You know, I'm surprised that those mailbox stores don't offer exactly this sort of service. Buyer and seller give a deposit to a postal store, the seller mails product to the store, the buyer inspects the product at the store and decides whether to keep it, and, if so, pays the balance to the store and walks out with the product, and presumably there could be a process for undoing it by returning the product to that same store later if a serious problem has emerged. I guess it's a lot of overhead for buying a video game or something, but it would make sense for $500+ transactions.
Those stores already have notaries, help with shipping, provide mailboxes, and the like. It'd fit pretty well into their wheelhouse.
Ive just started putting a mental business plan together on this. A few obstacles I see:
1) in the high end, is a UPS store or equivalent going to have a staff member on hand with enough expertise to vouch for a product?
2) condition is sometimes a bit subjective. One persons "Mint" is another persons "Very Good". When you have quality disputes, what are going to do? cancel the transaction? that is an expensive and painful process for all involved.
I think if you shoot for the least common denominator and can do the following there is some value to be added:
a) is it not a brick (unless he is selling an actual brick :) )
b) is it the brand and model that the listing advertises
c) if it is easy to do can you verify it is in working order when the item is packed and sent away.
I still see some wiggle room for problems, but I do think that being able to prove you shipped the item is important. Furthermore, if the seller sold an expensive item, didnt he insure it? If the item "didnt arrive" then we have a different problem. The seller keeps his money, and the buyer works with the insurer(who has a vested interest in not paying so will likely investigate a bit) to get made whole again.
I would guess that in 99.9% of purchases even over $500, both sides of the transaction are happy. Requiring the buyer to go to the store adds a significant transaction cost to the buyer, and is likely unnecessary.
You just described exactly what Stockx does with everything sold on their site. I think itβs good for everyone, because of the chance of getting fake items.
Those stores already have notaries, help with shipping, provide mailboxes, and the like. It'd fit pretty well into their wheelhouse.