Gone are the days of rummaging through dumpsters or “borrowing” lawn chairs from fraternity lawns. Amar Shibli ’05 and Henry White ’05 have a better way to get rid of unwanted items or pick up that almost new MicroFridge. As of last weekend, members of the Wesleyan community can access www.Weshoppe.net, an online posting and sales website that allows people to list used textbooks, electronics, furniture, and services, such as hairdressing and massages, for others to purchase.
Sellers, whose names remain anonymous, choose the price. Buyers browse listings and, because the service is Wesleyan-only, they pay no shipping fees. Best of all, ten percent of all profits, aside from what Shibli and White need to cover operating costs, go to UNICEF. That means that if you buy a MicroFridge at Weshoppe for $80, $72 will go to the seller, and about $8 will go to UNICEF. Think: eBay with a conscience.
Shibli and White came up with the idea before Spring break when they started thinking about furnishing the house they will be living in next year.
“We looked around and found that there were no good ways for students to buy and sell furniture, textbooks, electronics and musical equipment, bikes, rides to the train station, summer storage, or anything else, and we decided to do something about it,” the two said on their website.
They tested the idea on friends.
“Most people were really interested. Some people said it wouldn’t work, but didn’t give us reasons,” said Shibli, Weshoppe’s internet mastermind.
White, the site’s community relations coordinator, urges naysayers to keep one thing in mind.
“We have logic on our side,” he said.
“Obviously Broad Street Books overcharges. They give you ten bucks for a book you paid a hundred for, and sell it back for ninety. So at Weshoppe, a kid can sell it for $45, get more than ten for it, and have the buyer get the book for much cheaper,” White said.
While the site is currently up-and-running, Shibli and White have grand plans to expand the fledgling service. Major work needs to be done to automate the site. As of now, all buying and selling is handled through email, meaning that Shibli himself must manually enter all new items.
“Each item only takes two or three minutes, but if there are a hundred items coming in it’s going to take me a lot of time,” Shibli said.
To this end, Shibli and White are looking for computer programmers with database skills; those interested may contact amar@weshoppe.net to help out. Also, users will soon be able to choose which charity they want their ten percent to fund. Further down the road, the Shibli and White hope to use Weshoppe as a model that other universities can clone—just as long as it is never used for profit.
Weshoppe accepts cash, checks, and credit cards. Sellers may e-mail sell@weshoppe.net with information about and pictures of items. Buyers may e-mail buy@weshoppe.net to indicate their item of interest. There is no bidding, so the creators urge people not to hesitate when they find something they need.
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