Sell anything in 30 seconds

It seems that TradeMe and eBay are one big step behind a London entrepreneur with his launch of the iPhone app Sellervision.

It’s an app that bills itself as ‘eBay meets YouTube’ with the aim of taking on established giants like Etsy and Amazon. Sellervision allows anyone to buy or sell products or services using a video shot on a phone.

Creator Sheridan Simove says he created the app because of problems he found selling his own things online. “I built the app after getting frustrated with the time it takes to list anything on eBay, Amazon or Etsy. It’s such a chore, even using their mobile apps. I saw an opportunity to fix this and offer a better service to people who wanted to sell anything – be it a product or a service. With Sellervision, you simply use your phone to shoot a short video, fill out a few details and you’re immediately selling.”

TradeMe was founded in similar circumstances. Sam Morgan’s motivation to start up the New Zealand online trader came out of a frustrating experience trying to buy a heater back in 1999. Folklore says Sam was fed up with other websites that didn’t cater well to Kiwis, and he thought he could offer something better. And it worked.

Sheridan says the likes of eBay are far too expensive to list things on, with Sellervision’s fees half theirs. And in cheeky homage to the first item ever sold on eBay (a broken laser pointer), Sheridan listed his own, unbroken one, on Sellervision. In the video listing he can be seen breaking it, making the homage pure.

Unlike TradeMe, and others like it, there won’t be any auctions on the new app, meaning getting what you want faster. “We’re living in a ‘I want it now!’ world, so everything on Sellervision is sold at a fixed price, because people need to be able to make a quick decision and buy an item immediately - or sell one rapidly and make cash fast”.

Tandem’s Dave Dunlay says it’s a game changer in technology. “With the rise and rise of video, which traditional online retailers such as TradeMe and eBay aren't doing, they’re missing the mark and are just sticking with their tried and true sales methods of posting and charging for photos with text.

“Video like this allows for passion and personality to come across in the selling, plus allows you to share what you're selling through your own Facebook networks, thus opening up your sales potential to your own contacts - something that TradeMe doesn’t want, as they want you to visit their site to buy, therefore getting loaded up with additional advertisements while you’re there. This is in an archaic business model that’s based on the same way they set up back in 1999,” Dave says.

Right now, internet video is the most popular medium around, with many Americans spending around five hours a day watching videos through their phones or tablets. “So, with Sellervision, I’ve aimed to create a platform where anyone can instantly become a shopping channel presenter by creating their own thirty second infomercial,” Sheridan says.

View a demo of the app here: http://youtu.be/lmmiU39qO9M

Download the app here: http://bit.ly/sellervisionapp