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The online garage sale

 

The majority of people who use the Internet have been exposed to the vast market of people who use the Internet to sell their belongings or original products.

Ebay.com and Craigslist.com are among the most popular of the online garage sale sites. However, people have found Ebay to be a bit heavy when it comes to taking percentages from the seller, not to mention the percentage taken if the payment is through paypal, and Craigstlist has it's own mess of horror stories and shady people.

Introducing two more services that are easy for anyone to use: toldya.com and freecycle.org

Toldya logoToldya is a new site that is still in beta testing. As opposed to Ebay where a person can look at anyones store and go shopping for specific items, Toldya is a portable store where the store "owner" is responsible for distributing the link to their store via social networks, blogs, and web sites. Because there is a possibility that a store owner may sell to someone nearby, a pay-by-cash option is available along with a credit card option. When a person pays by credit card a 5% processing fee is charged by Toldya, but there is no charge when a person pays by cash.

"At www.Toldya.com you can sell anything at all - even services. It's entirely up to you what to post and what to sell it for," said Scott Weiner, co-founder of Toldya.com.Freecycle logo

Having been around since 2003, and very different from the other sites, Freecycle is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on very specific regional areas where a person lives and connects them with other people in that area. For areas like Cincinnati, the regions are first divided by The Easter Suburbs, inside city limits, and the Western Suburbs which are each given their own yahoo group. Once the user signs up to the yahoo group, they can begin to receive e-mail newsletters that list postings other users have supplied that list wants and offers for free items that the owner doesn't want.

"Perhaps best of all, [Freecycle] offers in-person one-to-one transfers, making it likely that goodies will go places that they're cherished," according to the AARP.

While Ebay and Craigslist have established a reputation, Toldya is a promising newcomer to the scene of e-commerce and Freecycle, established with over 5 million members in 2008, still seems to be somewhat of a hidden secret that can offer hope to people in a recession where "free" is truly prized.

The press release for Toldya.com can be found here and press release information about freecycle.com can be found in .pdf files on their website.

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Cincinnati Internet Examiner

Brittany is a college student majoring in media informatics and photography. She's been designing Web sites and surfing the Internet since she was...

Comments

  • fred 2 years ago
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    will next garage sale not this saturday next saturday

  • hector 9 months ago
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    There are more things to do in our unused clothes, electronic devices, utensils furniture. Here how! Collect all unused things put it together to your garage and sell them to your neighbor and friends. This is fun and enjoyment and not only that but you can earn big money or cash.

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