I don’t know about you guys, but in our neck of the woods, summer is peak yard sale season. Whether it’s a cramped garage filled with knick knacks and electronics, or a yard festooned with old paperbacks and kid’s toys, summer is always the best time to get great deals on other people’s junk. That being said, summer is a hot time of year, and sitting in the blazing sun while people judge your castoffs can be kind of a frustrating way to spend a summer afternoon. For people who’d rather sell their old stuff without having an actual garage sale, there’s an app called VarageSale.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

VarageSale is an iPhone app that can be used to buy or sell various sundry items. On the App Store page, the developers boast that this marketplace is a “friendly, fun and non-threatening environment.”

Pros

• Simple interface makes it easy to scroll and browse dozens of items in a flash
• Excellent listing structure makes it simple to see everything at a glance: who’s selling it, where they are, and what the asking price is
• “Like” or comment on any given item
• VarageSale will not post anything to your Facebook page without your permission
• Friendly, personable support

Cons

• You must be willing to log in with Facebook in order to use this app, which may alienate Facebook haters or anyone who wants to limit the number of apps that have access to their Facebook credentials
• Currently, the app only supports the English language

Discussion

If you have experienced VarageSale as a web community, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how well the service has been adapted to an iPhone layout. It’s really simple to look around and get information on any pieces that catch your eye.

If you had previously tried this app and been disappointed with the bugginess of the VarageSale interface, there’s some good news. As of Version 1.4.2 (at this time, the most recent version of VarageSale), a bunch of bug fixes have been implemented. This makes the browsing experience a lot more enjoyable.

Unlike Craigslist, there’s no anonymity here. That might irk some privacy-obsessed users, but for many, having a profile associated with items puts a friendly face on each sale…and that’s kind of nice!

One minor thing that I’d like to see in future updates would be some added languages. For communities that are heavily bi-lingual (such as along the US-Mexico border, or in cities with Chinatown communities), having support for more than just English would increase user interest. It would also be cool to see this app eventually offer a translation feature, enabling people who live in a bilingual community but who aren’t actually bilingual to sell and buy from their neighbors, despite language barriers.

Conclusion and download link

If you find Craiglist to be too sketchy, eBay to be too crowded, and real-life garage sales too stressful, VarageSale may be the online community marketplace for you. Despite being accessible by Facebook login alone, this well-designed app is well worth checking out.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.4.2

Supported OS: Requires iOS 5.1 or later

Download size: 6.0 MB

VarageSale on Apple App Store