College Students Launch Socialized Online Marketplace

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 30th, 2006) Esdena LLC announces its launching of the first ever online marketplace (www.esdena.com) that integrates buying and selling with an individual’s social network. The website, initially targeting the college market, allows students to not only buy and sell any items within their colleges, but also to explore the online marketplace by leveraging one’s social network of friends and online communities, enabling user’s to browse and buy items from people they know and trust.
One of the common complaints from students involving online shopping is the time it takes between buying an item online and actually getting it through the mail. Esdena eliminates the need for shipping by taking advantage of the proximity of students in a college. Esdena also provides an added level of confidence to users by allowing them to transact with people they know and trust.
The concept of Esdena was originated in February 2005 and it was developed for almost a year before its projected completion. The founders were surprised when Microsoft announced similar project “Fremont” in October 2005, in an effort to socialize classified advertising. “Although Microsoft’s project is for classified ads and it is not targeted towards college students, it really caught us a little off guard.” said Dominic Lee, one of Esdena.com’s founders, currently an economics student at Rice University. “The announcement of their project certainly motivated us to finish writing the website as soon as possible.” furthered Clement Pang, another of Esdena.com’s founder who majors in computer science at Rice University. Although Microsoft claimed that “Fremont” is launching at December 2005, it is still under development. Many people speculated that Fremont is merely a Microsoft PR tool to undermine Google’s classified service – Google Base.
Esdena.com is launching at five universities and colleges around the nation. They include Rice, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, and Northwestern. These five schools are chosen because of their ideal small student population, campus atmosphere, and the connections the founders have within these schools. Although students from other schools do not have access to the service as of now, Esdena.com has planned to expand to other schools immediately if proven successful.
By localizing transactions, Esdena.com eliminates the turnover time for online shopping and provides a medium for them to get rid of unwanted goods at the end of the semester or before graduation, such as furniture, bikes and used cars. Esdena.com is equipped with credit card and Paypal processing, providing a convenient way for students to complete transaction in a safe and secure environment.
For more details, please visit the website. (www.esdena.com)

About Esdena LLC
Esdena LLC, founded in 2005, is a start-up company that operates the first ever online marketplace that integrates buying and selling with an individual’s social network. The website, initially targeting the college student population, allows students to not only buy and sell anything within their colleges, but also to add friends and join groups so that they can explore the online marketplace though their social network, eliminating transportation time and shipping cost while boosting customer confidence. It is Esdena.com’s goal to revolutionize the online marketplace industry by changing the common one-size-fits-all approach and infusing the power of online shopping with people networking.

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