cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/40697282

This is mostly just word-vomit, but I had a random idea while doing a tonne of Xmas shopping and figured you guys might appreciate possibly chewing on it.

What if there potentially was a Fediverse-style alternative / competitor to Amazon Prime, etc. but instead of being one giant marketplace (a la Flohmarkt, etc.), it was made up of independent websites that federate together?

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Think something architecturally similar to Lemmy, Mastodon, Peertube, Pixelfed, Loops by Pixelfed, etc, but:

No “instances” in the traditional sense (like Lemmy servers, Mastodon, instances, etc.)

Instead, each shop is its own fully independent website

(e.g.

Gotyka,

Dolls Kill,

Dracula Clothing,

VampireFreaks,

Killstar,

Hot Topic,

Barnes and Noble,

Home Depot,

Everlane,

Kotn,

Pact,

American Giant,

Taylor Stitch,

Outerknown,

plus other shops for books, electronics, home goods, etc.)

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The federated layer wouldn’t replace their storefronts. It would just:

Aggregate listings / catalogs

Allow discovery, search, wishlists, maybe reviews

Potentially handle things like recommendations without centralizing power

Function kind of like a decentralized “market index” rather than a single store

In other words: a protocol + shared infrastructure, not a mega-store.

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Some half-baked thoughts:

Users might sign in via each individual shop (or perhaps via a shared fediverse identity like ActivityPub / OAuth / something new)

Each store keeps control of branding, stock, payments, policies

The “platform” just connects them into one large, searchable, decentralized marketplace

No single Amazon-style choke point that can enshittify everything

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I love this idea in theory, but realistically:

I don’t have the skills, knowledge, or time to build anything like this

I also don’t know if this already exists in some form (OpenBazaar vibes? Solid? Something ActivityPub-adjacent?)

This is more of a conceptual “what if” than a proposal

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But the idea stuck with me because:

I hate how centralized Amazon is

I like how the Fediverse decentralizes control

And holiday shopping really highlights how fragmented yet monopolized online commerce has become

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So I’m mostly curious:

Is this technically feasible with existing Fediverse tech?

Has something like this already been attempted?

What would be the biggest blockers — payments, trust, logistics, identity, incentives?

Would independent shops even want this, or would it be more attractive to smaller creators?

Is there a protocol or project adjacent to this idea?

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This idea honestly came from Xmas shopping fatigue and bouncing between a million tabs, wishing there was a non-Amazon way to do “one stop shopping” without recreating Amazon itself.

Curious to hear thoughts, critiques, or “this already exists and you reinvented the wheel” responses.

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Also, feel more than welcome to steal the idea.

EDIT:

Would something like Shops

https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/shops/5354

work?