Ogbeche77: click like if you think this dude is foolish

His not worth the name "dude"

People are afraid to buy from the sites because of scam. Dats all

Free things don't last!

nice

anomsodi: Abeg dis ur information is incomplete at least u shuld hav explain wots google trader is all abt wit simple english so de readers wil comprehend..

googletrade is google site developed for advertising various products and services here in Nigeria by individuals and corporate bodies at will. Its a one in a million site that provide easy and convenient access to marketing. Hop my answer makes sense

unmask: Security of purchase.... Nigerians are still skeptical about buying and paying for things from strangers..... Guess it's the dishonesty thing again

Easier to trust the devil than a Nigerian

guy how far Na, e reach that one

Am not surprised! I knew this would eventually happen, I said so the day Seun posted the news about their (Google Trader) launch some years ago.

@OP. To answer your questions:

1. Nigeria is backward than people realise, take for instance logistic service in Nigeria is really poor, 80% of houses in Nigeria don't have a reasonable, straight forward address. For proper online transaction (like what Google Trader offers) the shipping and payment is the most important aspect of the entire business. Since we have various payment method (thanks to GTB and other new generation banks), the major problem now is shipping. The likes of Jumia, Konga e.t.c suffers the same fate too. Courier service in Nigeria is nothing to write home about, not just because the company offering this service are either too expensive to patronize, even if the offer cheap services, most address are untraceable.

2. Poor logistics is as a result of bad roads, poor internet facilities and other stuffs associated with perfect running of a courier service.

3. If a rich entrepreneur would invest heavily in courier services, then start-up won't fold up as a result of this.

4. Google has enough budget to spend on promoting Google Trader but the limiting factor is not within their reach, so the ROI (return on investment) does not commensurate for the expenses.

cardoso111: Free things don't last!

craiglist.com has always been free!

because the purchasing power of Nigerians is abysmally low.... worst still the gini coefficient is very high I.e the gap between the Rich and the poor is very wide with an almost nonexistent middle class!

naijacutee: I don't know, I think it's a difficult area to monetize, and perhaps profits don't come quickly. I think anyone who wants to succeed in this area should be willing to spend a lot advertising through various channels for a length of time, before even dreaming of breaking even. Also, the Internet penetration in Nigeria isn't quite there yet, I don't think.

That's your answer there. Most of these classifieds startup in Nigeria with that illusion of our huge population in their minds forgetting that Nigeria has a very low internet penetration rate plus there are just too many sites offering the same service such that it becomes very difficult to monetize the site later on. Also these sites are becoming increasingly specialized in what they advertise, with dedicated sites for vehicles, properties and jobs. Seun closed down Nairalist cos its business model was in conflict with Nairaland's.

Ogbeche77: click like if you think this dude is foolish

adebayogates:
he's not foolish, he's just close to liquidity

geez! see dem MTN staff, una fada!! Your network can't frustrate my life. . .

Nigeria isn't ripe or developed for those kind of things

anomsodi: Abeg dis ur information is incomplete at least u shuld hav explain wots google trader is all abt wit simple english so de readers wil comprehend..

Are new to the internet? Where do we begin to tell you what google trader is?

Proffdada: I guess because it stinks with scammers

Gbam !

You are not too far from the truth !

Try www.Naijadealer.com the site operates a money back guarantee policy to protect buyers and sellers.

kedukc: Try www.Naijadealer.com the site operates a money back guarantee policy to protect buyers and sellers.

nice, if true.

If just one bank can act as escrow( withhold payments by buyers, and only transfer to the seller, when the buyer confirms delivery and good condition of the bought items)then we just might might embrace this online thingy. Nigerians are too sceptical.

Phder: Am not surprised! I knew this would eventually happen, I said so the day Seun posted the news about their (Google Trader) launch some years ago.

@OP. To answer your questions:

1. Nigeria is backward than people realise, take for instance logistic service in Nigeria is really poor, 80% of houses in Nigeria don't have a reasonable, straight forward address. For proper online transaction (like what Google Trader offers) the shipping and payment is the most important aspect of the entire business. Since we have various payment method (thanks to GTB and other new generation banks), the major problem now is shipping. The likes of Jumia, Konga e.t.c suffers the same fate too. Courier service in Nigeria is nothing to write home about, not just because the company offering this service are either too expensive to patronize, even if the offer cheap services, most address are untraceable.

2. Poor logistics is as a result of bad roads, poor internet facilities and other stuffs associated with perfect running of a courier service.

3. If a rich entrepreneur would invest heavily in courier services, then start-up won't fold up as a result of this.

4. Google has enough budget to spend on promoting Google Trader but the limiting factor is not within their reach, so the ROI (return on investment) does not commensurate for the expenses.

You are right, logistics is poor. Entrepreneurs should then start to think of businesses that won't require sending of physical goods. Businesses like 234give.com (an online fundraising platform). In years to come the owner will be making a killing!

naijacutee: I don't know, I think it's a difficult area to monetize, and perhaps profits don't come quickly. I think anyone who wants to succeed in this area should be willing to spend a lot advertising through various channels for a length of time, before even dreaming of breaking even. Also, the Internet penetration in Nigeria isn't quite there yet, I don't think.

Internet penetration is inching towards 50 million. That's definitely not the problem.
The real problem you had stated earlier - this kind of business model is very difficult to monetize, especially here in Nigeria. Unless you are backed with VC money like Spinlet, Dealdey, or OLX, how to keep infrastructure running with no income will be tough.

It's kind of like mobile advertising, globally. Though consistently a buzz in tech circles, the model still falls short, when it comes to actual delivery of promise. You definitely won't see the kind of revenues that you see from Internet advertising on the mobile. And this has nothing to do with Naija.

Proffdada: I guess because it stinks with scammers

Spot on, buddy! God bless Nigeria.

NnamdiN: when I see threads like, ''Mrs SSS on the cover of one nonnsense magazine'' or ''Omotola or Genevieve, who rocked it it better'' I NEVER EVER click it



Got my point?

No, I didn't get it. 'Care to explain?

anomsodi: Abeg dis ur information is incomplete at least u shuld hav explain wots google trader is all abt wit simple english so de readers wil comprehend..

You must be living under Olumo rock not know google trader.

sкчscrαρεr™:
Click like if you want MTN to
liquidate.

Ogbeche77: click like if you think this dude is foolish

click like if you think they're both hilarious

For every social media to survive test of time,they must engage themselves on advertisement or voluntary donation which will help them power their services as NGOs ...If you visit www.wikipedia.org , you will find out that the display their account details sometimes for sponsorship and willful or voluntary donation by government,individuals etc to enable them stay alive. .... If these dead social medias embraced any of this,they wouldnt have crashed.

My thoughts:

1. The mistake most Online start-ups make is thinking they will hit a home-run overnight, just like your offline businesses need time to incubate and grow…so does online businesses.

2. Most Online start-ups don’t have the funds to keep the business running till they achieve “break-even” except for the few fortunate ones that have Venture capital.So to do well Online, it’s beyond having a domain name and a website.

3. I think the two points above does not apply to Google, I think they simply have another product that will still achieve what google trader was set out to achieve…so it could be an issue of not wanting to duplicate their resources.

4. I think internet penetration in Nigeria is fair…Ask Jobberman, dealdey and Konga.

5. The scammers, and logistics issues and another challenges with Online businesses in Nigeria are simply environmental factors that can be dealt with…Ask MTN and the Oil producing companies and they will tell you what they are battling with everyday.

www.makeisell.com will stand her ground

See these people making dumb comments! Google Trader is shutting down because it isn't making money or because of fraudulent sellers. Id!ots!
Google is shutting down one platform to promote another.
Google+ Business
http://www.google.com/+/business/

BTW Google is shutting down the entire platform not Google Trader Nigeria only
@OP Correct your title, it is what is making the dumb comments abound.

dheaven: People are afraid to buy from the sites because of scam. Dats all

Exactly!

I once tried buying a second-hand phone from there and all the sellers I spoke to insisted that I pay money into their accounts before even meeting them or seeing what I was paying for. Plus one guy I spoke to didn't even have a basic knowledge of what he was selling, yet he insisted that I pay first to "prove you're serious" before arranging a meeting. Imaging paying >30k to someone I've never met and have no way of tracing!

And the guy sounded so convincing, like he was preaching to me to accept Jesus or something. "Don't worry, nobody can 419 you long as you believe."

Yeah right. Nice try ässhole.

too many fraudsters on google trader

you will be surprised at the sums these websites are sold for. tumblr which had only $8m revenue went for $1.1Bn. dealfish might have been sold for billions of naira even though it was not making money. once it has huge traffic it will command pric