ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The SOC Exchange, a new Internet trading platform created by innovative Australian entrepreneur Franco Lagudi, launched in the United States today, just in time for the end of the academic year and, more importantly, for college students, just before costly moving and storage fees begin to kick in for the millions of young people who will be on the go in May and June.
Offering a low-priced and user-controlled experience, The SOC Exchange enables a seller of apartment items, books, computer equipment or anything else, to place those items for sale on his or her own website, using a newly established personal URL. The cost is just $1 a Month or $10 a year Flat Rate at www.thesocexchange.com.
In as little as 10 minutes, the URL can be established and used as a fully operational e-commerce site for the term of the paid subscription. Among its easy-to-use features are:
an e-mail alert capability, which allows the seller of goods to push e-mails to subscribers, and buyers to subscribe to receive e-mail alerts from sellers;
a customer tracking system, which, among many other attributes, can constantly inform the seller of the number of visitors to his or her Web site; and
built-in technical safeguards such as SSL encryption and anti-virus protection, reliable and secure hosting and unlimited disk space and data transfer.
“Graduating college seniors and rising upperclassmen in the U.S. are among the most mobile and most technologically savvy group of people on the planet,” said Lagudi, founder of The SOC Exchange. “That’s why we have moved so quickly to get our latest e-commerce site in working order for them before the end of this academic year.”
According to Lagudi, college students can turn anything they own into cash by setting up a personalized URL on The SOC Exchange, an example of which can be seen at www.thesocexchange.com/samplestudentsite. The student’s physical location, including name of school, address and phone numbers, can be hidden or visible, whatever the student wishes.
“Figures from the National Retail Federation show that the average college student spends approximately $3000 on back-to-school items, which include everything from the clothes on his or her back, to textbooks, to room furnishings and to the plethora of electronic devices that young people are so quick to adopt,” said Lagudi. “For only $10, and in less than 10 minutes, a college student who is moving on to a new apartment across town, a summer internship across the country or a semester abroad on the other side of the world, can utilize The SOC Exchange to immediately recoup some of that investment and to get cash in hand to help pay for transportation, or the next set of living expenses.”
While Lagudi believes that The SOC Exchange will catch fire generally, and begin to be utilized by Americans from all walks of life, he pressed his web developers to get this new e-commerce Web site up in time to serve students at the conclusion of the 2007 – 2008 Academic Year.
“As one who studied and played on the gridiron in the U.S. myself, I know firsthand the spirit of American college students and their ability to embrace speedy and efficient ways to address some of life’s more mundane tasks,” explained Lagudi. “The SOC Exchange meets a pressing and straightforward need – the buying and selling of day-to-day stuff – in a manner that is much more efficient than their racing around town pinning “for sale” or “in search of” notices on bulletin boards in residence hall foyers or fast-food store entrances.”
Lagudi’s philosophy is extremely simple. “At The SOC Exchange, we firmly believe in our Flat Rate concept” he said. “We do not feel it is fair to take any slice of sellers’ profits and my message to them is: If your hard work and good fortune yields you a profit, then yours it shall be!”
A college student, or any seller user of www.thesocexchange.com, can customize a creative site design from more than 150 different styles and load up to nine items on the front page of his or her Web site, with an unlimited number of items to be listed within the site. Up to four photos may be loaded of any individual item, allowing potential buyers a chance to check out a potential purchase from any angle.
Buyers can find a selling Web site by name, product or category, and they can then bookmark that site for instant access. Buyers can also sign up to receive e-mail alerts from sites of their choosing.
The SOC Exchange is the latest business launch for the Australian Lagudi, whose ancestors emigrated down under from Italy early in the 20th century, and where they subsequently established one of the most successful and varied retail grocery businesses in the country. Lagudi also operates www.buyblitz.com, a three-month-old U.S. Web site that serves as a catalyst for specialty food retailers to be able to successfully reach their customers.
To arrange to speak to Mr. Lagudi, please contact Jim Boyle at 703-797-7103 or via e-mail at jim.boyle@lmo.com.
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