I love what I see here but I have to admit it takes some sniffing and snorting before I actually swallow the drink if you know what I mean. Any pointers at all would be appreciated :)

I'm thinking about taking the plunge but rather bewildered what it will get me that coffee doesn't.

just like the old world, commerce remains at the heart of society. selling here - even just shit from your closet to get a little bitcoin - makes you vested in this world in a way that is much deeper than posting or buying. and you guessed it - reputation is even more important on this side of the counter. respect that and everything else comes easy.

here's a step by step:

1 accepting payments
get a payment processor like transaxe, bitpay, boc or cryps. they manage crypto payments for you and hold an escrow (escrow requirement seems to be hard coded) based on your risk profile.

login and click go to settings, payment processors and select one of the payment processors, your reputation will expand the choices that are available.

next go over to your processors' site and get an api token to paste back here on your settings page.

2 create 1st item
click on POST ITEM

smoov tips: use wide images, check out the VISIBILITY SETTINGS, you can limit your item's exposure by password and which sites it is published to (numerous and apps websites link to little biggy data).

like any marketplace, fresh and unique items get the most attention along with bargains. make sure your items fit this description, especially when you are new.

3 first sales
best ways out of obscurity are those that serve little biggy at large, in addition to the novelty just mentioned you want:

good ratings from users that buy frequently - this means you have good items.

new visitors from the outside world - if the algorithm sees you are growing this community you get a huge bump. reddit, quora, instagram, twitter and dread are good portals. its how i found this place myself.

good posts - posts that show you love your product/users do great as do valued topics and comments generally. every time you post people see your name and rating but remember that spammy posts are suicidal to visibility.