Target reached!
If we hit our target of £5,000 any extra money we receive will be split 3 ways: 1/3 ...
Shop N.O.A. The Not-For-Profit Online Marketplace.
Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Aim
Shop N.O.A. is in the advanced testing stage. Made by the users for the users, this will be a different kind of online marketplace.
Question:
How could a new online marketplace be different from all the others already out there?
Answer:
If it was built to serve its users rather than profit from them...
NOT ON AMAZON CIC is a UK registered community interest company so it's probably worth explaining at this point exactly what that means for anyone who has never heard of CICs before...
In the UK, community interest companies are registered not-for-profit organisations.
In order to form a CIC the regulatory body must be satisfied that the company's main reason for operating is to serve a community, in our case this is a worldwide community of Artists and Makers.
The 'not-for-profit' aspect of non-profit organisations is easily and often misunderstood.
A not-for-profit organisation is expected to generate a profit from its activities but that profit has to be used to expand the company's scope and further serve its community. A CIC's profit doesn't get shared between the directors and owners as is the case in a regular "for-profit" limited company.
So, the key difference between the marketplace we're building and the others already out there is that this one is not being built for individual financial gain. Shop N.O.A. will take zero commission from sales, sellers will pay a fixed fee subscription for their shop and pages, that's it. We will never allow third parties to access user data.
Since its inception in 2020 members of the Facebook group NOT ON AMAZON have consistently been asking for a dedicated online marketplace. The main reason for it not happening sooner was that it would have to have been built by a commercial website company and the quotes we received were all between ten and twenty thousand pounds. Thankfully, I've been busying about behind the scenes for the last three years, gradually learning how websites work, and got to the point where I've been able to build the demo version of Shop N.O.A. myself with a few tips from a couple of professional web developers.
Twenty members of NOT ON AMAZON have been uploading their products and testing the basic functionality of the website as it stands and providing feedback for things that need changing or adding. Their input has meant that in less than three weeks from starting we've been able to get ourselves incredibly close to being able to launch.
That's the other thing which will set us apart from other marketplaces, this one is being built by the users, for the users. We've called it Shop N.O.A. because we had No Other Alternative in the end, we had to make it ourselves.
The Facebook group NOT ON AMAZON is well known as a place where high quality, handmade and individually designed items are advertised for sale direct from the makers. Anyone wishing to sell their work on Shop N.O.A. will have to apply for a shop and provide full details of their business before being able to post. We will do our utmost, at all times, to ensure there will be no re-sellers or mass-produced goods for sale.
We're launching this Crowdfunder because this website's development has hit a point where the issues and glitches that are being identified can only be resolved by the use of additional software and/or the input of professional developers. We're definitely going to need legal advice and cyber insurance before we can start handling transactions. All of these things cost money which the organisation doesn't have...
The software required and extended server space will cost around £1,500.
Legal advice and insurance costs are unknown at this point.
Professional Web Developers, again costs are unknown at this point.
If we could raise £5,000 in the next few weeks we could definitely launch the website this Autumn. If you're able to donate any money towards the development of this website you'll be doing a huge service to independent artists and makers worldwide along with the people who consume their output. You can see exactly how much progress we've made with the website so far if you click here, it's not perfect yet but its quite something for a few weeks work.
Thanks for reading all of this and if you decide to donate to this fund thank you most sincerely.
Jamie Rackham. NOT ON AMAZON Founder.
09/09/2023
This project successfully funded on 18th January 2024