MaiMang: a Location-Aware Craigslist-Style App

Viewing a second-hand item for sale in the MaiMang app.

A Chinese start-up is hoping to get China’s populace into the spirit of buying and selling second-hand items on their iPhone or Android smartphone. Its MaiMang app mixes a location-based service (LBS) with a sort of Craigslist-style forum of sellers and seekers.

The concept is that MaiMang is a very informal kind of C2C e-commerce marketplace that is dragged into the 21st-century with the aid its location-aware app. You can browse items for sale in your area – using the in-built Google Maps – or post an “I’m looking for…” message that’ll hopefully match up with what someone is selling. So, yes, it’s quite a bit like Craigslist, except it’s all done within a well-designed app. Oh, and it’s less dodgy and seedy than Craigslist too.

I’ve played around with the Android version, and found that it looks fantastic, and works nicely. But right now the problem is traction – or, rather, a lack of it. I see only one item for sale in Shanghai; but MaiMang has at least picked up more users in Beijing and a few other provinces.

Another issue is the relative lack of security when compared with a much more established platform such as China’s e-commerce market leader Taobao.com. Its C2C portal – of, admittedly, mostly brand-new goods – features a sophisticated system of seller ratings, and a safe payment system that serves as an intermediary. But on MaiMang – as with most second-hand, informal transactions – there aren’t those safety nets. Plus, China already has a wealth of specialist e-commerce sites that make it a lot easier to find something new than second-hand.

Nonetheless, it’s a well-implemented service on a gorgeous app. So I’ll follow MaiMang’s progress and maybe use it to sell off a few old gadgets.

The Beijing-based start-up hasn’t yet sorted out its developer accounts, so you’ll need to wait for the iPhone app, or direct download the Android ‘.apk’ file from the MaiMang site. The service works only in China.