Carsales debuts new classifieds site Pitchi

Automotive classifieds site Carsales today debuted a new product listing website called Pitchi, an online selling platform which uses video to put a personalised spin on the sales pitch.

Soft-launched today, Pitchi lets sellers submit a 60 second unique video on their product to the site as well as their social media channels to drive interest in the product - a strategy Carsales believes will appeal to young and entrepreneurial sellers keen to use their natural marketing skills.

Carsales spent the last eight months preparing the site - built on .NET and hosted in Amazon Web Services' cloud - with 12 staff members dedicated to the project.

Carsales currently uses AWS for the staging platforms of all its websites. It hosts image serving in Microsoft Azure and web pages and SQL servers in Hostworks.

It opted for AWS for Pitchi in the belief a public cloud would better allow it to respond to unknown levels of traffic as well as the platform's eventual international expansion.

The site is a concerted effort by Carsales to tap into a market it is yet to reach with its existing product set. The company is betting that Pitchi will appeal to the “opportunistic spirit, exhibitionist nature and technological savvy of young people” who communicate through non-traditional channels.

Pitchi integrates the seller’s profile with social media channels to tap into the 'shareability' nature of social media, and expand the products to potential buyers outside the website. It is currently free to sellers to list wares on the site.

“We’re proud to be able to introduce a high-tech, reliable and fun buying and selling platform that embodies the latest online and social trends in a one-of-a-kind and lucrative selling practice,” Pitchi general manager James Curtain said in a statement.

“Pitchi.com will be a profitable platform to buy and sell every sort of item but will also act as a hub for original video and creative expression.”

Pitchi sellers can offer products in nine grouped categories on the site - including products that compete with Carsales’ existing network.

Pitchi sellers are free to sell cars, boats, bikes and other products that Carsales sells through its listing sites.

“Sometimes we have to disrupt ourselves and figure out the business model later,” Carsales CIO Ajay Bhatia recently told iTnews.

Content is moderated by the community, but Carsales also employes a full-time community manager to monitor posts and user complaints.