The San Francisco-based site is a project of Utah Street Labs Inc. and was created earlier this year by former Mobshop Chief Executive Jim Rose; former vice president of mobile strategy for Critical Path Inc., Rob Zuber; and former head of marketing for Facebook Inc., Jonathan Ehrlich.
Their big idea? To convert those who browse e-commerce sites into buyers by increasing vendor transparency and accountability.
Copious does this by requiring users to sign into Facebook and leveraging individuals' information and connections, so that buyers and sellers can have a more complete view of who they are doing business with. Copious will also use the information on Facebook to suggest purchases specific to each user, based on ‘likes' and other preferences.
Copious will ultimately take a 10% transaction fee--an amount it is slicing to 3.5% right now to launch the initial site.
"Authentic identity has really changed everything," said Jonathan Ehrlich, Copious co-founder and chief operating officer. "Ninety-nine percent of people on places like Craigslist and eBay don't buy anything."
Ehrlich said Copious aims to capture that walkaway traffic, which he says occurs because seller credibility is weak. Copious will launch with a select group of sellers, focused initially on the handbags category and featuring sellers like eBags, Malababa and Ritzy Ragz. Additional categories will follow.
"People love handbags," he said. "Handbags are identity-laden."
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