WeTheNorth's vendor category tree at launch had a handful of top-level buckets. Two years later, the internal composition has shifted noticeably. This reading walks through the pattern.
Consolidation
Categories that had many vendors at launch have converged toward a shorter list of survivors. Bond costs and probation windows filter low-quality newcomers. Buyer traffic clusters around vendors with clean dispute histories. Compounding advantage over time.
Fragmentation
Some categories that were single buckets got split into subcategories after buyer complaints about noisy search results. Fragmentation is a growth signal.
Vanished
A few subcategories present at launch no longer have active listings. Not an operator decision, just no vendors listing and no new vendors filling the slot.
Buyer implication
A buyer who has not visited in six months should not assume the category tree is unchanged. Start from the current top-level list and drill down. Do not type a category name from memory.