The basics: Though it’s kept a fairly low profile on the media front since launching in late August 2011, this style-focused person-to-person social marketplace and iPhone app from Yardsellr reports solid user engagement of over 1 million items “liked” thus far. A full 300,000 of those likes hail from Style.ly’s vintage coterie, the name they’ve given to the niche areas buyers and sellers use to categorize and discover new items. A mix of new and used apparel and accessories populates the site, and, while some sellers only sell a few items here and there, many more offer deep selections of merchandise. Gamification courtesy of style points and integration with Facebook further differentiate this company from others in the growing fashion-focused, P2P social space.
You can think of it like: A prettier, auction-less eBay limited to women’s clothing and accessories souped up with a scrollable Pinterest-esque image wall, the added bonus of Facebook integration and the heightened sense of consumer urgency courtesy of style points that steadily decrease in number the longer you browse the site.
Best for: Buying and selling on-trend women’s apparel and accessories at low prices, hunting down well-priced vintage finds from sellers around the country and finding apparel in niche style categories such as bohemian or maternity.
Also notable: Employees watch listings, categorize them into different style coteries and highlight the best selections so users see those first. On the seller side, listing and selling is free (there’s no percentage taken out of the sale), but marketing add-ons allow extra visibility (like being higher up in the feed or a featured listing) at an additional cost.
Could be improved: If you’re new to the site, it’s not immediately clear how to accrue more style points, which can be used toward merchandise. You’ll receive a certain amount for connecting your Facebook account, but it would be helpful to have a quick primer readily available from the points area that outlines rules and practices surrounding the points process.
Behind-the-scenes: Founded by eBay alum Danny Leffel and based in San Francisco, the site is part of Yardsellr and operates using a similar, albeit much girlier, buying and selling platform.
Available for: Online and iPhone.
More info: Style.ly
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