Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a world where you can shop without ever having to spend money… wouldn’t it be amazing?
Now imagine going into a giant department store. One that’s so big, you can find almost anything you’ve ever wanted within its walls. Fashion, technology, books and films. Whatever it is that you’ve always wanted, it’s right there waiting for you and you won’t need a penny to make it yours.
Bandy is a brand new mobile app which brings that dream to reality. Dubbed ‘Tinder on steroids’, Bandy is revolutionising the second-life shopping experience by allowing you to exchange your unwanted items with other people in the local area. Simply upload your items into the app, choose the types of things you’d like to shop for and then start browsing by liking or passing on the items presented to you. If someone likes your item back, you’ve got a match. You can even find your friends on the app and search what they’ve got to offer.
Bandy is the brainchild of Harsh Jani and Ross Macfarlane, who were looking for a fun and interactive way of getting rid of their unwanted stuff. ‘With eBay, just putting an item up for sale can be a long-drawn-out process. Then, if it does sell, you’ve got listing fees and commission on top,’ explains Harsh. ‘It’s no wonder so many people choose to throw away their unwanted items rather than giving them a second lease of life.’
There’s an environmental angle to it too. Bandy aims to encourage more people to think first, before binning their unwanted items. With the UK population sending almost 27 million tons of rubbish to landfill in 2014 (2015 figures are yet to be released), there’s a real need to think beyond plastic bottles and cardboard boxes when it comes to recycling.
The scarily addictive mobile app, which works in the same style as the popular dating app Tinder, launched in mid-December 2015, perfectly timed to coincide with the January rush of unwanted Christmas gifts. ‘The uptake has been strong and the feedback so far has been hugely positive,’ says co-founder Ross. ‘The only downside with the app is that you could end up with even more stuff than you started off with!’
Bandy is currently available for download for Apple devices, with an Android version coming out later in the year. Watch this video to find out more: