E-commerce start-ups feed Hongkongers’ passion for shopping, but are they safe?
App creators want to develop an online space for people to buy sell and exchange goods without registering or revealing credit card and personal information. Could anything go wrong?
Hongkongers love to shop and they want to shop now. That may explain the recent proliferation of mobile marketplaces, such as Milk Mart, Pinkoi and Letgo, that promise to make online shopping fun, convenient and immediate. But with this trend also come hidden pitfalls and watchdogs are warning consumers to be careful of shady sellers.
Among the latest apps to join the e-commerce market is Carousell, a Singapore start-up that has expanded to Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and debuted in Hong Kong last year.
Carousell is more than a shopping app; it aims to create a community marketplace where people can sell their unused items as well as exchange goods.
“Just like Singapore, people have small homes and a lot of things. It’s a bit of a first-world problem,” says Jia Jih Chai, who oversees the company’s international expansion. “Our goal is to help people make use of the additional stuff they have in their homes.”
Unlike traditional shopping sites, users do not have to go through a lengthy sign-up process, verify their identity or input their credit card information. With Carousell, all users have to do is snap a picture of the product they want to sell, name a price and the product will be listed on Carousell.
