Dibdit is a live auction marketplace on District created by the three hosts of the Trash to Cash Podcast, a YouTube channel. The three YouTubers, Kevin, Dave, and Cary previously were eBay resellers. Most of their focus these days is on Dibdit.
Apparently all is not well in the reselling world of Dibdit. Petty drama has reared its ugly head in the cheap live action marketplace.
A video explaining the Dibdit drama
I was curious what the controversy was really about. I watched a Dibdit townhall replay Kevin has on his Dibdit channel.
These were some of the key points I took away from the video, with time stamps:
- If you are an owner, admin, or a mod on another District marketplace, you need to ask Kevin, Dave, or Cary permission to participate on live auctions on their marketplace. (15:30)
- Kevin said he went to a new District marketplace and counted 75 buyers who came from Didbit. (18:15)
- Dave said if you decide to sell on another platform because someone started liking your Instagram posts and they sent you a pretty message and made you feel good, so you decide to go sell over there, it hurts them financially. (19:00)
- Dave said that another platform (they are not allowed to name) is stealing their biggest buyers and their biggest sellers. Dibdit’s top three sellers six months ago left Dibdit and they are now selling exclusively over on the other unnamed marketplace. (28:30)
- Kevin said everyone has the right and ability to sell where they please. Dibdit has the ability and the right to restrict people who sell on Dibdit. If anyone wants to talk to Kevin, he is willing to talk to anyone. He’s just not willing to get on the phone with anyone. Huh? (33:20)
I guess do not understand District
After listening to the video two seperate times, I got the feeling the Dibdit crew do not welcome or appreciate competition from other District marketplaces. The three former top sellers who left Dibdit for another marketplace? I got the feeling Dave and Kevin aren’t at all curious why the three sellers left. That seems like a missed opportunity.
If you’ve ever purchased something on the Dibdit marketplace, you’re apparently considered their property. If you took a shot of soju every time Dave or Kevin said “our buyers,” you would black out before the end of the video.
I thought Dave sounded terrible when he referred to someone from the other marketplace liking a former Dibdit seller’s Instagram posts and sending “a pretty message that made them feel good.” Why wasn’t Dave liking their seller’s Instagram posts and sending them pretty messages? That sounded like another missed opportunity.
In conclusion
I think the drama is a lot to do about nothing. District is based on live auctions. The live auction format seems like a giant race to the bottom. Then again, everything I know about live auctions I learned from riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.
If you want to sell something in an auction, you’re going to reach more people on eBay. If you insist on auctioning something through a live auction, you’ll reach more buyers on Whatnot. Dibdit currently has over 15,000 buyers. That’s the number of people who’ve pressed the “join” button on their marketplace. How frequently they’ve visited Dibdit in the last three months is unknown. Contrary to what the owners of Dibdit might feel, buyers don’t belong to anyone. They’re independent and are free to buy from any District marketplace they wish.
