PongEx
There are 300 million table tennis players worldwide. 40 million of those players are considered competitive. The equipment industry alone is worth billions of dollars. In a sport where technical spin and athleticism is critical, the use of rubbers and blades is quite high year round. With the consistent advancement in equipment technology and marketing, players are constantly trying and buying new products. This creates the inevitable used equipment market.
https://pongex.appProduct Designer
& Front-End Developer
Chief Technology Officer
Problem
The used table tennis equipment market is flooded with too many options to resell. Ebay and Facebook marketplace being two common ones out of the plethora of places including local clubs in person. These three alone have their own issues with a very unstable user experience including loss of total profit. To this day, there is not a single app that exists to service the used equipment market.
- There is no unified software platform for a table tennis marketplace
- Hard to find items on group platforms
- Flakey buyers and lowballing
- Equipment is typically always lowballed in person face-to-face
- There is no automated peer to peer exchange tracking process
- No rating systems based on fair buyer and seller business
- Not always free with high charges - Ebay
Solution
- Develop a unified marketplace application
- Utilize 20 years of research
- Validate the current player experience for buying and selling equipment
- Introduce the new checkout tracking system - Shakehand for confidence buyer/seller experience
- Ensure a stable ecosystem that gains player trust and gets them to join forever
- Integrate social media sharing for Instagram and Facebook stories
- Develop geolocation for consistent shipping
User Personas & Survey Results
These user personas were developed organically during 20 years of playing table tennis in 11 different states, coaching at 5 different clubs, and competing semi-professionally. I consider this information to be definitive by acclamation of any credited club player in the last 2 to 6 decades.
Core User Personas
The Conservationist
Any age - Budget-Conscious Buyer
- Buys used because they prefer to save money and know table tennis is expensive
- Typically searches for rubbers or blades by asking club members at the lowest possible price regardless of quality
- Tends to use older equipment and make everything last
PongEx Opportunities
- Target with "best value" messaging
- Highlight cost savings vs. new equipment
- Create bundle deals and bulk discounts
- Offer "vintage" or "classic" equipment categories
Marketing Tactics
- Price comparison tools showing savings
- Customer reviews emphasizing value
- Limited-time deals to create urgency
- Loyalty program for repeat buyers
The Competitive Player
Age 16-40 - Serious Competitor
- Always trying endless combinations of equipment over longer periods
- Occasionally has stock of semi-used rubbers from 1-4 weeks old but still sellable
- HUGE opportunity to entice them to sell their semi-used equipment
PongEx Opportunities
- Simplify the selling process to reduce friction
- Create trade-in programs for easy equipment swaps
- Build community features to connect buyers and sellers
- Offer equipment history tracking
Marketing Tactics
- One-click listing creation
- Automated pricing suggestions based on condition
- Email reminders: "Got equipment to sell?"
- Gamification: badges for active sellers
The Equipment Junkie
Age 16-40 - Average Consumer
- Embraces consumerism specifically in table tennis
- Loves any type of new product or ad from any brand
- Normally has a very vibrant personality and excitement when playing
PongEx Opportunities
- Target with new product releases and trending equipment
- Create "limited edition" or "exclusive" listings
- Build wish lists and notifications for new arrivals
- Social features to showcase their equipment collection
Marketing Tactics
- Weekly "New Arrivals" email newsletters
- Flash sales on trending equipment
- Influencer partnerships and equipment reviews
- Social sharing features for collections
The Pro/Sponsored Player
Professional - Free Equipment
- Gives equipment away for free because they can't sell it
- Could be an aggregator to a person that could sell
- Equipment is usually close to brand new
PongEx Opportunities
- Partner with pros to distribute their free equipment through PongEx
- Create "Pro Gear" marketplace for near-new equipment
- Aggregate equipment from multiple pro players
- Verified "Used by Pro" badge system
Marketing Tactics
- Partnership programs with sponsored players
- Equipment authentication system
- Story behind each piece of pro equipment
- Charity auctions for pro-used gear
Survey Results
Q1: When buying blades or rubbers to test, where is the first place you try to sell them?
Q2: When selling at your local TT Club - Do you make less money compared to online?
Q3: When buying and selling anything online - What difficulties do you encounter?
Q4: When you sell table tennis equipment, where do you advertise it?
Q5: Are you interested in listing items for sale on our upcoming marketplace platform?
Logo and Vision
Starting from scratch is never easy, but having confidence in your vision and deep roots in the table tennis community makes ideation feel natural. The logo reflects the core concept: two arrows circling in opposite directions represent the flow of buying and selling, while the classic white table tennis ball sits at the center. PongEx - The Pong Exchange.
Strategic Insights
Based on our research and 20 years of experience, we identified key opportunities for each user persona and developed a phased implementation roadmap to deliver maximum value.
🎯 Biggest Opportunity
The Average Competitive Player (Rating 1000-1800)
This segment has semi-used equipment ready to sell but lacks the energy to list it. By making selling effortless, PongEx can unlock a massive supply of quality used equipment.
💎 Premium Strategy
Pro/Sponsored Player Partnerships
Partner with pros to aggregate their near-new donated equipment. Create a "Pro Gear" marketplace with authentication badges to drive premium pricing and brand credibility.
🚀 Growth Driver
Equipment Junkies as Brand Ambassadors
This flashy, social segment loves new products and sharing. Build social features to let them showcase collections, creating organic marketing and driving platform engagement.
💰 Volume Play
Cheapskates Drive Transaction Volume
While individual transactions may be lower value, this segment's active bargain-hunting behavior drives consistent marketplace activity and liquidity.
Interactive Prototype
The PongEx mobile application was designed with simplicity and trust at its core. Every screen focuses on making the buying and selling experience as frictionless as possible while maintaining security and transparency.
System Architecture
The PongEx ecosystem consists of multiple interconnected applications sharing a unified Firebase backend. The architecture is designed for scalability and seamless user experience across all platforms.
PongEx Ecosystem Architecture
Complete system architecture, migration strategy, and roadmap for the PongEx platform
Current Architecture (Fragmented)
Marketing Website
pongex_website
Equipment Catalog, SEO, Marketing
ActiveWeb App Portal
pongex_webui
Auth, Dashboard, Tournaments
Admin Dashboard
PongEx_Admin
User Mgmt, Analytics
ActiveMobile App
react_nativePP
iOS & Android Apps
SeparateProject Inventory
Marketing Website
pongex_website
- Equipment Catalog (42 products)
- Product Pages
- SEO Optimized
- Equipment Protocol Scraper
Web Application Portal
pongex_webui
- User Authentication
- Tournaments
- Payment Integration (Adyen)
- User Dashboard
Admin Dashboard
PongEx_Admin
- User Management
- Analytics
- Calendar/Scheduling
- Admin Controls
Mobile Application
react_nativePP
- iOS & Android Apps
- Native Features
- Mobile-Optimized UI
Firebase Backend
Unified backend services for all projects
Firestore Database
- User data
- Tournaments
- Listings
- Reviews
Authentication
- Email/Password
- Social Auth
- Admin Roles
- Session Management
Storage
- User uploads
- Product images
- Documents
- Media files
Risk Assessment & Mitigation
High Risk Items
- Data migration during consolidation
- Authentication system changes
- Payment integration stability
- SEO impact from URL changes
Mitigation Strategies
- Parallel system deployment
- Extensive testing periods
- Rollback plan ready
- Proper 301 redirects
Primary Goal
Consolidate pongex_website and pongex_webui into a single, unified Next.js application called pongex_platform.
Current Problems
- Two separate Next.js projects
- Duplicate dependencies & configurations
- Split user experience
- High maintenance overhead
- Increased hosting costs
Expected Benefits
- Single unified codebase
- Seamless user experience
- Shared components & logic
- Reduced infrastructure costs (50%)
- Faster feature development (40%)
Success Metrics
7-Phase Migration Roadmap
Preparation & Analysis
Week 1- Audit both codebases
- Document all features and pages
- Identify shared vs unique components
- Map Firebase dependencies
- Create backup branches
Foundation Setup
Week 1-2- Create pongex_platform directory
- Initialize Next.js 15 with App Router
- Set up TypeScript, ESLint, Tailwind
- Configure Firebase
- Implement route groups structure
Public Routes Migration
Week 2-3- Migrate homepage and equipment catalog
- Copy product pages and data
- Transfer equipment protocol scripts
- Update image paths
- Verify SEO optimization
Authentication Migration
Week 3-4- Set up Firebase Auth
- Create login/signup pages
- Implement AuthContext
- Configure protected route middleware
- Test authentication flows
User Features Migration
Week 4-5- Migrate user dashboard
- Transfer tournament pages
- Integrate payment system (Adyen)
- Copy API routes
- Test all user flows
Testing & Optimization
Week 5-6- End-to-end testing
- Performance optimization
- SEO audit and fixes
- Security audit
- Bug fixes
Deployment & Migration
Week 6-7- Deploy to staging
- User acceptance testing
- DNS configuration
- Production deployment
- Archive old repositories
Moving Forward
As PongEx is attemping to validate what we already are aiming for. The goal is to achieve a 100 plus user testing environment which will eventually turn into our beta enviroment for buying and selling.
During this period the plan is to build our website SEO footprint alongside the organic eccosystem through the table tennis community.