Netcycler

Netcycler is an online service for consumers that facilitates swapping, giving away and trading pre-owned goods between users. The service is not only for direct person-to person swaps, but also enables trade rings of up to five persons. Trade rings are supported using in-house developed technology.[1] The company is based in Helsinki, Finland and the service is currently available in Finland, the UK and Germany. Netcycler has more than 120 000 registered users.[2]

The company was founded in February 2008 by D.Sc. Juha Koponen and M.Sc. Jussi Koskinen. Netcycler was launched in Finland in March 2010. Netcycler Germany was launched in October 2010. Netcycler UK launched in May 2011. In August 2012 the company acquired Swap.com in the USA, and it launched the Swap.com Valet Service in October 2012. The Valet Service focuses on trading kids' items.

In Netcycler, swapping, giving and receiving items are all free of charge. For sales transactions and shipping services Netcycler charges a fee. Developing Netcycler has been possible with the support of TEKES (The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) and private investors together with Cleantech Future Fund and Start Fund Vera.[3]

Netcycler's trade ring technology allows members to trade items between as many as five people (Europe), or an unlimited amount of people (the Valet Service in the USA). Compared to direct person-to-person swaps this increases the likelihood of achieving a successful swap.[4] Users send the items they wish to trade to the Swap.com logistics center, where the items are sorted, photographed, listed and stored. when selling, the item owners set the sales price, or select what items they want to get in return when swapping. The Netcycler trade rings are automatically built for the users based on their offers and wishes. A swap or trade is confirmed when the users approve a trade proposed by Netcycler.[5]

The Netcycler service is an example of the larger Collaborative consumption movement that is promoting alternative consumption models to replace the currently dominant model where consumers purchase new manufactured goods.[6] Through the use of barter trade Netcycler decreases the total amount of money consumers need to get the goods they want. Using services like Netcycler that increase the use of second-hand items and that lengthen the lifespan of manufactured goods also decreases the need of natural raw materials in production, lessens the need for long-distance transportation, and eases the pressure on landfills.

In August 2012 Netcycler acquired Boston-based Swap.com.[7]

Netcycler has not been active for a long time and the site does not currently function. There are reports of errors at least from January 2014 but Netcycler has not commented on these nor fixed them. Therefore the site seems to be abandoned and should not be used.

References

  1. ↑ Botsman, Rachel and Anderson, Lauren. Share Options. The Big Issue, 2011, May 2–8, p. 14
  2. ↑ Netcycler. http://www.crunchbase.com, 2012
  3. ↑ Internet based swap and giveaway service about to launch in the UK. Green-pepper.org, 2011
  4. ↑ O'Hear, Steve. Netcycler swaps an old idea for a slightly better one. Techcrunch.com. 2011
  5. ↑ Netcycler – Social swapping online. Socialmediocracy.com, 2010
  6. ↑ Koponen, Juha and Koskinen, Jussi. Collaborative Consumption - Bringing Swapping Online. Huffingtonpost, 2011
  7. ↑ Finnish item swapping startup Netcycler confirms acquisition of Swap.com, debuts ‘Valet Service’ The Next Web

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