Gazelle Keeps It Moving

I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog posting endorsing another company’s consumer offerings.  But Gazelle is to good to resist.

Gazelle is a bit like an online pawnshop.  They buy your items and then resell them at a higher price and keep the difference. I recently used it to get rid of my 2.5 year old 3GS iPhone.  I looked it up in their database, they told me they were willing to purchase it for $175 (about equivalent to the spot eBay price), they sent me the shipping materials, I packaged it up, they received the phone and verified its condition checking that it was what I said it was, and finally they mailed me a check.  So easy.

They make a market in many items including calculators, cell phones, camera lenses, PCs, Macs, GPS devices, MP3 players, movies, and video games.

Just another great example of an Internet based business model.  I’d love to know a bit more about the engine they use to determine the price they pay for items.  From their web site: “We use patent pending technology and systems to fuel our pricing engine. Market data is gathered and analyzed. Based on your description of an item, we make the best offer possible: the Gazelle Value.”

Let me know if you’ve discovered any great new companies out there.  I welcome your comments.
Mike Brannan