, likely started with going to thrift shops more frequently
Occasional Antiquers: Likely goes to a thrift shop/pawn shop/antique store every few months
From this breakdown, my instinct is saying we target small and medium business owners first as we will need to have inventory for antiques. We can utilize Meta’s strong presence with Facebook for Business and see how we can target the businesses to obtain products to sell. After obtaining products, we can prioritize new adaptors and they will provide an opportunity for us to grow our business and likely could become brand evangelists for our new product. There could also be an opportunity for consignment as well following the pawnshop model. For the product, given we want to focus on Meta’s ecosystem building a mobile application makes the most sense as we can integrate it into one of Meta’s products such as Facebook or Instagram. How does this approach sound?
Metrics and Goals
Given that this is a new product, it makes want to focus on User growth
Growth
# of DAUs, MAUs
# of new users
Time spent on the platform
Revenue
Amount of Commission earned
Monetization Revenue
North Star: Our north star can be time spent per user on the Antique product as this can enable us to better understand how users are using the product.
Launch Plan
Product Details: MVP will be Embedded via an already existing Meta mobile application. We will start with intense research, requirement identification, and ensuring that our team has adequate head count from both a technical and non-technical perspective. Kicking off we would work closely with the Facebook Marketplace team identifying potential synergy as it is likely we can integrate antiques into Facebook Marketplace further increasing. In terms of building a product like this, I have found great success utilizing a dual agile approach so our teams can run sprints in parallel focusing on discovery and delivery.
Recap: We covered building out an Antique product based in Meta’s ecosystem like in Instagram or Facebook given the large user base already present. We dove into the user segmentation identifying both business owners and n on-business owners prioritizing small and medium sized business owners first likely running a pilot in heavy thrift shop/pawnshop presence in the United States so we can have a better opportunity to enter the market. In terms of success metrics, I identified both growth and revenue buckets prioritizing time spent per user on the Antique product so we can better understand how the users are using the product. We then closed off with a high level launch plan.
PM
- What is the goal? To design a platform for buying and selling antiques, focusing on unique aspects like trust in authenticity, ease of selling, and discovery of rare items.
- What are antiques? These are typically items of high value due to their age, rarity, or historical significance. Clarifying this helps differentiate the product from general e-commerce platforms.
- Key challenges? Ensuring item authenticity, establishing trust between buyers and sellers, and making transactions smooth for valuable or fragile items.
- Buyers
- Collectors: High-end users looking for rare, authentic antiques.
- Casual Shoppers: People looking for unique or vintage items for aesthetic purposes.
- Interior Designers: Professionals sourcing rare pieces for design projects.
- Sellers
- Dealers/Experts: Professionals who deal in antiques as a business.
- Individuals: People who own antiques and want to sell them, but may lack expertise in selling or valuing these items.
- Estate Liquidators: People handling large collections due to estate sales.
- Buyers
- Authenticity Concerns: Buyers need to be confident that items are genuine.
- Discoverability: Antiques are often unique, and users need efficient ways to search and find specific items.
- Trust in Transactions: High-value items demand secure payment and shipping methods.
- Condition Verification: Unclear condition descriptions can deter purchases.
- Sellers
- Valuation: Many sellers might not know the true value of their antiques.
- Reaching Buyers: Finding the right audience can be challenging, especially for niche or rare items.
- Transaction Security: Trust in getting paid after handing over the item.
- Shipping Concerns: Antiques are often fragile or valuable, so shipping can be tricky.
Now that we've outlined the core pain points, we can propose features that solve these challenges. Focus should be on building trust, improving discovery, and simplifying transactions.
4.1 Buyer-Side SolutionsAuthentication Service
Offer third-party or expert authentication for items before they are listed or sold. Verified items would have a badge or certificate of authenticity, instilling trust in the platform.Advanced Search and Filtering
Provide robust filtering based on era, category, material, or condition. Include search by image, which allows users to find items that resemble a photo they upload (helpful for buyers with specific visual preferences).Detailed Item Condition Reports
Sellers should upload high-resolution images and provide detailed condition reports. Expert grading systems could be implemented, similar to how coins or collectibles are graded.Escrow Payments
For high-value items, use an escrow payment system. The buyer’s payment is held by the platform until they confirm the item has been received in acceptable condition.Virtual Antique Showrooms
Use augmented reality (AR) to let users virtually “place” an antique in their home environment to see how it fits in size, style, and aesthetic.
Item Valuation Tools
Create a valuation tool where sellers can input details about their item (age, condition, provenance, etc.) to get an estimated market value based on historical sales of similar items.Auction or Fixed-Price Sales Options
Give sellers the option to either list their items for a fixed price or put them up for auction, which is common in the antiques world for rare or valuable items.Shipping Partnerships
Partner with trusted shipping companies to handle fragile and valuable items, offering insurance and packaging advice.Seller Profiles and Reviews
Build profiles where sellers can showcase their expertise, previous sales, and reviews. This can help establish trust with buyers.
We can use the RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) framework to prioritize these features:
- Authentication Service (High R, High I, Medium C, High E): Critical for establishing trust but would require collaboration with experts, which may take significant time and effort.
- Escrow Payments (Medium R, High I, High C, Medium E): Very impactful for high-value transactions, with moderate effort.
- Valuation Tools (Medium R, Medium I, Medium C, Medium E): Helpful for sellers but would take time to develop accurate algorithms or expert input.
- Advanced Search and Filtering (High R, Medium I, High C, Medium E): Important for discovery, especially for niche items. Easier to implement if based on existing technologies.
- Shipping Partnerships (Medium R, Medium I, High C, Medium E): Critical for successful delivery of fragile and valuable items.
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) should focus on building trust and ensuring ease of transactions. For the MVP:
- Authentication Service: Start with a limited pool of verified experts for high-value items.
- Escrow Payments: Offer secure payment methods and buyer protection for expensive items.
- Advanced Search and Filters: Enable basic filtering by category, price, and condition for discovery.
- Seller Profiles and Reviews: Establish trust and transparency for sellers from day one.
- Valuation Tool: Include a simple version of the valuation tool that provides estimates based on a database of past sales.
- Buyer Trust Metrics: Track the number of authenticated transactions and user feedback on trust in items’ authenticity.
- Transaction Volume: Measure the number of completed transactions, especially for high-value antiques.
- Seller Engagement: Track how many sellers create profiles, list items, and engage with the valuation tools.
- Average Time to Sale: Monitor how long it takes for an item to be sold after listing to evaluate the effectiveness of discovery features.
By focusing on trust, security, and discoverability, the platform would address the main pain points in the antique-buying experience, leading to a successful marketplace for rare and valuable items.
Bronze PM
For this, my approach would be to find the user groups associated, understand their behavior and pain points to come up with solutions/requirements while prioritizing through each of the steps.
Defining antique: Old and valuable, people tend to keep it as a collectible buyers in most cases are obsessed with possessing it and very wary about the authenticity.
Assumption: We are creating a product that is adaptable to any device, i.e. ignoring design and device constraints for now.
Goal: Provide a tailored marketplace for antiques.
Before diving into the process I would like to discuss a few important, there are already many buying and selling products in the market so we will be having enough best practices. We will need to emphasize areas specific to antiques like safe and protected shipping and spam protection.
Coming to the user personas I have come up with a few on the buyer side and seller side. These are derived from the perspective of a seasoned and amateur as I belive solving for these groups in priority would effectively solve for all kinds of groups.
Persona Buyer Side:
Collector:
Behavior:
- Has a specific area of interest.
- Willing to put in extra money if the market is demanding.
Pain Points:
- Not all the products they want are available in the market.
- Not sure if the product is authentic/original.
- Wants to see if they are paying a fair price.
Reseller:
Behavior:
- Wants to resell it at the right time.
- Wants to buy products with good resale value.
Pain Points:
- Since they are individuals they do not have the expertise to maintain the antiques.
- Doesn't know if it is the right time to sell
- Doesn't know if the product has the potential to reach their business/financial goal
Persona Seller Side:
Selling for a need:
Behavior:
- Wants to sell some possessions for a need
- Has no/limited knowledge of the product from a collector's perspective
Pain Points:
- Cannot position the product well
- Doesn't know the market value of the product
- Wants money quickly
Merchant:
Behavior:
- Has a lot of inventory
- Knows the nuances of the business
- Wants to optimize for time and profit
Pain Points:
- Has to handle a lot of queries at the same time.
- Concerned about people not coming to sell to them if the product picks up.
Reseller:
Behavior:
- Wants to maximize profit on sale
Pain Points:
- Needs to convince the buyers of the authenticity of the product as they are not big merchants.
- Needs support in listing the product highlights
Along with basic methodologies for prioritization like Moscow I have also considered if the feature is a differentiator from the current solution to assign priorities
| Features | Priority |
| Ability to post product requirement | P1 |
| Categorize the catalog | P1 |
| Certify the authenticity of the product | P1 |
| Conduct Auctions for selling products | P0 |
| Seller rating/Profile | P0 |
| DM for Negotiation | P0 |
| Storage and Maintenance Support for Reseller | P2 |
| Price Predictor for similar products | P1 |
| Before you Buy Section for Buyers( checklist) | P0 |
| Before you sell section for sellers ( checklist) | P1 |
| AI-based product detailing and explainers for sellers | P2 |
| Certification help | P1 |
| Automated negotiator | P2 |
| Automated Bidder | P2 |
| Automated Auctioneer | P1 |
| Quick Sell ( linking seasoned merchants to those in need solves for merchants as well to have a stream of incoming products) | P1 |
Bronze PM
Goal : A platform offering a marketplace for buyers and sellers to buy and sell antique items with high confidence and peace of mind. Improve engagement rate of users.
User segmentation
- Collectors- buying 3-5 items per week-
- Antique sellers selling over 5 items per month
- Skeptic buyers - searching items but not buying
- Occasional sellers - individuals selling items based on
- Downsizing individuals or families
Collectors have a motivation to increase their collection ,
it gives them a sense of elevated pride and superiority in their circle of collectors , they are willing to go the extra mile and overcome any friction in the user experience to get the item they want , their engagement rate is high because of the strong desire to expand their collection.
Focus on Skeptic buyers as their increased engagement can result in conversion into engaged users and possibly be the target for monetization efforts in the future.
Pain points
1 . Low confidence and scepticism on the genuineness of the items on sale
2. bad search results and affects discovery of items for buyers
3.insufficient description of items or category which results in loss of conversion.
4.low engagement of the sellers when contacted through the platform
Solutions :
- Offer paid services at a minimal rate to be able by a certified authenticator via video call to assess the genuineness at a low rate.
- Launch experiments and see if this is resulting in higher conversion rates.
- If not build a ML model which can take high resolution images uploaded by the sellers to be able to determine genuine ness , certain criteria needs to be fulfilled for e.g. the serial no. and other characteristics needs to be added. The ML model needs to be fine-tuned going forward. Based on the past records of images sold in the platform generate the criteria dynamically and guide sellers to send pictures
- To have a high conversion rate encourage sellers to upload short videos with acceptable quality to assess genuineness.
- Improve the keywords by broadening the search , or offer capabilities like exact match or phrase to improve accuracy of search results. Improve ranking algorithm as well based on the competitive pricing and reputation of the seller and customer feedback.
- Auto- generate description of items by using AI via Large language models like DALLE , ensure accuracy of description to be greater than 99.99%
- Offer reminders to seller that these items need your attention to respond to buyers , push notification to mobile devices.
Prioritize solution
- Offer paid service - implementation cost - high , COGS - high ,impact - medium , confidence - medium - 4th priority
- Improve search - implementation - medium (google already has experts in this area) , confidence - high , impact - high - first priority
- Auto-generate description - implementation cost - low , COGS - low , impact - high, confidence - med ----> second priority
- Offer reminders - impact - high , effort - low , confidence - high ---> 3rd priority
Metrics -
Northstar - average no. of items sold per seller per week, average no. of buys per buyers per week
Secondary metrics - no of buyer to seller messages --> at least 2 , items marked sold per week, items purchased per week.
No. of searches per product category per week
Clarifying Questions
Who are we
We are a startup that has seen an opportunity in the antique space to make buying and selling more accessible as it is still largely an unorganized market
What are our objectives?
Our objective is to find PMF
What are the constraints?
Time - We have to launch in anticipation that worldwide inflation and recession would trigger more activity in this market
Money - We have $300K as an initial seed investment
Resources - 60% of the seed investment can be allocated for engineering resources the rest is set aside for marketing
Geography - no restrictions but we would like to pilot in NY, London, and Dubai
Technology - No restrictions as of now
Market - Users & needs
Who is our customer
People with disposable income who are willing to purchase antiques to collect
Businesses (art dealers) who purchase to resell further
People who own antiques and want to sell to make a profit are one-off sales
Segment - Buyers
Collectors
Dealers
Segment - Sellers
Dealers
One-off sellers
Needs Buyers
Need | Importance |
They want to view antiques up for sale | Must have |
They want to filter antiques based on budget, era, and historical significance | Could have |
They should be able to browse the site without creating an account | Should have |
They want to be informed when an antique goes on sale | Could have |
They need to ensure that the antique is authentic | Must have |
They need to ensure that the antique is coming from a legitimate source - the seller is authentic | Could have |
They want secure methods of payment - escrow services | Must have |
They want to talk to the seller to know more detials | Must have |
I shall be able to review the buyer | Could have |
They should be able to easily flag and report sellers | Could Have |
They want to receive their items securely | Must have |
They want a way to report issues | Must have |
They want to receive an invoice of their purchase | Must have |
Need Sellers
Easily list items for sale | Must have |
They want to be able to update the price for the item | Must have |
They shall be able to quote a unique price to the buyer | Could Have |
Have a mechanism to prove the authenticity of the item | Must have |
I should be able to talk to interested buyers | Must have |
They need to get a good price for an item - auction sale, direct sale | Could have |
They want to ensure that the buyer is genuine | Could Have |
They want to create close group sales | Won't have it right now |
They should be able to easily post and share their listed product on other sites | Could Have |
They should be able to easily flag and report buyers | Could have |
They want an easy way to securely ship their items | Could have |
They want to receive their payment securely | Must have |
They want an easy way to report issues | Must have |
They want to advertise or push their products to buyers faster and better than the competition | Could have |
Business needs
No fraudulent activities are taking place on the site | Must have |
Create a healthy ecosystem - what are the levers of a healthy ecosystem | Must have |
Facilitate offline buying and selling via high touch personalized dedicated account management services | Could have |
Focus Areas
As we are constrained on time and resources it will be wise for us to focus on Art Collectors and Art dealers as a user group and if we can solve for this group we indirectly are solving for the rest of the users as well.
Also, given the time constraint, we need to build an MVP and iterate so focusing on features that are must-have first and then slotting in the could haves and should have in the future iteration.
A healthy ecosystem can only be created when the quality and quantity of supply are greater than demand. And the demand needs to grow organically to create a viable business.
The solution
An online marketplace that will enable antique enthusiasts to securely buy and sell authentic products.
Brainstorm Features Based on needs
Business Needs
Need | Features | Impact | Effort | Downsides/Counter Solutions |
No fraudulent activities are taking place on the site | Seller registration - Online and offline | H | L | - |
Seller Verification - offline and online verification services | H | M | It May take longer to onboard sellers | |
Healthy Ecosystem | Creating a field marketing and sales team to educate and onboard sellers | H | H | High investment may not have a budget to accommodate for this |
Providing DAM and professional photography services | H | M | High upfront investment but maybe a driver for buyers | |
Providing antique authentication services | H | H | It will come at a cost to sellers but would enable |
Seller Needs
Need | Features | Impact | Effort | Downsides/Counter Solutions |
Easily list items for sale | Seller registration - Online and offline | H | L | Offline registration would need manpower and may need to rethink based on resourcing |
CSV import of data | H | L | Could improve onboarding time | |
Simple form to create products and upload pictures | H | L | - | |
Pricing mechanism | H | L | - | |
Discounting mechanism | H | H | May not be needed immediately. Need to assess based on customer needs | |
They want to be able to update the price for the item | Edit Product to update price that takes effect immediately | H | L | - |
Schedule pricing | H | M | - | |
Have a mechanism to prove the authenticity of the item | Upload auth certificate accepted by local and international laws | H | L | - |
Chat with buyers | Custom chat within the app | H | M | It will take effort but will also ensure that customers do not leave the application |
The contact number of the seller | H | L | High risk of customers leaving the application and completing the transaction via another medium | |
Link to whats app chat | H | L | ||
Link to iMessage chat | H | L | ||
Link to Facebook chat | H | L | ||
Receive Payments Securely | Merchant account & payment gateway setup | H | L | - |
Escrow Services | H | M | It will be a little difficult to implement but will create a lot of trust in the transaction | |
They want an easy way to report issues | Link to customer support email | M | L | - |
Active Customer support call center | H | H | Since we have a short runway, the investment in these services will only be viable when we have more traction | |
Active Chat | H | H | ||
Passive Chat | H | M |
Buyer Needs
Need | Feature | Impact | Effort | Downsides/Counter Solutions |
They want to view antiques up for sale | Simple Product Listing | H | L | - |
Product Listing by category | H | L | - | |
Search | H | L | - | |
Filter | H | M | - | |
Facets | H | H | It May not be needed for the time being | |
They need to ensure that the antique is authentic | Authentication badge on listing and detail pages | H | L | - |
Authentication cert on detail pages | H | L | - | |
Badges to indicate product not authenticated | M | M | May have a -ve effect on the listing. | |
They want to talk to the seller to know more detials | Custom chat within app | H | M | It will take effort but will also ensure that customers do not leave the application |
The contact number of seller | H | L | High risk of customers leaving the application and completing the transaction via another medium | |
Link to whats app chat | H | L | ||
Link to iMessage chat | H | L | ||
Link to Facebook chat | H | L | ||
They want to receive their payment securely | PCI DDS compliant payment gateway and processor | H | M | - |
Escrow services | H | H | It will be a little difficult to implement but will create a lot of trust in the transaction | |
Multiple Payment Methods | H | M | - |
For launch, we should consider the H impact and Low to Medium effort features as they would form the base of our application
North Star Metric to track
Buyers - will be successful when they can easily find and purchase an antique they like
Sellers - will be successful when they can sell antiques to a buyer. They will also be activated when they make their first sale
Business - we as a business would be successful when we can facilitate a sale
Since our objective is to reach product-market fit we must focus on the sellers and their point of activation. Sellers are activated when they make a sale.
So we could think of tracking the number of sellers with at least one sale in a given month.
First, I want to clarify some assumptions. I would want to start this service in the US market (easier logistics, more data on antiques, large existing market) and I would want to build a web app because there is often a lot of information associated with antiques and it's easier to scroll and review images (damages etc) on a larger screen size.
Next, I'd like to define some user groups who could use this service.
1. Adults who are avid collectors of a certain era or type of item
2. Interior designers looking for unique items for their clients
3. Wealthy individuals who are looking for sophisticated pieces/originals
4. Adults decorating their home on a thrifty budget
I'm going to select the last user group because re-selling is trending these days and it would be interesting to design a service that brings antiques further into mainstream buying.
I'd also like to define the goals of this service. Given that this is a true marketplace and its a new service, the goal is primarily to acquire a critical mass of buyers and sellers to create network effects. I will also assume our business model is focused on transaction fees for now (we can talk about advertising and other services later).
Thus the key metrics I would focus on for this service are related to acquisition and activation (though I'd also want to track total revenue, profits, and GMV) (1) Total items listed on the service (2) Number of merchants (3) Number of buyers acquired (clicking through the product listings) (4) Bounce rate (5) Number of buyers completing registration into our platform
Next, I'll walk through what the pain points or user needs of this user group are:
1. These adults are often busy (may have children or busy with other obligations as they are doing home decorating in addition to their existing responsibilities) and want to find interesting items without spending too much time sifting through items
2. This group is not necessarily sophisticated antique buyers so they find the history of the item slightly interesting (so they can post or share the story with their friends) but care more about function and aesthetic more than verifying its origin
3. These users are looking for items that will match their home
4. These users are on a budget/price sensitive so want to find the best item for the price
5. This group is not willing to pay a lot for shipping. Would go with the cheaper option if presented.
Also for the antique sellers, there are two types - the shops who have an inventory of items and individuals who are selling their existing items. Neither of these groups has sophisiticated shipping capability. I would want to select one group to focus on to start building out our item listing. I would select the shops because I can build a critical mass of items much more quickly given the amount of items they have.
Some pain points of the shop:
1. With the growth of online business and low traffic due to COVID, they're finding that they could connect more with shoppers if they were also present online.
2. They don't have warehouse and other fulfillment and shipping services available currently. It's difficult and expensive to get the manpower to provide these services.
3. They only have a limited number of each item.
4. They may not be tech savvy (often successful antique sellers are those who have been doing it for a long time)
OK let's move to solutions.
| Solution | Impact | Reach | Effort |
| Develop a basic marketplace where the shop lists all their items and consumers come to purchase. The consumer searches for items they're interested in and buys it | Low - not accounting well for user experience for this particular set of shoppers and sellers (ex: there are unique items that may be hard to discover/search). In addition, doesn't optimize costs for either user group | High | Low -probably easiest to implement |
| Develop an instacart like service where the shopper searches products in local antique shops online and are fulfilled by gig workers | High - addresses key pain points for both user groups | Medium - not all shoppers have antique stores nearby | Medium - will need to ensure localized services but can be standardized pretty easily |
| Provide a recommendation engine of products based on user inputs like "style" and "budget"- can use AI to provide recommendations that are trending and relevant in home decorating /diy | High - will help shoppers who are busy discover antiques and will help antique shops seeing declining sales sell more quickly as users discover their products more easily | High - depends on whether we pair this with the "instacart" like service | Medium - will take some experimenting to ensure AI algorithm provides good recommendations |
I would like to pair solutions 2 & 3 together. As an MVP, I would start with helping shoppers discover the items near their local antique shops by providing them with targeted products. This will help them save both time and money. It also addresses the issues that antique merchants face in trying to fulfill orders because it's focused on local delivery and gig workers can help ensure that items are delivered.
Some risks: The largest risks are related to fulfillment and shipping. When adding gig workers to the mix, our transaction costs will be higher. We run the risk of deterring both merchants and consumers depending on who we pass on the cost to. (Although one value of local delivery is that shoppers may be willing to pick up the item on their own to save costs). By focusing on thrifty items, it may also decrease our revenue potential esp. with all the associated costs. Also damages/returns will be difficult to handle because of the limited availability of items.
Problem Statement :- Online Platform for buy, sell and discover antiques.
Understanding :- Currently there are no exclusive platforms for buyers to buy antiques for themselves and for sellers/collectors/re-sellers of such items to find a direct customer to sell the antiques.
I would like to go about this problem in a 3 step Process
1. Current Situation :- How today this buying selling process is taken care of ?
Since these are high value transactions and not very common to find, customers go to specific places like muesums, pawn shops, ebay, olx etc to discover and buy antiques.
(Basically i would like to research on the current process of buying and selling of antiques so that we can remove the friction points and deliver near to flawless product for user)
2. Describe Types of Users, and divide User behaviour into needs and pain points for antiques transaction.
USER 1 :- SELLER
TYPE
> One time seller :- For eg - If someone has his/her grandfather wrist watch of WW1 era used by soldiers during actual war.
> Regular sellers :- For eg - If someone sources antiques from different parts of the world and has an offline brick and mortar store.
NEED/USE CASES
> One time seller :-
1. They are looking for some quick money.
2. They just found some antique item and not finding any use for it in their home and that's why they just want to sell it.
> Regular sellers :-
1. Looking for some trusted platform to make their online presence for their offline business.
2. Easy to use/Personalized platform which is built only for selling antiques.
3. Shift operational challenges to some trusted third party brands.
PAIN POINTS
1. As this is a niche segment, customers are not easy to find.
2. Operational costs associated with one transaction is very high.
3. No platform which takes cares of only anitque selling. For eg :- Ease of getting a Third party approval stamp for their antique which is a very tedious task.
...many more
USER 2 :- BUYERS/CUSTOMERS
TYPE
> Collectionist :- For eg - If someone loves to collect 19th century vessels.
> One time buyer :- For eg - Someone looking to decorate house, office or even for gifting etc.
> Re- sellers :- For eg - If someone has local offline shop where he/she can sell products at a markup.
NEED/USE CASES
> Collectionist :- This is their hobby and they have a passion for such things and they care least about money but more about genuinity of the product.
> One time Buyer :-
1. They are looking for something that fits their use case for decoration .
2. They want to gift some antique to their antique lover friend.
> Re-Sellers :- They are looking for best deals from which they can profit by re-selling those antiques on their distribution channel.
PAIN POINTS
1. No authentic, expert approved platform to buy antiques as of now.
2. Discoverability experience of antiques is very poor and painful process right now.
3. As this is a high size transaction, self -financing such transactions can be difficult for some customers
....and many more.
3. SOLUTION :- I would like to solve for one particular scenario as my first version of the product and below would be the assumptions for the same.
Seller Side :- Only Regular sellers
Buyer Side :- Anyone can buy
Antique :- Historical item that is atleast 150-200 years old.
Features list to be developed in V1. (Not mentioning basic features like login, creating profile, customer browsing etc)
1. Only Verified Antiques
> A seller can either
. Upload any known certificate of genuinity for that product
. Request for certification from our In-house expert team.
(Just like AirBnb provided professionals photographers to house owners in initial days, we will provide expert team for verification stamp)
2. Muesum Feel
> A seller can
. Upload Pictures, videos and desciption of that particular antique.
. Record Narration for the story related to that antique.
3. Easy Antique Find
> A buyer should be
. Able to discover antiques basis type, history, aesthetics (size, color etc for decoration purposes) and some specific traits.
. Shortlist antiques and share it with family and friends (As this transaction will be a high value one, opinions of others will matter a lot)
4. Multi Payment Options
> A buyer can
. Pay Full amount through any mode of paymemt like UPI, Cards etc.
. Also use EMI option for paying as this is a high value transaction .
Note :-
The answer written above gives the thought process and the actual pain points, use cases etc. may vary.
Platinum PM
Step 1: Ask Clarifying questions to narrow down the scope of the product/ question
-What do you mean by antiques? (Anything which is rare, old, precious and expensive in nature and has a great resale value)
- Web based product or mobile app? (Mobile app)
-IOS or Android? (Both)
-For a particular region or not( Yes for the scope of this question lets assume that this app will allow buying and selling of antiques in NY only)
-Is it a standalone product or are we planning to integrate it within an already exisiting solution/marketplace
Step 2: List down the user groups.
Buying and selling of antiques will be done in a marketplace type setting hence this setting will have both buyers as well as sellers. Which will also be our 2 main targer user groups
1)Buyers :Buyers based on their buying capacity and activity can be further categorised into the following types
A) Collectors (Individual) who love buying and storing anqtirues, they are generally wealthy in nature and have a huge collection of antiques.
B) One-time individual buyers who buy because they like the antique
C) Comapnies/Organisations planning to buy antique
2)Sellers: Based on their selling capacity, sellers can be further divided/categorised into the following types.
A) One-time indidvidual sellers: Selling as they want to get rid of the antique.
B) Organisation/companies selling antiques
C) Large scale individual sellers: They have a huge collection of antiques that they want to sell off
3) Antique experts: They have a good idea/understanding of antiques and are generally freelancers in nature who give advice to people whenever they have any dounts regarding buying or selling of antiques.
Step 3: Select the target group you'll design for and give your reason for the same
For the scope of this question I'll go with Individual Collector (buyers) and Large scale individual sellers as these are the 2 largest user segment that will be using our app and will be able to derive maximum value from the app in the marketplace setting.
So for MVP these are the 2 user segments that i'll be going ahead with.
Step 4: List down the user pain-points
Individual Collector (Buyer)
1) Don't know what all antiques are available currently and are ready to be bought?
2) Searching for antiques that they like and want to buy is a time consuming process
3) Want to be able to connect directly with the seller if they have any doubts
4) Want to know if the price stated for the antique is correct or not?
5) Don't know whether/if the payment gateway is safe or not and what are the different mode of payment available
6) Want the antique to be delivered at their doorstep
7) Want to know if they can negotiate on the price or not
8) Want to check the review and ratings of the antique, the seller before making the purchase?
9) Wants to know about the genuinity and authenticity of the antique
Large Scale Individual Sellers
1) Want to know if anyone is interested in buying their antiques?
2) Wants to connect to the buyer if they have any doubts/issues before they can make a decision?
3) Wants to reach out to the audience and ensure that the product is up and available for everyone to view
4) Wants to know what is the right price for the antique that they can ask
5) Wants to be deliver the antique in the best and fastest possible manner to the end customer
Step 5: Priorisiting the user pain-points based on criterias like Impact to end user, Impact to business value
For Buyers
| Pain Point # | Impact to end user | Impact to business |
| 1 | H | H |
| 2 | M | M |
| 3 | H | M |
| 4 | H | H |
| 5 | H | H |
| 6 | M | M |
| 7 | M | L |
| 8 | M/H | M |
| 9 | H | H |
For Sellers
| Pain Point # | Impact to end user | Impact to business |
| 1 | M/H | L |
| 2 | H | M |
| 3 | H | H |
| 4 | H | M/H |
| 5 | H | H |
For buyers the pain-points that we have prioritised are as follows:
1,3,4 5 and 9
For sellers the pain-points that we have prioritised are as follows:
3,4 and 5
Step 6: List down the solutions for the prioritized pain-points
For Buyers:
1) Don't know what all antiques are available currently and are ready to be bought?
A) Easy voice based search feature: To show all the antiques that are currently available
B) AI based recommendation feature: Which will recommend the buyer available antiques based on previous searches, interest shown, types of antiques bought earlier etc
3) Want to be able to connect directly with the seller if they have any doubts
A) Chat/Message feature: By which the buyers can directly connect to the sellers regarding any concerns/issues they have regarding the antique/product.
4) Want to know if the price stated for the antique is correct or not?
A) Reach out to antique expert with query: The buyers can reach to antique experts to check if the price stated for the antique is too high or not. If its too high then they will go to other platforms to purchase antiques, if it's not high then they can make a decision regarding the buying of antique
5) Don't know whether/if the payment gateway is safe or not and what are the different mode of payment available
A) A secure payment gateway will be built such that all transactions that are carried out are encrypted in nature
B) Linking with different payment methods/gateways like paypal, other wallets, debit cards and credit cards
9) Wants to know about the genuinity and authenticity of the antique
For Sellers:
3) Wants to reach out to the audience/everyone and ensure that the product is up and available for everyone to view
A) Update the page with details, photos, information, authenticity badge of the antique and make the page visible to all
4) Wants to know what is the right price for the antique that they can ask
A) Reach out to antique experts: To check if the price they have put up is too high or too low
5) Wants to be deliver the antique in the best and fastest possible manner to the end customer
A) Develop partnership with Courier services and company to ensure fastest and best possible delivery of antique
Step 7: Prioritise the solutions based on following criterias like: Impact to end user, Implementation effort, implementation cost.
| Solution # | Impact to end user | Implementation effort | Implementation cost |
| 1A | H | M | L/M |
| 1B | M/H | M | M |
| 3A | H | M | L |
| 4A | M/H | L/M | L |
| 5A | H | M | L |
| 5B | M | L | L |
| 9A | H | L/M | L |
| Solution # | Impact to end user | Implementation effort | Implementation cost |
| 3A | H | L | L |
| 4A | M | M | L |
| 5A | M/H | L/M | L |
5B) Linking with different payment methods/gateways like paypal, other wallets, debit cards and credit cards
Dec in avg time taken per user to complete the payment of antique
% Increase in customer satisfaction scores after this feature was launched
9A) Authenticity badge: Verified authenticity badge alongside every verified antique piece.
% of total users buying antiques which have an authenticity/verified badge alongside on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis
For Sellers:
Antiques – What I know
these are items that are prized because of their rarity and uniqueness.
Antiques can range from items that are not so costly to ones that are very expensive.
Antiques are valued for their authenticity.
Antiques can be about all types of products and some of them are one of a kind
Antiques are fragile
Antiques – not everyone buys antiques, usually people who have some disposable income
Antiques – people who sell them can be individuals or businesses
Antiques – are also sometimes illegally sold, so government departments try to prevent buying / selling
Users / Customers
Sellers of Antiques – individuals, some sellers specialize in certain types of antiques
Sellers of Antiques - businesses
Buyers – individual buyers
Buyers – commercial buyers / merchants
Government Officials – with interest in preservation of artifacts
Authenticating Agencies – such as a firm which might confirm / value an antique professionally
Target Customers:
Newbie Sellers - Everyday individuals who have something interesting to sell, no prior experience in antiques
Buyers of all stripes – everyday buyers and merchant buyers
Limiting to North America as a market to test based on its overall volume
Product Value Proposition
Make it easy for everyday people to get good value by selling their wares for the best price. This will expand the pool of people who are into selling and buying antiques in a vibrant marketplace much broader than current alternatives.
Persona | Use Cases | Key Pain Points |
Individual Sellers | Find things to sell Put items on sale Get a good price Ship the goods
| Know what could be an antique (P0) Know the market value of what I have (P0) Know how to stage it for selling (P0) Demonstrate item authenticity (P0) Transport appropriate for antiques – value, fragility (P0) Get paid in a hassle free manner (P1) Be credible as a seller (P1)
|
Buyers (Individual) | Find things of interest Verify item quality Compare prices Purchase Item Take delivery
| Hard to describe needs Know if it is a fair price Be confident about item condition Be confident about item authenticity Know seller credibility Get Safe and reliable delivery |
Focusing on the Seller Persona, here is proposed list of key features apart from the ability to merchandize, sell, deliver and get paid.
Persona | Pain Point | Feature |
Seller | Know what could be an antique (P0)
| "Do you have an antique?" guide? |
Seller | Know the market value (P0) | Suggested pricing based on history, similar listings on web |
|
| Expert Valuation based on item value |
| Know how to stage it for selling (P0)
| Staging and item merchandizing wizard |
Seller | Demonstrate authenticity (P0) | Certificate of authenticity – provided by product, based on acceptable forms of authenticity |
Seller | Transport appropriate for antiques – value, fragility | Insurance, Packaging, Door-to-Door pickup |
Seller | Demonstrate credibility as a seller | Seller history (non-anonymous) |
Seller | Demonstrate credibility as a seller | Dispute resolution mechanism – signed off in transaction |
Metrics
This is a marketplace product. Main things that matter:
North Star Metrics
The number of transactions that happen in the marketplace / monthly
The value of transactions that happen in the marketplace /monthly
The number of unique buyers and sellers / monthly
The number of listings active / month
Additional Metrics
% new sellers every month
% new buyers every month
% repeat seller
% epeat buyer
Average buyer satisfaction rating
Average seller satisfaction rating
Antiques are the type of goods that are precious because of their age and good condition.
I would like to ask few clarification questions before proceeding with the design:
- Are we looking for a particular category of antiques such as furniture, piece of art, jewellery etc. (Any)
- Will this product be integrated with the current e commerce platforms? (Separate)
- Are we looking for a web application or a mobile app? (App selected)
- Sellers : responsible for listing the antiques on the website. The sellers can again sub categorised as follows:
- Seller who want to list the items to earn money.
- Seller who want to list the items to just to get rid of them.
- Buyers : who will purchase or bid on the listed antique item.
- Collectors
- Designers (Interior/Exterior) or Designers' Firm.
- Antique experts / Analysts : They can basically be freelancers with some credibility or work experience in an antique shop.
- How can I sell fast?
- How will I get the right value for my antique items?
- How to win over/avoid the competition with listing of fake/duplicate antique items?
- How can I become a trusted antique seller so that my future listings will get quicker response?
- How to ship the items to the buyer's doorstep with proper safety?
- How to earn money from the expert advices/suggestions?
- How to become a trusted antique expert on the product portal?
- Bring a huge seller benefit (customer) and will increase the engagement and retention of the sellers for a long time , also which will keep this product alive for a long run.
- Builds a huge trust within the seller community and which can also can potentially reduce the CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost).
- Make the product popular as well, which also brings a huge value to the business as well.
- Condition of the antique item.
- Any important Inscriptions on the item.
- Documentation with the antique (if available).
- We will provide the option open for everyone (sellers, buyers) to share the product landing page on various social networks such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
- We can sell Adwords for the sellers which will showcase, promote their product on the home page of the app. This will also boost the business.
Liked by PM Exercises
Platinum PM
A typical product design style interview question for PM candidates.
Problem Statement : Build a product to buy and sell antiquesClarify Scope :
-We are looking at a marketplace where users can buy and sell antiques
-Antiques -we imply goods older than 100years atleast
Goal :
Online marketplace to enable sellers to list their antiques and sell them to prospects and enable buyers to search,view and buy antiques
Users :
Sellers - Users who list and sell the antiques
-One time : Sellers who only come to sell once
-Merchants : Sellers who have a business to sell antiques
Buyers - Users who search, view and buy the antiques
-Purchase for self : Users who want to purchase antiques for themselves
-Purchase for re-sale : Users who want to purchase for re-sale in another market or potential buyer
Assumptions :
Antiques purchase and selling is presently an un-organized -however niche segment; also for products to be classified as a true antique; it would require a check and certification by competent authorities.
For the current scope I will be considering
-Merchant Sellers - Since these sellers would have more numbers of products to sell and would want to sell certified products(this would also be good from building the reputation of the product, selling genuine antiques) for re-sale.
-Buyers(purchase for self) : I would want to cater to direct consumer
Interface : To start with I will enable only the WEB interface; depending upon response of the product-it can further be considered for building other interfaces.
Seller
Use Case | Priority |
As a user I want to display my antique for sale | P1 |
As a user I want to chat with the potential buyers should they have any questions about the antique | P2 |
As a user I want to sell(transaction) my antique on the product to a prospective buyer | P1 |
As a user I want to know my previous products sold reviews and rating | P2 |
Buyer
Use Case | Priority |
As a user I want to view the antiques that are available for sale | P1 |
As a user I would want to know the genuinity of the antique before purchase | P1 |
As a user I would want to know the experience other buyers had with a seller | P2 |
As a user I would want to know whether I can negotiate the price of the product | P3 |
As a user I would want to safely transact/make payment for the product | P1 |
#for the present scope I will only consider P1
Potential Solutions :
User | Use Case | Potential Solutions | Business Impact | Cost to Build | Priority |
Seller | As a user I want to display my antique for sale | Sellers registration and login page(where seller can also list their profile,ID, Tax ID details), SSO with Google,FB | H | L | P1 |
Section to upload the product : photos,description,certification(antique authenticity), pricing,quantity available, etc | H | M | P1 | ||
Section for products management center - view analytics(views on product,no sold), edit product/description,enable/disable the product from sale | M | L | P2 | ||
As a user I want to sell(transaction) my antique on the product to a prospective buyer | Enable payment gateway for merchant to receive money from buyer | H | M | P1 | |
Enable orders management section- to notify seller about orders received and details | H | M | P1 | ||
Section for seller to update on the order status | M | M | P2 | ||
Buyer | As a user I want to view the antiques that are available for sale | Buyers registration and login page(where seller can also list their profile details), SSO with Google,FB | H | L | P1 |
Page for the users to view the details of the following - Antiques available for sale, details,certification,seller details,pricing | H | M | P1 | ||
As a user I would want to know the genuinity of the antique before purchase | Section on the antiques pages displaying the certificate of authenticity of the antique | M | L | P2 | |
As a user I would want to safely transact/make payment for the product | Enable payment gateway for merchant to receive money from buyer | H | M | P1 | |
Section for the buyer to view the order status | M | L | P2 |
#Business Impact, Cost to Build : Shall be assessed on t-shirt size : L,M,H and solutions shall be prioritized as per that.
For the present scope on P1 prioritized item shall be picked up
Tradeoff/s :-Competitors to this portal potentially could be e-commerce portals like OLX, Amazon, FB Marketplace,etc
-To differentiate from the other e-commerce portals-we would have to differentiate the vision of niche player in the antiques market
Success Metrics :Key Metrics
-Sign up to the product
-DAU,WAU,MAU
-Products listed,viewed,bought
-Revenue earned from commissions of products sale(Monetization)
Indicative Metrics
Seller
-No of sign ups to the portal
-No of products listed by the seller
-Content score of the products(Photos,Description,Certification ,etc)
-No of products sold
Buyer
-No of sign ups to the portal
-Post sign up antiques viewed by the user
-No of products purchased by the user
PM
Problem Statement: Build a product to buy and sell antiques
Clarifications and assumptions:
Is this an app or a web product?
Considering an app product. The same functionality will be available on both iOS and Android.What kind of antiques? Is this something niche or any antique in general?
Considering any antique sellers might have. We can provide functionality to issue certificates.Is this a new product or an improvement on an existing product?
Considering a fresh product.
Primary objectives to focus on:
- Monetization
- Acquisition
- Engagement, etc.
Considering basic functionality across all domains.
Time frame: For what time period should the initial product be ready?
- One quarter
- One year
- Five years
Considering a one-quarter to one-year project.
Geography: India
Possible user set:
Buyer:
- One-time buyer: Looking for a specific product
- Business owner: Looking for products to resell. Frequent buyer
Seller:
- One-time seller: Looking to sell only one item
- Wholesaler: Business owner selling multiple items
Our primary solution will be for frequent buyers and sellers, but we will also try to incorporate other categories of users as well.
| Task | Buyer | Priority | Seller | Priority |
| Acquisition |
| P1 |
| P1 |
| P1 | |||
| P2 |
| p2 | |
| P1 | |||
| Perorder |
| P1 |
| P1 |
| P2 | |||
| P1 | |||
| P1 |
| P1 | |
| P1 | |||
| P1 |
| P1 | |
| Payment and check out |
| P1 |
| P1 |
| P1 | |||
| P2 |
| P1 | |
| Post Order |
| P1 |
| P2 |
| P1 | |||
| P1 |
| P1 | |
| P1 |
| P1 | |
| P2 |
| P2 |
We will start picking up the P1 tasks based on the resources and timeline.
Risks:
- The platform must ensure the authenticity of the antiques to prevent fraud. Otherwise, users will lose trust in the platform.
- The marketplace is a competitive industry, and the platform must stand out.
Primary Metrics:
Buyer Side
- DAU/MAU
- Number of orders placed
Seller Side
- Goods sold
- Sellers onboarded
- Products listed per seller
- Revenue generated
A typical product design style interview question for PM candidates.
Problem Statement : Build a product to buy and sell antiques
Clarify Scope :
-We are looking at a marketplace where users can buy and sell antiques
-Antiques -we imply goods older than 100years atleast
Goal :
Online marketplace to enable sellers to list their antiques and sell them to prospects and enable buyers to search,view and buy antiques
Users :
Sellers - Users who list and sell the antiques
-One time : Sellers who only come to sell once
-Merchants : Sellers who have a business to sell antiques
Buyers - Users who search, view and buy the antiques
-Purchase for self : Users who want to purchase antiques for themselves
-Purchase for re-sale : Users who want to purchase for re-sale in another market or potential buyer
Assumptions :
Antiques purchase and selling is presently an un-organized -however niche segment; also for products to be classified as a true antique; it would require a check and certification by competent authorities.
For the current scope I will be considering
-Merchant Sellers - Since these sellers would have more numbers of products to sell and would want to sell certified products(this would also be good from building the reputation of the product, selling genuine antiques) for re-sale.
-Buyers(purchase for self) : I would want to cater to direct consumer
Interface : To start with I will enable only the WEB interface; depending upon response of the product-it can further be considered for building other interfaces.
Use Cases :
Seller
Use Case | Priority |
As a user I want to display my antique for sale | P1 |
As a user I want to chat with the potential buyers should they have any questions about the antique | P2 |
As a user I want to sell(transaction) my antique on the product to a prospective buyer | P1 |
As a user I want to know my previous products sold reviews and rating | P2 |
Buyer
Use Case | Priority |
As a user I want to view the antiques that are available for sale | P1 |
As a user I would want to know the genuinity of the antique before purchase | P1 |
As a user I would want to know the experience other buyers had with a seller | P2 |
As a user I would want to know whether I can negotiate the price of the product | P3 |
As a user I would want to safely transact/make payment for the product | P1 |
#for the present scope I will only consider P1
Potential Solutions :
User | Use Case | Potential Solutions | Business Impact | Cost to Build | Priority |
Seller | As a user I want to display my antique for sale | Sellers registration and login page(where seller can also list their profile,ID, Tax ID details), SSO with Google,FB | H | L | P1 |
Section to upload the product : photos,description,certification(antique authenticity), pricing,quantity available, etc | H | M | P1 | ||
Section for products management center - view analytics(views on product,no sold), edit product/description,enable/disable the product from sale | M | L | P2 | ||
As a user I want to sell(transaction) my antique on the product to a prospective buyer | Enable payment gateway for merchant to receive money from buyer | H | M | P1 | |
Enable orders management section- to notify seller about orders received and details | H | M | P1 | ||
Section for seller to update on the order status | M | M | P2 | ||
Buyer | As a user I want to view the antiques that are available for sale | Buyers registration and login page(where seller can also list their profile details), SSO with Google,FB | H | L | P1 |
Page for the users to view the details of the following - Antiques available for sale, details,certification,seller details,pricing | H | M | P1 | ||
As a user I would want to know the genuinity of the antique before purchase | Section on the antiques pages displaying the certificate of authenticity of the antique | M | L | P2 | |
As a user I would want to safely transact/make payment for the product | Enable payment gateway for merchant to receive money from buyer | H | M | P1 | |
Section for the buyer to view the order status | M | L | P2 |
#Business Impact, Cost to Build : Shall be assessed on t-shirt size : L,M,H and solutions shall be prioritized as per that.
For the present scope on P1 prioritized item shall be picked up
Tradeoff/s :
-Competitors to this portal potentially could be e-commerce portals like OLX, Amazon, FB Marketplace,etc
-To differentiate from the other e-commerce portals-we would have to differentiate the vision of niche player in the antiques market
Success Metrics :
Key Metrics
-Sign up to the product
-DAU,WAU,MAU
-Products listed,viewed,bought
-Revenue earned from commissions of products sale(Monetization)
Indicative Metrics
Seller
-No of sign ups to the portal
-No of products listed by the seller
-Content score of the products(Photos,Description,Certification ,etc)
-No of products sold
Buyer
-No of sign ups to the portal
-Post sign up antiques viewed by the user
-No of products purchased by the user
Silver PM
1. What do you mean by Antiques? (Does Antiques means products older than 50 years or 100 years or like unique products)?
2. Where do we want to sell these products?
3. What is the motive of building this platform for selling and buying antique products?
4. Whats the real customer problem we are trying to solve by building this platform?
Goal : So the vision is to build an online platform/marketplace where buyers are able to purchase antiques and sellers are able to sell and in next 3 years there should be a revenue of $X coming from this platform
User Persona :
1. Seller Persona : Sellers who wants to sell this product
2. Buyers who want to buy this product.
3. Sellers who want to sell the used antique product
4.Resellers : Resellers who want to resale the product to their end customers.
For our Discussion purpose lets focus on #2 user persona.
User Journey :
1. Users will login to this online platform and they will be authenticated.
2. After authentication they will be authorized to buy the products, so customers will search for the products of their choice.
3. Customers should have an option to filter the price from low to high or high to low.
4. Customers should have an option to filter by Newly added products
5. Customers should be able to filter based on the highest to lowest ratings and feedback.
6. Customers should have an AI assistant chatbot so they can ask any questions related to the product.
7. Customers after selecting the product should be able to add to the cart and place an order.
8. Customers should be able to make payments via Gift Card, Paypal, Credit/Debit card.
9. customers should have an option to deliver at home or schedule the delivery at a specific time.
Pain Points :
1. When users are purchasing this kind of antique product they would like to know more about the authenticity of the product.
2. Users would like to know why this product was antique and who has used this product in the past.
3. Users would like to know how old is the product and if the product has been used by some celebrities or people with fame.
I would focus on #1 and #2.
Solutions :
1. BUild an online platform which lets the user talk to someone who has already purchased this product (Definitely through the users consent).
2. Also through comments and ratings section , make that section as conversational so that users can ask questions from the folks who already purchased this product.
3. Online platform should display the information about the product and it should show the certificate of authenticity.
4. The product page should display all the information about the product related to celebrities using this, the uniqueness about the product and everything.
There are certain flaws in the above design :
1. First is we are exposing the antiqueness of the product in a public page and it will be access by anyone who wants to buy. To overcome this, we can display some basic information about the product and if customer needs more information than they can request for a call or an email. BUt the information will be given for a minimum charge of lets say $10 or so. This will also increase the curiosity in customers.
Measure :
1. Number of customers buying from this platform on Monthly/Quartely basis.
2. Bounce rate, number of customers coming to the platform but not performing any action/
3. Conversion Rate: Number of customers coming to the platform and adding the product to the cart and finally making a payment.
4. Repeat Customers: Number of customers coming to the platform to buy the product.
5. NUmber of customers who were able to find the product upon searching.
- They are interested in the history of the antiques
- They are particular about it being original and are wary of fakes being circulated
- They have an aesthetic about how their room with the antique should look like
| Journey | Pain Point | Severity |
| Pre-purchase | What is the best show piece for this room | M (People can look at various things and decide on one. Anyway, usually these guys are quite clear with what they want) |
| Where can I get it at a reasonable price | M (The price negotiation is something that can happen especially in a marketplace) | |
| Purchase | Is this seller reliable/trustworthy | L (This is usually the most important part of antiques and we need to see if we can solve for this) |
| Can I get a third party to verify the authenticity of the antiques | L (This could one of the solutions that we have to test for reliability) | |
| How will the piece be delivered to my home | M (The buyer or seller can take on this responsibility and this user group is usually very careful) | |
| Post purchase | Cleaning of the antiques at regular intervals is a pain | M (This is a pain but there are existing people whose phone numbers are readily available) |
| Pain Point | Solution | Impact | Implementation |
| Trust issues with the antique piece | Have only trusted sellers on the platform | S (If we only have trusted sellers, while it may have some impact on the buyers, it would limit the range of available items, because the whole idea of e-commerce rests on the long tail) | L (We would need to engage multiple third parties to evaluate the reputations and catalogue of these third parties) |
| Crowdsource trust. Have a trust rating and see how others have rated the seller | M (While this is a nice to have, we need to see the volume. Because we are just starting out, originally it would be a low number of users and most of the sellers here would have 0 ratings) | M (This wont be hard to build out and will be similar to what Amazon and other e-commerce sites have) | |
| Show a summary of all the comments to the user if you can trust the seller | M (More of a long term play. While this is a nice to have, we need to see the volume. Because we are just starting out, there would hardly be any reviews to work from) | M (We can work from som Gemini/Llama models with RAG to summarize the reviews for the same) | |
| For the specific item, see if there are any news articles of it being counterfeited and then alert the user that counterfeits exist, so extra care must be taken. Recommend names of third parties who can verify the authenticity | M ( This will improve trust but will have the drawback of tainting some of the other items as well) | L (Where data exists, it is great, but news and other sources for such data is actually quite slim. So this will be difficult to implement. We can recommend the names of some third party verifiers however) | |
| Annotate places to prove this is an original. For instance, in a currency note, we have a set of features that show it is original. Similarly, annotate on the visual of the antique piece, why this is authentic, along with who/ which company carried out the authentication. | L (If we explain to the buyer why this is an original antique then it will be super helpful for them and will nudge them to make a good decision. Anyway the user will search and see how to check authenticity so doing this proactively makes more sense) | S (Have a trusted third party upload the details) | |
| Check for chain of ownership. Blockchain can be leveraged to ensure that it is the same item that has been handed down | L (The chain of ownership will tell you when and from whom this was actually purchased, and if has passed through a couple of owners who have a decent reputation or who are collectors as per their profile, this will help) | S (The basic blocks of this are available and are similar to NFTs that are available) |
- Smart contracts - where the ownership is stored on a blockchain and details of previous owners is available, along with the time when it was purchased. The buyers can go through the profiles of the buyers (via FB/LinkedIn integrations) and check the authenticity.
- Authenticity check - When uploading images, annotate places which suggest why this piece is authentic.
- Search and Discovery based on time periods, style of moulding etc. - eg. Mesopotamian civilization, etc.
- Details about the seller and previously sold items (if any)
- Ability to get in touch with other buyers who have bought from the seller previously
- DAUs
- MAUs
- WAUs
- Second month retention
- Number of items purchased
- Value of items purchased
- How much time is being spent on viewing the images with the annotations
- Smart contracts - where the ownership is stored on a blockchain and details of previous owners is available, along with the time when it was purchased. The buyers can go through the profiles of the buyers (via FB/LinkedIn integrations) and check the authenticity.
- Authenticity check - When uploading images, annotate places which suggest why this piece is authentic.
- DAUs/MAUs/WAUs
- Second month retention
- Number of items purchased
- Value of items purchased
- Time spent on viewing images with annotations
Gold PM
- Product that we are talking about is it extention of existing product or new one?
- Answer - completely new one
- Objective of product
- Answer - Monetization /Revenue
- For sake of this excercide there is no constrains
- Geo - india
- also the antiques that we are talking about for whome are we building this ? i mean super rich category or the masses as typically antiques are usually with rich category of the society
- Answer is let us say that we are building this for masses where we can sell antique at affordable prices
- also are we a brand or a market place
- Anwer is we are a brand
- We will build a app is that ok ? - yes
- I am guessing for now there are no constraints
- Answer - ya we can assume that
- Mission - Mission to make anqtique available to the aspriing class of the society and make it afforable and accessible
- Type of users
- not allowing users or manufacturers to list thier product and we are not a typical market place or else we could have had
- Manufacturers
- Retailers
- Distrubutors
| Type of users | Reach | Impact |
| High spenders - They are yound generation, tech savy folks and like to give importantance to the appearce in the society on how they look, what they wear, how rich they come across to the other people - typically Genz/Millenelias | M | H |
| Mid spenders - Like to keep thier spends intact and are very calculative , make intellegient decesions when it come to money , they are the GenX | H | M/L |
| Low spendsers - they done spend enough money, prefer to buy products offline, and would spend on something like anqtiue once in 2 years, like to recieve these things mostly in gift rather than buying | L | L |
| Pain points | Depth | Size |
| Mental block - Antiques are for rich | M | L |
| Want to make thier house look rich and beuatiful but dont want to spend money | L | L |
| No Time - to decide what is best for thier home | L | L |
I would say some where they want to buy these products but becuase they are expensive they tend to not purhase hence mental block issue is medium in depth but dont want to spend money and time is pain point which is large in size and depth hence i will focus on these 2
| Sol | Reach | Impact | Effort | Phase |
Onboarding process of new user - Ask a question and allow them to type using LLM(AI) a user can say i like make my house look rich but i dont know what is best product to buy(try to also source data from third party build better recommendation engine, track where users are clicking etc on app on specific products and use that data in recommendation engine) For active user - track past purchases ,track where users are clicking etc on app on specific products and use that data in recommendation engine, use third party data cominbation too) | L | L | M | 1 |
| On Launch of the app and have option to click a picture of the corner where they would like to place a anqtiue (like amazon lens) using aI | L | L | L | 1 |
| Use of AI to recommend a list of 4 to 5 products which will look best in a Dinning Room and is also affordable and matches with colour pallet of wall | L | L | L | 1 |
| Allow users sort these product basis pricing, category ete e.g a Anqtiue pot, nice sculputure | L | L | L | 1 |
| Recommend products basis fengshui, vastu science and describe the advantages of it Describe product phase 1 | L | L | L | 2 |
| User can tap on product or add to cart and than make the payment and we will deliver the product at the door step | L | L | L | 1 |
| Compute the estimate delivery time using Date/Time to pick up product from dark store, and from there specuate other deliveries along with and give a estimated times for deliver | L | L | L | 1 |
| For customer support Have the option to chat with chatbot and cancela and return product with clearly defined return policy Chat bot should answer basic FAQ or else ecalate a ticket to agent using freshdesk or any other solution for phase 1 have a email contact | L | L | M | 1 |
| Enable voice based/llm based search (apart from onboarding where users can ask similar question - recommend a anqtie for my dinning room, bed room etc Keep normal search for phase 1 - auto suggest, misspelled, extac keyword, popular searchs | L | L | M | 1 |
- Sucess metric
- No of antique purchased per day - north star
- Split by category
- user type
- Payment method type
- Track most prefered product
- No of antique purchased per day - north star
Bronze PM
Scope:
Antiques: Does it mean vintage looking show pieces? - No, it means pieces of art, furniture that is of a high value because of it’s age(over 100 years old) [Definition taken from google]
So we want to create a marketplace for objects that are at least 100 years old. Objects could be anything valuable like a piece of furniture, or art, or something similar. - Yes
Do we have any specific geography in mind? - India
Do we want the product to be a mobile app or web app? - mobile app
Android/iOS? - Both
Part of an existing app like Amazon Antique or a new product? - New product.
Goal: Create a marketplace for buyers and sellers of objects (anything valuable like a piece of furniture, or art) that are at least 100 years old. This marketplace should be a standalone mobile app.
If it was to be a part of Amazon then Goal would have been - “ Create a marketplace for buyers and sellers of objects (anything valuable like a piece of furniture, or art) that are at least 100 years old. This marketplace should be a part of Amazon App as a separate vertical called Amazon Antiques which should help expand the client base of Amazon by bringing in a new segment of niche customers and hence contributing to the revenue”. This new vertical would also align with the overall vision of the company to help users find anything they want to buy (or sell).
User segment:
Buyers - Folks over 30 years of age up to after retirement who have extra savings to invest in such luxuries (net worth of 100 crores and above) and have an interest in collecting antiques for proving their worth to society or for personal interest.
Not very active
Sellers - People who have an interest in collecting antiques for proving their worth to society or for personal interest.
Not very active
Brokers - Who buy and sell for business and earn from the commission
Active users
User needs: What are the problems that we want to solve?
Connecting the buyers and sellers
Providing good enough returns to sellers while not charging very high rates to buyers. Correctly pricing each piece.
Verification of the piece being sold/bought.
Verification of identity of both parties - their existence and their financial ability to buy it (buyers)
Easy transaction of money
Ratings and reviews for sellers from buyers and for buyers from sellers (to help with their reputation among other sellers/buyers).
Assumptions:
These pieces cost 1cr and above.
Post purchase: Returns not applicable.
Value of items depends on their age.
These are unique pieces which are not available in multiple quantities.
Prioritization:
Segment: Let's consider the most active users, i.e., brokers for the current scope.
Needs: Pre purchase and during purchase jobs to be prioritized
For buyers to see what sellers are selling
For sellers to list what they want to sell
For buyers to see how other buyers’ experience has been with the seller they are viewing (to understand genuinity of seller)
For buyers to see genuinity of the item/piece
For buyers/sellers, easy transaction of money
Possible solutions:
App should have login and signup using phone number/email ID
Once logged in, they need to complete KYC (aadhar/PAN)
Option for Sellers to add item they want to sell: few pictures from different angles, name and description of item, age in years, proof of age of item(certificate from a recognised board/ a picture), price.
Seller to be able to see the buyers interested in buying their item and approve the order placed by buyer. They need to have strong and valid reason to reject orders.
System (algorithm in place) to check the authenticity of the proof of age of item and price bracket of each listing and add a verified status if listing matches all criteria
Items being sold on the marketplace to be shown as list on buyer’s homepage. Sorting allowed based on seller’s ratings, price, age of item. Filtering allowed based on category of item, particular seller)
Option to search for specific item
Easy add to cart button
Different payment methods like Netbanking, credit/debit payments using payment gateway
Order confirmation to be sent to buyer after seller approves the order.
Collaboration with logistics services to ensure safe packaging and delivery of items.
Once order received by buyer, option to rate the seller.
Metrics:
NSM => No of successful purchases made on the platform in a month
Activation => No of app downloads, No of signups, No of accounts with completed KYC
Adoption => No of sellers with at least one item listed, No of buyers viewed at least one listing in detail page, No of buyers searched at least once.
Engagement => avg No. of new items added to the platform per seller per month, avg no. of orders being placed per user per month
Revenue => Revenue earned from commission per month, average Order Value, ARPU
Retention/Satisfaction => No. of sellers listed items but not approved orders, MAU, No of buyers searched/viewed an item but not placed order
Risks:
Niche customers prefer the traditional offline mode of dealing with antique items by touching and seeing the item in real
Buyers might not trust the authenticity of an item on an online platform. They trust their own judgment only.
Items damaged during delivery will have to be reimbursed to the seller. Emotional value of item will be lost in such cases.
Gold PM
Clarifying questions:
Understanding of antiques - these are objects which are may be decades/centuries old and ranges from potteries to cars etc.
Do I need to focus on any particular variety of antique - Not required, consider in general
Geography - your call -> India
Web or app -> your call -> since majority of the consumers have smartphones with internet, would opt for app based product
Timelines & constraints -> 6 months, we have the resources for the development
What do we do currently -> We are a technology company
Summarise: we are a tech company looking to build a mobile app to buy & sell antiques in the next 6 months for Indian geography
Approach: User persona -> Pain Point -> Recommendation -> Metrics -> Tradeoffs
User Persona:
On the basis of roles:
Buyer:
Self purchase - P0
On behalf of someone else
Supplier:
Self supply - P0
On behalf of someone else
Marketing
B. On the basis of frequency of trade:
High
Medium
Low
Prioritising for seller side as the supply of such items is critical. However I understand buyer side also needs to be built into the MVP for the product to be successful
Pain Points for Self Purchase Sellers:
How to find buyers for the antique -> P0
How to get the best price for the antique -> P1
How to sell with safety & trust -> P2
How to sell within an expected time -> P3
Pain Points for Self Purchase Buyers:
Where to find antiques to buy online -> P0
How to purchase at a best price → P1
How to receive the product safely after transit -> P4
How to value the good by seeing online -> P2
How to verify authenticity of the product -> P3
Building MVP with P0 & P1:
Feature for login using google as its a very prevalent feature
Feature to upload images & description of the product (what is the product, expected price, condition, how old it is) with details of the buyer (contact, address) interested in selling
Feature for buyer & seller to interact
Metrics:
North Star - Number of products sold
# of registered buyers
# of registered sellers
# advertised products
Sales made daily, weekly, monthly
Gold PM
Clarifying questions:
- will this be a physical store or a digital platform? (digital)
- are we building an app or a website? (both)
- is this a product extension of any current furniture company? (No it’s a separate product)
- what stage of the PDLC is the product in? (Growth → Early scaling)
- which antiques would we be selling on the platform? (antique furniture)
- will this be a two-way w-commerce platform? (yes you can buy and sell)
- Where do you want to launch this product? India
- do you have a specific user segment in mind? (can be prioritised)
- will it be completely B2C? (Yes)
- do we have any technical / budget constraints? No
Goal:
Product Goal / Mission: Is to build an e-commerce platform for antique furnitures and facilitate the selling & buying for the Indian consumer.
Business Goal: (North Star Metric): Adoption as we are launching a new product our primary goal is to get users on the platform and make them derive value from it.
Users:
Buyers:
- people who are interested in history / antiques (collectors)
- interior decorators (solving for this ensures that there is greater visibility on the platform, also ensure a higher ATV and repeat usage.
- people who like decorating their homes (not prioritising this because it’s too large a use case to solve for, not all people who like decorating their homes will go for the old-school vibe)
- antique resellers (not considering because its B2C)
Sellers:
- people with heritage pass ons in family
- antique sellers (not considering because its B2C)
Painpoints:
Buyer:
- not knowing whether a piece is truly antique (fake or real)
- antiques usually don’t come with any information about them
- don’t know how to take care of antiques.
- don’t know how to style antique furniture.
- cannot compare options
- accessibility issues (not available digitally)
- difficult to order for delivery
Seller:
- don’t know the value of their own furniture
- cannot find buyers
- difficult to dispose of
Features:
Buyers:
Verified items on our platform: (R: H I: H C: M E: L) P0
we will have verification system on our platform where all items that would be listed on the platform would have a thorough quality check and have a verification mark on them to let buyers know that this item is real. These quality checks would be on the basis of a questionnaire and a digital evaluation via phone call / video call.
As a seller receives more verifications for his items we would list the seller as a verified seller which would mark a seal of approval.
Augmented Reality home decorator: (R: M I: H C: M E: H) P2
A buyer can scan the space where he/she wants to style a piece of furniture. The furniture item selected would automatically be placed there to show how the product will look. We can also suggest other items on our platform that would look go well with it to promote cross-selling.
For eg: if a user is looking for sofa options we can also suggest an antique centre table that would go well.
E-commerce marketplace with antiques categorised into the era they are form. (R: H I: H C: H E: M) P0
The user would come on the platform and would see multiple categories listed like Colonial, Mughal, Victorian etc.
The user would select a category of choice and see multiple sub-categories like sofa, chairs, tables, lamps, beds, cupboards etc. The user can select any browse the catalog. Each listing will have the seller name and price and also an information tile about where the product was sourced, how old it is. We can also show the user how many people are currently interested in the product (like have wishlisted it).
Online bidding system: (R: H I: H C: M E: M) P2
Antiques are expensive so mostly are sold at auctions, we can have an online bidding system where the buyers would place their bids on the platform for a piece. The product would auto-select the highest bidder and the seller would then be notified of the buyer. if the seller rejects the bid, then the item would be up for auction again. This would also boost sales because it would create a sense of FOMO for users.
Comparison tool: (R: H I: H C: H E: M) P1
The tool would first ask the buyer’s preference as to what type of furniture they are looking for.
In case a buyer is confused about an option, he can place multiple options in the comparison tool. The tool would analyse the seller provided information about each item and would give an analysis on which product has what pros and cons. The tool would also recommend an item for the buyer. We can use AI here.
Seller side:
Evaluate your furniture: (R: H I: H C: H E: M) P1
The seller while posting a listing can use a tool where they can find the market standards of price of their furniture. It would be a quiz based tool powered by AI at the back. The seller would upload photos as well. After it has passed a quality check and the questionnaire has been filed. The AI will do a benchmarking and suggest what is the asking price of the item.
Success Metrics:
- No. of items sold that are verified vs not verified
- No. of users buying items recommended by the AR tool
- Average CTR of information tiles under listings
- No. of listing created weekly
- No. of bids placed per product (weekly)
- No. of users using the comparison tool
- Total number of antique sales via the platform.
- No. of sellers filling in the evaluate your furniture questionnaire
- Funnel analysis and churn at each stage.
Build A Product to Buy and Sell Antiques
1. Ask Clarifying Questions:
- What specific types of antiques are we focusing on? (Furniture, art, collectibles, etc.)
- Is this platform purely online, or does it involve physical stores or events?
- Is there a target geographic region for the marketplace?
- Do we have any existing competition in this space?
- What is the budget and timeline for developing and launching the product?
2. Overview:
I will propose a digital marketplace platform that connects antique buyers and sellers, providing a convenient and trustworthy environment for trading valuable antiques.
3. Business Objective/Goal:
The primary objective is to create a thriving online marketplace that facilitates the buying and selling of antiques, generating revenue through transaction fees and premium services. The goal is to become the go-to platform for antique enthusiasts worldwide.
4. User Segment:
Our user segments include:
- Antique collectors and enthusiasts looking to buy unique pieces.
- Antique sellers, including individual collectors and antique shops.
- Curators and professionals seeking specific antiques for exhibitions.
5. User Journey:
- Buyers can browse listings, search for specific items, and view detailed product information.
- Sellers can create accounts, list items with descriptions and images, and manage their inventory.
- Users can communicate through a secure messaging system.
- Transactions can be initiated, and payment and shipping details can be managed on the platform.
- After the sale, users can leave reviews to build trust.
6. User Problems/Use Case:
- Buyers face challenges in finding authentic antiques and trustworthy sellers.
- Sellers struggle to reach a broad audience and build a reputation.
- Both sides deal with payment security and shipping logistics.
7. Solutions:
- Implement a thorough verification process for sellers to ensure authenticity.
- Provide a user-friendly interface for easy listing and browsing of items.
- Offer secure payment options and establish an escrow service for added trust.
- Incorporate a rating and review system to build credibility.
- Develop a mobile app for on-the-go access.
- Offer premium services for sellers, such as professional photography and marketing.
8. Evaluate & Prioritize Solutions
- Verify sellers' authenticity: High priority to build trust in the marketplace.
- User-friendly interface: High priority for a positive user experience.
- Secure payment and escrow service: High priority to ensure safety.
- Rating and review system: High priority for building credibility.
- Mobile app: Medium priority for convenience.
- Premium services: Low priority initially, but can be considered later for revenue diversification.
9. Trade-offs:
- Trade-off between strict seller verification and onboarding speed.
10. Success Metrics:
- Number of active users and transactions.
- User satisfaction and ratings.
- Conversion rate of visitors to buyers.
- Number of repeat buyers and sellers.
- Reduction in fraudulent activities.
- Growth in revenue from transaction fees and premium services.
11. Summary:
In summary, we propose building a comprehensive online marketplace for buying and selling antiques. By addressing the challenges faced by both buyers and sellers, ensuring authenticity, providing secure transactions, and offering a user-friendly experience, we aim to create a thriving platform that becomes the ultimate destination for antique enthusiasts while achieving our business objectives.
Thanks for reading. I am looking for product manager role. You can connect with me via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-sikder/), Medium (https://medium.com/@rahul.sikder3/) and [email protected] of Form
Design a product to buy and sell antiques.
Clarification questions: What do you mean by antiques? Are these smaller items or even larger ones like cars? Is it means to be a 2-sided marketplace, or should we have a platform where we own and manage our inventories etc.? Any specific goals to keep in mind as we are designing the product.
With the assumption of creating 2-sided marketplace (less overhead hence lower cost of sales), keeping antiques to smaller size items that are shippable (easy to manage and less regulations).
Goal of the design is to ensure faster onboarding of new customers.
Define User Persona:
1. Buyer side
a. Hobbyist
b. Business
2. Seller side
a. Hobbyist
b. Business
c. Individuals getting rid of antiques.
The target persona that I would focus on will depend on following:
1. Size of market
2. Frequency of transaction
3. Growth opportunity
I think hobbyists as buyer and seller to be my primary target persona – as they are sizable and will supposedly transact more frequently than business, since they don’t have inventory as such. They are looking for good deals (buy low, and when supply is limited, sell for higher price)
Buyer side User journey:
Pain Point | Severity | Impact to company | Feasibility to address |
Not able to find other known reliable services | Low | Med | Med |
Hard to browse between online and in-person services | Med | Med | Low |
Trustworthiness of the platform | Med | High | High |
Low inventory, less variability elsewhere | Med | Med | Low |
Non categorical inventory | Low | Med | High |
Hard to interact with seller | Med | Med | High |
Authenticity concerns | High | High | Med |
Payment challenges | Low | Low | Med |
Shipping concern (Packaging) | High | Med | High |
Seller side User Journey:
Pain Point | Severity | Impact to company | Feasibility to address |
Onboarding challenges | High | High | Med |
Registering products and SKUs | High | High | High |
Product not selling | High | High | Med |
Addressing buyers’ queries (frequency, type of queries) | Med | High | Med |
Account receivables | Low | Low | Med |
Improve profitability and margin | Med | High | Med |
Return issues | Med | Med | Low |
From Buyers perspective:
Focus on Authenticity and trustworthiness aspect of platform and accounts
Solutions | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | Priority |
Proper registration of users, with phone number to ensure authentic accounts | High | Med | Low | Low | P2 |
Government ID validation | Med | High | Med | Med | P3 |
Product insurance via 3rd party – confirm authenticity, manage losses if any for buyers | High | Med | Med | Vhigh | P5 |
Check for authenticity in house prior to shipping to buyers | High | High | Med | Vhigh | P4 |
Seller and Buyers rating | Med | High | High | Med | P1 |
From Sellers perspective:
Focus on Onboarding SKUs
Solutions | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | Priority |
Show step by step photos to take, keep min number of photos needed with angles. | Med | High | Low | High | P5 |
Use AI to check photo quality, orientation and if it matches Title | Med | High | Low | High | P5 |
Suggest quick description using Gen AI capabilities | High | High | Med | High | P3 |
Suggest pricing based on similar items or keep it dynamic | Med | High | Med | Med | P3 |
Provide an editable UI view where user can enter all product details | High | High | Med | Low | P1 |
Provide a table view of all items listed including all other information | Low | Low | High | Low | P4 |
Provide service that can help with product SKU entry – perhaps a phone number or a chatbot | High | High | High | High | P2 |
We have chosen solutions that has most impact on a given pain point from buyer and user side.
Measure success for buyers:
1. No of buyers and sellers receiving ratings over a period of time
2. % of buyers or sellers providing ratings post transaction and growth rate over time
3. % of users who validated their phone number and growth rate over time
4. % of users who have authorized certification badge (their govt id validation check completed) and growth rate over time
Success metrics for sellers:
1. % increase in average number of products listed per sellers
2. % increase in number of views of products seen since reviving the UI
3. Number of chat requests per month and growth rate
4. Number of times AI inferencing invoked for product description
5. Number of times AI recommendation used as-is or with minor edits
In summary, we started off by narrowing our scope to creating a 2-sided marketplace for hobbyists. Then, we identified multiple pain points for both parties and then selected one pain point each to address using range of solutions based on severity of pain point, impact to company and feasibility to address the pain point. For buyers, the biggest pain was to find authentic trustworthy platform and sellers, whereas for sellers, the most challenging part is to enlist their products on the platform. Then after, we listed down solutions and prioritized solutions based on Reach, impact, confidence so that we can quantify our assumptions for reach and impact, and then effort needed to implement the solution. For buyers, we are going to focus on low hanging fruits such as seller and buyer ratings, and phone verification of all accounts. Then after, we can implement complex processes to ensure validity for sellers using govt id. For sellers, we can implement a simple editable UI, so they can visualize the product page as it will be listed. The second idea was to establish a chatbot and extend it to phone services, where user can interact to provide all the details, and the product is enlisted on their behalf using AI or manual services.
PM
There are various types of antiques available in the market eg: jewelry, currency, paintings, etc. Hence starting with some clarifying questions:
Clarifying questions:
What kind of antiques are we selling/buying?
What is the starting range for the products?
Is it region-specific, to a particular area/country/city?
Who can sell/buy them? Any specific category.
What are the legal considerations?
Where will we sell these items?
Clarification
We can consider here antiques used for decors such as Furniture, Paintings, Ceramics and pottery, Glassware, Clocks and watches, and Silverware/Crockery.
Depending upon the items and their uniqueness every product will have a certain price ranging from minimum to maximum as per the customer’s requirement.
There’s no specific area for this as antiques are unique items that can be found in any part of the world. With the proper logistics services, we can sell/buy them worldwide.
For buying/selling these products the seller must have proper identity and legal documents at this marketplace.
We are building a marketplace to buy/sell antique items, therefore we can go with a web app that supports both IOS and Android. Developing a web app will be a better idea as users can zoom the products properly on a large screen, can get the details more clearly and it will be easy to gather documents on a desktop for legal actions.
Users -> List multiple
New users/newbies: This can be someone who’s just checked an ad on the phone and wants to enquire more about the product which may have dragged him to the website for further details to get some clarity.
Loyal buyers: These are the regular buyers who have a habit of collecting antiques with a disposable income.
Potential sellers/Buyers: These are the ones who sell/buy a specific type of antique collection that is rare.
Business buyers/sellers: who buy/sell antiques on a large scale to earn maximum profits. These can be merchants, potential sellers, authenticating agencies who value antiques/ study them, experts, designers, etc.
Government officials: The ones who buy antiques for a memorable event, fortune, or with interest in the preservation of artifacts.
Assumption -> User group 1, 2
Here, let’s assume two major groups here as newbies and potential buyers/sellers.
Newbies
potential sellers/buyers.
Pain points of the assumed users:
How to sell/buy a product?
Product information - Proper information about the item and also, the assurance of its originality.
Seller Identification, ratings, customer experience? Process for becoming a verified seller?
Actions were taken against the damaged or wrong product.
Fine /Penalties against fake products?
payment process
Role of logistics?
How to become an expert? Can I provide ratings and customer feedback as a buyer?
The solution to these pain points:
Seller:
Every user has to signup/login at the first. List down your products with appropriate keywords and required information, save your data, and process further.
For newbies sellers, it's important to sell the products with market knowledge and product value. hence, we can set up an explore page, with instructions for new sellers.
Sellers should receive reports daily in an organized analytics tab for their products.
To become a verified seller the user has to submit legal documents, and verified considerations that fulfill the demands of proposed rules from the lawsuits. Also, with background history, proper customer ratings, feedback, etc one has changes of being verified.
The seller needs to check and take proper precautions before selling and moving the product for delivery. In case of damages or an incorrect order, they need to replace the item or provide a refund if possible after the verification process.
Strict actions will be taken against the sellers in false cases and legal charges can also be applied if required.
Payment methods should be available via multiple gateways with minimal steps for transactions and should be transferred directly to the seller's a/c. It should be easy and seamless with proper customer care support in case of emergencies.
Logistics: The product has to pass the quality test before being processed. Should be verified and certified by an authorized person. Proper shipping instructions should be given to avoid damage. After this, the seller should provide the customer with proper product updates regarding the payment confirmation, shipping details, delivery, and more relevant information about the product.
A seller can also become an expert if he is verified and can help new users to get clarifications before buying/selling products from his experiences.
b. Buyer:
Set up a new a/c, then explore and analyze multiple options for the type of antiques they are looking for using the search and explore page.
The user should get detailed info on the products before buying to avoid confusion (Clarification). Regarding the quality, the assurance of its originality and pricing.
The user should get proper suggestions and details for verified sellers, and the product mark. Also, they should get recommendations for similar products they are looking for.
Replacement should be available in case of faulty or incorrect items.
The buyer can raise a complaint against fake products.
The minimum payment should be done after selecting the product for confirmation. Payment methods can be seamless and done via modes available.
Customers will get detailed notifications for their products after the payment is confirmed.
Customer feedback and ratings are important as they will be useful for other buyers and will also help sellers to get a ranking on the page.
Prioritization -> Effort vs Impact
Pain points | Effort | Impact | Priority |
How to Sell/Buy | M | H | P0 |
Product Info | L | H | P1 |
Seller /Product verification | H | H | P1 |
Returns/replacements | M | M | P2 |
Fine/penalties for fake products | H | H | P1 |
payment process | M | L | P2 |
Logistics | H | M | P2 |
Customer feedback/reviews | M | H | P1 |
Metrics to track:
As we are focusing on newbies and potential users I would consider:
User Acquisition and Growth Metrics: It provides data on no. of new user sign-ups or registrations. To get a list of Monthly active users (MAU) or daily active users (DAU)
Conversion metrics - To get the Conversion rate from a free trial to a paid subscription. Retention rate and churn rate
Engagement Metrics: Will list the no.of Monthly active users (MAU) or daily active users (DAU). User engagement rate- No.of products purchased, product listings, new user logins, etc. Time users spend on the page.
Revenue Metrics: The overall revenue generated by the product. The average amount of revenue generated per user or customer.
Other metrics:
Quality and Usability Metrics
Customer Satisfaction
Product availability/ Demand rate
Popular Listings
Damage/ faulty product issues
Summary:
For an antique marketplace, the most important part is the reliability of the product which impacts both the product as well as the brands. Hence, here we have to be more concerned about the quality and authenticity that adds value to the product for which the customer is paying eventually raising the brand value and having an impact on the traditional market. So, we can build a web app that supports both IOS and Android and also, can be easy for the users to use anywhere they prefer on smartphones or desktops.
Clarifications:
1/ What do you mean by antiques here? Are these some sort of collectibles or art or photos or something else?
Antiques are any old items that one wants to buy and sell
2/ What do you mean by “product”? Is this an online marketplace? Is this a physical truck to door to door selling? Or is this an auction place?
Online marketplace
3/ Do you have any specific geo, users in mind?
Nope
4/ Any constraints we need to consider?
None
5/ Any goal we need to accomplish?
Sales and returning customers
Approach
1/ User segments
2/ Pain points per user segment
3/ Narrow to a particular user segment
4/ Identify solutions for this one user segment
5/ Prioritize solutions focusing on the impact on the goal
6/ Define a user experience
7/ Define success metrics
8/ Define launch plan aka go-to-market plan
Details
1/ User segments -
Buyers
Hobbyists - they are one time buyers/not frequent, dont know much about curating antiques and pricing them
Collectors - serious buyers, more frequent, have a way to curate and money is not an objection
Investors - Opportunist, know how to curate, want a good deal for less price and ready to grab when one available (more sporadic buyers)
Sellers
Collectors
Trust the sale and make sure they are paid
Investors
Trust the sale and make sure they are paid
Banks
Trust the sale and make sure they are paid
Hobbyists
Trust the sale and make sure they are paid
2/ Pain points per user segment
Hobbyists -
Need help in identifying an antique
Need help in financing
Need help in trying out with their decor
Collectors -
Need help in identifying an antique
Need help in trying out with their decor
Investors -
Need help in identifying an antique
Need help in financing
3/ Narrow to a particular user segment
All buyers and sellers are fair game, but because we want to get a good name and sales going, I want to focus on collectors. Because 1/ they are frequency buyers, 2/ they coming to our site to buy antiques will only add to our products validity
All sellers are fair game
4/ Identify solutions for this one user segment
Buyers
Identifying antiques - 3rd party curation certificate to be done on the antique and certification available on the site
Try out in their decor - a virtual view on their phone or 3d glasses, or a replica sent for a trial
Availability check - Items are shipped to warehouse for locking in the availability
Sellers -
Trust the buyer - We sell the product for the sellers (hold it in our warehouse)
Trust the funds - we hold the funds for the sellers before shipping their product
5/ Prioritize solutions focusing on the impact on the goal
Curation - required -> sellers send the product to the warehouse and we curate and store for sales. Sellers define the price
Try our in decor - a virtual experience on phone
As items are shipped to warehouse,we know the availability
6/ Define a user experience
Seller experience -
A seller portal
Create an account
Add products and ship products to us
See curation results
Make their antiques available for sale and price them
Buyer experience -
A buyer portal
Create an account
Link a bank account or credit card
Browse for antiques by age, era, specific dynasty, category
Try our the product
Buy and receive
7/ Define success metrics
Seller
Input metrics
# of sellers
# of products inventoried
# of products curated
# of products set for sale
Output metrics
# of products sold
Revenue
Buyer
Input metrics
# of buyers registered
Products searched for by buyers
Output
Products bought by buyers
Fraudulent purcahses
8/ Define launch plan aka go-to-market plan
Geo specific
Recruit some well known buyers and sellers (build an inventory out)
9/ If we had more time
Logistics of shipping
Logistics of curation
Would we support returns
Would we think of a physical store in certain geos
Identify legal trade issues/intl trade
Bronze PM
1. Clarifying question
Do you have in mind a specific county? or platform? or type of antiques? Antiques -we imply goods older than 50 years at least.
Assumptions: We are talking about US market, a multi-platform marketplace.
2. List the user groups and chose the one you’re focusing on
Here we have 2 main user types: sellers and buyers.
I would like to focus on sellers.
Within buyers, we have:
SMB
Mid. sized company
Big players
I believe that we can bring more value to SMB.
3. Describe user flow
As a seller, I - register - add items (photo, description, price) - promote my items - check data - get payments - ship item
4. List and prioritize the user needs for your user group
Needs | Frequency | Severity | Relevance | Alternatives |
I need high-quality photo | High | High | Low | High |
I need a selling description | High | High | High | Mid. |
I need SEO optimization/keywords | High | High | High | Mid. |
I need to promote/sell my items | High | High | High | Low |
I should set up a competitive price | Mid. | Mid. | Mid. | Mid. |
I need secure payment | Mid. | High | High | Low |
I have to deliver my item | Mid. | High | High | Mid. |
I’m going to focus on the next needs:
I need SEO optimization/keywords
I need to promote/sell the items
I need a secure payment
6. List and evaluate your solutions
Need | Solution | Impact | Cost |
I need SEO optimization/keywords | Add special fields in the product card | Low | Low |
Automatical key-words generation | Mid. | Mid | |
Integrate current AI solutions | High | High | |
I need to promote/sell the items | Put the item on top of the list in the first 24 hours. | Mid. | Mid |
Add promotion package | High | High | |
Add auction promotion logic | High | High | |
I need a secure payment | Integrate with payment solution | High | High |
I would state with following features:
Integration with payment solution
Add auction promotion logic
Automatical key-words generation
8. Success metrics
Primary metric:
-Revenue earned from commissions of products sale(Monetization
Additional Metrics:
-Sign up to the product
-DAU,WAU,MAU
-Products listed, viewed, and bought
Problem Statement: Build a product to buy and sell antiques.
Clarifying questions: Platform, Startup like Amazon
Antiques: 100 years old at least
Why are we building this product? Still not a focused product in the marketplace is mostly done in physical stores or online sister businesses.
Goal: Build an online antique marketplace MVP for where buyers and sellers and purchase and sell their certified products.
Users:
Sellers: 1) commercial sellers: Individuals selling on a large scale.
2) Individual sellers/Collectors: Sell occasionally; items of high value
3) B2B seller: businesses that are selling to us in bulk
Buyers: 1) Collectors: Individuals who buy antiques as a hobby; want to buy items of significance.
2) Regular buyers: Middle-high income background, prefer decorating with items of value
3) Business buyers: Businesses buying from us in large quantities, for example for decorating an office building.
User Case, Stories and Solutions
Sellers
Commercial Sellers: Individuals selling on a large scale.
Use Case | User Story | Solution | Prioritisation/ | Business Impact/Cost (S, M,L) |
Sellers want to set up their products to sell. | As a User, I want to log in and set up my account to create listings for my products to sell. | When the seller opens the website, they should be able to: 1. Make an account.
| P1 | H/L |
Sellers want analytics on the popularity of products | As a User, I want to see regularly updated analytics for traction on my products. | When the seller with products on the site logs in:
| P2 | M/L |
The user wants to be able to take payment. | As a User, I want to be able to take payments from the customer and transfer that to my bank account | As a seller, I;
| P1 | H/L |
The user wants to inform the buyer of the post-purchase process. | As a User, I want to inform the buyer post-purchase of order confirmation, shipping, delivery date/time and feedback nudge | As a seller, post-purchase I should be able to send the buyer confirmations for:
| P1 | H/L |
2. Buyers
Collectors: Individuals who buy antiques as a hobby; want to buy items of significance.
The user wants to search for antiques via keywords | As a potential buyer, I want to search for specific or various items from a list or keywords to find a category or an item I like and want to purchase. | When a potential buyer visits the website, they can:
| P1 | H/M |
The user wants to open an account or purchase antiques as a guest. | As a buyer, I want to open a full or guest account and purchase. | When a potential buyer visits the website, they can:
| P2 | H/L |
Users want to ensure that antiques are authentic. | As a buyer, I want to be able to verify the antique I want to purchase so that I know it’s authentic. | When a potential buyer visits the website, they can:
| P1 | H/M |
The user wants to ensure that the antiques reach them safely. | As a buyer, I want to know that shipping is handled well so that the items don't fall apart. | When a potential buyer visits the website, they can:
| P1 | H/H |
P1 would be essential to build for MVP's first iteration.
Metrics:
North Star
Nos of antiques purchased
Secondary Metrics
Number of Products added to the listings
DAU, WAU, MAU
Number of breakages during Shipping
User Metrics
Seller:
The number of accounts made.
Commission earned by sellers
Buyers:
Nos. of accounts made.
Products or categories that are popular among buyers.
Trade-Offs
The competitors would be physical stores and marketplaces that sell antiques.
To position ourselves as a visible brand, we should ensure that certification, shipping and customer service elements are impeccable.
To acquire first customers we can collaborate with the physical stores and encourage them to list products on our website. We can provide services and help through the process to ease onboarding,
Framework: clarify, state objective, users, requirements , pain points to solve with app, prioritize.
Questions
- Do we have a preference for Web or App?
- Is this a standalone marketplace or integrated into an Ebay or Facebook marketplace?
- Is this for shippable antiques or any type of antique product like furniture?
- Scope - can we assume US? or local?
- Assuming no resource constraints exist.
- Elderly - have items from their past that may now have value.
- Family of elderly who own the antiques - they want to help a loved one sell their antiques, their loved one may have passed away and they don't want to keep them, they want to turn an antique into cash.
- Antique enthusiasts/collectors and Historians. They want to collect authentic and fairly appraised items and sell them also.
| # | Capability to.. | Prioirty based on Impact | Difficulty to build |
| 1 | Create a profile and verify users for both buyers and sellers | High | Medium |
| 2 | Sellers can Post an item with pictures and descriptions | High | Low |
| 3 | Buyers to view the antiques that are for sale | High | Low |
| 4 | Process transactions through site/app securely between buyer/seller | High | High |
| 5 | Coordinate exchange of items (shipping or local pickup) | High | Medium |
| 6 | Appraisal system - need a verified process to have items appraised and authenticated to prevent fraud | High | Medium |
| 7 | Set a price and negotiate it if needed (bid) | High | High |
| 8 | Allow buyers/sellers to chat about the item prior to selling | High | Low |
| 9 | Comment on posts | Low | Low |
| 10 | Refund policy - can start with no refunds to begin | Medium | High |
I rated all of these as high because I think these are all necessary for MVP of the product.
Competition.
I want to take a moment to mention that Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, etc. already do have the capability to buy/sell items in a protected way. Antique appraisals would make this a differentiator. Similar to Poshmark, which authenticates luxury items before the buyer receives the item and the seller receives the money, we would want the same system for antiques.
Buying and selling antiques is a niche marketplace play and so I would first of all look to see any current marketplace is that already fulfilling that function. I'm going to assume that this niche marketplace play would be my own startup as opposed to a new product introduction within a major company.
I would give myself a year to launch the MVP for this antiques marketplace. First, I would look at some of the alternatives out there to understand the user journey of how people are buying antiques today:
- Yelp
- Facebook Marketplace
- Craigslist
- Google Maps
- Facebook Pages
- Search engine results
- Lack of a product catalog that lists their inventory and prices
- Discoverability of the shop
- No search functionality on their website
- Poor description and lack of photos
- In some cases, no website itself
- The need to make an appointment to view the antiques resulting in user friction
- High-net worth couples looking to complement furniture, paintings, and other accessories in their homes
- Ultra high-net worth individuals and couples looking to add to their private collection, main residential homes, and vacation homes
- Upper middle class individuals and couples looking for collectibles from a certain era
- Retailer enters the name of their business, email address, phone and physical address on first screen. Physical address is an autocomplete based on integration with Google Maps
- On the 2nd screen, retailer is shown a bunch of tiles with different product categories such as furniture, clocks, paintings, and others and is asked to select the top 5 categories of products that they wish to sell
- On the 3rd screen, retailer is asked to take a picture of the first product that they have and select the category that it belongs to
- On the 4th screen, an AI-enabled image processing API auto-tags the color and type of object (chair, hairbrush) that has been uploaded
- On the 5th screen, the retailer can edit the name of the object, provide a brief description, and a price. Once done, he can click on "Upload" to have the object uploaded. There will also be a checkbox nudging him to have us (the Antique startup) contact him to take professional photos of his inventory
- Users can sign in through SSO via Google, Facebook, or just their own email address
- They will be prompted to enter their first and last names, a username, and the zip code they live in
- On the 3rd screen, they will be asked to list the categories of antiques they wish to browse, a search box if they want to search by object name instead, a mileage radius from their location, and a price range slider
- The 4th screen will then show them a list of objects, organized by the stores they belong to, price, thumbnail, and the distance from them. There will be options to contact these stores
- The user will be able to click on the object to view additional detailed descriptions and more photos
Silver PM
Q: Build an app to Buy and Sell antiques
Get a few things clarified like will it be an Android or iOS app. Will it be a two-way marketplace?
Assuming it will be a two-way marketplace for both Android and iOS, let's start
The Personas:
Sellers:
Antique Shop owners who sell them from a physical store - Power User
Museums who want to sell a few of their antiques in order to generate some revenue or closing down or inventory issues
Individual collectors who buy and sell antiques regularly - Power User
Individuals who inherited an antique and wish to sell them off (one-off users)
Buyers:
Antique Shop owners who collect it for reselling purposes (from their stores) - Power User
Museums that collect antiques for display
Individual collectors - Power user
Schools/Education institutes
Interior decorators for placing it in the home or office or hotel - Frequent User
Current Alternatives and Problems:
1. The antique buying and selling happens from a physical store
Problems:
1. As the name suggests 'antique' is not something that is present at multiple locations at the same time. I will get the same Dairy Milk everywhere in India. What if a collector loves an antique that is available in a store in Delhi and the person resides in Mumbai.
2. These stores are few. Additionally, if an individual collector wishes to sell it to another collector, it is difficult for these two entities to meet up.
2. Selling and Buying on Olx and other similar two-way marketplaces.
Problem: The biggest problem here is trust. How will a buyer verify that it is authentic and not counterfeit?
Solution:
Design a two-way marketplace app for buying and selling authentic antiques.
The goal is to create a platform where the users can
1. Buy verified/authenticated antiques from
2. Trusted sellers (reviews and ratings) who belong to
3. Any location across the country
So the main Goal is 'Trust'
The Key Features:
Sellers:
1. A listing Page to list their antiques with all the necessary details
2. An option to upload the certificate of authenticity (verified online)
3. An option to receive a certificate of authenticity (third party integration - future scope)
4. An option to auction the antique through the app. Auction is an extremely important feature for such platforms as antiques do not have a fixed value. For eg: A Tendulkar bat can auction for even Rs. 1 Cr to the right collector. The auction will also become our key source of revenue as we will charge an X% as the auction fee
Buyer:
1. List of antiques across categories of interest, locations and price range
2. Chat and Negotiation
3. Filter to view only authenticated products or verified sellers
4. Rate, Review and Report a seller
The MVP would include:
1. Antique Listing option along with a certificate of authenticity (verified online)
2. List of antiques with filters like category, location, price and verified
3. Rate, Review and Report
4. Chat
Future Scope will include:
1. Auction
2. Authentication service
North Star Metric:
The number of Antiques Sold per month (which have not been returned)
Key Performance Metrics to track:
1. Number of antiques listed per day/week/month (with and without a certificate of authenticity)
2. Number of Sellers on-boarded and churned in a month
3. The purchase funnels -
Search-Find-Chat-Add to Cart-Add Details-Pay
List-Find-Chat-Add to Cart-Add Details-Pay
4. % of Items returned
Health Metrics:
1. % of sellers rated below 3
2. Number of users complaints per day
3. % of Search failures
PM
1) What is the definition of antiques ? It can be anything which is old or speacific type of artifacts?
Answer: Anything which is old and not in easily available.
2) Any location preference?
Answer: Yeah, New York
3) Any platform specifications?
Answer; On all platforms
Attempting Answer:
Fb mission: Help build community and bring people together
Product mssion: Buu and Sell, anything antique anywhere.
Assumltions:
No montetisation angle for fb right now since we plan to build ecosystems of sellers and buyers before attempting at monetisation.
It will be a sub-product of fb and not a standalone product.
Audience Buckets:
2 sided ecosystem:
1) Sellers: Segmenting by Size
A) Individual collectors who sell
B) Indie sellers
C) Big Auctions houses
2) Buyers: Segmenting by motivations ( scale, growth, fitment with fb)
A) Enthusisasts/hobby
B) Re-sellers/ for profit(l-m, l, l-m)
C) Religious/ Belief(l-m, l, l-m)
Focus : will do an mvp with few sellers and focus on buyers engagement
Prioristaisaton: Enthusiasts ( h, m-h, h)
Painpoints: for enthusiasts: Before- During - After ( scale, urgency, doabilty by fb)
1) Discovery of place to buy from ( h, m, l-m)
2) Finding Right Antique of interest( h, h, m-h)
3) Trust of authenticity (h,h,l-m)
4) Pricing( h,h,l)
Prioritizaton: Finding right antique of interest
Solution: ( scale, effecfiveness, effort)
1) AI Wizard which uses AI to find right type of antiques (h, m-h, l)
2) Chatbot with AI model (m, m-h, l)
3) VR for a walk through of antique and inperson preview of type of antiques( l, m-h, h)
Prioritisation: AI Wizard which uses AI
Summary: We will build am AI Wizard solution for antiques enthusisatz who find difficulty in finding the right antiques of their interests. It will be an MVP in NYT, once product reaches product market fit we will scale for adoption.
PM
Initial clarifications
- This is a new product where certain users can both buy and sell antiques.
- Antiques are considered as unique items that are limited or one of a kind, are generally old and are used for display.
- We might also want to consider the market we want to launch this product. This could be a specific country or a region. For the purpose of this answer, I assume that we are considering this for the US market.
- Are there any existing products of this nature that we need to be aware of that we would compete against in the given market.
- Is there any specific device type that we should focus on such as app only approach.
Approach
Now that we have understood the space a bit we can use the following approach to develop the product.
1. Look at the potential user segments for buying and selling antiques
2. Identify the business model that we want to use and the corresponding user segments we want to target
3. Understand the use cases for the selected user segments and prioritize the ones needed for an MVP
4. Identify some metrics to evaluate the product
User segments and business model
The buyers and sellers for antiques can be
- Individuals who buy or sell for personal reasons
- Shops/dealers of antiques
- We could also look at museums or auction houses that may be interested in rare antiques
There are various ways to structure the marketplace for antiques
1. C2C model where individual customers deal (buy and sell) with other similar individual customers
2. B2C model where individual customers buy antiques from shops/dealers through the marketplace
3. B2B model where shops buy and sell antiques with other shops
4. Intermediary model where we buy antiques from individuals and subsequently sell to other individuals
For this product I fell that a B2C model makes sense as a starting point as it offers some advantages over the other models. This could also be a differentiating factor if we assume that products like ebay already exist to address the unstructured C2C market.
1. It gives us the opportunity to solve the cold start problem that would exist in a C2C model. It would be easier to acquire a small numbers of dealers for the platform than it would be to acquire individual sellers to get an assortment of antiques that could attract buyers.
2. Buying from dealers would insipire more trust than buying from individuals. Or put it another way, verifying dealers would be more cost effective than verifying individuals to ensure trustworthy transactions on the marketplace.
3. This would have a low upfront investment when compared to an intermediary model where we would first have to acquire the inventory.
4. A B2B marketplace would be sufficiently big problem to require a solution.
MVP design
Seller side use cases
- A seller account to manage the inventory listed on the market
- Listing antiques alng with their images, description, some attributes (type, material, age, origin etc) and authenticity (letters of provenance if possible)
- Order management where sellers can see all the incoming orders
Buyer side use cases
- Browse through the catalog
- Basic search for the catalog
- Product page to view images, description, authenticity (letter of provenance if exists)
- Cart and checkout for executing a transaction
Platform features
- Website (including m-web) + apps to enable buyers and sellers
- Catalog system for storing all the data for antiques
- Customer support system (FAQs, policies, contact forms etc) for buyers and the sellers on the platform
- Payment system to collect payment from the buyers and transfer to the sellers after deduction of commission
We could also look into aspects of business outside of the technology platform such as business development to onboard antique dealers on the platform.
Metrics
Success metrics: There are a number of metrics that would signify the success of the product.
- No of transactions
- Merchandise value of transactions
- Conversion rates
As we are talking about a new product I would focus on no. of transactions to ensure that we can establish a product market fit. Once we establish the fit we can shift focus to product optimizations and focus on conversion rates.
Health metrics: These metrics measure the overall health of the system and can also be early indicators of larger problems.
- Daily, weekly and monthly visitors
- New signups for buyers and sellers
- Repeat customers
- assortment size
Step1: Background
Antiques are generally a special category of products that provide the owner/customer a sense of being part of heritage rather. The customers generally don't worry much about the utilitarian aspects of the product.
I would assume that any marketplace category addition would serve the purpose of Facebook's mission which is bringing the community together as sellers and buyers engage on the platform to discover/complete such transactions.
Hence, I would assume this is an effort to be done on the Facebook platform to drive further engagement on the platform, leading to additional monetization through ads which is how Facebook makes almost all of its money.
Also, I would treat this more like an improvement in marketplace product.
Step2: Defining and choosing a user segment
There are various segments available for which we can design this product.
Segmentation done based on Geography (country)
- Same geography buyers (in the same country)
- Cross geography buyers (in a different country)
We will choose cross geography buyers as the lesser the proximity of the buyer to the item's origins, the higher are the chances he would appreciate the antique. Moreover, the cross geography segment would be larger in number generally.
There are other ways to segment buyers as well (retail vs govt. institutions such as archelogy dept., etc).
Step3: List use cases
Buyer use cases
| Sl. No. | Use Case | Priority |
| 1 | I would need a way to discover this category of products | P0 (hygiene) |
| 2 | I would need a proper enough description to understand the antique as I am from a different culture | P0 (many users) |
| 3 | I would need some verification to trust that this is a genuine product | P0 (many users) |
| 4 | I would need some validation that this qualifies as an antique product | P1 (some users) |
| 5 | I would need help in translating the text to understand | P1 (some users) |
| 6 | I would need help in getting the product shipped to my place | P0 (many users) |
Seller use cases
| Sl. No. | Use case | Priority |
| 7 | I would need a way to upload additional details of the product | P0 (many users) |
| 8 | I would need a way to choose the category as 'Antique' | P0 (many users) |
| 9 | I would need some help in pricing the product | P1 (some users) |
Step4: Solutions
| Use Case ID | Solution |
| 1 | Discovery as an additional category 'Antiques' in the marketplace |
| 2 | Listing should have details like 'Year of origin', 'Place of origin', 'Owned by' |
| 3 | FB verification based on ML algorithm based on image analysis |
| 6 | suggestions on 3rd party vendors for international shipping, FB can charge money also for the backing of brands |
| 7 | A form to upload relevant details |
| 8 | Another item in the list of dropdown |
Risks:
- Item verification is important so the ML algorithm needs to be robust, else the possibility of fraud
- International shipping needs to be robust, else if items are breaking then repeats will suffer
- Primary metrics
- Seller engagement:
- No. of 'Antique' listings created
- Buyer engagement:
- No. of 'Antique' listings for which interest was shown by cross-country users
- Interest/listing
- Seller engagement:
PM
Statements in parentheses are from the interviewer.
Clarification:
Is this for a startup / a large company like FB/ Google?
Is there a time constraint? Is there a budget/resource limit?
(Assume Meta as the parent company with almost no time/ budgetary constraints)
Since FB already has a marketplace to buy and sell goods, will Antiques serve as another category or a stand-alone product?
(Standalone product, separate from FB, Marketplace)
Are these antiques physical objects or are can they be digital assets in the Metaverse? (Physical or Digital, you can choose either or both.)
What is considered an antique product, does it have to be X years old to qualify?
(Assume: anything physical over 50 years old will be considered an antique. Any physical antique can be converted into a digital asset and labeled as an antique in the MetaVerse.)
I will focus on building a product to buy and sell physical and OR digital antiques for Meta, in the metaverse.
Goal: Do you want me to focus on a specific goal for this product? (I can assume one.)
Because there is already a marketplace on FB and this is a stand-alone product for antiques, it seems to me that:
FB's qualitative goal is to create a marketplace of niche and high-priced goods, starting with Antiques.
"Does that sound ok to you?"
(Yes.)
_____________
"I will take a minute to come up with some user groups, and then I will select one and tell you why." (OK) ...
_______________
Assumption: Most antiques are expensive
User groups:
High net worth individuals who usually buy antiques, often
Medium Net-worth Individuals who buy expensive antiques, but rarely
Individuals who don't buy antiques
Individuals/ antique dealers who sell antiques
Companies or galleries that sell antiques
...
"Since it is a 2-sided marketplace, I will need to focus on both buyer and seller sides."
(Ok. sure.)
User Journey (Buyer):
- Search for antiques by walking into a dealer's store or via personal connections
- Trust the seller's word for antique's authenticity
- Negotiate price
- Buy / not buy
- Receive inquiries or leads from personal channels or in-store walk-ins
- Negotiate price
- Win/loss of sale
- Trusting a new seller is hard, need to rely on personal connections or relationship
- Can not verify the authenticity of the antique object instantly
- Can not buy a portion of the object (have to buy the whole objection, unlike liquid assets like shares)
- Payment via cash or check can be risky and unsafe
- Payment transfer mainly via bank-to-bank transfer
- Trusting a new buyer without identity verification
- Haggling and price negotiation
- Takes a week for payment fulfillment
- Antique verification Certificate via 3rd party
- Price fairness (similar to car websites)
- Seller reviews and trust score
- Bidding option
- Personalized recommendations
- Pay online, no extra fees
- AR/VR see antique's digital-clone in the Metaverse like NFT
- Own the digital-antique (similar to NFT)
- Buyer reviews and trust score
- 3rd party Verification Certificate Service (free)
- Accept or decline a bid
- Accept payment online instantly
- Convert the antique to a digital asset for the Metaverse
- Antiques sold per month (NSM/Primary)
- Antiques sold per seller (Secondary)
- Antiques bought per buyer (Secondary)
PM
1. Why:
* antiques are special in a way that a buyer can uniquely value it depening on their taste, lineage etc..Tehcnology can enable sellers getting the most eyeballs, potentially the best price
* current market has some options today, such as Ebay or in-person consignment shop. But these havent see mass adoption (as much as other social products for example FB/Twitter etc)
* FB has a large user base that can be leveraged for buying & selling
2. Who:
Ecosystem: Buyer, Seller, Marketplace, Certifier(for expensive antiques)
>> Focus on buyers because if we can drive engagement from buyers (by buidling for their needs) sellers will follow. To bootstrap, FB can partner with businesses that sell antiques (offline and online)
Customer segmentation:
Buying for self (hobby, collectable)
Buying for someone else / professional (decorator, photgrapher)
Buy to sell again (repair and make profit)
Prioritize - Buying for self (hobby, collectable) - Lagest market and current experience has a number of friction points
User needs ( Buying for self (hobby, collectable) ):
1. Looking for inspiration
2. Looking for things that will look good, given my home/space,
3. Looking for recommendations and knowledge, trends things valued in/arround my community
Prioritize - Looking for recommendations - Based on impact to goal and user pain
3. Solutions - What to build
Recap: HMW build FB product tto buy/sell antiques to help buyers look for recommendations/share knowledge about things around them
Sol-1: Build a "reels" like product feed
Sol-2: Personalized recommendations
Sol-3: Ecosystem for people to rate/review
Describe the product- The application is used to ease the buying and selling of antiques by matching the buyers and sellers at a jucntion (app) that is difficult to do offline due to various choices, distance. It is also a time consuming process. It is a big platform to match the large number of buyers and sellers in a very short span of time.
Clarifications/Assumptions-
1. The app is just to sell the new antiques or reselling of the used antiques. I assumed both of them.
2. Is it going to be used only on desktops, laptops or tableets and phones as well. I assumed all of them
3. The buyers and sellers can use the only app or the same users can also display the same antiques at stores as well. Assuming, they should use only the application and the goal is to divert those who are using the physical stores.
Scope- This app is going to be used accross all the countries
Goal of the application- is to generate revenue and increase the customer engagement to expand the foot prints in the local geographies.
List of user group
1. Business users- sells the antiques to generate money. Buyer who buys the antiques in bulk to sell it in the local geographies where applicated has not yet reached. They act as agents or middlemen to directly, physically sell to individuals in tthe small local areas.
2. Individual users- Buy the antiques for personal use.
Pain Points
1. Inability to find the right buyers and matching sellers at the right time for the desired antique product at the desired price. The process takes lot of time in the stores.
2. To get the antiques which are the authentic ones and not the mimic copies.
3. How to ensure that buying and selling of wide range of antiques adheres to all the government rules, compliance and regulations.
4. Maintaince of antiques is a tough task as it gets depreciated due poor maintaince and damage
5. I can keep only certain number of antiques being and individual user and can't keep on accumulating the same due to limited storage capacity.
6. I do not know much about the antiques of different kinds and hence inspite of being interested can't dig deeper on the product to quickly take the decesion of buying. At times I ended up buying the products that I do not like after a very short span of time.
7. I want some extremely antique products which are rarely available and tough to get it as there are many people who are interested to buy such products
Solutions
1. A feature can be provided to sell the antiques after using it for sometime either to refurbish or to individuals at a lower price in secondary market. This will solve paint point 4,5,6
2. A feature should be provided to enable the buyers and sellers to to particiapate in virtual auctions. This will help in solving paint point 7
3. Some short and simple videos can be embedded to educate the users about the products and its historical importance
4. A chat bot system can enable the customers to know more about the products or their queries related to authenticy of the products and governence
5. A feature can be provided that will provide a summary with the required details of the product on its authenticity, importance and worth of it to gain trust of the users. A very small survey can be attached to each product once the customers enquired about the product to know level of interest and disinterest.
6. A feature to enable the buyers to exchange the old specific antiques at a cost and buy newer ones
7. Ability to return the order and ask for refund in case of damage as per the policy or cancel the order before it is delivered as per the policy
8. An ability to share likes, emojis to share the interests on the antiques
9. Referral bonus feature to increase the user base. The amount will be gained once the user makes the first transaction successfully to the person who refers.
User Journey
1. The user needs to get themselves registered first with a form to enter in the main page in the desired language.
2. Ability to select and check details on each antique product for each catagory
3. User should be able to whishlist the product, add to the bucket after investigating and inquiring on the required parameters
4. User should be able to update the address of delivery and select the mmode of payment like credit, debit card, wallets etc.
5. Payment gateway system to ensure the payment can be made in any currency by the user and equivalent amount should be recived by the seller in the desired currency.
6. Feedback and close the deal
The user journey should follow unhappy and happy path scenarios
Metrics
1. User adoption-
A. How many users have registered themselves for the first time.
B. How many users just visited the site and left without registration (Number of hits) and for how long they stayed there
2. User Activation
A. How many users are navigating to the website after registering themselves
B. What is the frequency of visit?
C. How many times each users visits in a day/week/month
D. What is the time frequency of doing first transaction after doing the registration
E. How much time does a user takes to close one deal?
3. User Engagement
A. How many likes have been shared on the product
B. How long the user is engaged with bots and short videos
4. Revenue
A. Number of transactions and the value of transactions by each user
B. Frequncy of return and value of the antiques due to certain reasons
C. How frequently the antiques are getting resell after first purchase and value
D. Time taken to close aution deals with value
Prioritisation will be done on the below parameters
Cost, Efforts to build the feature, Business value
Clarifying the situation
Antiques could be any piece of art or collectible object people would want. As of today these are majorly sold offline via auction or on sites like e-bay. The product would be a marketplace with two sides.
The current customers often belong to elite segments who’d want to collect items and show it to public or decorate their houses.
The goal of the product can be to increase the awareness and accessibility of antiques. As of today people know little about antiques and interest levels are limited to a premium set of people with an exclusivity around it
Let’s now try to get to the set of customer segments, looking at their key pain points and building solutions for them. We’d also come up with metrics to measure success
User Personas
Stakeholders here would be sellers and buyers and there would be network effects created here. Here let’s focus on the buyers who can then create demand which would attract sellers to our marketplace.
The user segment can be broken down by their motivation , tech savvy or not and age group.
Elite buyer — They’re aware of art already and wants to expand their collectio ns. They have huge spending capacity and are fairly good with technology and may often fall in the age groups of above 30
Curious buyer — They’re young and always have an eye for interesting items. They look at antiques with awe but felt its not for them. They’re usually very tech savvy and have decent spending capacity where they spend on shopping or buying gifts
Laggard — They do not spend much on such items and are not much into art. They are not so tech savvy as well.
Pain Points
Elite buyers are currently using offline means getting them onboard might be easier. However, this may not align with our goal of making antiques accessible to the larger crowd. So, let’s pick the curious buyer .
- The ease of purchase is low for antiques as of today
- People do not know much about these to get excited
- People may not wish to spend a fortune on them, and want to be assured of the quality
- They might have friend circles and would like to show it to their friends or gift them.
Solutions
- Know your antique — A detailed historical overview on each of the art work, to help buyers understand the worthiness of the art work they’d purchase. They could be redirected to detailed links aggregated for deeper understanding
- Referral — People would be given invite only referrals and get discounts on antiques if the referred person makes a purchase
- Filter & Insights — These could filter antiques based on their prices and also show insights like how it compares to other normal items people may buy.
- Live auction — Buying could become a fun event with friends by simulating an auction scenario. There would be bidder and he/she could invite friends over for the auction of art works
- Gift a friend — We could ask questions around likes and dislikes of friends and send surprise antique gifts to a friend
- VR museum (moonshot)— People could go with friends on an invite only basis on a museum tour wherein they could interact with friends and art work and buy if interested.
Know your antique is a solution we should start of with as its impact is maximum with regard to our goal of acquiring users. Referral and fileter & insights can further drive customer acquisition. Gift a friend would be the next in terms of cost of building vs the impact it can have. Once a community of users are built, live auction would be a great engaging activity
Metrics
- # of monthly users ( North star metric )
- # of purchases
- # of successful referrals
- I understand that it is a marketplace for sellers who want to sell antiques and buyers who want to purchase antique items for several purposes. I will assume that it will be a web application as well as mobile application so that the platform can facilitate the transaction digitally.
- I would like to think about who are the users of this application. I can think of a few -
- Antique enthusiasts: Generally Rich people looking to decorate their mansions or houses with antique items.
- Antique stores: These stores are located throughout the world locally and they have hoarded a lot of local antique items. They find it difficult to find buyers to those items.
- Now, let's look at what problems do these segments face -
- Antique enthusiasts:
- It's risky to contact someone regarding antique items and difficult to trust the claim of items being antique.
- There are chances of items being broken while in transit. They have to sometimes fly to local stores in order to purchase it.
- It's difficult to find the item of their own choice of material, wood, type, age of item etc.
- Auctions do they antique items but they are overpriced.
- Antique stores:
- They are not able to find enough buyers for their items and hence, they don't have any seller power when any buyer comes to their store. (problem of visibility)
- Antique enthusiasts:
- Now, with this platform we will aim to provide visibility to the antique stores which will also help buyers locate these antique stores throughout the world. List of potential features for the application:
- Buyer is able to limit geography to see the list of items. (basic filter)
- Buyer can initiate a chat to negotiate with the seller (chat feature)
- Buyer can access the lisence of the product for sale to verify the authenticity of the item.
- Buyer needs to get some assurance that the item purchased will be delivered to her.
- Buyer can access seller reviews.
- Buyer can see the items based on her history of purchases.
- Seller is able to upload the items on the interface with rich product description. (product description page)
- Seller is able to access the sales analytics
- Seller can review the buyer behavior
- Seller gets logistics support.
- To implement the solution, we will select the folowing features based on the priority. These priorities are based on reach, implementation effort and ROI.
- Buyer basic filter
- Buyer access to lisence
- Seller basic upload of item on the platform
- Seller gets logistics support.
- Metrics tracked-
- Items listed
- Stores onboarded
- Items bought
- Buyers onboarded
- DAU/WAU/MAU
- Engagement rate
- The e-commerce platform needs to differentiate itself from the other e-comm marketplaces like OLX, ebay, amazon etc.
Question: Build a product to buy and sell antiques.
Clarifying Questions:
Who are we building this product for? Is this a company which sells to customers B2C or Is it like OLX? - Like OLX
What's the goal of this - Since its a new product, I am assuming our primary goal would be to increase user acquisition and engagement - User engagement is primary
Do we have any similar products that we have already or is it totally new product for our company - New product
Are there any time/money/resource constraints that I should be aware of? - Yes, we want quick GTM
Approach
Goal and Assumptions
User Personas
User journey today
Pain points
Prioritize
Solutions
Metrics
Goal - To increase user engagement of our product
Assumptions -
Self service app
Users can be both sellers and buyers
India specific
Designing MVP as we need faster GTM and it's a new product
User Personas -
Individual Buyers - People who want to buy antiques for themselves/home
Business Buyers - People who want to buy antiques to resell
Individual Sellers - People who have unwanted antiques and wish to sell
Business Sellers - Businesses who sell antiques
Museums/Exhibitions - can either buy or sell
Since our goal is to increase user engagement I will focus on business sellers and individual buyers
User journey -
To Buy | To Sell |
|
|
Pain Points
Buyers | Sellers |
|
|
To prioritize pain points I would like to Check alignment of pain points with goal - Engagement
Define Engagement - More buy and sell transactions per user
Buyers - 3,5
Sellers - 4,2
Solutions
App will contain all the stores available for buying antiques. Buyers can search through the stores/items , sorry on multiple criteria. Buyers can also contact sellers through the app. Sellers can register with our app and display all the available antiques with pisces and discounts similar to amazon.
B3. - App will be available 24*7, users can leave msgs to sellers anytime and enquire. We can link whatsapp to our app so that communication is easy. Run through the catalog and place buy order any time.
B5 - App shows list of all the online and offline stores at one place.
S2 - Seller can respond at his own convenience anytime to buyers
S4 - Online delivery can enable sellers to serve more orders and people in diff locations. We/seller can integrate with 3rd party for delivery operations.
Metrics
Number of sales via app
Number of queries sent and answered
Number of sellers/users using the app
Silver PM
Comprehension: This is an online marketplace enabling sellers to list/sale antiques and enables buyers to search, view and buy antiques with confidence. We may also want to orient and excite both users and sellers with a feed of top-selling "treasure" items that have recently sold to boost engagement (Think social media trends).
User Needs:
Seller: As a seller of an antique I want to list that antique -- whether it has a selling price or looking for best offers -- receive the best price, enable hassle-free transfer and receive buyer feedback so that I can earn money, not be ripped off and garner confidence in the marketplace.
Merchant Needs: As a professional seller I want a simple way of showcasing my available antiques, get it in front of interested buyers, generate revenue, build trust and brand awareness and reduce brick and mortar reliance.
Buyer: As a buyer I want to see the products I am interested in, ensure they meet my needs prior to purchase, purchase those items, have those items delivered and not be ripped off so that I can enjoy my purchase and my shopping experience.
As a collector/buyer/prospective buyer and merchant I want to see antiques that have sold for large amounts of money and read a bit of the history on how they were acquired and sold.
Assumptions :
Online markets are hit-or-miss. What Amazon can achieve in 2 days takes smaller operations 4-6 weeks. They do not have the best infrastructure for efficient online transactions. This can lead the user to feel as if they are being ripped off. In fact there is significant fraud in this space. There are also security issues for sellers. Confidence on both sides of the coin is critical.
"Antiques" feels subjective; one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. So there should be parameters around what is “antique” as opposed to bad art from the 70s. So if this is our marketplace, we should provide some guidance/floors in terms of what can be posted as being an “antique or collectible.?
Prioritization:
Sellers
Buyer segmentation: For the seller, rather occasional or merchant, they want to highlight certain items and get them in front of appropriate buyers.
Payment Security: They want a secure and reliable payment layer allowing them to receive payment/ automate shipping and notify the buyer (this currently exist, would just need an integration).
Gallery: For the professional merchant, we would also want virtual gallery of other antiques that collectors might be of interest to collectors.
Buyers
They want to view an array of potential products they are interested.
They want to see how a particular product may fit into the potential environment where it will be used.
They want to see review of the seller to ensure they are dealing with a reputable dealer.
They want to see the going price for the item they are thinking of purchasing.
They want to know when the product will be delivered.
If the product, once delivered, is not what they expected, they want the ability to return that product.
If that product can not be returned, they want to know that prior to making the purchased.
For this array of customer needs we will prioritize for the seller: payment security and getting the right product in front of the right consumer. For the buyer, we will prioritize price assuredness, product delivery, security and seller confidence. ( most these things are solved by Amazon but not other marketplaces. One thing that Amazon does not do a good job of is product specifications -- ensuring what you think you are buying is what you are getting.)
List Solutions:
Occasional Seller: An offering that allows for payment verification while transacting shipment or reliance upon existing platforms such as e-Bay (occasional seller). Enable recommendation engine, attesting to the sellers reliability.
Merchant: A payment layer similar to cash app for purchases perhaps using digital contracts allowing the flow of payments to correspond to the flow of inventory.
Ability to target users who have previously expressed interest in antiques and purchase ads for those users.
Link to antique accreditation sources to attest to the value of their products.
Trending Sales: For all users, we should have a list of intriguing sells: Items of hisotrical, artistic, monetary value, etc.
Buyer Priorities:
Third party payment layer or a trusted source.
Detailed return and product not received policies.
Recommendaiton engine showing me the items I am interested in, and not just a plethora of stuff people are trying to sell.
Recommendation from my social network of collectors and friends, in terms of deals.
Trade-offs.
There are not many in this scenario. For the vast majority, both parties want similar things. They want to sell or purchase items. Be assured they are being presented with or presenting antiques of interest to the other party. Be assured that when they ship or swipe their credit card they deliver and reciive what is expected.
I differentiated different payment scenarios for different sellers.
I deprioritized the ability of the merchant to show a gallery for user relevance.
Summary: The antique marketplace, let’s call it “Martha’s Closet,” connects certified to antiques to the discriminating buyers. Our antiques are accredited. Our shipping is guaranteed. And our product purveyors stand by their word.
Few clarifying questions which I have:
Should the website only solve the discovery of antiques or should we provide end to end service?
This is up to you
What is the geography of the service?
Let’s say we consider India only
Now I will try to understand the person who will want to buy and sell antiques
Buyers
These are high income individuals who have an interest in antiques and decorate their houses. They are passion collectors (for personal use)
These are business houses or hotels who keep antiques
These are museums who keep them for tourist purposes
Sellers
The merchants who sell the antiques for a business
These people are the actual antique businessmen or resellers who procure and try to find the right client
For buyers: The person I will chose is high income individuals who have an interest in the antiques and keep looking for them
For sellers: I will choose the merchants who deal in antique
Now let’s drill down the problems they face
For buyers:
Personal buyers are not aware of the availability of the antiques
They don't have a platform where all can access the fair pricing
They are not aware of the fakes
They don't have much knowledge of the sellers and the past history of the sellers
they should be able to track the antique shipment.
For sellers:
They dont have a platform to report where they can reach out to a lot of buyers.
The transactions are not reliable.
The receivables in payment creates a ruckus for them
Solution :
Create a platform where sellers can list their antique
The platform should allow conversation between seller and the buyer
The buyer should have a secured payment gateway and be able to track the antique
Buyer should be able to review the seller for other and the experience with the past purchases
Based on the purchases and searches the website should alert the buyer for availability of antique
Searches for antique should be reported to the sellers so they can list accordingly if reuquired
As an MVP, we should launch solution 1 to 4 and in the subsequent iteration
Metrics to track overall
Install -> Home open
D30
DAU
Buyer
Purchases per day
LTV
Revenue per week
Searches and purchases in D7
Seller
Quality of the listed items - Clicks till buy - for antique
North star metric -> Purchases in 30 day life cycle of the user
Me: I have a couple clarifying questions. Can I ask them to you?
Interviewer: Yes, go ahead.
Me: How do you define an antique?
Interviewer: You tell me?
Me: For the scope of this conversation, I'm defining an antique as an object that is at least 100 years old. Also, I'm assuming that valid documentation will be required for the seller to be able to prove that the object is indeed an antique. Is that alright?
Interviewer: Yes
Me: Can I assume that we need to build a marketplace application i.e. we need to build a platform that connects buyers & sellers?
Interviewer: Yes
Me: Can I also assume that we matche supply and demand, and then they figure out the rest themselves, or do we also need to process payments i.e. cater to the complete buying journey?
Interviewer: What would you like to go ahead with?
Me: Since we're talking about antique products, I don’t think buyers would be comfortable purchasing it without first feeling the product. They’d want to see it physically and then make the buying decision. Therefore, I’m going to assume that we match supply with demand, get the buyer and seller connected - and then let them take things from there. Does that work?
Interviewer: Sure, go ahead.
Me: I'm now going to list down the potential user personas that could be making use of this application. We'll have 3 types of personas -
- Buyers
- Individuals
- Muesems
- Hotels
- Art gallerys
- Sellers
- Individuals
- Antique dealers and distributors
- Admin
| Stage | User Journey | Pain Points | Impact |
| Entice |
|
| High |
| Enter |
|
| High |
| Engage |
|
| Low |
| Exit |
|
| Medium |
| Extend |
|
| High |
We prioritize solving for the following stages - Entice and Enter. Does this make sense?
Interviewer: Yes, go ahead
Me: I'm now going to talk about solutions for the pain points listed above.
| Stage | Pain Points | Solutions |
| Entice |
|
|
| Extend |
|
|
We now need to prioritize the above solutions.
| Solution | Impact on User | Implementation Effort |
Provision for filters - type of antique, location of seller, price to ensure easy discoverability | High | Low |
Voice search | Medium | High |
In-app chatbot | Medium | High |
| Recommendation Engine | High | High |
| Provision to view the sellers profile | High | Low |
| In-app chat feature | High | High |
| In-app calling feature | Medium | High |
| Integration with Google Maps | Low | High |
Thus we prioritize the building of the following 2 features -
- Provision for filters - type of antique, location of seller, price to ensure easy discoverability
- Provision to view the sellers profile
I'd start with the following clarifying questions (with answers from interviewer)
- is this a product by Google or independent? Independent
- Do we have antiquities expertise inhouse? Or sourcing from somewhere? Not inhouse
- Is this an app? Or physical marketplace? App
- Assumptions: Our goal is to build a user base and community since this is a completely new entry into this industry. We can focus on profits in a later phase. Metrics to focus on: #transaction, #sign_ups, #maus
I'd then jump into types of Users for an antique marketplace and their needs from this platform:
-> Buyers
- see relevant content - eg region, period or type of antiques, or preferred sellers
- be protected from forgery - 'authentic'
- see timely content
-> Sellers
- show content to interested parties
- establish trusted branding
- Deliver antiques
-> Certifiers
- Provide 'authentic' stamps to items on sale
- Receive payment for authentication service
-> Reviewers
- Generate video/audio content to help understand item quality better or provide other expert commentary/advice
I'm thinking of this almost like an Instagram+eBay but with trusted experience: So to solve for the top use cases above with the following salient features
Connect relevant users to relevant items
-> Personliased Home feed - MVP feature, low-medium eng effort since personalised feeds this is a common technology
-> Timed auctions and notifications - MVP, low-medium eng effort
Establish trust
-> Certification checks - High impact, high development effort. We may have to rely on manual checks + certifications
-> ‘Use this sound’ type Review features - Medium-High impact, low-medium eng effort to create review lists accompanying a product/seller
Business Model
-> %commission of each transaction
Pros: Matches current antique selling experience
Cons: Creates impression of bias to sell
-> Hire inhouse certifiers and get certification commision from seller
Pros: Establishes trust in seller’s product
Cons: Potential for misuse to bribe, liability of bad certification
-> Delivery fee
Pros: Unbiased
Cons: New infrastructure for delivery
-> Ads and seller promotion services (similar to instagram)
Pros: Unbiased, aligned with user expectation
Preference to go with the last option for least effort, highes impact
Bronze PM
Clarification/Assumption
What is the business model of this product? marketplace
What kind of product? Web application
Is this a new product? Or a product within an established company with millions of user base? Let’s assume this is a product within an established company expanding product families.
Where is the main audience? U.S
What’s Antique? Not just any second hand goods, vintage style, fully functional, certified
Users
Buyer
One-time buyer
Recurring buyer
One-time merchant( business shopping in bulk)
Recurring Merchant(recurring bulks)
Seller
One-time seller
Recurring seller
One-time merchant( business selling in bulk)
Recurring merchant(recurring bulks)
For the sake of time, I will only focus on one segment of each side. Since the users are either individual or business, either one-time or recurring. In real cases, if I were to have data understanding how each segment is distributed I will pick the most popular segment on both sides to analyze.
Buyer: One-time buyer
Specialty: specific needs, certain expectation
Reason: most users need antique for a specific reason at a specific season of their lives, higher demand
Seller: Recurring Merchant
Specialty: Sustainable business provides good quality with more resources
Reason: provides main supply of the marketplace
I will list out the user needs alone the user journeys and rate them in priority P0, P1, and P2. If they are essential to the user journey, I mark it as P0 must-have to have a functional product, and mark it as P1, nice to have and P2 as the delighters.
Buyer | Steps | User Needs/pain points | Priority |
Search | Can easily find what they are looking for based on different categories | P0 | |
Can search for their products by years, price and style with different filters | P1 | ||
Quality check | Be able to easily check certification of antiques | P0 | |
Be able to check with sellers on the details, history, and price negotiation | P1 | ||
Safe Payment | need to have different ways to pay | P1 | |
Payment safety need to be guaranteed | P0 | ||
Need to be able to pay in different transactions when it’s expensive | P2 | ||
Safe Delivery | Item can be fragile and delicate need to safely delivery the item in one piece | P0 | |
Need to be able to track the process | P2 | ||
Can have the option to pick up if locally | P1 |
Seller | Steps | User Needs/pain points | Priority |
List items | Need to list all their items properly | P0 | |
list different batches of items | P1 | ||
Show Certification | Need to show the certification | P0 | |
Need to have rating to score seller to be recommended | P1 | ||
Safe Payment | need to have different ways provided for buyer to pay | P1 | |
Payment safety need to be guaranteed | P0 | ||
Need to be able to allow buyers to pay in different transactions when it’s expensive | P2 | ||
Safe Delivery | Safely wrap the antique with deliver guide to others | P0 | |
Need to be able to track the product | P2 | ||
Can partner with delivery company | P1 |
Solution
I will list out P0 and P1 needs, and related solutions and rate them in impact, effort, and risks in,High, Medium and Low. For the sake of time today, I will only demonstrate the buyer in details for solutions.
Buyer
Need | Potential Solutions | Impact | Effort | Risks | |
Buyer | Can easily find what they are looking for based on different categories | List different category and sub category of antiques when searching, only list pictures after selection | H | L | L |
Have advanced filter function with years, style, price to filter and compare with the right products | H | H | M | ||
Be able to easily check certification of antiques | List certified budget, hover over antique pictures for details, click for detailed information | H | L | L | |
Present the appealing background story when click to learn more about the product | M | L | M | ||
Start a conversation with seller to learn more about the product and negotiate prices | H | H | H | ||
Payment safety need to be guaranteed | Implement API for major payment methods like credit/ debit, Physical check and PayPal. | H | M | M | |
Send buyer 2- factor authentication code to verify ID and ensure the payment process | M | L | M | ||
Implement Bitcoin pay options. | M | H | H | ||
Item can be fragile and delicate need to safely delivery the item in one piece | Send buyers notes on fragile points of antique and verification after wrap pictures | H | M | M | |
Integrity check and report status at each stop through the delivery stops | H | H | L | ||
Deliver with Trustworthy Partners like fedex and ups etc | H | L | M |
MVP: are the highlighted features, as I prioritize H impact and low effort and risks first. Then H impact, M effort.
Tradeoff: There are also other big e-commerce competitors on the market like Amazon, Ebay etc. and we are working on a marketplace product, Facebook Marketplace is also a competitor. It’s important to define the niche of this product before execution.
#Metrics:
North star metric: # transactions
Metrics funnel:
Buyer
# of Portal sign up
# of interested items
# of transactions
PM
Problem Stmt: Build a product to buy and sell antiques.
First Clarifying questions:
Is there any target User Group I want to focus on: Like Antique Holding companies or just for people who want to buy and sell antiques.
Since it looks like Antiques are held by people especially people who are interesting in collecting them and consider them valuable it would make sense to build a marketplace for Antique Collecters. That would have the highest reach.
So Main user group we're targeting here Antique collecters. And the main personas could be like :
Frequent collecters and large buyers.
Small and inferquent collectors.
Pain points:
There are two sides of the Marketplace: Supply and Demand. Supply is provided by collecters who want to sell and their major pain point getting high price...
A listing of pain points for Sellers:
1. Existence of demand is the first pain point for the platform.
2.Lesser "Keep" time where the Seller is expected the antique to be sold faster.
3. Getting Higher price.
4. Setting up demand by letting people know.
5. Setting up Auctions for people to join.
6. Logistics facilities.
A listing of pain points for Buyers:
1. Know and find easily the list of antiques that match his interests.
2. Ability to bid for an antique without any hidden costs.
3. Logistics facilities.
4. Ability to add Antiques to wish list.
5. Probably have loan facilities to buy high value Antiques.
6. Trust on the Antiques: Verified Antiques are best.
7. Pride: Scoring on Antiques to see which one has high recognition among people who love antiques.
Solution:
Seller Side:
Buld a Quick Onboarding process for Buyers to list their Antiques. Setup Min. Price and Place of availability of Antique. (Impact - H, LOE - L)
A side by Side feed to see Important articles on How to add story to their Antique page to promote it well. (Impact - H, LOE - M)
A side feed to see favourite buyers in the price range and also according to category of antique.(Impact - M, LOE - M)
Single click Notify all the past buyers so that they are informed of the new Item first.(Impact - M, LOE - M)
Ad creator to create Ads for their antiques.(Impact - H, LOE - H)
Buyer side:
Easy onboarding feature and setup profile and preferences from Social Networks.(Impact - H, LOE - L)
A side feed to see recommendations of new Antiques to buy based preferences. (Impact - H, LOE - M)
A side feed to list all events or auctions happening at the time. (Impact - H, LOE - M)
A feature to see what my friends, Great public people, peers are buying.(Impact - H, LOE - M)
Based on the Impact/ LOE prioritization High Impact features are also Medium LOE features so those features have to be started.
Key Metrics:
1. Demand for Sellers as measured by:
a. Churn Rate for sellers.
b. No. Of Users opting for new categories than their original (Retention cohort).
c. Users Retention cohort across categories and price ranges.
Gold PM
I want to start by understanding the question a little bit more.
1. Antiques can be of any price range $1 $10 $100, 1000.. or even millions. Typically, products of high price tag will be available and sold in less quantities because of affordability. Hence, I want to take antiques in the range of until 1000's
2. In terms of size and dimensions, do we have any restrictions? I can take any shippable product as the baseline if you let me choose.
3. Are we looking at just listings or e2e experience such as fulfillment, payments, returns, etc. I will take our long term vision is definitely e2e experience, so will focus on that, but can start with listings first
4. For providing flexibility to users of this product, I would like to think of this as a mobile app rather than a desktop application, which is limited in capabilities like location, camera, accessibility, etc.
5. Lastly, I would like to focus on the buyer side because I believe it is easy to get sellers as they are naturally incentivized to list their product on more platforms. Whereas, buyers would have more concerns since they are the once paying
For the sake of this question, I am assuming we are building product from scratch and peer-to-peer transactions rather than business-to-consumer.
Goal: Since we are launching this product from scratch, I want to take buyer growth as my goal. That means not just buyers who visit our app to find an antiques but also successful purchase and acquiring the product.
User segments:
1. Affluent collector: Joe is a millionaire and has a habit of collecting antiques either as a hobby to build collection of rare and old products or in anticipation of value growth (trade later for higher value)
2. Designer/Artist: Hans, an art lover and a creator, collects antiques and blends them into a unique style and brand of his own. He likes to make new products out of antiques and resells his products exclusive or rents to be used in other art forms.
3. Casual buyer: Anna is general buyer who is fond of antiques and looks to buy them if price is in her range. She likes to give an old-fashioned look to her house, hence finds and buys many little things to use and decorate her home.
I want to prioritize user group based on 2 factors: 1) # people in the group 2) typical spend price. I will use relative comparison such as H, M, L rather than actual numbers.
| # users | Typical spend | Choice | |
| Millionaire collector | L | H | |
| Designer/Artist | M | M | |
| Casual buyer | H | L | Yes |
First, let's summarize our understanding of the problem and make a few assumptions going forward.
Clarification
Antiques are typically older items that are unique and valuable. Furniture, collectors items, historically interesting pieces. Valuable here could mean anything from $50 to $1,000's of dollars. Antiques are sold in a variety of places: online marketplaces, pawn shops, in person auctions, and garage sales.
I'm just going to assume that it's okay if we focus on the United States. In all likelihood our solution will be applicable internationally as well. Additionally, we should ask our interviewer what our underlying goal is with this product - do we want to provide a really great user experience or are we at the stage now where we need to start showing some ability to monetize what we've built? A lot of design questions focus on user satisfaction so let's take the road less traveled and focus on monetization.
User Personas
There are a variety of people out there who buy and sell antiques so in hopes of better understanding the different dynamics at play here let's go ahead and try to categorize some of these different groups of people:
- Resellers: Buy and sell antiques as a way of making money. Try to arbitrage mispriced items by buying them cheap and selling them higher. High volume of transactions.
- Collectors: Typically collect unique or old items as a hobby. Focused around a certain niche like old coins or WW2 memoriabilia. Often there is a community focused around their niche, may know other buyers or sellers.
- Spring Cleaners: They have a ton of stuff they are trying to get rid of either because they are moving or a relative passed away and they are cleaning out their house. Want to get the process over and done with as they have a ton of other things to worry about on their plate. Would typically host a garage sale. Not particularly knowledgable about what they have.
- Interior Decorators: Looking for unique or interesting pieces of furniture or home decor. Probably have at least a moderate budget to buy items with.
Out of the above different user segments, I suggest we focus on the "Spring Cleaners". They are markedly different from the other user personas in the sense that they are largely unfamiliar with antiques. This signals to me that there will be a lot of room for improvement when working with this persona.
Pain Points / Needs
- Have a lot of junk they need to sort through before they can figure out what is worth selling
- When they have an item that they think is worth selling they need a way to properly identify just what exactly the item is. Grandma Susan had an old wooden vanity, how would you know if it was imported from Italy or mass produced locally?
- After they've figured out what they have they need a way of figuring out how much it is worth
- When moving or cleaning out a house, there are a ton of different steps involved that are arguably more important than trying to sell whatever antiques you've found. These users don't have a lot of time to dedicate to selling these antiques.
Solutions
Now that we've brainstormed some of the pain points or needs that the "Spring Cleaners" user segment has, let's go ahead and come up with several different solutions that would help them out and allow us to make money in the process. (We said we were going to focus on monetization).
- An app where you take a picture of an item and the app tries to identify just what exactly your item is. It could compare your item to similar pictures of other items.
- An app or website where you list out what items you have that you are trying to sell and then it returns a list of different websites where people are selling similar items and how much they are being sold for. For example, Grandma Susan's vanity might only go for $300 on FB marketplace but similar listings on ebay are being sold around $500.
- A service that comes to your place, picks up the goods, and then handles the selling of them.
We don't have time to build all of these features so lets build a grid to help us prioritize. Normally I would use objective data points to help flesh out this grid but we're strapped for time so it's going to be a bit more subjective.
Monetizeability, Customer Satisfaction, Ease of Implementation
1. C, A, C
2. B, B, A
3. A, A, C
We mentioned at the begining our focus was going to be on monetization and the third solution looks the most monetizeable so lets focus on that one. This service would send movers out to your house who would pack up everything that might be valuable and handle transporting it back to a warehouse. This way the user doesn't need to worry about transporting the goods or figuring out whats worth trying to sell. At the warehouse we could then have experts on staff who could further comb through the items and both authenticate items as well as assess the price of the items. Next we would post everything on the correct marketplaces to find the ideal buyers. All of the logistics regarding posting the items and shipping would be handled by the service so the customer can be as hands off as they want to focus on other things. In order to make money we will charge the users a flat rate moving fee to cover our operational costs and then on top of that we will do a profit share with the customer on any anitiques sold.
The real downside here is that this is not easy to implement and there are a lot of steps involved. Another concern would be that if customers knew Grandma Susan's vanity was in fact imported from Italy and really expensive they would cherry pick out all of the valuable items ahead of time. This would limit our profit potential to really only finding valuable items customers didn't know about. At least by charging a moving fee we minimize our downside and cover some of our costs. Perhaps in order to test the efficacy of this idea we could partner with existing moving companies as an addon service at least initially to give ourselves a chance to prove out our model and see if we do in fact uncover enough valuable antiques to make this worth investing in.
Summary
In summary, we're going to offer a service to the "Spring Cleaners" user segment that transports their stuff to a warehouse, identifies anything that might valuable, and sells it through the appropriate channels. This will address a lot of the user pain points around handling the logistics of antiqueing. Furthermore and most importantly, we will monetize this offering by charging customers an initial moving fee and then by taking a share of the profits after an antique is sold. This service is a fairly arduous undertaking so going forward it will be important to focus on an MVP that verifies key assumptions here before building out this service in full.
Product to buy and sell antiques
Clarifying question – Is this a requirement from users? What is our target group here?
I would start with who are customers are and why we need this product.
Assuming that the target group is collectors (people who pursue this as a hobby like collecting comics) and shops that sell antiques.
I would start by talking to such people and understand how they collect antiques currently and what problems or challenges they face in the process – this will help to address the why part.
Through user interviews, focus groups, journey mapping, I will try to capture the user pain points.
1. Buyer is unable to find stores where antiques are sold, especially in a new city or town.
2. Sellers have a problem of discoverability, where they don’t have enough footfall.
3. Sellers don’t know the needs of buyers and are not able to maintain a relevant inventory.
4. Newbies to this hobby are unable to get enough data or pointers on what to buy.
5. Buyers are not guaranteed about the authenticity of the seller (assuming that antiques cost quite a bit, this would be an important ask)
6. There is no way for users to lend or borrow antiques especially hobbyists.
Solution and impact to users
Problem | Solution | Impact/importance to users | Comments |
Buyers unable to find stores | 1. Show all nearby antique shops and sellers – list of inventories 2. Recommendations based on similar purchases | 1. High 2. Medium |
|
Sellers have problem of discoverability | Allow sellers to sign-up for a fee and make their store visible to nearby buyers | High |
|
Sellers don’t know the needs of buyers | 1. Feedback from buyers, make these visible to all 2. Buyers need to fill a form with their requirements post login | 1. High 2. Medium |
|
Newbies don’t know what to buy | 1. Recommendations based on the form they fill with their requirements | 1. Medium |
|
Buyers are not guaranteed about authenticity | Feedback from other buyers – rating system | 1. High |
|
No lending | Lending library of-sort for antiques | Low |
|
Solutions
1. Enable GPS to locate all nearby sellers for a buyer, connect buyers and sellers
2. List of inventories per seller
3. Feedback and rating of sellers by buyers
4. Recommendations based on similar purchases
5. Customization/requirements form which users can fill to narrow down their search
6. Lending library for antiques
Prioritization
1. Define buyer and seller personas and enable login
2. Show list of nearby sellers to buyers, along with their inventories
3. Buyers can place order and provide feedback for the seller
4. Customization/requirements form which users can fill to narrow down their search
5. Recommendations based on similar purchases
6. Lending library for antiques
MVP – considering only high impact items for MVP
1. Define buyer and seller personas and enable login
2. Show list of nearby sellers to buyers, along with their inventories
3. Buyers can place order and provide feedback for the seller
Success Metrics
1. Number of new sign-ups by sellers and buyers
2. Number of buyers sign-ups converting into purchases
3. Number of buyer purchases giving positive feedback to sellers (helps ensure that authentic sellers are using your product)
4. Number of logins per day/month/year
Bronze PM
Problem Statement: Build a product to buy and sell antiques
Clarify Scope :
- Is it aim for B2B or B2C, or website, or app or both,
- Are we looking for Procure to Sell Model or a marketplace to sell the antiques.
Assumption
In order to proceed with the response, I am assuming a website with a marketplace where anyone can buy/sell vintage objects.
Market Survey
Online - what olx, facebook, other antique selling sites are offering today
Offline - how offline stores selling their products online
Market Research
Online/Offline
- Type of sellers - Internal/external in the city, size of the store, type of items usually kept.
- Type of Buyers and interest in antiques such as painting, trophies, coins etc..
Product Goal :
An online marketplace to enable buying/selling of antiques.
Buyers can search and buy and sellers can list the items to sell.
Customer Segmentation
Type of Users :
Buy Side - Retail, Companies, Large corporations, retails, museums, governments
Sell-Side - Retail, antique sellers, brokers
In order to proceed further, the initial set of users are going to be as follows:
Buyer - Retail/businessmen who are antique collectors,
Sellers - Merchants who have brick-mortar stores with no/limited online presence.
Develop Personas for the users
Buyer - a businessman who has to move from shop to shop for buying items. Experience is tiring of getting antique and has to go through the problem of counterfeit.
Seller - has a limited list of customers who are living in the same city as the seller's. Lack of sales opportunities affects the overall profitability of the business.
Highlight = Antiques' business is a niche business with no online players in the online marketplace.
User Journey
Seller
| Area | Touchpoints | Experience |
| Sale | Physical Store | a physical shop reduces the sales opportunity |
| Visibility | Physical Store | only in the shop with no option to market antiques/shop |
Buyer
| Area | Touchpoints | Experience |
| Purchase | Physical Store | tiring and limited as had to go from shop to shop |
| Visibility | Physical Store | access to the store is not feasible due to a variety of reasons either distance, the shop is not open, etc.. |
Use Cases :
Usecases are eloquently covered above so I have skipped for my response.
Success Metrics :
Key Metrics
- how many times a product is seen, or seller's store
- Daily Users, Weekly Users, Monthly users,
- Revenue earned from commissions of products sale(Monetization)
Indicative Metrics
Seller
-- No of products listed by the seller, the value of products listed by the seller
-- Content Quality - to be verified by the third party and the score will be generated based on a number of factors such as photos, description, authenticity, copy of a certificate, age of the product, value, etc.
- # items sold
Buyer
- User signups, orders, save,
- views/shared
Platinum PM
Ok. So we want to build a product to buy and sell antiques. I assume that we aren’t talking about a website and likely considering an application. I say this because it’s a lot easier these days to do these type of things on an app vs. a desktop computer because you would need to take pictures of the thing you are selling and it’s a lot easier to take pic on the phone and directly post it for sell on the phone. While it would make sense to have both a webapp and phone app available, it makes sense to prioritize app because even for buying most people will likely spend more time on their phone to do the purchase since it could be done while walking around. Providing that capability right off the bat also enables more engagement and hence more sales. So let’s go with phone app first. Is that ok?
Interviewer: Sure
Me: Is this a new business / first time product? If not, is there something about the other product that’s not working? Is there something that we are trying to solve for such as gaining more customers, or keeping customers focused and coming back to the product, or increasing revenue, etc.?
Interviewer: No. It’s up to you.
Me:
Ok the approach I usually take at work is to think of the overall organizational goal. This helps me then define at 100K foot level key buckets to pursue and then for each bucket I think of the user to satisfy. This forces me to empathize with their life and their needs which results in me thinking through customer journey. I then design solutions to address those and plan out a roadmap based on resource availability, technical feasibility, etc. Can I take the same approach?
Interviewer: sure
Me:
Alright let’s assume this is a brand new business. So, our goal is to acquire customers to even make ends meet. But acquiring customers won’t help if I can’t keep them engaged. So let’s focus on that.
I need to think of what user is someone I could depend on for consistent sales for money and Ok so there are 3 types of users, I think: 1)Collectors – so buyers 2)buyers and sellers – they buy stuff and sell in bulk on eBay for some profits 3) Family who has stuff to sell
Let’s focus on #2 – buyers and sellers that are doing it for business purposes.
Let’s prioritize 1, 2, 3. As I solution these, I will also score Feasibility, Complexity, and Value-add from 1-5, with 1 being low and 5 being high.
User problem | Solution | F | C | V |
Seller: Worried if my listing is appropriately categorized so that it can be found by buyers | Provide custom category to be created while selling if my product doesn’t fit existing category. | 5 | 1 | 3 |
Seller: Don’t know what to write about item | Use AI and vision aspect to identify similar products and provide write-up but overtime learn my writing style to improve the write-up. Makes my job easy and will have me use the app more. | 3 | 5 | 4 |
Seller / Buyer: What’s the right price? | Use AI and vision technology to identify products, search for similar products on popular sites (like ebay, amazon, etc.) and mesh up with typical profits I like to make or have made, and also existing customers who are more likely to buy my type of product and what price they typically buy those type of products, to then suggest pricing based on those factors. This increases probability of my product selling and will have me keep coming back. | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Use AI to identify what price similar items have been sold at in the past, what price I typically buy those types of products, etc. to suggest me what’s the right price for me or what price other sellers in the past have listed the product at. | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Buyer: Sometimes good stuff to buy for selling but can’t think of what to buy | Surf other sites to track antiques and learn what’s trending, at what price point and then mesh that up with what price points I typically buy things at and suggest which items I may want to consider buying. Also, maybe show me compatibility score that says x items is 90% compatible with your buying pattern or choices, etc. |
|
|
|
I would rate 1) lower on Value-add since most times typical categories work for most people and products. For #2, while value add is high, most sellers know what to write since they are merely describing what they see but there is a chance the business got it from somewhere else and not know what to write so suggesting what to write is still value add. I can go into more reasons for why I rated every potential solution if you would like.
My solutions do have few trade-offs. For instance, on #1 allowing custom category could mean too many duplicate categories making the app too congested and resulting in poor experience. There could be some controls and governance implemented such as the category gets deleted once product is sold unless others are using that category or the category has x frequency of use in x # of days. I could think of other trade-offs for other areas too but we are running out of time.
Overall, I would focus on building an app based product before I move on to a webapp because I feel I could get my customers more engaged on the app if it’s made available on the app. Keeping customers more engage will result in more revenue and more word of mouth. I think it’s important to focus on buyer-seller business customer type since they are more likely to be consisten users and constant revenue growth machine.
Before getting into the Solution I would like to ask and clarify few assumptions:
1. Which market will it be launched and is there any existing competitor or our product/offering already in that space? Assume – No this is a brand-new product for the Target Market
2. What is the Goal or Busi value – Assume that it is to create a platform that can connect buyers and sellers of antiques and take x% share as revenue for the deal. Goal – Make more Revenue
Define Antiques – Physical items like clock, table etc. which have importance due to its history and being ancient and hence hold significant cost.
Personas:
There are 2 main personas that will be using our Products:
1. Buyer – These are folks who are looking to buy Antiques. Further are of 2 types:
a. Individual Collectors : Folks of age group 30-60 normally love collecting them. Attributes:
- Love collecting antiques and Art
- Good Income
- Love discovering new things and items and always on the lookout for these
- Looking for these items so that they can place them at their home/office etc
b. Small Businesses Like Museums, Historical places: Small enterprises that collect and show the antiques usually on display. Attributes:
- Add them for increasing ambience or information to be displayed
2. Seller – These are folks who have the possession of these Antiques. Attributes:
- Have them passed through family generations, traditions etc and not ardent lovers of art
- Not too focused on keeping any new art etc. hence looking to sell them
- Not interested in spending maint cost on Antiques over the time
Needs:
1. Buyer Common Needs – Customer Journey for a buyer usually involves these steps:
Desire to Buy (Internal or External) à Discover and Find à Look at various options and evaluate trade offs à Select what they like and buy
Each step has some needs and gaps:
- No Platform to look for antiques. Currently maybe using offline, google search, friends word of mouth etc to find and discover them
- Not Sure if authentic
- Not Sure about the Seller Quality
- Since limited options not sure if the price is correct or not
2. Seller Needs – Simpler Journey where they own it à Sell it
Main Need for them however will be
- Not sure of they are getting the right price or not for the item
- Don’t get multiple buyers somewhere very limited place and options
Priority:
Assuming this is MVP I would like to break our features into must have for MVP. Other features and needs I will further prioritize.
As MVP we need to provide below key capabilities form the above needs:
- A Platform where buyers and sellers can find and list antiques – As this is for discovery
- Facilitate Basic Transaction – Basic mechanism for connecting the Two
- Authenticity – Since Antiques hold important value need to provide mechanism for this so that Buyers can ensure they are not getting cheated
Needs | Proposed Solution (Can be changed) | Customer Impact H, M, L | Dev effort H, M, L | Pick or Not and Priority |
Basic Profile Platform for Buyer – As a buyer I want to go to place where I can find list of Antiques | Profile Page creation and Basic Sign up. Capability to view the various listings of sellers | H | M | MVP Pick |
Basic Profile Platform for Seller – As a seller I want to list my item | Profile Page creation and Basic sign up. Capability to create a listing with details of antique | H | M | MVP Pick |
Facilitate Basic Transaction – As A Buyer when I select a listing and want to buy that then I can do that | Post selection of one of the listings and viewing details and confirming to buy, Buyer gets to see Seller Details with Number to proceed Offline Transaction to begin with in MVP. | M | M | MVP Pick |
Authenticity – As a Buyer I want to sure of the item I am buying and not get cheated | Quality Check Process and Background Verification on Seller shown
| H | L | MVP Pick |
Besides there are other Ways to help solve needs for future:
Authenticity Detailed | - Seller ratings, reviews, photos Buyer Photos Buyer Feedback | High | Med | Iteration2 |
Improved Discovery | Search, Tagging and categories of Antiques | Med | Low | Iteration4 |
Transactions | End to end process with connecting with seller, chat etc to negotiate and talk, payments via platform to seller account | High | High | Iteration3 |
Metrics:
In order to ensure that our product helps to solve the Problem the Metrics to track this will be:
For MVP by following the AARRR Model:
- # of Buyers and Sellers Signed up (Acquire)
- # of Active listings buy Sellers
- # of Active searches by Buyers
- # Successful dealings à Validates the MVP
Summary: Looking at our personas of buyer and seller and their needs I would like to start with focusing on providing discovery of antiques and authentic of antiques and track that to see if that works well or not.
Goal of the Product / Assumptions
- The goal of this product is to buy and sell antiques - marketplace
- We are a marketplace in which we connect buyers and sellers
- We are not going to go into the unit economics and the business goals
- Given that we are building a marketplace, getting the supply and demand flywheel going are not in scope of this assignment.
- We are purely focused in product design for the first version of the product (MVP) and not a single feature, as we need a handful or features to make the product work
User Personas
- Antique dealers - Professionals involved in the business of buying and selling antiques
- Antique collectors - hobbyists that want to collect antiques
- Casual buyer / Seller - first time buyers / sellers who have something specific to sell
Since we are building a marketplace we need to focus on both buyers and Sellers.
From the buyer perspective I am going to focus on Antique collectors as they are the largest segment and would most likely be highly invested in using our product. For sellers we are going focus on all type of acquit sellers so that we have differentiated supply online.
Use cases
- Buyer
- Search for antiques available
- Filter antiques bases on specific attributes (type, price, size, category
- Verified antiques - Gain confidence that antiques being shown are authentic
- Pay for antiques
- Delivery of Antiques: Shipping cost / no breakage
- Seller
- Listing the antique - upload pics / adding description / setting price
- Secure and guaranteed payment - want to get the money on time
- Safe shipping - precious cargo so want safe shipping with insurance to cover loss / damage
Feature Prioritization
- Prioritize based on —> User Impact | Frequency of use | Business Impact | Cost | Rank
- Buyer
- A) Search —> Basic and most often used feature. Allows users to browse. —> 5, 5, 4, 3, High
- B) Filters —> Narrow down search to specific attributes. —> 4, 3, 3, 3, Medium
- C) Verified —> High level of trust needed to transaction —> 5, 3, 5, 4, High
- D) Pay —> Ability to pay through platform securely —> 5, 5, 3, 3, Medium
- E) Safe Shipping —> Secure delivery of the antique —> 5, 3, 4,2, High
- Seller
- A) Listing —> Upload Antiques pics, descriptions, set price.—> 5, 4, 5, 4, High
- B) Guarantee —> guaranteed payment. We will ensure we hold on to the payment (escrow) till everything is completed —> 5, 4, 5, 3, High
- Buyer
Features we will ship
- In order to build the MVP we need to do the following.
- For buyers
- Search Feature: Search for antiques. We
- Payment Feature: Secure payments via Credit cards, ACH transfer. We can perhaps use Stripe for this
- Messaging Feature: Talkign with sellers Buyer needs to search, purchase and get safe delivery with secure payment
- Need to chat / message with the sellers (1 to 1 messaging)
- For sellers
- We need enough supply on the platform (liquidity) to attract buyers so need to work with the different sellers to bring their supply online.
- Listings Feature: Create antique listing, description, Images, other details. We need to control the format and have minimum requirements around image resolution
- Verification Feature: Our platform needs to build the trust among buyers to be successful. We need to be able to verify sellers or their antiques. This could be done by
- Hiring and independent team to verify each seller’s antique before they go up - contracted team
- Getting seller to produce certificates of authenticity and upload them to the platform
- Get the seller to give an undertaking of authenticity bound by legal contracts
Metrics
- We would track the following Key metrics to measure marketplace health
- # of items listed on the marketplace —> Supply would be important to get this two sided marketplace off the ground. We want to see how fast we are adding verified listings to out platform.
- # of transactions on the marketplace —> To assess if buyers are finding the right type of antiques (Allows us to tweak buyer acquisition or supply acquisition).
- GMV of transactions on the marketplace —> total revenue we are generating. This metrics encompasses most others and shows traction of the product.
To summarize
I will build an app connecting buyers and sellers. We will differentiate our marketplace by focusing on a trust / verification element and make it a safe / secure place for buyers and sellers to transaction in antiques as these products are subjective, non-standard and open to fraud. If we are able to solve for that we can drive material customer and marketplace growth.
Bronze PM
Goal:
Build a product to buy and sell antiques
Knowing the Customer:
The potential customers can be divided into 2 parts: Buyers and Sellers.
| Buyers | Sellers |
| Museums | Accidental owners (people who have an antique by accident and hence want to sell off) |
| Collectors & Retailers | Collectors & Retailers |
| Enthusiasts & Exhibitionists | People with rich heritage |
Also, there 3 main types of transactions which take place in the market:
- Dedicated Retail Shops
- Online Stores (eBay)
- Auction
- Identify the items to bid
- Approach an auctioneer
- Put items for the auction
- Sell the item for the largest bid
- Pay the auctioneer commission
- Look up and examine things at an auction
- Make sure there are no defects
- Participate in the bidding process
- Win the auction
- Pay the price (including auctioneer)
- Take the item
- Need to invest a lot of time in the process
- Possible high commission
- Limited buyers from nearby places
- Perception that one needs to have very high quality of items to auction off
Buyers:
- Need to invest a lot of time
- Perception that only experienced bidders can participate
- Limited by geography and sellers of their nearby places
- Unsporty tactics by auctioneers
In order to make auctions more accessible, we can have a product which facilitates auctions online, either on website or on mobile application. The ease of participation and removal of geographical barriers would mean more buyers and sellers, due to which a lower commission is possible to maintain profitability. This product would also help eliminate the barriers of entry in the form of perception and allow anybody to participate, making auctions fun.
- Need to redesign the bidding process to suit an online auction
- Possibility of spam and reduced quality of auctions as the barriers of entry are put down
- Acquisition: # downloads, # lazy signups
- Activation: # complete sign ups, # users with more than 1 bid/antique posting
- Retention: # active buyers (at least 1 bid per week), # active sellers (at least 1 posting per week), User feedback and reviews
- Monetisation: Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), # sold items.
PM
Context clarifying questions:
1. How big is our market? Is it distributed in all regions or just particular ones?
2. In antiques, demand and supply of particular type of goods is way high? (If yes then we will target those antiques only)
3. What budget do we have for this project?
4. According to question 1 should we go with an app, website or an offline store?
Goals
1. Buyers should get a wide range of antique products to look at.
2. Sellers must get a better deal for their antiques.
3. Better user experience for our niche audience.
Identify customers:
1. Buyers searching for good deals
2. Sellers who want to get a good price for their antique.
3. Business owners who sell and buy antiques.
Survey questions to know your customer better:
- How many antiques do you have at this moment?
- Where did you get them from?
- Any difficulties you faced while searching for the product?
- Lets say you need to buy/sell an antique, what will be the process like?
- Do you wish to have a service that could make this process easier and you are willing to pay for it?
Solutions:
1. Application for listings for buying and selling. ( as we have research most of our audience is matured i.e. above 35 years of age which are not as technically advanced as the young generation) we need to make an easy to use app interface.
2. Price estimation calculator (this will be a reason for people to switch from competitors to us)
With the help of veterans/experts we can create a simple calculator where a visitor fill up the details of the item (pics, type of antique, age of the item, histroy of item, material used, etc.)
Get the rough estimate of the price of the item.
In addition to the calculator we can have an option of connect with an expert.
3. Providing our approved artisians if customers need to get their items repaired.
4. Also, if we are allowing business owners to list the products and buy they need to be "approved sellers".
MVP
A simple calculator to identify the product value and a button at the end to create a listing ( to convert those visitors into app users)
If they click the button then they are happy with the price estimation calculator if not they need a better price.
Cons
1. Finding good maintainence service provider will be a challenge.
2. If we allow business owners to use the platform we need to make strict policies.
Top Meta (Facebook) interview questions
- What is your favorite product? Why?89 answers | 263k views
- How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?62 answers | 82.5k views
- A metric for a video streaming service dropped by 80%. What do you do?50 answers | 135k views
- See Meta (Facebook) PM Interview Questions
Top Product Design interview questions
- How would you design a web search engine for children below 14 years old?36 answers | 42.9k views
- Design a library for the future.25 answers | 23.5k views
- How would you design a consumer application for a scooter sharing business?21 answers | 18.6k views
- See Product Design PM Interview Questions
Top Product Design interview questions
- Build a product to solve the dog poop problem.13 answers | 9.4k views
- How would you design a "Google Refrigerator"?13 answers | 8.3k views
- Design a social travel product.12 answers | 13.4k views
- See Product Design PM Interview Questions
