The convenience of online shopping and the opportunity to "get a good deal" are thought to be behind the success of a group of Facebook pages that have facilitated thousands of women in engaging in hundreds of thousands of dollars in second-hand sales across The Bahamas.
Karen Knowles Betschart, a self-confessed bargain hunter, set up the Mamma's Marketplace Facebook pages along with her friend, Katie Albury after Albury was told that she could not use another Facebook page to sell household items she was hoping to get rid of.
The pair, who make no money out of the pages, felt that there would be demand in The Bahamas for a place where people could conduct what is essentially an online version of a patio or garage sale. They launched Mamma's Marketplace in November 2011 and shortly thereafter the free service took off.
"It was slow in the lead up to Christmas, but in January 2012 it went crazy," said Betschart.
Today the Facebook group has 3,153 active users - all women - many of whom rave about the site.
One user told Guardian Business, "Mamma's Marketplace is a great asset to the country. One person's garbage is another one's treasure."
Another added, "My husband laughs at how addicted I am, but he stops laughing when he sees how much money I saved!"
The demand is clear: Over the course of the past year-and-a-half, the marketplace has expanded and diversified, with separate pages for adults' clothing, school textbooks, all things children-related and a general used-book page. Due to demand from women who wanted to sell their goods and services relating to their home-based businesses, Betschart also added a page specifically for this purpose, the Nassau Home Based Business Directory, which now has over 500 members.
Meanwhile, Betschart and Albury, both mothers, found the growing amount of time involved in administrating the group necessitated that they find another administrator, Raquel Knowles Prabhu, to assist.
"Last week there was one day where I got 30 requests to join in a single day. Each week, we might get between 150 and 200 requests," added Betschart, who said that responding to requests is "a task" due to the need to go into each profile to identify that the profile belongs to a woman who lives in The Bahamas - a requirement for entry into the site.
Today, the pages are a hive of trading activity, with users posting descriptions of goods, along with photos, while other members often respond within seconds to announce if they are interested in purchasing the item. With products being sold on a first-come, first-served basis, members have to be quick to the draw to get the best bargains.
"On Mamma's Marketplace, if you blink, you'll miss it!" said member and self-described Mamma's Marketplace "addict", Stacy Ann Campbell Marshall.
In some cases, certain items will have long lists of users who are expressing interest in purchasing the second-hand product should the person before them in the queue decide not to buy it.
Several users highlighted the advantages of Mamma's Marketplace over shopping in local stores, or in Florida. These include the ability to find items that may not be available locally, or items which are in good condition and significantly cheaper.
Some said they find themselves going to the shops less now that Mamma's Marketplace exists, while others explained that they shop as much as ever in local stores, but buy things on the marketplace that they might not otherwise find.
Campbell Marshall said: "I love it because I'm a serious bargain shopper. I do a lot of comparison shopping, so I'm pretty good a spotting the real deal. I'll scope things out online and see what it costs away and from there I can pretty much calculate the cost of what it would be here, in the stores. I'm always out and about viewing items I've seen on the marketplace."
Users described how smaller, cheaper items will get "snapped" up in moments on the site, while more high-value goods such as furniture, cars, boats and sports equipment tend to stay around for longer. Goods such as plates or cutlery might sell for as little as $1.50, while trucks are listed for over $20,000.
Betschart said it is not uncommon to see people purchasing used items for more than they would cost new in Nassau stores.
"It's the convenience factor. People are looking at this on their laptop at home, then all they have to do is make a call and arrange to pick it up, or even get it delivered."
Campbell Marshall said she sold the entire contents of a four-bedroom home on Mamma's Marketplace, when she had planned to move to the United States last year. Betschart recalled a particular member in Spanish Wells who furnished several apartments with goods bought on the pages.
Another user told Guardian Business, "I have bought a Go Pro camera; I'm negotiating for a paddle board; I've bought kitchen cannisters, bedroom sets, headboards, mattresses and rugs. I have sold everything from rugs, to bicycles to clothing."
Betschart said she gains a sense of security knowing that only women use the site and there are no plans to expand in this regard. "We feel comfortable shopping from just females - there's lots of crime and so it gave us a sense of security."
Campbell Marshall agreed: "I think the female only aspect lends to a feeling of safety... I definitely feel safer going to a home to buy something knowing that it's a woman I'm meeting."
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