Pricing Used Merchandise

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A new website is aiming to make it easier to price used merchandise. According to The New York Times, Worth Monkey aims to be the Blue Book for used anything, says co-founder Fred Abler. When a user enters a certain good at the site, the site combs the Web (eBay, Amazon.com, Google) for asking and actual prices for that used good, combines that data with information about broader category trends and statistical analysis and then presents the user with details about a great price, a fair price and an overpriced price for that good as well as pricing information for comparable products. Users can also enter their own thoughts about what the item is worth, which then helps inform future site results.

Currently, the site provides such data about millions of products in 10 different industries, including vehicles, electronics and musical instruments. Once users have the fair market value, they can “use that as the basis for negotiation, and we just take a little bit of the friction out of re-commerce,” Mr. Abler said.

The site is free for consumers and eventually, the founders plan to release a subscription offering with added features. The site also collects affiliate advertising revenue when users click on the comparable products whose pricing data it provides. Those selling goods can also embed WorthMonkey seals into their ads to show where they got their pricing information. All in all, an incredibly useful site.

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