Automotive Parts Classifieds - Powered by Styckyd

What does it do?
Adds a new marketplace to your forum specifically designed for automotive enthusiasts to buy and sell parts to and from the entire Styckyd network, add a non-advertising revenue stream for you, and eliminate classifieds moderation.

How does it do that?
We have built it on top of a parts classification standard that many large parts retailers and auto recyclers use. This has allowed us to build a part cataloguing system that makes searches much more relevant and allows sellers to associate parts with specific vehicles.

This is a hosted solution and by using this plugin you'll have access to the for sale listings of all the other forums in the network and vice versa. We'll handle any customer service issues that may arise and alleviate you and your team from having to do the same.

We charge a fee when a seller successfully sells their part - there is no fee to list a part for sale. 10% of that fee goes to the forum.

Who are you guys?
We are automotive enthusiasts and are trying to make buying and selling automotive related products effortless. You can read more about us here: http://partners.styckyd.com/whoweare

Features?

• vBulletin Single Sign-on
• Automatically calculates shipping between buyers and sellers
• Built-in Want to Buy system that notifies buyers when a part they're looking for has been listed for sale
• Hosted solution but users remain on your site - similar to placing Facebook Comments on your site.
• Hosted on the Amazon Web Services cloud so you don't have to worry about spotty service
• We handle any problems and issues with classifieds for you. If you hear any complaints from users, send them our way!
• Integrated Tire Rack affiliate program
• No template edits required

Learn More:
http://partners.styckyd.com

Screenshots:

[Manoel J?nior]

Version: 3.5????

Screenshoot vBulletin?

[KerryF]

Originally Posted by Manoel J?nior

Version: 3.5????

Screenshoot vBulletin?

Yes, this will work with vb 3.5 and up. A screenshot of it working in vBulletin is below.

Is your community all based out of Brazil? If so, this may not work for you yet. We have some location based stuff happening (Shipping calculation) and all of the funds are in USD.

[SamirDarji]

You guys have gotten my attention, but the integration I've seen so far with vb on the demo is, well, weak. It looks just like an iframe of the normal styckyd site. I'm still researching it though...

[KerryF]

Originally Posted by SamirDarji

You guys have gotten my attention, but the integration I've seen so far with vb on the demo is, well, weak. It looks just like an iframe of the normal styckyd site. I'm still researching it though...

The vBulletin forum hosted on the Twenty12 domain is definitely sub-par, I'll be bringing that down shortly.

It is currently running in an iframe though. The reason for that is that we're assuming that we're going to have to adjust and change a number of things as we get user feedback so it's much easier for us to make rapid improvements in the interface and functionality this way. Once we're sure that we've reached a point where everyone agree that it's much more awesome we'll build out our web service and the plugin so that it's no longer running within an iframe.

This is just the first step. We want to make the users happy first, if we can't do that then there's no need for better technology, like a more advanced API.

Does that make sense? I know the iframe isn't ideal but I'm hoping that we'll be able to look past that for a little while so we can focus on making a killer classifieds system.

[SamirDarji]

I can understand that, and from a development side it makes sense. But from a forum owner side, an iframe of another side doesn't make too much sense. Like what I was discussing with Nathan earlier today, a module that sits above the normal classifieds forum that shows that's in styckyd is what's going to grab some attention. Plus, an integration like this also looks more seamless from a forum design perspective.

You've got a chicken and egg problem here. And the killer thing that would help this get traction is thousands of ads of products in styckyd. Partnering with a large network of automotive sites would help get you guys off the ground, but it may require giving things away for a while and functioning like the 'free' systems that everyone is used to.

[KerryF]

I think we've actually solved the integration problem from a forum design perspective. While iframes are 'unsexy' I think you might be surprised what we've done. Even the more advanced users won't recognize that it's in an iframe. (The previous demo is a bad example, it works differently now) We have built a way to dynamically change the height of the iframe based on its content so there are never any scroll bars. We have also built a way to take the forums text and link colors and bring them through the iframe. When the referrer comes though the iframe we dynamically load a different header and footer, like shown in the screenshot above. So in effect, it looks just like any other plugin (Except I hope you'll agree, a little sexier than most...). What we've done is actually the same way that facebook gets facebook Connect to work.

So really the only downside to the iframe now is SEO. We can't help from an SEO perspective at the moment. I think that's ok right now because there are many, many other ways to drive traffic to your site through SEO. Correct me if I'm wrong but it's probably the most common feature of other plugins. What we do better than anyone else, though, is:

A) Monitize your existing user base through a very powerful classifieds system
B) Take the pain of managing classifieds off your hands. We simply want to do it better than anyone else. We'll handle this for you so you don't have to.

That's our value proposition at the moment - I think it's more valuable than additional SEO, do you agree?

There definitely is a chicken/egg problem and we're working on some unique ways to solve it. If this were easy, everyone would be doing it.

[Rich]

Am I right in believing that this mod which is essentially an iframe, is designed to give YOU 5% commision on sales with a very small partner commision to the forum using this iframe?

Why don't the forum owners simply download a free classifieds script for their own site instead of helping you make money off their users?

I am actually curious because this just seems like a way to self-promote and make your business money.

[KerryF]

Originally Posted by Rich

Am I right in believing that this mod which is essentially an iframe, is designed to give YOU 5% commision on sales with a very small partner commision to the forum using this iframe?

Why don't the forum owners simply download a free classifieds script for their own site instead of helping you make money off their users?

I am actually curious because this just seems like a way to self-promote and make your business money.

Yes, your understanding of how it works is correct - if you're questioning it because you're unsure perhaps I need to do a better job of communicating that upfront. I'll consider what we can do better there.

There are many reasons why any other classifieds script would not be in the same space as what we're doing. All existing scripts lack:

- A parts classification system built on top of the ACES database (What auto recyclers and large retailers use for parts classification and vehicle cross-referencing)
- Specific automotive classifications - We're serious car guys. I don't know about you, but I hate wading through a tree of 300 categories just to find what I want.
- A connection to a broader network and larger inventory that extends beyond your community.

We're not making a script. This is a Software as a Service coupled with a customer service offering. Ours is a platform that does the things below and a number of very, very powerful features that are on their way - none of the existing systems can do what we're able to because of how we've built the system from the ground up.

- We are trying to help YOU make money, too. Yes we are charging for our service. eBay does the same thing, except in our market their average comes to around 13-14%. We're focussed on providing an exceptional service to automotive enthusiasts which means we're going to have to hire customer service people to support the community. Some forums do incorporate eBay listings, but those are really impersonal they're not truly integrated with the system and the community. Would you agree?
- We are taking the pain of classifieds and turning it into something that just works. We believe with allowing us to handle it, as it's our sole focus we can do a great job of it and keep everyone happy so that you can focus on the things that forums do best, like nurturing the discussions about our cars.
- We don't want to just be another stand-alone classifieds site (There are many). Our site does car parts better than anyone else, but we want to be more than that. We want to work together with the community and make facilitating the transactions easy. No one is doing it this way right now so I guess it's a bit of a foreign perspective. We can only keep moving forward and prove this methodology though action, I suppose.

I could literally go on forever because I, and my team, are very passionate about making a system that just works, but I'm writing far too much in this reply. We know we can do automotive classifieds better than anyone else. A bold statement to be sure, I'm hoping you'll allow us the opportunity to prove it.

Which forum do you run, Rich?

[SamirDarji]

Originally Posted by KerryF

I think we've actually solved the integration problem from a forum design perspective. While iframes are 'unsexy' I think you might be surprised what we've done. Even the more advanced users won't recognize that it's in an iframe.

Awesome! I'd love to see a demo. Has the plugin been re-written for this yet?

Originally Posted by KerryF

So really the only downside to the iframe now is SEO. We can't help from an SEO perspective at the moment. I think that's ok right now because there are many, many other ways to drive traffic to your site through SEO.

Personally, I haven't done much in terms of SEO, so this doesn't matter much to me. I'm not sure how many of the sites that have a classifieds forum truly gain users from it. Most new users have restrictions that does not allow them to interact with classifieds forums.

Originally Posted by KerryF

If this were easy, everyone would be doing it.

I agree. As community owners, I think all of us can relate to that on some level.