Not a day goes by that I don’t see one of the Twitter users I follow Tweet a request for an item, such as last-minute tickets; or post about a newly available item, such as an apartment for rent. As Twitter has become the de-facto broadcast network, part of the content being shared revolves around buying and selling items via users’ social graph. @Shopr, which was developed at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon over the past 24 hours, is launching as a service that matches buyers and sellers on Twitter. It’s sort of like a Craigslist for Twitter.
Basically, @shopr uses Gnip to mine the Twitter firehose for people selling things and looking to buy items. The service’s founders tell me that in their initial research currently around 7,000 Tweets per hour relate to commerce and people looking to buy and sell items (over 5,000 selling-related Tweets are sent every hour).
Buyers can search on @shopr’s site, by specifying the item desired and their location. @shopr will match buyers with the appropriate Twitter users who have Tweeted about the item to sell. Buyers can also Tweet @ShoprBuy with what they want and where they want it and the service till Tweet back when they find the desired item. @shopr will also allow user to see pics of the item as well.
If you’re a seller and you Tweet about posting an item, @shopr will surface posts in their search engine so long as they make it clear what they’re selling and where they’re selling it. Sellers can also tweet @ShoprSell with what they’re selling, location and an asking price, and @shopr will match this with a request from a buyer.
And for an idea which was only born 24-hours ago, @shopr’s team has convinced a number of local retailers to participate in their selling service. A local San Francisco REI is listing several of their bikes, tents and backpacks (from the REI brand) with atShopr. San Francisco bookstore Dog Eared Books hast listed some of their inventory, Lost Weekend Video will be posting niche-genre movies and memorabilia, music store Aquarius Records are also putting some of their records on sale via the service.
@shopr says that currently the most desired items posted on Twitter included bikes, books, apartments, tickets. What makes the service unique is that it allows sellers and buyers to expand beyond your Twitter social graph—which could be very useful for both buyers and local merchants and brands.
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