App Store Essentials: Sella

Sella App a New Zealand Essential

As we reported just the other day, Sella.co.nz is available now on the app store. Now I’ve had more of a chance to play with it, what do I think? Well I have to say it’s great and has changed the way I will sell online. In fact it’s an app that we feel is an essential app for New Zealanders and so we have added Sella to our App store Essentials. Hit the read more for, well, more and a gallery full of screenshots.

Well, first impressions of the app are good, very good in fact. It’s clean, well laid out, easy to search and find what you are looking for and you can receive all manner of notifications and the best thing…. you can both buy and sell from this app.

Selling made easy

Listing an item for sale is the main feature of this app. With clear and straight forward steps and the ability to be able to switch between the app and notes, Safari or any other form of copying info about the item you are selling (for example I copied and pasted a feature-set for an item I am selling) makes your listing your item so easy.

Add an image

Uploading a picture took no time at all and the whole process from start to finish took no more than 5 minutes. I have to say this makes listing so much easier. One of my biggest pain points from listing on Sella or TradeMe is the fact I have to mess around taking pictures, transferring them to my computer then uploading them. Now with this I can just snap the picture and away I go.

Selling isn’t the only thing you can do, though. You also have the ability to search for items and then, when you find the one you want, place a bid, ask a question and save it to your Watchlist.

You really can manage your listings or items on your Watchlist straight from your iPhone, and if you’re anything like me that means checking it constantly.

There are also sections for $1 reserve, Stores, Popular and Featured Listings. You can also search view auctions by categories making it easy to find those bargains.

I could go into great detail on how the app works, I could also take you through every section of the app. But to be honest I don’t think I need to. What I need to do is tell you to register for Sella (it’s free), download the app and start using it. You see the thing is this, the app is so easy to use and cleanly laid out that you can just use it. You don’t need a guide and you don’t need every last step explained.

Go on..... you know you want it!

Not everything is perfect, though, and there are some things we picked up on when using the app. A big one for us was that you can’t complete a sale from within the app. By complete it I mean you can’t send payment details, pick-up address, postal address (for the buyer) send emails to the seller (as a buyer) or to the buyer (as a seller) and you can’t place feedback. I also notice that you can’t re-list the same item if the sale falls through. As I say this seems to be quite a big omission, especially as Sella don’t have an iPhone optimised site, and leaves you feeling a bit underwhelmed with the app. You can do everything else but complete your sale/purchase.

Username.... read Email

Some of our other observations are…. the “Username” field on log in screen should say “Email Address” as you actually log in with your email address not your username; you have to be logged in to use the app, but you can’t register from within the app; it automatically remembers your login details (we think it should probably ask you) and there are no notifications for sellers when a question has been asked (other than the email you receive). It would be good if a push notification was received if you had a new question on your item.

We contacted Sella for comment and they have kindly responded.

The app has been a massive undertaking and in comparison to the eBay app (only other app we know for online auctions) has a large number features…… We’ve had to pick and choose which features would be part of the initial public release, and most of your suggestions are currently in development for further revisions of the app. The core focus for this release was getting a solid structure to add onto, and to have a great native experience on iOS, as part of this, we believe that the listing experience from the app is second to none on any platform for a whole range of reasons, notably having an integrated camera, being able to capture point of inspiration when a user wants to sell something.

The app is constantly in development, and so will definitely have further revisions.

Conclusion: This really is the auction app to beat. If I remember rightly someone said that eBay have created “the perfect auction app” and I have to say that from my first few days of use this is just as good, but this was designed and created by our own local NZ developers and not by the multi-billion dollar eBay corporation. Yes there are some things that need to be updated but as the developers have said these things are on the roadmap.

If you are an online ‘sella’ (or buyer) then this really is a must have app. Using TradeMe still? Well maybe, just maybe it’s time for a switch.

If you haven’t already, head over to Sella.co.nz and sign up. Currently to use the app you must be a member of the site. It’s free to join and free to download. Once you’re a member you’ll be able to manage everything right from your iPhone.