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ShopScout! Item/Location Based Shopping for Rare Items
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The Elevator Pitch
For collectors, shoppers, those who want to re-capture their youth who need a rare or unique item the ShopScout! is a web service that locates rare or unique items people need. Unlike traditional shopping at garage saled, boutiques, and thrift stores our product helps people quickly locate and purchase items in such locations worldwide..
The Idea
A web application that can be used in combination with camera-phones to facilitate a community of folks who are all looking for unique items which one might find in a thrift store, boutique, garage sale, yard sale, rummage sale, etc. etc.
People who are looking to complete a collection of "Captain Zappo!" figurines or "Aunt Ethels Uranium Coated Cookware" could post such desires in their user profiles for others to see.
Somehow, some way, (this is the hard part) these wants are matched to other users and then, when a user is going to one of the aforementioned kinds of sale locations, they can bring a small list of items from the site to scout for with them.
If the user finds any items, they can immediately compose a media message on their phone with pictures of the item(s) to show condition, etc. plus text or voice notes about the items. Interested users are alerted about item availability via e-mail or SMS, and can then contact and enga
I thought of this idea when I was...
thinking about how to get the news of these super old Star Wars action figures in great condition and for cheap to friends I know would die to buy them on the spot.
Rather than buy something and take it home to have someone say, "nahh- I already have five of those", I wanted a way to verify my family member or friend actually _wanted_ the items before I pick them up.
This kind of service, if carried off well, and with the technical challenges of pairing folks with similar interests and item goals to "scout" for each other worked out, could be very effective for collectors, and others who are trying to find that old Atari 800 or Big Trak without the hassle of ?Bay or when ?Bay doesn't come up with the goods...
Comments Posted
Interesting... but it seem to complicated.
Why would I shop for others?
Why wouldn't the people selling the stuff in the first place just lookup on the web site to see if somebody wants what they have.
I think it's a pretty good idea. The thing with buying something off of ebay is that you don't always know what you're getting. It might be cool to incorporate this with mobile camera phones. Could be big at garage sales.
ChrisJ has got me! Thanks for the comment.
Moogy: it's not about "I have this stuff, and I'm selling it". It's more about "I want this stuff- who can find it for me". The point of the service is to help people be at many different locations (garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, etc.) at once, and get items they've been looking for without having to travel to all these places where the items might be.
I like it I think. Although not being a collector I'm not sure of the demand for such a system. If the thing gets big how are you going to make the list of things people are looking for manageable?
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