Tags:
startup #product #marketplace #realestate #balkans #earlystage
One of the hardest decisions in product development is not deciding what to build.
It’s deciding what to emphasize first.
When we started building ReBALKAN, we knew from day one that this would be a multi-category marketplace:
real estate, vehicles, and other listings already exist on the platform.
But very early, we made a conscious product decision:
even if multiple categories are available,
one problem must be solved better than everything else.
For us, that problem was rental apartments.
Facebook groups are not a product — but they dominate rentals
In the Balkans (and especially in Skopje), rental apartments are still dominated by Facebook groups.
From a product perspective, Facebook groups are not marketplaces.
They are unstructured data pools.
Common problems repeat every day:
- Listings without prices
- Apartments rented months ago but still reposted
- “PM sent” → no reply
- No clarity on whether the publisher is an individual or an agency
- Noise: comments, emojis, irrelevant messages
Despite this, users don’t leave Facebook.
Not because it works well — but because:
- Everyone is there
- It’s fast
- It’s free
- Habits are extremely strong
We didn’t ask:
“Can we replace Facebook?”
The answer is clearly no.
Instead, we asked:
“Can we build a calmer, clearer alternative for the users who are already frustrated?”
Why rentals come first
ReBALKAN supports multiple listing types.
Sales and vehicles exist on the platform.
However, rentals became our primary focus for a simple reason:
this is where urgency, stress, and time loss are the highest.
Rental users:
- need answers fast
- care deeply about availability
- abandon platforms quickly if information is unclear
If a product works well for rentals,
it almost always works better for slower categories later.
“Active listing” is not a label, it’s a rule
One of our strongest product decisions was redefining what “active” means.
On ReBALKAN:
- Listings without a price are not published
- The last update time is always visible
- It is always clear whether the publisher is an individual or an agency
- Listings that are not updated are automatically deactivated
None of these ideas are technically complex.
But together, they solve the first question every rental user asks:
“Is this still available?”
If a product cannot answer that question instantly,
it loses the user.
Less noise is a UX decision
We intentionally reduced interaction noise:
- No comment chaos
- No emoji spam
- No “details in DM” games
We are not optimizing for more messages.
We are optimizing for faster, more meaningful first messages.
That’s why our main success metric is not:
- total listings
- total users
- page views
Our core metric is:
median time from listing publish to first meaningful inquiry.
This metric reflects:
- user seriousness
- listing quality
- platform trust
Early-stage, but intentional
ReBALKAN is not a massive portal.
And right now, it’s not trying to be one.
Our approach is simple:
- multiple categories exist
- one category leads product decisions
- clarity comes before scale
Rental apartments are our proving ground.
If we can make this experience calm, fast, and trustworthy,
expanding other categories becomes much easier — and much safer.
If you’re currently looking for a rental apartment in Skopje
and want to avoid outdated or unclear listings,
you can see the platform here:
We’re not trying to build everything at once.
We’re trying to build one thing properly first.
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