By Contessa Hardman
Student801.com, a new Web site, is revolutionizing how university students, in the 801 area code, can purchase products or services by allowing students to pay with services or items instead of the traditional cash transaction.
The students, specifically those at BYU, the University of Utah and Utah Valley State College, can trade, barter and post services for payment such as gardening, scrap booking, tarot card reading or photo retouching for items such as textbooks.
“Students possess talent, especially in Utah, and that is worth something,” said Paul Richardson, co-founder and owner of Student801.
It is free to sign up and those new to the site get three free “have” postings and unlimited “want” postings.
Richardson said making it free for students was a priority because he remembered being a student and not having money.
Students can post to the site things they have and want to get rid of or post things they are looking to obtain. The site then brings people with wants and needs together.
Proactive Matching technology allows students to be matched up with the items they need and the site does all the searching, Richardson said.
When you post a “have” or a “want” you can mark if you only accept money or are willing to trade items or barter.
Once Student801.com matches you with a want or need, their involvement ends.
“Our site does not get involved in the transaction,” the Web site stated. “We simply facilitate the opportunity to meet with prospective traders, sellers and buyers.”
This means that the prospective buyer and seller will have to work out all details of the transaction, including payment and shipping, themselves.
Though the site is focused on its listing abilities this is not the only service that it provides.
The main vision was to have a place where students can go to find housing, entertainment, food and community contacts, Richardson said. Buddy lists allow students to meet and contact new people, and other site links keep them aware of upcoming local events with event tickets and local band listings.
Student801.com is locally focused but still globally connected. It is a local site under the umbrella of the Salt Lake City based, but globally related site Matchbin.
According to a Matchbin news release, it provides private label Web sites for communities. These communities can then be connected through Matchbin on a local, regional, national or global scale.
