When Jonathon Papsin was a kid, he and his younger brother would scour flea markets for Matchbox cars, G.I. Joe”™s and baseball cards.
By the time he got to college, he and his friends often went to tag sales in search of dorm room furniture.
This got the 27-year old Mt. Vernon resident thinking: On any given weekend in any given town, there”™s usually at least one tag sale, and it”™s time to bring the old American pastime into the digital era.
“Ever since college I”™ve been selling online,” said Papsin, founder of Tagsellit.com, which bills itself as the largest community of tag sale enthusiasts.
To date, the company”™s 1,900 (and counting) members have listed more than 2,000 sales featuring up to 200 items per sale. In addition, there are nearly 3,000 weekend events listed on the site each week.
A brief description, asking price and photos can be included and uploaded to the site, which also includes advice, videos, a blog and tag sale humor.
A one-time flat fee of $4.95 is charged for posting a sale on the site (the first five items can be posted for free). Users can pick the duration, manage their content throughout the sale and communicate with buyers. Those who cannot physically hold a tag sale can advertise a virtual tag sale for buyers to make an offer.
The site serves a niche market not served by popular virtual marketplaces such as e-Bay and Craigslist.
“The one major challenge with Craigslist is that you can only upload one item at a time and they specifically discourage having virtual sales on their Web site, so I wanted to design a Web site where you could list up to 200 items on one page and scroll through it,” Papsin said. “One day I just sat down and purchased the URL on the spot.”
The site, launched in May 2008, was designed by 31-year-old technology consultant Matthew Dorman. Dorman maintains the site in exchange for status as co-owner.
A tag sale can make an entrepreneur out of anyone, which is one of the many reasons it appeals to Papsin.
“Even if you have no interest in business, you can still be an entrepreneur for a day,” Papsin said.
