Correction: An earlier version of the following story reported incorrectly "just below $50,000" as revenue of Verto. In a follow-up email, co-founder Pablo Ferreyra clarified that that "the 50K in revenue was in transactions across the platform, not in cash we pocketed... The majority of the 50K went back to the vendors who listed the products."
As it often happens in startupland, the story of Verto, a Boston-based marketplace for students, started with a 'there-has-to-be-a-better-way' moment—more precisely, with "a horrible Craigslist experience," co-founder Pablo Ferreyra said.
"[One of my close friends] had to take a couple of trains to meet his vendor, he bought this very large dining table and then... when bringing it home in the Uber, he actually broke it unloading it from the car," Ferreyra, a senior at Boston University's college of engineering, said. "Very sad story."
Enter Verto, a peer-to-peer e-commerce platform that allows only people with a verified '.edu' email address to sign up and trade used goods. Based at BU's BUild Lab, the company partners with local Postmates couriers to pick up and deliver items directly to its university-centered community of buyers and sellers. During a BU pilot started in September 2018, Verto had 750 student users.
What happened to his friend was not, as Ferreyra thought first, an unrepeatable series of unfortunate events. After more than 300 interviews with BU students, he saw the need for an e-commerce platform for students that was also stress-free, safe and fully reliable.
As every Amazon competitor knows too well, e-commerce is a very tough sector to break into. The Seattle giant currently owns 49.1% of national e-commerce sales and is set to set to clear $258.22 billion in U.S. retail sales in 2018. With runner-up eBay tagging along at only 6.6%, it's no surprise that both ultimate biographies and recent industry reports have stated that we live in "the age of Amazon."
Even ignoring Amazon, there are still countless ways for people to buy and sell on the web, from Etsy to Bonanza. However, Ferreyra thinks that the way they created Verto - started with a budget of around $25,000 from hackathon competitions - will make the company stand out.
"This product... was co-created with the users we're trying to serve," he said. "What I can promise all of our users is that they will receive 110% effort to make sure they have the best customer service possible."
In addition to handling deliveries, Verto uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to speed up every deal, meaning that algorithms can pre-compile item listings and recommend items. The company makes money by charging buyers with an average 7.5% up-charge commission fee, while sellers always get the full price for items should they sell.
The BU pilot, which is still in progress, is on pace to reach 1,000 transactions by the end of the year, Ferreyra added. Since October 8 - the date Verto started handling transaction directly on its platform - around 350 transaction were processed.
Currently, the team of seven is preparing to launch a marketing campaign that will target students moving out from campus. The goal for January next year is to scale to other local universities, including Boston College, Wentworth, MIT, and Northeastern.
"I want it to be so easy for students to buy and sell used goods that we can translate this to basically any college campus," Ferreyra said.
