OpenBazaar Ecosystem: Tyler Nieman
In these posts we take a look at some unique members of the OpenBazaar ecosystem. Today we are featuring the evolving store tsnieman by Tyler Nieman who has several items listed now including his original art prints, tech gear and web development services while he defines his focus.
That’s part of the beauty of OpenBazaar, you don’t have to have it all figured out to get started!
You can view Tyler Nieman’s store in your browser or on OpenBazaar here.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Tyler Nieman and I’m a full-stack web developer/designer, artist, gamer, and general all-around nerd currently living in Tacoma, WA. I run @tsnieman on OpenBazaar.
How did you find out about OpenBazaar?
Probably by means of some Bitcoin-related subreddit. I’ve been learning a lot more about decentralization and cryptocurrencies in general lately, and OpenBazaar is a big name in that space.
What do you make/sell?
A lot of different stuff with no real specialty carved out yet. Right now I’ve got: some 12x18 locally screen-printed posters of my original Fox-themed artwork, rare vinyl (The Weeknd’s “Trilogy”, hand-numbered), some computer parts, a mechanical keyboard (with some fun free keycaps!), and my own by-the-hour full-stack development and design services.
Why are you selling your product on OpenBazaar?
I think decentralization is a very powerful concept and I’m excited to learn more about it. OpenBazaar seems like a great way to do that. It’s proving a great way to learn about how decentralized markets can work, cryptocurrencies, open source development, and even just general server maintenance practice. It’s a great way to network with other people in the space too.
How has your experience been with OpenBazaar so far?
Fantastic for such an early version of the concept! I’ve only been up and running for a week or two, so I haven’t had any real sales. I’ve made a purchase (shoutout to Cryptobooks!) and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of “The Internet of Money”, a book by Andreas Antonopoulos. I’m finding so many great shops online by so many talented people. I’m hoping to open up another shop or two with more focused themes, as I really believe in what OpenBazaar could be.
How familiar are you with Bitcoin?
I learned about it years ago, when it was first coming out, though I didn’t get into playing with it until 2013 or so (what a shame, right?). It wasn’t until the last year or two that it really started to become a serious hobby/interest. Since then, I’ve consumed a lot of Satoshi’s writings, bought a few hardware wallets (shoutout to LedgerHQ — check out their OpenBazaar shop!), got a few friends interested, dabbled in other cryptoassets, started connecting people with Bitcoin in the area, and recently started a local Tacoma Bitcoin interest group. I’m hoping to compile some educational material and educate more local folk soon.
What changes would you like to see in OpenBazaar to make it more useful for you?
Aside from all the awesome work coming in OpenBazaar 2.0, more folks on the platform and shopping would be the biggest improvement. I would also really love if there was a way to see some analytics like number of vendors online (and over time), number of sales per day, etc, though I imagine that getting people on OpenBazaar and making sales is first priority. I’m excited to see how OB1 helps grow OpenBazaar’s community and tech with their most recent round of fundraising.
Tyler cited this video OB1 CEO Brian Hoffman made recently that demonstrates some of the development work to date toward Milestone 1 of version 2.0:
Would you like to have a store on OpenBazaar?
Becoming a vendor is easy and completely free! Check out our Vendor’s Guide to OpenBazaar
Would you like your store to be featured on our blog?
Awesome, we’d love to know your story! Please email jenn@ob1.io
