I wanted to give everyone a high level update on Collect and what’s coming down the pipeline now that we are getting closer to alpha and beta testing.
If you haven’t yet, peep this page and put your name down: https://solesavy.com/collect/
How we got here – May – Nov:
We green light this project in May right before I left for paternity leave and the ask from the agency working with us was to deliver an MVP (minimal viable product) for Buying, Selling, Trading and managing your collection. This is a massive project to get done in 6 months when you consider no one does all of these things in one place so we are a tad behind. Our goal is not to make money from you which is why there is zero fees from SoleSavy. The goal of this marketplace is to build a product about you the collector and sneakerhead, not just drive sales or trades. That matters but whats in your collection/profile is just as important and will lead to bigger features. I plan to upload every sneaker I own (500+) even if it takes me weeks to do it lol. I want everyone to see what’s in my closet!
Where we’re at now – Nov 10:
We have the MVP delivered to us, staff are testing it this week and then next week we will invite select members to test as well. This is our Alpha test phase. This does not mean the product is perfect or has every single feature we want in it yet. It’s designed to be the baseline that allows you to buy, sell, trade and upload your collection. We need to learn at this phase so it’s all about collecting data on how you use it, what works, what doesn’t, what can improve, what features we need to build. We want to build this alongside you so the Alpha is the first start of that.
What comes next – Dec 1:
Once Alpha testing is done, we are aiming to make it available to all members who want to test as a Beta starting December 1st. The only thing that would stop this from happening at this stage is if we find a critical bug in the app around payments/money and shipping. We use Stripe to handle all transactions and GoShippo for making shipping labels for you. Ideally we come out of the Alpha test the next 3 weeks and there is no issues with any of that. If that is the case, we can then open it up to every member. It’s one thing for a bug to make it annoying to do X thing in the app, it’s another thing if the bug causes you to not get money or your shoes.
December to February:
During these months we will continue to learn from any members in the Beta and how you use the app. We are striving to build something truly revolutionary but that comes in phases and takes times. By February we want to take Collect out of Beta, drastically improve upon it, add new features and make it as perfect as it can be. The Collect ecosystem is being designed to put the power of the transaction back in your hands and with more members, more product and more collections we can get to a place where we support each other and our collections and not some major corporation shoving resell in our face.
A quick note on resell:
I had a few people ask me in LA about our plans for “resell”. We also did a survey with members on it and we did this to hear from you and understand where you stand on it. It’s clear members are aligned with our thoughts that Collect should be a marketplace free of resell prices but we need to navigate the world of trades and offers thoughtfully. I have a lot to share on this and will save it for closer to December as we open it up to everyone!
