Swappa LLC, a Kansas City-based online marketplace for “gently used technology,” recently launched a local service in Orange County, one of the first outside its hometown, boasting a “no junk policy” to protect consumers.
The company was founded in 2010 by Chief Executive Ben Edwards.
OC is one of five initial launch markets selected as part of a national expansion, the firm said in inaugurating Swappa Local here last month.
Its website currently shows about 200 local listings for sale, primarily high-end cellphones, along with laptops and other tech devices. Most items currently listed run a couple hundred dollars.
With Swappa Local, buyers and sellers can browse and sell used personal technology devices in the local market after it’s been reviewed by an expert.
The company says it checks “devices and listings on the site to help ensure products are not lost, stolen, broken or financed.”
The buyer and seller of a product meet at a predetermined, safe and public location, where the seller receives the bulk of the payment and the buyer tests and accepts the device.
CPR Cell Phone Repair, with multiple locations in Orange County, is working with Swappa to serve as one of the meetup spots; it will also sell some Swappa Local-listed devices.
Jordan Kahf, the regional manager for CPR on the West Coast, told the Business Journal his company’s shop locations offer the option of an extra inspection beyond the review carried out by Swappa.
Payment
Swappa makes money by collecting a nominal “sale fee” paid by the buyer at the time of purchase, with the amount tiered according to the value of the device being sold.
Sellers do not pay a fee for a standard listing of their products on the site.
“People want and need discounted tech and our goal has always been to connect buyers with gently used, fully functional devices,” Edwards said in launching Swappa Local in OC.
Swappa says it offers an active support team, monitors communication between buyers and sellers on the site, and enforces a “no jerks” policy by removing users who do not adhere to the site’s friendly policies.
