Hey Product Hunters,
Founder of FLIP here... though previously we've been in private beta, I'm excited to hear your feedback!
If you aren't already hip, FLIP is an auction-based marketplace that guarantees the sale of limited edition sneakers in 90-minutes.
There is a huge shadow economy associated with the buying and re-selling of sneakers. Currently, people are re-selling limited edition sneakers on marketplaces like eBay and Craigslist, and through some less traditional sales venues like Instagram and Facebook. In 2014, there were 2.1 million sneakers sold on eBay alone. But buying and selling on these platforms is painful. Sellers want to liquidate their assets quickly and buyers want to get a reasonable deal but have trouble finding inventory they are interested in.
Flip is the first app that brings sellers and sneaker enthusiasts together in a very unique way. It's a better experience than current solutions because it's a curated marketplace focused on creating the best experience for the buyer and seller.
Let's walk through the experience as a buyer. First, you download and immediately browse the coming soon, live, and closed auctions located on the explore feed of the app. After sign up, you can subscribe to push notifications for auctions that will be launching soon and even submit sneakers to start your very own 90-minute auction. From there, you can place your bid on items that interest you which sometimes starting at up to 40% off market value. Highest bid wins and your payment only gets sent to seller once receiving & confirming (in app) the item is as advertised.
From the seller's perspective, Flip gives you a guaranteed sales price that you get at the end of 90-minutes regardless of the number of bidders. If the auction is successful and goes beyond the guaranteed sales price, the bidder still sees the upside from bids. Flip takes a flat 10% fee in any event.
At first Flip will only be available on iOS.
Finally since we're dealing with exclusive / specialty items, I've included a PH only deal that you can get here: http://www.justflip.com/product-...
*extremely likely to last longer than 90-minutes ;)
Let's connect anytime! You can reach me directly: kemar@justflip.com
~Kemar
@felixoginni@justflipit This is an awesome question and super important to address! Also safe to assume others have the same question.
TL;DR: The short answer is there isn't a silver bullet here but instead identify compounded signals and being really thoughtful about fixing it. At a high level we delay the payment to the seller until the buyer confirms in-app the item is as advertised.
There are several ways to gain trust amongst users in this community. The proactive measures which would mitigate majority of the risk are in the verification and signals for good sellers/buyers along with authenticity steps during listing an item.
As a marketplace we would not assume the legal risk of "guaranteeing" authenticity, but we will have a aggressive approach towards driving down the risk of counterfeit. (i.e. 99% counterfeit free)
Using our platform, we realistically go above and beyond current expectations in these ways; (These approaches gives us the competitive advantage to traditional marketplaces eBay, Craigslist, and Instagram - the emerging marketplace for sneakers right now!)
Buyer/Seller ecosystem - Beyond our own reputation score after a sale, we do something fundamentally different. We hold on to the payment (very limited window of time) until the buyer is satisfied with shoe in hand and confirms receipt (in app). Only then the funds are released to the seller which is works against the counterfeiter mindset. Sellers/Buyers with a low rating/egregious behavior are banned from our community.
Authenticity check - During the listing process (SELL), you are never allowed to auto upload images. All pictures are taken live at that moment. In addition, we have a authenticity step to submit proof of purchase (if available) along with specific required angles of shoes/box/labels. We also have on the fly notifications for admins to verify users based on sketchy behavior. For example, "created multiple accounts on same device", etc.
Trusted merchant accounts - We are partnering with trusted brick and mortar businesses (storefronts) that have agreed to distribute a percentage of their stock exclusively on our platform. They share the mutual interest to protect their brand integrity as well as FLIP. This includes endorsements from influencers in the community, athletes/celebrities, and industry partners
Resolution team - If something does go wrong, we simply take care of it! The psychology of these users is in hopes not to receive counterfeit, but if it does happen who can help them through a fair resolution and stellar customer service. Every team member is trained on identifying signals both proactively and reactively to ensure our branding promise/customer satisfaction. FLIP Protect - http://www.justflip.com/flip-pro...
Personal deep knowledge base - For 2 years I created algorithms/processes to fight Counterfeit on Google Adwords (and other products) to scale across Google's global reach. In addition, I've personally experience the pain of dealing with Counterfeit in my 15+ years of buying/selling sneakers, handbags, and other highly valued goods. This makes me uniquely qualified and equipped with the transferrable skill to tackle the task at hand.
The compounded value outlined here will help significantly to ensure that the integrity of our platform is kept in tact.
At the end of the day, the user has to still accept the shoe to their desired expectations as they would on any other platform/transaction (not from the manufacturer).
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