usell
not only usell is doing this, there are tons of others in this as well. how is usell going to stand out ?
in order to compare gazelles revenue to usell' s revenue, we need to estimate usell' s device revenue, because usell reports commission revenue, ($ 20), and gazelle reports device revenue ($ 100) .
choose usell over ebay and craigslist to sell their next used phone or device .
think usell provides a safer, more secure way to sell devices than craigslist .
disclosure: i am long usell. for complete disclosure and disclaimer information please click more
think usell provides a faster and easier way to sell used phones and devices than ebay .
disclosure: i am long usell. for complete disclosure and disclaimer information please click here .
try googling
sell my iphone
and you will see that usell and gazelle come up on top. since usell generally pays the highest price, the company should ultimately prevail .
en cualquier momento y desde cualquier lugar, usell crm es una solución 100% móvil. aunque estés en el sitio más remoto, usell ofrece servicio total en online y en offline .
usell buyer getter my phone hen tried to offer me $ 2. 60 instead of the originally
enciclopèdia catalana y microgestió son dos ejemplos del éxito en la implantación de la app usell crm .
i agree with your analysis that usell would be an ideal acquisition target for ebay. that would of course be the holy grail for usell shareholders. but realistically speaking, has there actually been any chatter about this even being a remote possibility? though i do think usell is undervalued regardless .
our management believes gmv is useful in evaluating usell' s overall volume of transactions and in evaluating the spe' s performance. since all spe revenue is generated by usell' s management team and employees, our management believes it demonstrates how effective usell' s business model is and its potential if it had additional capital. investors should recognize that usell will not receive all of the profits from the spe assuming profitability; usell receives a minority percentage of any distributions until the investor receives an agreed upon preference at which time the profit sharing shifts to usell receiving a majority of the distributions .
usell. com’s 100 percent happiness guarantee ensures our customers are deliriously happy or we’ll make it right .
usell is a recommerce marketplace that helps individuals turn unused items into cash. usell ensures that customers get the highest payouts with the least amount of hassle by facilitating risk - free transactions with professional buyers .
since usell will probably always be able to offer the highest price to device sellers, it' s logical to conclude that usell will ultimately have the larger market share. i know that if gazelle were publicly traded today, i would buy usell, not gazelle (except for a quick ipo trade) .
“usell. com is the leading cash commerce platform that easily and securely turns your electronics into cash. ”
smartphones, ipods, ipads, textbooks, game consoles, gift cards. usell accepts some broken items .
usell. com, inc. : usel) files an 8 - k creation of a direct financial. .
if usell can continue to improve in these areas, the company' s inherent value will continue to increase .
bill try googling
sell my iphone
and you will see that usell and gazelle come up on top. there are some other marginal sites, but they are kludgy and do not inspire confidence. since usell generally pays the highest price, usell should ultimately prevail. consumers will figure out fairly quickly were they can get the highest price .
if you' re getting ready to sell your old phone to buy an iphonex, check out usell. i shopped around to get the most money for my ancient samsung galaxy s4 and usell not only paid me 4x what the next c
as mentioned above, the company makes reference to
gmv ,
a measure of performance not calculated in accordance with gaap. our management believes gmv is useful in evaluating usell' s overall volume of transactions and in evaluating the spe' s performance. since all spe revenue is generated by usell' s management team and employees, our management believes it demonstrates how effective usell' s business model is and its potential if it had additional capital. investors should recognize that usell will not receive all of the profits from the spe assuming profitability; usell receives a minority percentage of any distributions until the investor receives an agreed upon preference at which time the profit sharing shifts to usell receiving a majority of the distributions .
usell acts as an intermediary to connect you with its network of buyers. after you choose the offer you want (they range in price, but the company recommends one), usell sends you a prepaid envelope. you can get paid in cash or via paypal. usell says you' ll get paid within five days of when the buyer receives the phone .
if usell continues its current growth rate and is able to establish itself as the primary
sell it now
website, the long - term potential is staggering. daniel brauser believes he can build usell into a multibillion dollar company. i agree .
usell. com, inc. (usell) is a technology - based company. the company focuses on extracting the value from used mobile devices. it acquires products from both individual consumers, on its website, usell. com, and from carriers, retailers and manufacturers through its subsidiary, we sell cellular, llc. these devices are then... (more )
we started usell with the goal of changing the way consumers dispose of their old technology and giving them cash to do so .
usell. com, inc. is a technology based company focused on extracting the maximum value from used mobile devices, at large scale. usell acquires products from both individual consumers, on its website, usell. com, and from major carriers, big box retailers, and manufacturers through its subsidiary, we sell cellular. these devices are then distributed globally, leveraging both a traditional sales force and an online marketplace where professional buyers of used smartphones compete to buy inventory in an on - demand fashion. through participation on usell' s marketplace platforms and through interaction with usell' s salesforce, buyers can acquire high volumes of inventory in a cost effective manner, while minimizing risk .
used # usell to get cash for my old iphone 4 with a cracked screen. better than collecting dust in my desk drawer! -
usell. com, inc. is a large market maker of used smartphones. usell acquires products from both individual sellers, on its website, usell. com, and from major carriers, big box retailers, and manufacturers through its subsidiary, we sell cellular, llc (
we sell cellular
). the company maximizes the value of these devices by reclassifying them, adding value to them, and moving them throughout the world to those who want them most. in order to serve its global and highly diverse customer base, usell leverages both a traditional sales force and an online marketplace where professional buyers of used smartphones can buy inventory on - demand. through participation on usell' s online platform and through interaction with usell' s salesforce, buyers can acquire high volumes of inventory in a cost effective manner, while minimizing risk .
usell. com, inc. is a large market maker of used smartphones. usell acquires products from both individual consumers, on its website, usell. com, and from major carriers, big box retailers, and manufacturers through its subsidiary, we sell cellular, llc (
we sell cellular
). the company maximizes the value of these devices by reclassifying them, adding value to them, and moving them throughout the world to those who want them most. in order to serve its global and highly diverse customer base, usell leverages both a traditional sales force and an online marketplace where professional buyers of used smartphones can buy inventory on - demand. through participation on usell' s online platform and through interaction with usell' s salesforce, buyers can acquire high volumes of inventory in a cost effective manner, while minimizing risk .
mike: i really love the idea behind usell. i mean, i have three or four cell phones laying around myself that i no longer have any use for, and technology is changing faster than i can keep up with it. where did the idea for usell come up ?
would love to know where my phone is. usps said it was delivered 5 days ago and the usell system says its still being delivered .
elimina tareas administrativas, ahorra procesos y reduce costes. usell crm es muy rápido y te ayudará a agilizar la gestión comercial de tu empresa .
however, if gazelle is able to run a successful ipo, that will only help usell, by bringing increased awareness to this sector, and potentially bringing high valuations to all involved. and it won' t take wall street long to figure out that usell provides the more profitable business model .
although the process of selling on sites like usell might be easier and less hassle, you get far more by selling your phone on ebay. i just did a price comparison of the iphone 5s 16gb, and usell offers a price of $ 260, while they sell on ebay all day long for over $ 100 more at $ 360. i am in the uk and this space is already very crowded, exactly the same concept as usell .
¡cuando decimos que es fácil y sencillo de utilizar, lo decimos de verdad! tengan el conocimiento tecnológico que tengan, tus comerciales utilizarán usell crm fácilmente .
select what you' re trading in, answer a few questions about its condition, then usell will show you the best offers on its network of professional buyers. once you accept an offer, usell will send you a prepaid shipping kit or let you print a prepaid shipping label to send your item in .
you will notice that michael brauser is well - versed in developing and selling internet companies. he would not be investing his time with usell unless he was confident of the company' s success. in my opinion, his experience, track record, and guidance will be instrumental in developing usell into a thriving corporation .
in introducing new product categories, usell initially calculated that it could handle a decrease of up to 5% of its conversion rate on electronics, which it measures as a usell customer placing an order to sell to a merchant, he says. through optimizely’s web - based portal, his team set up an a / b test to compare usell’s previous home page with one featuring five new categories—kids’ clothing, women’s clothing, textbooks, video games and gift cards—along with electronics, he says .
usell crm está diseñado por y para comerciales, buscando cubrir las necesidades y requerimientos. ¡mejora y agiliza el proceso comercial con el crm móvil diseñado especialmente para ti !
unlike other services, there are no selling fees, shipping costs or haggling at usell. as long as you send in the correct device in the condition that you quoted, the price you see on usell is what you' ll get paid. we require our buyers to initiate payment within 5 business days of receiving your device .
sites like usell. com, which offers sellers a list of user - ranked bids for their used hardware, saw huge increases in activity following the iphone 5 announcement .
number 4: usell has decreased working capital deficit from $ 1, 269, 000 on december 31, 2013 to $ 256, 000 on june 30, 2014 .
chief product officer and co - founder of usell. com. industry stints include social games (area / code), creative agency (pentagram, etc), and ecommerce
with usell' s $ 23. 1 million in 2013 device revenue, and using the same 3x multiple, that would give usell a valuation of $ 69. 3 million, today. some would consider that a very conservative valuation, because a 3x multiple is low for a company with such a high rate of growth in a rapidly expanding segment. many would argue that a 5x or 10x multiple would be more appropriate. but even with a conservative 3x multiple, usell is still worth more than 3 times today’s valuation .
usell. com, inc. (usell), incorporated on november 18, 2003, is a technology - based company. the company focuses on extracting the value from used mobile devices. it acquires products from both individual consumers, on its website, usell. com, and from carriers, retailers and manufacturers through its subsidiary, we sell cellular, llc. these devices are then distributed across the world, which leverages an online marketplace where professional buyers of used smartphones compete to buy inventory in an on - demand fashion .
census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your usell ancestors, such as occupation. occupation can tell you about your ancestor' s social and economic status .
michael brauser' s presence at usell is extremely important. he is a large shareholder with over a 9% position. here is a short list of some of his accomplishments :
had a great experience selling my samsung galaxy s4 to @ usell. they were quick & easy to use. no fuss, no muss! i' d recommend to anyone. -
census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your r usell ancestors, such as occupation. occupation can tell you about your ancestor' s social and economic status .
if we look at usell' s reported revenue for 2012 and 2013, we see that approximately 66% of the total revenue for those 2 years was reported in 2013. this can be confirmed by looking at the relationship between usell' s reported revenue, (commission revenue) for 2012 and 2013. if 66% of usell' s device revenue was generated in 2013, that would equate to over $ 23. 1 million in device revenue for 2013. in other words, 66% of $ 35 million is $ 23. 1 million .
ompetitor offered but also made the process painless. payment came via paypal. i didn' t even have to box up the phone because usell sent me a pre - paid padded mailer .
wow! say goodbye to carrier subsidies and hello to financing. when it' s time to upgrade, sell your old phone through usell to offset the cost of that shiny new device. urltoken
usell es el crm móvil que te permitirá mejorar la gestión de tu equipo comercial y el seguimiento de tus clientes. incrementa tus ventas y ahorra en tareas administrativas con la mejor solución tecnológica para comerciales .
robert averick and the fund he manages own more than 10% of usell and this additional buying is a positive indicator. from what i understand his due diligence has been thorough and all - inclusive .
census records can give you a fascinating window into the day - to - day lives of your usell ancestors - like hours worked per week, level of education, veteran status, employers, and more .
consulta el estado del cliente, tu calendario, los eventos, las tareas que tienes que llevar a cabo y realiza informes de evaluación de las visitas comerciales. consigue un seguimiento mucho más exhaustivo con usell crm .
con usell crm podrás gestionar leads y oportunidades de ventas, y hacer informes / reports de las visitas comerciales. con este crm móvil minimizarás procesos, administrarás mejor las tareas y centrarás los comerciales en vender más .
census records can give you a fascinating window into the day - to - day lives of your r usell ancestors - like hours worked per week, level of education, veteran status, employers, and more .
this $ 100 figure is comparable to what gazelle gets when it sells a device and books revenue, in other words device revenue. our goal is to compare device revenue from usell to device revenue from gazelle .
use census records and voter lists to see where families with the r usell surname lived. within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations .
from what i can determine, most investors have a cost basis higher than where usell is currently trading so i don’t see much selling pressure at this low level. this should provide a reasonable level of downside protection .
on usell, a 32gb iphone 4 in good condition can fetch $ 130, and a 32gb 4s can draw in $ 210. competitor urltoken shows similar price quotes of $ 149 and $ 205 for the two models .
usell crm es totalmente móvil, conéctate desde cualquier plataforma dónde y cuando quieras. incluso si te encuentras sin conexión podrás trabajar, porque en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar puede presentarse una oportunidad de venta. ¡estate siempre preparado !
i don' t see any risk of a near - term financing, the company doesn' t need cash. since i can' t predict when usell will be profitable, there could be financing risk down the road .
the primary reason usell is undervalued, is that wall street is completely unaware of this company, or the new market usell is serving. investors also know nothing about the staples or tracfone partnerships, because no announcements have been made, probably at the request of the larger companies. most investors are also unaware of dr. frost' s or michael brauser' s large positions or the fact that the company has overtaken gazelle in terms of unique visitors to the website .
to complete a sale, sellers on usell mail their electronics via prepaid envelopes to buyers — typically companies that sell through wholesale channels and to overseas markets. once the device has been inspected, the buyer then pays by paypal or check .
the technology’s biggest advantage is its simple toolset and the time it saves usell on engineering and development, croft says. he can set up an experiment in a few hours on optimizely’s web site, then start running it as soon as he adds a snippet of code to the usell web site. previously, usell ran a / b tests with the now - defunct google website optimizer, he says. that tool required at least two weeks of advance planning so developers could set up an experiment, two weeks building it and two more weeks to run a test. because of those limitations, usell conducted far fewer tests each month with the google tool, he says. optimizely also simplifies sharing results, he says, because it provides a shortlink, or a truncated version of what would otherwise be a long, unwieldy url address, that an experimenter can give to anyone on his team to allow them to watch the results as they come in .
you' re moments away from finding the best prices for your used textbooks. let urltoken help you sell your textbook. usell gives you an instant quote for your book and free shipping, so it' s the best place to sell textbooks online .
the following table presents an additional operating metric, gross merchandise volume (
gmv
), which management believes is useful in evaluating usell' s overall volume of transactions. we define gmv as the total of usell revenue plus revenue generated by the special purpose entity (
spe
). gmv is a non - gaap financial measure because it includes spe revenue which is not reportable in our financial statements nor is it in accordance with gaap. for information on non - gaap financial measures, see pages 20 of this report :
seeking more information, usell repeated the experiment for another two weeks. this time, optimizely showed no significant change in electronics conversions with the new categories present on the site, croft says. because the test was exactly the same as the last one, his team was reassured that the site changes would, at worst, not be significantly detrimental. on june 15 usell switched over to the new home page for good. two weeks later, it now processes 20% more orders in total on the site than before, he says .
this press release refers to gmv. the company defines gmv as the total of usell revenue plus revenue from the special purpose entity (
spe
). gmv is a non - gaap financial measure because it includes spe revenue which is not reportable in usell' s financial statements nor is it in accordance with gaap. see immediately below for a reconciliation between our revenue under gaap and gmv, which is non - gaap, as well as later in this press release for further discussion of gmv under
non - gaap financial measure - gmv .
usell' s second method of sourcing devices is through its website, usell. com, where individual sellers can find cash offers for their items based on the make, model, and condition of each item. upon accepting an offer, sellers can ship their devices for free using either a prepaid shipping kit or shipping label, and then track the progress of their orders online from initiation to final payment of their devices. since the acquisition of we sell cellular, only a small percentage of our devices have been sourced in this manner versus through wholesale channels .
gazelle' s success in the marketplace presents competitive risk, but as daniel brauser stated, at this early stage of the cycle, gazelle' s success could actually help usell. competitive risk will become more of a factor as this segment of the internet industry becomes more developed .
mike. i have not heard any rumors of a buyout, this is pure speculation on my part. my investment in usell is not based on whether or not a buyout happens, it' s based entirely on a great business model, extreme undervaluation, and strong fundamentals .
mike. you' re absolutely right, you can get more on ebay, but when you subtract ebay' s and paypal' s commissions, postage and packaging, the profit factor diminishes. when you look at usells 40% year - over - year growth, and the 70% month over month increase in orders placed, you can see that a lot of consumers are choosing the easier approach with usell, rather than going through the hassle of dealing with ebay. i' ve done it both ways, and i will continue to sell items on usell .
sell your mobile phone for cash at usell. com. with our mobile phone trade - in program, you can compare cash offers from hundreds of professional buyers in seconds. we make it easy for you to turn your old and unwanted cell phones into cash, quickly and hassle - free .
an unusually short lifespan might indicate that your usell ancestors lived in harsh conditions. a short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. the ssdi is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. you can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more .
on usell. com, we guarantee cash payment within five business days and there is no commission or shipping charge. we send out a pre - addressed, pre - paid and pre - padded container into which you simply insert in your phone, seal it up and drop into the nearest mailbox .
nextworth has tried to enhance its legitimacy by partnering with target, the national retailer; ipad owners can walk into target stores to sell their tablet to nextworth and get paid on the spot. usell addresses the problem by showing users offers from several resellers, and showing customer - satisfaction ratings for each .
another big problem: if it doesn’t carry an apple or a samsung logo on it, you won’t get much, if you can sell it at all. my old htc radar phone would snag a paltry $ 15 at usell and $ 20 at buymytronics; gazelle and nextworth wouldn’t even touch it .
an unusually short lifespan might indicate that your r usell ancestors lived in harsh conditions. a short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. the ssdi is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. you can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more .
see pages 17 for a discussion of another non - gaap financial measure which is gmv. this financial measure is non - gaap because it combines our actual gaap revenue with the off balance sheet revenue of the spe. we define gmv as the total of usell revenue plus revenue generated by the spe .
in order to calculate usell’s device revenue, we take the 350, 000 devices sold since 2012, and multiply it by $ 100 per device, and that gives us a total device revenue of $ 35 million. this $ 100 per device is the device revenue that the end - user ends up paying .
mike: hey, everyone. i’m mike sullivan and thanks for joining us today on mo. com, where we feature small business owners and entrepreneurs and then bring you hints, tips, insights, and perspectives on what it takes to be successful. joining us today is doug feirstein of usell. usell is the leading cash commerce platform that allows consumers to trade in their used or unwanted cell phones for cash. doug, thanks for joining us and as i usually like to kick things off with, can you tell us a little bit about your background and what kind of led you up to where you are today ?
usell has managed the sales of about 350, 000 devices since the beginning of 2012 at an average price of at least $ 65 per device for a total of nearly $ 23 million paid to sellers. this can be confirmed by going to the bottom of usell' s homepage, and looking at the ticker count which displays the total number of devices sold and dollar amount paid to sellers. it is important to note this is the price paid to the sellers from the buyers. this is not device revenue. the buyers would then go on to resell this device to an end - user for approximately $ 100, which would equate to device revenue .
the experience was as desired and expected. i received a fair offer and everything went as promised. no tricky business once my phone was sent in. i received what was offered and i didn' t have to pay any additional costs. i looked at other services but they didn' t deliver as promised; usell did !
technology and operational processes continue to play a key role in limiting the growth of usell' s fixed costs while increasing capacity, sales velocity, and average selling prices. the company continues to invest in its online platform and has steadily transitioned more of its customer interactions online. usell has also invested resources in optimizing the processes and technology needed to test and grade devices in its warehouse, with the aim of increasing capacity and decreasing processing lead - time. management believes that these investments are important to make now for two reasons: 1) they differentiate the company from competitors of similar scale that are looking to purchase from its suppliers, and 2) management expects that the new iphone launch late this year will drive substantial trade in volume over the subsequent six months. by adding more value than its competitors and becoming the partner of choice to our suppliers, usell' s management believes that it will greatly benefit from industry trends as trade - in continues to increase in importance throughout the mobile ecosystem .
urltoken operates by purchasing unwanted, high - value items directly from consumers, providing them fast payment, erasing all personal data, and then either refurbishing or recycling the phone, depending on its condition. convenient and secure, usell helps consumers avoid the hassle and risk of peer - to - peer sales channels such as ebay and craigslist .
according to the last 10 - q, usell had over $ 1, 000, 000 in cash, and no significant debt. the company has since raised $ 4. 65 million in a registered direct offering. but what' s most important is that in the past 12 months, the company has made progress in the following areas :
but, as usell’s brauser and nextworth’s trachsel both warned, finding a reputable reseller online isn’t always the easiest task. some companies, they say, will offer you a good price for your tablet online, but then claim it’s in worse condition than expected when they receive it, sending you a smaller - than - promised check as a result .
business derived from our urltoken website utilizes an agent commission revenue model, whereby we do not take possession of the devices that are sold to us by sellers, but rather facilitate transactions between these consumers and our network of professional buyers. historically, some of the devices we acquired through our urltoken website utilized our managed by usell service, whereby we partnered with a third party logistics company to inspect and process devices before passing them along to buyers offering the highest prices for each device. through this approach, we took possession of devices for a brief period of time before they were passed on to the ultimate buyer. however, by the end of 2016, we shut down our managed by usell service and shifted all of our business from urltoken to the agent commission revenue model .
usell pays optimizely roughly $ 359 per month to run tests for up to 200, 000 site visits, plus $ 5 per each additional 1, 000 visits, croft says. that’s the third, or gold, tier of the vendor’s pricing model, which starts at $ 17 per month to test up to 2, 000 site visits, plus $ 9 per each additional 1, 000 visits .
feirstein, best known for founding usell. com, a technology - resale site, and liveops. com, a crowdsourced call - center company, had built a community of 20, 000 independent agents into a massive
at home
call - center. he certainly knew something about communications and large - scale human resources. mickiewicz had mastered online auctions. grant knew how to appeal to developers .
as with all early - stage companies, there is risk. even though the future looks bright for usell, there is no guarantee that management will continue to execute. we have all invested in companies that showed tremendous promise but failed because of management' s inability to deliver. michael brauser' s involvement as chairman of the board de - risks the situation some, but as with all early - stage micro caps, diligent monitoring is required .
online marketplace usell. com, which allows merchants to bid for consumers’ used smartphones and electronics, wanted to add trade - ins for other types of used products but worried that doing so would hurt conversions in its core category, says chief product officer and co - founder christian croft. after running two experiments with a / b testing vendor optimizely, however, the e - marketplace learned that expanding its offerings would only add incremental revenue, he says .
usell presents a particularly attractive business model, based on scalable software, no inventory expenses, and minimal infrastructure. i expect the company' s 40% year - over - year revenue growth to continue and possibly accelerate. with a market cap of just $ 20 million, the company is deeply undervalued considering the multibillion - dollar total addressable market, and the company' s ability to seamlessly expand into multiple markets. the extreme level of undervaluation and ability to turn profitable at any time, provides significant downside protection
categories: yahoo financeget free summary analysis usell. com, inc. reports financial results for the quarter ended june 30, 2017. highlights summary numbers: revenues of usd 24. 64 million, net earnings of usd - 1. 15 million. gross margins narrowed from 5. 58% to 3. 18% compared to the same period last year, operating (ebitda) margins now - 1. 76% from 1. 66% . change in operating cash... read more (read more... )
while you probably don’t have quite this much techno - crap in your house, i’ll bet you have some. according to the npd group, the average u. s. household owns nearly six internet - connected devices. a recent survey by used gadget marketplace usell reports that seven out of 10 americans own gizmos they haven’t touched for at least two years. as a species, we generate 20 million to 50 million metric tons of e - waste each year, most of it toxic, the vast majority of which still goes into landfills .
but when a company is addressing multibillion - dollar markets, and growing revenue at 40% annually, at some point, investors take notice. this is only the 2 nd seeking alpha article on usell, and i would expect more analyst coverage in the near future. as wall street realizes the value of this company, and just how much interest there is in this sector right now, the share price will rise to a more appropriate level. this is the type of opportunity that could develop from undervaluation to overvaluation within a very short time frame .
the downside? prices vary wildly, and you probably won’t get as much as you want for it. for example, my black, wifi - only, 16 gb ipad 2, which cost me $ 500 new two years ago, will fetch $ 106 at nextworth. gazelle offered me $ 120 for one in flawless condition. buymytronics offered $ 125, which was also the top of the price range for ecoatm. usell, which provides a marketplace of buyers rated and ranked by its customers, showed me offers ranging from $ 80 to $ 145 .
caution: you will get ripped of by usell - they will send you a curious looking check - that will bounce. your back will charge you a fee for that little gift. then you will have to wait for another one that when you take it to the issuing bank - they will not honor it. (my bank eventually got it cashed, but not for almost a month). they will also tell you they will repay the bank fee - they will not. i have filed a complaint wilts postal inspectors, because they do this as a business practice .
croft says it’s important to validate the effect of any changes usell considers making to its web site before finalizing them. to that end, it conducts four to six a / b tests each month, he says. though they’re usually for more minor changes than updating the whole home page—for instance changing the text in just one spot—they still ensure that the business is always moving forward, he says. “you could fall into the trap of making changes based on your gut instinct all the time, but you’d never be able to look back and prove that you made progress at each step. ”
the company, through usell. com, allows individual consumers to find cash offers for their items based on the make, model and condition of each item. upon accepting an offer, consumers can ship their devices for free using either a prepaid shipping kit or shipping label, and then track the progress of their orders online from initiation to final payment of their devices. the company sells its devices through utilizing its marketplace bidding platforms where buyers can source devices on demand; employing its sales force to sell devices to its client base across the world, and leveraging third party e - commerce platforms .
for two weeks in late may, the e - marketplace sent half its desktop traffic to the first version of the home page and the other half to the second, comprising about 140, 000 site visits altogether. in that test, electronics conversions took a hit, dropping by 3. 6% , croft says. although that was in usell’s acceptable range, it still made his team slightly nervous because it was closer to the 5% drop threshold than to breaking even with the conversion rate, he says. any more of a decrease on electronics sales, and adding the new product categories would not increase net revenue, he says .
doug: so the idea for usell really has been an iterative process, but it started with this initial vision back in 2006, when i tried to sell some stuff on ebay, but really trying to sell your own stuff is hard. initially, the vision was to make it easier for the general consumer to be able to sell their stuff and get cash for that, without having to deal with all the hassles of sort of the traditional, or at least the ways that existed back then in the peer - to - peer selling, like ebay. at first, we started it was every product, and like with any business, as we sort of hit different challenges head on, we realized that we kind of had to narrow our focus into products and services that we had a clear secondary market and there was high demand. that is sort of how we ended up focused in the consumer electronics vertical, because everybody has phones, like you said, you have three or four phones. virtually everyone i talk to says the same thing, and it was a great way for us to really leverage mass marketing through direct response to drive demand for the service, but there is also a clear secondary market for it. that is really where the idea for usell came from .
usell has two primary means of sourcing devices to satisfy demand from its global base of customers. the first source is through its wholly - owned subsidiary, we sell cellular, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2015. we sell cellular is among a handful of top tier wholesalers whose primary business is to buy used smartphones that have been traded in with the major carriers and the big box retailers, fully inspect and grade these devices, and then sell these devices wholesale and retail through its highly experienced sales force. we sell cellular is one of a select group of wholesalers that has qualified for r2 certification, the industry standard for both data destruction and environmental protection .
agent commission revenue increased by $ 139, 000, or 993% , from $ 14, 000 for the three months ended june 30, 2016 to $ 153, 000 for the three months ended june 30, 2017. agent commission revenue increased by $ 300, 000, or 968% , from $ 31, 000 for the six months ended june 30, 2016 to $ 331, 000 for the six months ended june 30, 2017. the increase in agent commission revenue was due to our decision to shut down our managed by usell service at the end of 2016 and no longer take possession of devices sent in through our urltoken website. payments for devices sent in through urltoken are now made directly from buyers to sellers, and we only recognize a commission on these transactions .
while a minority of our product is sold directly to consumers via third party ecommerce platforms, the majority of our sales are to professional buyers. these buyers include brick and mortar retailers, online retailers, large and small wholesalers, small repair shops, large refurbishing providers, and insurance companies. approximately two - thirds of our customer base is in the united states, with the balance abroad. we are able to provide all of our buyers with a low risk, cost - efficient way to acquire inventory. through participation on usell' s online marketplace or through interaction with our salesforce, our buyers gain access to the high volume of devices that we acquire through both wholesale and retail means, without taking on the risk and investment involved in marketing directly to consumers or purchasing directly from carriers, big box retailers, and manufacturers .
this was a horrific experience, i was given a quote of about 100 $ for my iphone i thought why not and decided to ship it to them, after almost 2 weeks i got the mailing packet finally and shipped it to them, no email no calls nothing for 2 weeks again, when i contact them myself they told me we sent u a check for 9 $, i said what is 9 $ i was quoted 100 and got the most vague excuse about the market going up and down and my phone has a scratch here or there basically saying total bs, i demanded my phone back and they said no read the terms and conditions which is longer then the declaration of independence right... . people need to be aware of this scam and avoid usell unless you want to send them your valuable phone for free .
sales and marketing expense increased $ 72, 000, or 17% , from $ 414, 000 during the three months ended june 30, 2016 to $ 486, 000 during the three months ended june 30, 2017. the increase is primarily attributable to the higher fees paid as a result of the increased ebay sales during the three months ended june 30, 2017, compared to the three months ended june 30, 2016. with the we sell cellular acquisition and the company' s newfound ability to source devices directly from the carriers, retailers, and manufacturers, its primary sales and marketing expenses have shifted from consumer marketing to paying out sales commissions and selling fees. because the vast majority of usell' s sales and marketing expenses are now paid to third party selling platforms, such as ebay and amazon, any increases or decreases in these expenses are directly tied to sales for the period .
sales and marketing expense increased $ 294, 000, or 37% , from $ 791, 000 during the six months ended june 30, 2016 to $ 1, 085, 000 during the six months ended june 30, 2017. the increase is primarily attributable to the higher fees paid as a result of the increased ebay sales during the six months ended june 30, 2017, compared to the six months ended june 30, 2016. with the we sell cellular acquisition and the company' s newfound ability to source devices directly from the carriers, retailers, and manufacturers, its primary sales and marketing expenses have shifted from consumer marketing to paying out sales commissions and selling fees. because the vast majority of usell' s sales and marketing expenses are now paid to third party selling platforms, such as ebay and amazon, any increases or decreases in these expenses are directly tied to sales for the period .
while quarterly revenues dropped slightly from the prior year, the company saw a 15% increase in gmv for the quarter ended june 30, 2017 and a 26% increase in gmv for the six months ended june 30, 2017. despite this increase in gmv, industry conditions resulted in suppressed margins for the quarter. margins are driven primarily by supply and demand, but can also be impacted by the company' s ability to make opportunistic purchases. due to these factors, management cannot predict margins from quarter to quarter. however, management believes that, due to the company' s scale and supplier relationships, it is able to purchase at prices lower than its customers, which results in low risk of loss on its inventory. usell' s management therefore believes that increasing gmv is of primary importance, as this should result in increased gross margin dollars in future quarters. management further believes that increasing gmv, coupled with limiting growth in fixed costs, should lead to a positive impact to profitability over the long term .
while there appears to be no moore' s law equivalent for smartphones, gestation periods continue to hasten with each subsequent generation. while i remain content with my nearly four year old windows phone, my wife and kids all boast near state - of - the - art iphones... i dwell in a home where it is almost a moral imperative to never fall behind the latest technological innovation. these recurring upgrade cycles have resulted in quite an inventory buildup of vintage iphones. i located over a half dozen of them, including two iphone 4 models and two iphone 4s models. i am not alone with my collection. there are perhaps hundreds of millions of
end of first life
smartphones sitting in drawers across america that could still live a second life somewhere else .
ebay (ebay), amazon (amzn), and craig' s list are some of the readily available marketplaces to sell used cell phones, and they currently dominate the resale or
re - commerce
sector for electronics, but i found a very good alternative that i wanted to share. visit the website urltoken, and in three easy steps you can receive multiple, instantaneous bids to sell your smartphone and get cash guaranteed to arrive in a maximum of five business days. i was intrigued enough that i was able to secure an interview with harvard mba and ingenious twenty - something innovator, mr. nik raman, co - founder and chief operating officer of urltoken (usel) .
mr. raman: with the speed of improvements in personal technology, from smartphones to personal computers and even televisions, america is already facing a huge problem of electronic waste. millions upon millions of devices lie dormant. many have a useful
next life ,
and this equipment can and should be monetized .
richard: explain why i shouldn' t just sell my smartphone or ipod on ebay or amazon versus urltoken i did some homework and discovered that i would probably get a little more money selling on ebay and amazon .
richard: ok, so you can work for a slightly higher price if you are willing to jump through a lot of hoops, endure uncertainty, and wait a long time. now how do you compare with the carrier' s buyback programs, like at & t or verizon ?
mr. raman: they are constantly changing their offers, so an apples to apples comparison is difficult. and keep in mind they don' t pay cash, they also just give credit for an in - store phone upgrade. they have a lot of room to manipulate numbers based on how long they can lock in a customer on a contract. in general, urltoken is usually a little bit better than the major cellular carriers .
mr. raman: looking on our website urltoken it is easy to see that we have, in limited areas, begun our process of vertically expanding our offerings. we are already aggregating bids for ipad, ipods, game consoles, video games, gift cards and certain women' s clothing items. the expansion proposition in our business is to find and facilitate re - commerce transactions where the value - to - weight ratio is advantageous, minimizing the effects of bearing round - trip shipping expenses. watches and jewelry are high value and low weight merchandise that will fit our model nicely .
richard: consumers are idly hoarding hundreds of millions of electronic devices. what advice can you give them ?
mr. raman: while they are being left in the closet, money is being lost. a rough rule of thumb is that iphones depreciate 5% per month while android devices lose value at about twice that rate. another thing to consider is that a damaged iphone 4s may be worth up to $ 100. damaged often does not translate into worthless.
usell ( otcqb : usel ) is a publicly traded recommerce company with headquarters in new york city . it operates as an online marketplace where people can sell used cell phones , tablets , video games , textbooks and gift cards to professional buyers . 
usell (otcqb: usel) is a publicly traded recommerce company with headquarters in new york city. it operates as an online marketplace where people can sell used cell phones, tablets, video games, textbooks and gift cards to professional buyers.
usell (otcqb: usel) is a publicly traded recommerce company with headquarters in new york city. it operates as an online marketplace where people can sell used cell phones, tablets, video games, textbooks and gift cards to professional buyers.