eBay Challenger? New P2P Marketplace For “Repurposed Goods” Launches

UpcyclePost, a social sharing site featuring items made by artisans and craftspeople using only repurposed materials, announced the launch of its consumer marketplace yesterday (July 1).

The launch marks the first-ever online peer-to-peer marketplace catering specifically to upcycled goods, which the Seattle-based company said saves thousands of tons of waste from going to overcrowded landfills.

“Our goal is to unite and strengthen the upcycling industry,” UpcyclePost founder and Vice President of Business Development Mark Howe said. “In doing so, we are inspiring the reuse of possessions and reducing the amount of waste going to landfills.”

The new marketplace aims to provide the inspiration and community needed to sustain upcycling efforts, while maintaining a direct connection between artisans and consumers who support sustainability, the company release explained.

“I think UpcyclePost is fantastic,” said artisan Andrew Chase, a sculptor and photographer based in Utah. “Having one’s work displayed in a well-designed, professionally executed website will be a huge benefit to most artists, removing a large source of stress and distraction and allowing them to focus on making art.”

The arrival and success of sites like Etsy and Bonanza has helped to put peer-to-peer selling of handmade items on the digital map, but UpcyclePost co-founder and CEO Rich Lancaster said something was still missing in the multibillion dollar industry.

“What’s missing is a unifying force to pull all participants together for mutual advantage — a community of buyers, sellers, and sharers motivated to expand the industry and create a more sustainable future in the process,” Lancaster added.

UpcyclePost may position itself to be this unifying factor, as the company seeks to become a leader in the emerging upcycle economy through its mission of collaborative creation and a vision of sustainable consumerism.

The company already has a social photo-sharing gallery of thousands of product images featured on Pinterest-like user-generated boards. The company said the launch of its new marketplace is now helping it to become the online focal point for all things upcycled. UpcyclePost confirmed plans to develop a mobile sharing app, which will help to facilitate exchanges of raw materials between artisans and users.

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