Flip is a mobile-only sneaker marketplace founded by a former Google and Apple engineer, 26-year-old Kemar Newell. The company guarantees any and all items will be sold within 90 minutes, because if no one bids on your sneakers, Flip will buy the pair. To sell sneakers, users can take a photo of the sneakers and upload the photo and description to the marketplace. Sellers can only place bids during “auction hours” which run from 1-2 a.m. ET.
The marketplace is curated by Flip employees and listings have to be approved by the staff before anyone can bid. The company also promises popular items will not have the astronomically high prices normally associated with sneakers resold on eBay. Sneakers start at a bid price 30-40 percent below the resale market value. Flip currently has upward of 15,000 sneakers in its inventory, with more added daily.
Online purchasing requires putting your trust into the hands of a relatively anonymous seller, and that can lead to expensive dishonesty. Flip offers Flip Protect, a policy that stipulates any buyer who files an approved claim within 24 hours of the sneaker’s delivery will receive a full refund. Only after the 24-hour grace period following delivery will the funds be released to the seller, assuming no claim has been made. Flip Protect covers items that are damaged, missing, not as originally described, wrong, replicas, or fake.
Flip’s website states that loyal members will soon be able to get discounts through Loyalty Cards soon. The app is only available for iOS devices and can be downloaded at the App Store.
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