[ad_1]
In 2016, Texas resident Timi Ogundipe found himself looking down the barrel while trying to sell a slightly used iPhone.
A stranger who responded to Ogundipe’s online ad pulled a gun on him in a parking lot where he had agreed to meet. The person asked Ogundipe to give him the device, which he did.
Ogundipe planned to use about $300 in cash to start a new business. An unwanted encounter gave him another idea.
“I was driving [away] I figured if this person had paid for my cell phone in advance, this wouldn’t have been a problem,” he said.
Ogundipe eventually returned to Minnesota and began researching the online reselling industry. Using bridge capital from his Minneapolis-based Brown Venture Group, he launched his Safe Resell in 2019. This is a cashless he e-commerce web application where payments are processed prior to face-to-face exchange of used goods. He suspended the platform in his 2022 and completely rebuilt the system with his co-founder and cousin Olayinka Afolabi.
To access the platform, buyers and sellers must link their personal bank accounts or debit cards with Stripe, a third-party payment processing system. Payment will be processed once the product has been exchanged.
In face-to-face exchanges, sellers use their smartphones to scan QR codes given only to buyers. After scanning, a one-time encrypted passcode is sent to the seller, who gives the code to the buyer to enter the secure resale system and acknowledge the completion of the transaction.
If the buyer is not satisfied with the condition of the item at the exchange location, the buyer or seller may cancel the sale. Upon cancellation, Safe Resell will release the hold on the buyer’s funds, Ogundipe said.
Safe Resell earns 5% of seller’s sales and 5% of buyer’s purchase.
So far, most of the sales on the platform have come from electronics such as mobile phones, laptops and TVs, but clothing, fitness equipment, furniture and lawn mowers have also been sold, according to Ogundipe. Vehicles can also be listed on the site.
Ogundipe and Afolabi knew each other, but had not met or spoken to each other until this year. Ogundipe learned through another family member that Afolabi was proficient in technology and was in the process of moving to Minnesota.
After a few phone calls, they decided to become business partners.
“She’s a godsend,” said Ogundipe.
Afolabi’s first job was to scrap an early platform designed by freelance developers and leverage technology to create a secure system for resale. With master’s degrees in both information technology and management information systems, his Afolabi built new platforms from the ground up, implemented better prepayment systems, and used QR codes and passcode processes for face-to-face exchanges.
“We tried to mimic what would happen in a real store environment,” says Afolabi. “When I go to the store and scan the item, there is confirmation of this payment.”
Ogundipe plans to raise seed capital in 2023 to grow Safe Resell. Afolabi, on the other hand, would like to enable a location feature that allows users to include exchange site addresses. Once the passcode is generated, the system automatically determines that the user is in place.
“We want this to grow into the face of the buying and selling market,” said Ogundipe.
Fix:
Earlier versions of this article misidentified company names in some cases.
[ad_2]
Source link
