"Mercari" App Competes with eBay to Create Safe Space to Buy & Sell Goods
Mercari is an app that allows consumers to buy and sell good
through your smartphone. It's basically an alternative to eBay, creating a safe and reliable platform for people to sell stuff they don't need anymore. Mercari's CMO Scott Levitan sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in Los Angeles to talk about how the app is setting itself apart from all the competition.
Levitan says the company has created a safe space that makes sure purchases are paid before they are sent out to help minimize fraud on the site. In December, Mercari surpassed 100 million downloads worldwide and the app is pushing its expansion even further into the US, after the Asian company has dominated much of that market.
The app also eliminates the need to meet face-to-face and creates a safe space to buy/sell, making it a safer choice than sites like Craigslist. Buyers simply search, swipe and tap to purchase, and sellers can post their listing in under a minute.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Powell appeared to discuss the economic impact of interest rate hikes.
Amazon on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected revenue and profits for the first quarter, sending its stocks higher in after-hours trading. But its prices took a dip in the evening amid concerns about a continued slowdown in the company's profitable cloud computing unit AWS.
A key index of underlying inflation that is closely followed by the Federal Reserve remained elevated last month, keeping the Fed on track to raise interest rates next week for the 10th time since March of last year.
As a growing number of overweight Americans clamor for Ozempic and Wegovy — drugs touted by celebrities and on TikTok to pare pounds — an even more powerful obesity medicine is poised to upend treatment.
A California judge is ordering Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath regarding statements about the safety and capability of the car maker's autopilot features.
David Wright, president and owner of Wright Financial Group LLC, joined Cheddar News to discuss Thursday's trading as stocks closed higher amid strong tech profits. But Wright says banking stress could sway markets down as the Federal Reserve could weigh more rate increases.
