Backed By Google Ventures & Greylock, Sold Launches A Mobile Service That Takes The Hassle Out Of Selling Online

While eCommerce has exploded over the last decade, digital marketplaces still suffer the same nagging user experience flaws they always have — particularly person-to-person marketplaces. It probably hasn’t been that long since you heard someone mutter “craigslist is creepy,” or lament about digital payments, security issues or about how it takes forever to sell something on eBay.

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Many startups have taken the “let’s build a better craigslist” approach and attempt to build a whole new marketplace, mobile or otherwise. But building a marketplace is tough and requires time. There’s the matter of manufacturing and maintaining trust and quality, creating liquidity and building up both sides of the marketplace –i.e. having an equal amount of buyers and sellers — all difficult to do. Just ask Zaarly, and YardSellr.

Rather than creating a new marketplace, Matthew Blackshaw, Tony DeVincenzi and Dávid Lakatos decided that the best way to add value in eCommerce is to fix the selling experience. So, the three amigos developed Sold, a startup and iOS app, to do just that. The startup, which officially launches today, aims to create a service layer on top of existing marketplaces rather than create a new one from scratch, while trying to simplify the way we sell online.

What in the sam hill does that mean? Well, ask the co-founders and they’ll tell you that people’s beef with eCommerce often stems from the fact that it’s a time sink. If you want to sell your Macbook Pro, it takes time to price it, find a buyer who’s not a bot, get paid, box it and ship it. The prospect is enough to make busy people say “screw it.”

Sell takes that whole process out of your hands, which may sound terrifying, but they think you may be willing to pay a little more for the convenience. Here’s how it works.

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