Christmas came and went, and maybe you got something that you didn’t exactly want or need. Or, did you get something that will possibly replace what you already have? Well, you can go the traditional route and use Ebay or Craigslist to sell your stuff, but I decided to try a different route this time around. I have been hankering to try out a new web app that is similar to the two that I just mentioned, but yet a little different.
I like to use Craigslist because it is easy to post, but I hate the fact that you have to meet with someone to give them what you are selling and it can only be used locally. With Ebay, there are so many fees and it seems like it takes forever to post there. Junkio takes the good parts about both sites and combines it into one. Let me show you around and you can see what I am talking about.
Getting Started
Junkio is currently in beta so you have to sign up and wait to get invited in order to actually use the service. When I first signed up, it didn’t take long to get my invite to start using the service. When you do register, the first thing you have to do is set up your user account. This can take a little while as Junkio uses Amazon payments as their transaction method, which is nice, but it does take a little time to get set up.
Setting up your account
Once you set up your account, you can now start to post your first item that you want to sell. Junkio makes it really easy for you to post your stuff by having you fill out a form that helps you to explain what your product is and how much you want to sell it for. A nice feature that they have is that you can have an item be either public or private. If it is set to public, anyone on the internet can search for it, but if it is private, only your friends on Junkio can see it.
Posting your stuff to sell
Another nice feature that they have is that not only can you add pictures to your posting, but you can also upload a video from YouTube as well. This is a great way to be able to advertise your item in a different way. In my opinion it gives the seller another avenue to show off the item and it gives the consumer more information about something that they are looking to buy.
Adding a video or pictures to your ad
Purchasing an Item
When it comes to purchasing something on the site, Junkio makes it pretty easy for you to search for a specific item that you are looking for. What I really appreciate about this site is that they really make it user friendly when it comes to buying something. You see the price that the seller is asking and you also see the shipping cost as well. I am not exactly sure how this is calculated, but it is automatically given to you. You then indicate how much you want to purchase the item for, and then the seller has the option to either accept or reject your offer.
Purchasing an item
If the seller accepts your offer, you will then get automatically billed for the item. In order for this to happen you have to have an Amazon account set up, as Junkio uses Amazon payments for their transactions. They also take 5% of the profit that the seller makes as their way of being able to make money.
Promising
As I had the opportunity to play around with Junkio for a bit, the one word that came to mind was promising. As with any app that is in beta, you definitely have to give it the benefit of the doubt and use the “wait and see” approach. What I felt made the app promising was the fact that they give you the option to either buy and sell locally or the option to ship something. This, to me, was huge as it gives you both as a seller to sell to a wider audience and as a buyer to select from a bigger pool.
As the developers start to make the site better, I think there are a couple of things that can be improved upon. For one, I wasn’t a huge fan of the aesthetics of the site. It just looked way too plain for me, but that is a matter of opinion and not something that will stop me from using it. Secondly, as is expected, there are minor bugs in various instances of using the site, but with any beta that is not unusual.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I like the fact that a site like this has come along to help us get rid of our stuff that others will want. It is hard to say if they are going to gain traction the way that sites like ebay and Craigslist has, but I think their selling point should be the fact that they can be used to sell both locally and nationally. That is something that they have over the other two big sites.
Like I had mentioned before the site is currently in beta, so be patient in waiting for your invite. Right now there are not many things to purchase on the site, but I think that will change in time as more people start to use it. If you are looking for a different way to sell and buy second hand things, I would suggest you go and check Junkio out.