Called Marketplace, the new section of Indiegogo’s site does what it says on the tin, acting as a place for entrepreneurs to sell their goods. While Indiegogo creators can automatically have their products placed in the new ecommerce section, startups that built their product outside of the crowdfunding site can also submit their work to Indiegogo for consideration.
Indiegogo CEO Dave Mandelbrot told Recode this week that when the company launched in 2008, “the original goal was just to make it easier for founders. Launching the marketplace is really the last step of that, to ensure that once they have a product, it is ready for purchase.”
While helping to bring entrepreneurs’ creations to a wider audience and hopefully make more people excited about crowdfunding, Indiegogo will also benefit by taking a 10-to-15 percent cut of every sale made through Marketplace.
At launch, Marketplace is focusing on its Tech & Innovation category, which already has plenty to offer. Items on sale in this section include the uHoo indoor air sensor for $269 — the team hit its $50,000 Indiegogo goal in less than 48 hours and has already shipped thousands of uHoos to customers around the world. DT wrote a piece about the device in 2016 when it was looking for backers.
You’ll also find the $229 California Roll speaker, a solar-powered, waterproof unit that collected funding on both Indiegogo and rival crowdfunding site Kickstarter. DT covered this product as well.
The challenge for Indiegogo will be to get online shoppers to hit the Marketplace in big numbers. Many people still aren’t into crowdfunding in any great way and won’t even know about Indiegogo, while those whoare aware of it need to be persuaded to explore Marketplace and open their wallets from time to time.
Indiegogo’s initiative comes two years after Amazon introduced Launchpad, a portal showcasing innovative products from startups, including many that found success through Kickstarter and Indiegogo. For creators, Launchpad also offers marketing tools and support, and purpose-built product pages for speedy setup.
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