It’s sell-a-tastic!

Posted by Bogdan Lazar

Selloby iPhone App Review.

Are you looking for a job but just the thought of spending an entire day filling out profiles on job sites makes you want to take the day off? Or maybe you are looking to buy something or sell the old bike that you had the time to ride only twice in 5 years. Whether you're looking to make money or spend some, Selloby could be the fastest, easiest way to do it.

How it works

After you download it, all you’ll need is a free account with them. Selloby will automagically detect your location, so if you choose to search a place to stay, for example, it will show you the places that are up for sale near your location. You could of of course change your location anytime you decide to search for something somewhere else.

When finding something of interest, you can choose to add it to favorites, follow it or share it on Facebook/Twitter. Interested to make a purchase? Send a quick reply to find out more about the offer.

As for posting an offer, that is as easy as it gets. Just press on the button at the top right of the application screen and start typing. Or, better yet, let the application do that for you. Choose from the common used items and actions at the bottom of the post screen. Simply tap on what you need and Selloby just fills in the gaps. You can sell, buy, rent, hire or exchange, place your offer and the date and say what you need.

If Twitter had its own language evolve over time, hashtags, @ signs, Selloby wants things to move faster and comes out with a dedicated community language from the beginning. Actions are preceded by exclamation marks (eg. !Sale or !Rent), the item for sale has a hashtag (#iphone, #ipad) and the location has the at sign (@Boston, @NewYork).

You can easily add photos of what you’re selling for example by taking a picture or choosing one from your Camera Roll. Once you’re done, save it as a draft or post it instantly.

Why we like it

Selloby is like a Twitter for selling, buying or looking for stuff. It shows you feeds from all over the place in real time, putting you in contact with people who would be interested in hiring you or buying your old bike. It is a fast and easy way to be informed or inform about the most recent items that are up for sale. You have a large number of categories to look up when searching for something and you can easily keep track of what you like by following the person who placed the offer, the item offered, the price or the location.

What we’d like to improve

Much like Twitter, Selloby might end up having a high level of noise. You can of course choose to block the posts that you consider to be spam, so that you only get what you want. This puts the strain on your shoulders, and, yes, we understand that to curate all the ads might prove cumbersome.

Right now, Selloby is in its infancy, so it might take a while before more adopters start using the service. More adopters means more ads, more potential connections and a larger database of places.

The Rolling Stones used to say that “you don’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need”. But in terms of being informed or informing about the latest items out on sale, Selloby might just do the trick and get you what you want.

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