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ASU entrepreneur launches women-only classified site

FOR THE LADIES: ASU business administration senior Tucker Blalock recently created a craigslist-type website exclusively for women, LadiesLoop.com as a safe alternative to other online classifieds sites.  (Photo by Rosie Gochnour)
FOR THE LADIES: ASU business administration senior Tucker Blalock recently created a craigslist-type website exclusively for women, LadiesLoop.com as a safe alternative to other online classifieds sites. (Photo by Rosie Gochnour)

When journalism freshmen Cassie Klapp is looking to buy something online, she completely avoids the classified website Craigslist.

“I’m afraid,” she said. “You hear on the news about women being taken advantage of all the time.”

Klapp’s fears may be stymied by one student’s entrepreneurial endeavor to create a safer alternative to Craigslist. Business administration senior Tucker Blalock created a classified site that’s similar to Craigslist, but is exclusively for women in an effort to make buying and selling things online less scary.

LadiesLoop.com has found significant success in the four months since Blalock launched the site. The site is a unique mixture of Craigslist, eBay and Facebook, Blalock said. With more than 2,000 Phoenix-area users, plus users from all over Arizona, California and Colorado, the formula appears to be working.

Blalock, who returned to Phoenix two years ago after serving in the Marine Corps, got the idea for LadiesLoop.com after the 2009 Craigslist killing in which a man murdered a woman after he responded to her advertisement for masseuse services. The murder caused people to be reluctant about meeting up with unknown sellers.

“Every time I talk to women about my website the first thing they mention is ‘I’m so afraid to use Craigslist, I always bring my husband along with me because I’m afraid,’” he said.

The most popular items sold on the site are clothing, handbags and children’s items. Blalock said he finds a majority of the users on LadiesLoop.com are mothers in search of a safe way to exchange kid’s clothing or toys.

“I wanted to think of a way to give women a better alternative so they could exchange with other women and maybe it wouldn’t be so scary,” he said.

LadiesLoop.com requires users to provide a profile picture as well as information, similar to Facebook and other social networking sites.  There is also a rating system for buyers to give thumbs up or down to sellers based on their experience.

Non-degree-seeking graduate student Alex Harris said he uses Craigslist frequently. He bought three cars from the site but said he’s had some shady experiences, including one where he met the seller in “a dark alley,” to buy P90X, a popular workout DVD.

“People sometimes don’t have the best intentions,” he said.

Harris said a women-only classified site is not just beneficial for safety but from a business standpoint.

“If there’s a demand for it, why not supply it,” he said.

Although Blalock is constantly watching activity on his site, he said if he misses something, his users usually catch it.

“With any website you never know if someone is 100 percent who they say they are,” he said. “The users have a tool where they can flag a post that’s inappropriate or illegal.”

Although his site is primarily for women, he said he allows male users if they are offering services deemed useful for women.

“One guy disassembles playground sets and reassembles them in other locations. That’s something women might legitimately need,” he said. “Other than that I try to keep it strictly women.”

Blalock said he does not have plans for another project anytime soon.

“I’ve got my hands full at this point,” he said while laughing.

He recommends that people not release any personal information when buying or selling online.

Reach the reporter at tafergu1@asu.edu


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