As mobile becomes evermore intrinsic to the way we shop, - a subject explored in our Future of Retail Forum - we're used to letting mysterious algorithms recommend stuff for us to buy. But what if they also made it easy for us to sell things quickly, and at an optimal price? That was the thought behind iOS app, Sold.
Using services like Ebay and Gumtree can be not only time-consuming but often ineffective if an item is listed badly. While Sold doesn’t offer a replacement for the big markets, its streamlined concierge service has been designed to make the experience of selling something online a whole lot simpler.
Sold uses statistical analysis of multiple markets to generate an optimum price for each item, partly based on photos and a description provided by the seller. If extra information or better pictures are needed, they'll send you a text.
Once the item has been sold on a market of their choosing, they'll send you a pre-labeled, pre-paid and pre-insured box filled with bubble wrap, and allow you to book a UPS pick-up with the tap of a button. All payments go straight into your bank account, so no extracting funds from PayPal.
Currently however, what you can sell on Sold is restricted to 'things of value', such as cameras, phones, laptops and certain fashion items, a limitation that allows them to become experts in selling specific categories.