Listia
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| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 6, 2009 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Gee-Hwan Chuang, James Fong |
| Key people | Gee-Hwan Chuang (CEO) James Fong (President) |
| Industry | Internet, Online Marketplace |
| Employees | 70+ |
| Website | www |
Listia is a free online marketplace and mobile app for trading goods between individuals without using money. The platform has a system known as Listia credits to facilitate the trades. Users earn credits for giving away items they no longer need and can then use credits to get items that other users have listed. The marketplace uses an auction system where users bid on each other's items until the auction ends and the highest bidder wins. The user who listed the item then arranges for a pickup or ships the item directly to the winner.
In addition to the web site, Listia is also available as a native mobile app on both Android and Apple iOS devices.
Users may leave feedback at the end of transactions and there is a dispute system available, should someone not follow through with stated rules. The Listia support team handle cases and acts as a mediator between the buyer and seller. Sellers have the option to charge for shipping or provide free shipping. Buyers can filter listings based on their preferred shipping method.
Listia was soft launched July 26, 2009 and publicly launched on August 6, 2009. In 2010, the site passed the 1,000,000 auction mark and was named one of the top 100 websites of 2010 by PC Magazine.
On January 31, 2012 Listia announced that they had over 1 million registered users, with listings in over 3,000 cities. They also launched their official Android app.
On July 18, 2012 Listia launched their Rewards Store to allow users to get brand new electronics and other goods with their Listia credits from big online retailers. The company stated that “by creating a Rewards Store, we hope to incentivize more people to unlock all the idle value sitting in their closets and homes.”
Listia originally received funding of $15,000 from startup funding firm, Y Combinator. In October 2009 Listia received $400,000 in funding from Implistic Capital in an angel round with Adam Pearsall joining the board of directors. In April 2011, Listia raised an additional $1.75M in funding from Andreessen-Horowitz, SV Angel and other investors. They also announced the launch of their iPhone app to bring the marketplace to mobile devices. Led by General Catalyst Listia received $9M in Series A funding in October 2013, Neil Sequeira also joined the board of directors. The funding will be used to help develop their mobile apps and internationally in 2014.
On Jan. 18, 2013 Listia Partnered with Best Buy to offer various items on Listia to its members. The users may use their virtual currency to purchase new merchandise which is fulfilled by Best Buy using the BBYOpen API. The "Rewards Store" is also a tool to help control inflation on the site as the credits used to purchase merchandise from Listia's rewards store are removed from the economy instead of another user which would have the opportunity to spend them. Previously Listia used Amazon to supply their "Rewards Store" and currently still use it to fulfill Amazon gift cards.
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