Dive Brief:

• E-commerce site builder Shopify has launched Sello, an image-based, Instagram-style mobile app designed to help users sell used goods. 
• To use Sello, a person takes a picture of the an item, adds a description, picks payment and shipping options, and posts the listing to their selection of major social networks. 
• Sello is free to use, but charges a small transaction fee on sales completed through the platform. 

Dive Insight:

The market for used goods is estimated at up to $100 billion, and software developers are racing to tap it with applications that help people get rid of their unwanted stuff. The most recent, Sello, is a mobile-only, peer-to-peer entry from Shopify that offers an Instagram-style visual interface with simple selling tools to help users post their used goods to the social networks.

While Sello is easy to use, listings can’t be searched or browsed, making item discovery difficult for limited pools of potential buyers. Sello also has several competitors in the mobile fire-sale game, including apps specializing in general merchandise such as Carousell, OfferUp and Gone!, as well as apps designed to sell specific types of goods such as the fashion marketplaces Poshmark and ThreadFlip.

While eBay may not offer as much on-the-go convenience, it is the brand to beat in resale. The original e-commerce flea market is betting on eBay Valet — a service that takes customers’ unwanted goods and sells them on their behalf for a substantial cut of the proceeds — to be the strategy that unlocks billions in revenues.