There isn’t any scarcity of platforms on the market to promote your outdated stuff. From ThredUp and TheRealReal to Fb Market to eBay, the tech world has lengthy sought to capitalize on the commonly wasteful angle of consumerism over the past half century.
However lurking amongst these platforms is a gaggle not typically thought of, and definitely not often served: energy resellers.
Flyp, a startup based by serial entrepreneurs James Kawas and Dani Arnaout, is trying to give machine learning-powered instruments to those stay-at-home sellers.
The startup’s core, revenue-generating product is an algorithmic matching platform that pairs an everyday client, or a liquidation firm, or a donation middle, with an influence reseller to dump their stock of used items. The person lists their gadgets on Flyp’s app and is matched with a reseller who usually sells that kind of stock. The 2 agree upon a fee break up, Flyp takes a 5 % reduce, and handles the logistics round transferring the stock.

Picture Credit: Flyp
What’s maybe extra essential is Flyp’s free product, which was constructed particularly for resellers. Massive ecommerce manufacturers have subtle automation software program that helps them market and monitor their stock. Flyp is providing comparable expertise to stay-at-home sellers who’re managing scores of listings throughout a number of platforms, all without spending a dime.
Kawas defined to TechCrunch that constructing belief inside the neighborhood of energy resellers was integral to making a platform that would deal with a a lot greater quantity of stock.
The startup estimates that there are round 350,000 energy sellers in the USA, with nearly all of them doing it half time. The objective is to show the part-timers into full-timers and get of us who’ve by no means be resellers to strive it out.
“This group is so important for the web that even the most important fintech firm on the earth, PayPal, was constructed on high of resellers,” Kawas stated, referencing eBay’s funds platform constructed within the early 2000s. “This group of individuals is just not new. However now, as a result of you will have so many extra marketplaces and you’ve got everybody from Gen Z and extra wanting to purchase used items, this group of resellers is the one group which can be in a position to course of provide. It’s very laborious to course of used items in centralized corporations as a result of every merchandise is exclusive and has its personal flaws. Solely a decentralized community of random individuals can do it.”
Flyp’s thesis appears to be proving itself, with the platform processing $7 million value of stock in March 2022, up from round $1.7 million on the similar time final yr, and over $1 million value of stock coming into the platform every month.
On the heels of such traction, the startup has simply introduced the increase of $10 million led by Uneven Capital Companions with participation from present buyers NextView, Afore, Interlace Ventures, Alante Capital, BAM Ventures, 1517 and GroundUp, in addition to new buyers Gaingels and Tectonic Ventures. Ryo Ishizuka, cofounder and CEO of Mercari, additionally participated within the spherical.