Refurrl

collaborativefund:

Came across a great article and thread on Chris Dixon’s Blog discussing the future of social commerce and e-commerce startups in general.  There are numerous great points, specifically if you are a retail based e-commerce startup, and how to have a fighting chance in the “Amazon world” we play in.  
Refurrl seeks to build a trusted peer to peer sales network, so even though we aren’t battling in the retail world (yet), we would be competing with other large players in the commerce game.  We are seeking to do it better that others, and this article still provides some basic insights that can go a long way in any startup. 

Here are a few points that make us think there is hope for a startup like Refurrl:

• E-commerce is good for two things – price and exclusives. Amazon will beat you on price, so you have to beat it on exclusives.
• The only way to escape commoditization and catalogue commerce dominated by Amazon is to a) sell used stuff, or b) make your own products (or provide a marketplace for those things), or c) (possibly) offer customization.
• Compete in an industry with a grey market, where consumers are willing to pay higher prices for reducing risk, for authenticity, and warranties

The full article rings true from a retailer standpoint, it would be tough to compete with Amazon and many other retail based e-commerce solutions out there. With that being said, it does seem to note that there is room for innovation/disruption in the P2P realm, selling used items and offering reduced risk due to trusted sources.  Refurrl wants to make it easy, safe and cheap to buy and sell online.  We have a few tricks up our sleeve and hope you stick around to see them.

You can read the full thread of this article at Chris Dixon’s Blog or you can get the quick synopsis at Social Commerce Daily.

Every time we describe to people what Refurrl is and why we are building a trusted social sales network, it never fails, we are interrupted with, “Thank God, cause this one time I tried to buy something online and the craziest thing happened!”  

It’s sad, but true, people buying and selling on Craigslist or eBay tend to have more than a few wild experiences that spawned out of their listing or attempted purchase.

It made us curious…what is the wildest, most outlandish incident that someone is willing to share with us?  To entice you to share, we are offering a few prizes.

The person with the most wild and awkward story will win all of these items:

• Refurrl Promo Pack! (T-shirts & Stickers)
• Shout outs on all Refurrl social media accounts.
• A Refurrl commercial based around their story!
• NEVER pay fees when selling items on Refurrl for LIFE!

So there you have it!  Use the form below to submit your story now, or send this post to a friend that you know has had a wild experience, OR just use your friends story as your own!  We don’t care!  We are looking for something that is funny and wild about Craigslist, eBay, or any other sales platform out there.  

CLICK HERE TO TELL YOUR STORY