In continuation from our previous post on building an Interdependent and self-sustaining economy on Hive, Link is here, we are also proposing the use of mutually beneficial Marketplace to the individual level by creating features that allow customers with mutual needs and products to trade together. This could be done automatically using algorithm to pair traders together or manually by traders themselves searching for trade partners with mutual needs. The idea is that whenever traders need something on Hive marketplace they buy from fellow traders who also buy things from them or need things they sell, as a way of saying thank you and keeping the patronage mutual. In this way they become mutual customers that buy & sell things they need from each other. Though it's not compulsory to buy from people who buy from you, but if you want loyal customers, this is one of the ways to go about it. Whenever you need something, simply buy from hivers who need what you have or sell, and the algorithm will always recommend them to buy things you have that they need. Ofcourse, there are loyalty programs that could be used instead of this but I prefer this for three main reasons, 1. to enable hivers search & identify the needs of fellow hivers on the network, especially those close to them, and supply the needs, 2. to attract lots traders on Hive network who find needs they wish to supply 3. and to make it easy for hivers to find loyal customers once they decide to start trading on the network. These should keep everyone busy on Hive marketplace and minimize selling things that aren't needed/neccessary, or forcing products on people. And once a need is met, that is, once a hiver finds reliable customer to supply his/her needs, the need automatically vanishes from the "need list" as shown in the last image below.
A hiver needs can be supplied by multiple producers who need what the hiver produces... for example, a hiver who sells chickens and needs chicken foods plus his personal foods can be patronized by chicken food and fruits producers who could also buy chicken/meat for sell or for consumption. Let's demonstrate how this would work on Hive using users named Peter, Eddy, Andrew, Madok, Laila and Cynthia who are all buyers (or consumers, represented as individual's needs, eg "Peter's Needs") and sellers (producers)
✴️ Peter's Needs: (products/services Peter buys or consumes often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often: chicken food, soap, fruits & foods for personal consumption.
— Occasionally: chicks, organic supplements
— Once in a while: warmer
*Peter produces/sells: adult chicken, eggs, organic manure...
✴️ Eddy's Needs: (products/services Eddy buys or consumes often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often: eggs, fruits
— Occasionally: chicken
— Once in a while: organic manure
- Eddy produces/sells: chicks, organic manure...
✴️ Andrew's Needs: (products/services Andrew buys or consume often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often: meat, eggs
— Occasionally: salt, oil,
— Once in a while: organic manure, cups
- Andrew produces/sells: banana, fruits, fruit juice, vegetables, chicken pie, etc
✴️ Madok's Needs: (products/services Madok buys often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often: meat, fruits, bread
— Occasionally: fruits juice, chicken pie
— Once in a while:
*Madok produces/sells: metal, cups, pots,
✴️ Laila's Needs: (products/services laila buys or consumes often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often:
— Occasionally: grinder,
— Once in a while: pots, cups
- Laila produces/sells: flour, bread, cake ...
✴️ Cynthia's Needs: (products/services Cynthia buys or consumes often, occasionally, once in a while etc)
— Often: bread, vegetables, spices, meat
— Occasionally: cake
— Once in a while: pots, cups
- Cynthia produces/sells: foods...
And below is a diagram that describes the flow of things between traders on the mutual marketplace:
The diagram below shows trader A pairing with trader B for mutual exchange of products
On the second and third diagram, you can see A and B have what each other need and they got paired for a mutual exchange of what they have got and need. "A" needs several things and is paired with "B" who needs what A produces which is bread, and also has some of what A needs which are cups and pots. The pairing can only occur if both trader have products they can exchange between themselves to satisfy their needs. Once a need is met it vanishes from the "need list" like shown on the third diagram.
*With this model, like in any other marketplace, it's better to focus on producing things you are better at than other hivers who produce similar things. This will give you a competitive edge over them, and customers will find this very attractive.
Now, how about producers who continue to receive patronage but only buy from few customers or don't buy from any customer atall? Well, if this happens, it may be that the producers have trading advantages that attract customers who find them hard to resist or they're customers that probably don't care whether the producers buy from them or not. Or maybe the producers do not find exactly what they need from the customers or the customers don't have enough products to satisfy their needs. I think certain customers will eventually learn to satisfy such producers by getting precisely and enough of what they want and serve the producers well, this will also give them the advantages that attract more customers, and a balance will be created if things are done well.
Even factories of some sort on Hive that needs lots of raw materials for production should be willing to buy them from customers who buy their products, as long as the raw materials are up to the factories standards. And the customers become their mutual customers who buy their finished products in bulk: wholesale, retail etc to sell to small consumers on Hive
In conclusion, the main reason for this idea is to keep the marketplace self-sustaining by creating system of Interdependence where producers don't have to work too hard to find people to buy things they produce, and in return buy what they need from their consumers. In this case the producer is also a consumer who is better off buying from people who buy from them to keep them loyal. In my opinion, this is how a fair and proper market should function. It's not that reasonable for a trader to keep buying things from people who go somewhere else to buy things he sells. I guess this happens because the market isn't that organized, efficiently run, or traders just prefer to buy from certain people/businesses probably because of their reputation, products qualities, high standards, etc. The Hive marketplace could be designed to encourage traders to up their standards plus other quality practices which most customers will likely go for. By the way, why buy pizzas from popular pizza companies when you can just order them from hivers with thesame or better standard, quality or reputation? An added benefit to this, which you probably won't get anywhere else is that the pizza trader would patrionize you when he/she needs what you sell. It doesn't really matter much If you don't sell anything since you have gotten what you need and owes no one nothing. But the marketplace would appreciate you more if you got involved in trading and help in satisfying the needs of others hivers. Most or all of the need vaccum will probably be filled if everyone is doing thesame thing
Yeehaw! This blog post is like a breath of fresh air on a bustling homestead! It ropes in the idea of mutual trading for a self-sustaining economy on Hive. Stay true to your roots and trade with your fellow hivers, partners in prosperity. Keep the fire burning and the marketplace buzzing, cowboy.