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What we are building, and what we are learning
Notes from the people making Metzee, and from the sellers on it.
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38 posts tagged how it works
What actually happens during a live show
The video path, how a bid reaches every screen in the same order, and why the clock belongs to the server.
Selling words you will meet
Sell-through, dispatch window, chargeable weight, delivery profile, zone, reserve. The words that turn up once you are actually selling.
Every deadline on Metzee
Pay windows, collect-by, dispatch, returns, disputes and the day an order closes itself. One page to keep.
Using Metzee on a laptop
Everything works. Where the bigger screen genuinely helps, and the one thing it cannot do well.
Metzee vs an ordinary marketplace listing
An honest comparison, including where a listing wins.
Buy now, explained
A fixed price, no clock, no competition. When it is the better deal and when it is not.
How the chat in a show works
One public room, the host reading it, and a few limits. Including the badge that tells you who is who.
Can I negotiate with a seller?
Yes — on a fixed-price item where the store takes offers. Never in an auction, and here is the whole mechanism.
How fast does my internet need to be?
Steady matters more than fast. A stable 2 Mbps watches a show; an unstable 20 stutters.
Does Metzee work on a tablet?
Yes, and for watching it is arguably the best screen. Where a phone still wins.
Why is there no iPhone app?
There is no app for either phone yet. The browser is the whole product, not a cut-down version of it.
What if two people bid at the exact same moment?
They cannot. One database function takes every bid in turn, so there is always a first and a second.
Does Metzee own what is being sold?
No. Independent sellers own them. What that means for you when something goes wrong.
How are shows ordered on the browse page?
By viewers, or by when they start. Nothing in the ordering can be bought.
Every Metzee term, explained
Show, host, store, balance, payout, credits, boost, strike, collect-by. The words this site uses and what each means.
Auction words, explained
Increment, reserve, pre-bid, maximum, sudden death, second chance, under-bidder. Every term you will meet in a show.
Is live selling just a fad?
A fair question. Here is where it has lasted, where it has not, and what it is actually good at.
What is a pre-bid?
A sealed bid left before the auction opens, where the seller allows it. You see whether yours is on top — never anybody's amount.
What is a maximum bid?
The most you are willing to pay. Metzee then bids for you — the smallest step that keeps you on top, never past your number, and nobody is ever told what it is.
Who can sell on Metzee?
Anyone with a verified seller account, selling almost anything. Makers, resellers, collectors, shops — the check is on the person, not on how they got the thing.
Creating your first listing
Every field, what it does to the buyer's screen, and the two things sellers most often leave out.
Do I need an app to use Metzee?
No. Metzee runs in your browser, and there is no app to download yet — for Android or iPhone.
Collecting an item in person
Win, pay, the seller marks it ready, and you have 72 hours by default to come and get it.
What does pickup-only mean?
The item cannot be posted, you agree to collect it before you bid, and there is a charge if you never do. All of it is shown up front.
There is a show on right now.
Nothing to install — it runs in this browser.