As the cost of living in Toronto increases, many people (myself included) have overwhelmingly turned to secondhand marketplaces to purchase their “new” goods.
But these marketplaces are often filled with scams, and having just moved to a new apartment, I’ve become very well-versed in the nightmare of trying to buy or sell on second-hand platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji.
When Karrot reached out to us to try its popular buy-and-sell app, I figured I’d jump in to see if I could tidy up my apartment and get ahead of my spring cleaning for the season.
A better buy-and-sell experience in Toronto
As a community-driven platform, Karrot focuses on connections with your neighbours so you can effectively buy and sell used items.
Going beyond some of the more traditional platforms, they boast unique and robust features to help you curate your experience and make it easier to declutter your home.
On the buying end, you can customize what kinds of items you want to see on your feed — with the option to create search alerts for anything you might be trying to purchase.
As a unique safety feature, Karrot uses Know Your Customer (KYC) Verification so you can feel confident you’re connecting with real people in your area. This extra step eliminate bots or scammers to prioritizes meeting real people who want to connect in a safe and trusted marketplace.
And as someone who has tried to buy items on other platforms multiple times only to be met by a scammer, this peace-of-mind feature is a bonus because I know I’m always interacting with a real person.
Sell used items with confidence
For sellers, Karrot’s listing interface is intuitive, giving users prompts that help eliminate a lot of back-and-forth I’ve experienced (i.e., furniture dimensions, condition, etc.).
The best part about listing with Karrot is the brand new AI feature, which analyzes your uploaded photos and fills in certain prompts for you — letting you focus on selling rather than wasting time trying to come up with a description and headline.
You can also list items for free or trade, which is great if you have something valuable you don’t want; it can go to another good home instead. This is a feature I absolutely love because, often, I’m mostly just looking to get rid of stuff in my over-cluttered space, and as the saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
Selling made simple
Honestly, having been active on Karrot for a couple of weeks, my once hoarder-chic-looking apartment has turned into a minimalist zone consisting of the things I need (and maybe some other purchases or trades I made on the app, but don’t tell my boyfriend!)
I’ve been able to get rid of some old holiday decorations, used books that didn’t hit, and even helped my mom sell her old bed to make room for the one I bought her for her birthday (because I’m nothing if not a good son).
To help keep you engaged with your community and continue buying local, Karrot runs regular events for “Karroters” that help incentivise you to sell through the platform. One of their Spring Freecycle events has prizes like gift cards to Amazon and a spending spree to spruce up your home!
So, how will you plant seeds with your used items, accomplish that spring cleaning, and see your community grow? Download Karrot and start decluttering today.
