Austin is known for its quirky, entrepreneurial nature. A few local startups are taking that spirit to the sharing economy, encouraging everyday folks to rent out their bikes and cars and provide marketplaces for specialty gear. From our strong farm roots and our do-it-yourself attitude, these companies are capitalizing on a growing market and providing everyone (including readers) a way to make a little bit of extra cash.
Sports Gear
reQwip is a platform for buying, selling and renting sports gear. Having recently opened up in Austin, the platform is aimed at the cycling and triathlon communities. Instead of taking a large cut of the sales price, reQwip allows sellers to take 93 percent of the sale price. This means sellers can offer lower prices (meaning buyers get cheaper gear) but still make a decent amount of money on their used gear. And it’s a dedicated sports site – no offers for used furniture or missed connections will distract users from finding their next wetsuit.
Heavy Equipment
TuffWerx knows selling farm equipment isn’t the same as a used cd collection or even a motorcycle. They’ve built a “listing optimizer” to make sure each piece of equipment is easily found online – a change from today’s status quo of going to a farm auction house. For buyers, the site can help alert them to new items they are interested in (after registering). It beats sitting in an auction all day only to come home empty handed. TuffWerx can even help with the financing (farm equipment isn’t cheap!).
Tech Hardware
PureWRX knows there’s a secondary market for IT hardware (globally it was almost $300 billion in 2012), but tapping into that market can be tough. It helps hardware manufactures tap into that secondary market, so less of their goods end up “stranded.”
Refurbishing Materials
Crocodo is priming itself to offer construction pros and do-it-yourselfers (DIYers) a place outside of the Home Depot parking lot to buy and trade gear. It’s another way to cut out Craigslist and find exactly what you are looking for from a trusted source.
