Zaarly Brings Its Marketplace to China, With New Name and Apps

Zaarly, the American startup that helps people outsource simple errands and tasks, has launched in China with the Chinese name Jieqoo, and separate mobile apps for iPhone and Android for its new audience (pictured above).

Zaarly descibes itself as “a new kind of marketplace that allows you to name your price for anything you want,” and the same principle applies to Jieqoo, which is now running in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen. Rather than selling second-hand items – which is Craigslist territory – the emphasis here is on services. Looking at the Jieqoo web app for Shanghai, users have already gotten into the spirit of it, seeking – for example – a website logo to be designed for 300 RMB (US$48), or a golf coach for 3,500 RMB ($555). There doesn’t seem to be much traction at this early stage, with only 10 entries across the whole of Shanghai:

With Jieqoo, the Zaarly team seems to have localized well, and given some realistic examples of how it might be used – such as to find someone to queue up for you at the crack of dawn to reserve a place with a doctor (yes, that’s an actual thing that people have to do here). Inevitably, there might be local issues as well. For example, scalpers are a very real problem in China, and if this shiny new startup turns into a haven for shady scalpers and resellers – who, remember, make a living from queueing up to make a quick buck – then the Jieqoo team will have a big clean-up operation on their hands.

Back in October of last year, Zaarly raised $14.1 million in financing, and has some heavyweight investors such as as Ashton Kutcher and Ron Conway. Meg Whitman, formerly of eBay and then HP, is a board member.

Of course, there are already some Chinese startups doing location-aware mobile commerce, such as the Maimang app that we reviewed last year.

Folks in China can browse items in the web app on Jieqoo.com, and snag the mobile apps from there as well.