u/HappyTuesdayR1S

I’m just posting this as a feeler. We’re ready to get out somewhere more rural. I love my house, I know someone out there is looking for something like this.

Im looking for a full trade - sale opportunity

My house;

Built in 2021
2,500sqft
1hr center or San Diego and Los Angeles
45 mins east of Lake Forest
4 bed, 3 bath

Looking for;

Something in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, maybe Montana?

Single story (my husband is a disabled veteran and stairs are a big problem for us now)

Not looking for anything fancy but would like some space to spend our time outdoors. An acre maybe even 2?

I know, I know this might be wild but, free will?

We have a VA mortgage so if you do as well we can both just assume each others mortgages.

Our neighborhood has always used Facebook groups for local buying and selling, but lately it feels like it’s gotten harder than it needs to be.

Posts get buried, people miss updates, comments get messy, and half the time it turns into the same “is this still available?” back and forth.

Biddie is a new local auction app that keeps buying and selling inside your neighborhood instead of throwing everything into one giant marketplace.

Everything starts at $1, auctions run for 24 hours, and neighborhoods are approved so it stays local.

It’s still new, but it feels like a cleaner way to handle the stuff people already sell in neighborhood groups.

Curious what people think, especially anyone who uses Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or local buy/sell groups.

https://preview.redd.it/pds2gy0i240h1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a48f26df3a8d4bc21a1cb5e8e8b85a979f7b93

Hey everyone, I built an app called Biddie.

My neighborhood has been using a Facebook group for local auctions, but Facebook keeps changing how the app works and it has caused nonstop headaches. So I decided to build something made specifically for neighborhood auctions.

Each neighborhood gets its own auction group, items start at $1, and auctions run for 24 hours.

It’s meant to be simple. No shipping, no random far away buyers, just local neighbors bidding on local stuff.

Tech Stack

Biddie is built as a native iOS app using Swift and SwiftUI.

For the backend, I’m using Firebase for things like accounts, app data, images, notifications, and crash reporting. I’m also using Google Analytics so I can better understand how people are using the app and what needs to be improved.

The app uses Google AdMob for ads, and MapKit for the location and neighborhood side of things. I'm hoping that the ads are non-intrusive enough to make people okay with them. I don't want to riddle the views with Ads

For building, testing, and releasing updates, I used Xcode, GitHub, TestFlight, and App Store Connect.

Development Challenge

One of the bigger challenges was making auctions feel simple in the app, while still keeping everything working correctly behind the scenes.

When someone places a bid the app has to update the auction, show the current highest bid, and keep things clear for everyone looking at that item. I also wanted to keep witht he spirit of how our local group already runs (on Facebook) Every item starts at $1 - or really $0 but minimum is $1 sale price and runs for 24 hours, so there isn't a lot for users to figure out.

Another challenge was making sure the app felt local. I didn’t want it to feel like one giant marketplace. One of the biggest reasons I never use Facebook marketplace for example.

The whole point is for neighborhoods to have their own auction groups, so people are bidding on stuff near them and dealing with real neighbors instead of random buyers far away.

AI Disclosure

I self-built with AI help!

While I did build and design the app myself I did use AI to help me with things like brainstorming, bug diagnosis and, writing copy.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/biddie/id6758863986

U.S. only. This is my first app and was difficult enough so I’ll try tackling other local/countries in the future.

I know my biggest hurdle will be marketing it - im not very good at it but I'm just doing word of mouth including sharing a post on Facebook groups in different neighborhood groups in my area. I don't want to spend anything on ads but I was looking at the admob advertising as I have never seen that as an option.

I have spent about a year maybe a little more on this, if you count all the months of brainstorming and discussing with people in my community. I also want to thank Kavsoft because I have been watching the videos for years and practicing, playing around till I finally did it!