Get started

Your first customers for a used goods marketplace are people who already buy and sell secondhand every week. Many of them talk in Discord servers built around flipping, sneakers, PC parts, vintage and local trading. Pick one category and one city to start, then show up in the places below as a useful member, not an advertiser.

All guidesFor founders of a marketplace for used goods

1. Search Disboard for resale servers

Disboard.org is a public directory of Discord servers you can search by tag. Search for "reselling", "flipping", "thrift", "vintage" and "secondhand", then sort by member count and recent activity. Join 5 to 10 servers that match your category and read the #rules channel before posting anything. Most ban self-promotion outside a dedicated channel like #promo or #self-promo.

2. Join the r/Flipping community Discord

r/Flipping is full of people who source items at thrift stores and garage sales and resell them online. Check the subreddit sidebar or wiki for an invite to its Discord. Flippers care about fees, payout speed and how fast items sell. Ask before you pitch: "I'm building a marketplace for used [category]. What makes you list on one platform over another? Fees, buyers, shipping?" Then DM the people who give detailed answers.

3. Go where your category's resellers gather

If you sell sneakers or streetwear, look for the Discords linked from r/Sneakers and r/streetwear. For electronics and PC parts, check r/hardwareswap, r/mechmarket and r/buildapc, which are active buy and sell communities, and look for linked Discords. These communities have strict trade rules and reputation systems, so never post listings or links in their channels. Ask in general chat what frustrates them about current options, then follow up in DMs only with people who reply.

4. Use your city's Discord for local supply

Many city subreddits, like r/Austin or r/Chicago, link to a city Discord server with a #marketplace or #buy-sell-trade channel. Local is the easiest way to seed a used goods marketplace, because you can meet sellers in person. Post in the allowed channel: "I'm testing a local marketplace for used furniture in [city]. I'll photograph and list your first 3 items for free. Reply or DM if you're moving soon." Moving season and student move-out weeks are the best time to post this.

5. Find vintage and thrift sellers on Discord

Vintage clothing, records and collectibles sellers often run small Discord servers for their followers. Search Disboard for "vintage clothing", "vinyl" or "thrift haul". These sellers already have inventory and want more buyers. Offer something concrete: "I'll list your next 20 items on my marketplace with no fees for 3 months. I just want feedback on what's missing."

6. Ask other founders in Online Geniuses on Slack

Online Geniuses is a large free Slack community for marketers and founders. It won't be your buyers, but it's a good place to ask how others seeded supply. Post in a relevant channel: "Launching a used goods marketplace in one city. Did you seed sellers or buyers first, and what worked?" Founders who ran marketplaces will often reply with specifics, and some will intro you to people.

7. Track every conversation in one sheet

Log each person you talk to: server, username, category, whether they buy or sell, and what they said. After 30 conversations you'll see which server and which category have the most demand. Double down on that one and leave the rest for later. Hulby, an AI cofounder, does this research and outreach daily for a founder, finding the right servers and drafting the messages.

Mistakes to skip

  • Dropping your marketplace link in general chat on day one and getting banned.
  • Joining 40 servers across every category instead of going deep in one category and one city.
  • Mass DMing members who never talked to you, which breaks most server rules.
  • Pitching buyers before you have enough listings for them to browse.

Want this done for your marketplace for used goods, every day?

Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.

Find my first customers

Questions

Should I start with buyers or sellers?

Sellers. Buyers leave if the shelves are empty. Get 50 to 100 good listings in one category first.

Can I post my link in these servers?

Only in channels the rules allow, usually #promo or #self-promo. Everywhere else, ask questions and help people.

How many servers should I join?

Five to ten that match your category, and check them daily. Active presence in a few beats silence in many.

What if a server has no self-promo channel?

Message a moderator, explain what you're building and ask if a one-time post is okay. Many will say yes if you ask first.