This week, Goshi, a new mobile app developed by Chad Lomax and Jack Eisenberg of TriplePoint client MapDing, Inc., launched on the App Store.  While utilizing new and emerging technology to enable the buying and selling of items is not in itself a new concept, the team at Goshi has created a unique way for users to create their own local marketplaces  – “the hub.”

The process of buying and selling an item using Goshi is rather simple: take a photo of any item with your iPhone, describe the item, add a price and then post it to a Goshi hub – local areas such as coffee shops in which Goshi users can congregate to exchange the items being sold.

TechCrunch notes, Goshi aims to “disrupt Craigslist” – taking advantage of the iPhone geo-location and photo-taking capabilities to create a much more personal way for users to engage in item exchanges. While the process of selling items using web-based services can often be cold and impersonal, Goshi connects users based not solely on the item being sold itself, but rather shared interests and popular destinations where people would organically meet as part of their daily life.  For example, one looking to sell art using Goshi can sell their paintings to other art enthusiasts who frequently gather at specific places such as the aforementioned coffee shop.  As NBC Chicago points out, Goshi “sounds like a good idea to get like-minded people with shared interests paired up to buy stuff.”

A product born out of Excelerate Labs in Chicago, Goshi has partnered with ten local coffee shops for its initial push out of the gate in Chicago.  If you’d like to see hubs in your city next, contact the team at contact@goshi.me.

You can try out Goshi for yourself here.