A Bitcoin based classifieds site, Corkket, aimed at tackling the shortcomings of eBay and Craigslist, will soon be launched. Corkket.com is a New York based start-up, which is aiming to create a highly localised buy and sell market for its users.
The service will have an official launch during the “Bitcoin Picnic” to be held on April 26th, at Union Square, NYC.
Corkket’s website says:
“With Corkket, you can finally sell that couch without having 10 different people come through your apartment and fielding 50 emails. Posting something takes less than a minute and then just sit back and wait until it sells. Corkket will be there for every step of the process from listing the item to the exchange. Since payment is handled through the site, just exchange a QR code for the item, shake hands and you’re done.”
In Janurary, the people behind the site; Yale graduates Tom Tang, YJ Dang, and Angel Beale; hosted a Q&A session on Reddit. They responded to criticism of 10% transaction fees by reducing to 5%.
Corkket’s website now says that instant refunds are available with “no questions asked”, which means Corkket has to be standing in as an escrow service, given that bitcoin does not support chargebacks.
CoinDesk reported on Corkket, explaining that:
“The system is based on escrow where Corkket holds the funds until both parties are satisfied with the deal. Each bitcoin transaction has a custom-generated address and upon receiving funds, Corkket emails a QR code to the buyer, who prints it out and exchanges it for the goods being purchased. The seller then scans the QR code and gets paid. As well as protecting sellers from chargebacks or disputed payments, it also means people don’t have to visit complete strangers’ homes carrying credit cards or large amounts of cash.”
The idea of a hyper-local market is promising. People I have spoken to feel that eBay takes too much of a cut from their sales, and Craigslist is still very much a Wild West platform. Corkket’s plan to act as an intermediary, while connecting local buyers and sellers would – in theory – remove several of the pain points from the process of online second hand buying and selling. However, whether Corkket is the answer is yet to be seen.
Corkket are currently doing a staggered enrolment. So if you want to give the service a try, you’ll have to enter your email address and wait for an invite.
Have you used Corkett yet? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.
You can follow Corkett on Facebook and Twitter.
