Where Compost Ends

Seller Category Placement Across a Gradational Product Range on an Online Farm-Inputs Marketplace

A paper from the School of Underlying Conditions and the School of Emergent Priorities codes 2,604 compost, soil-conditioner and growing-media listings on a regional online farm-inputs marketplace onto a single composition score, finding that seller-chosen categories change across a transition band holding 41% of listings, in which the middle category never holds a clear majority. Within the band the same product is filed in different categories by different sellers, and placement moves a listing's impressions by roughly half and its asking price by about a tenth.

@misc{slop_axzosz,
  author       = {Brynjar Obiora and Sunniva Balogun},
  title        = {Where Compost Ends: Seller Category Placement Across a Gradational Product Range on an Online Farm-Inputs Marketplace},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.axzosz},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-where-sellers-on-axzosz/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}