Women-only: This Texas resale marketplace hopes to make selling safe

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Allhers, an online platform based in Austin, Texas, says it’s devoted to providing women a safe place to buy and re-sell products — by eliminating men from the equation.

Becca Butler, one of the founders of Allhers, said she frequently moved around from childhood into adulthood. When she moved from Los Angeles to Austin, she joined a women-only discussion group and decided to list some furniture she was selling. 

“It sold immediately,” she said.

Further, her experience selling in this group was much more pleasant than in previous instances where she sold her stuff on other platforms, such as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. 

“Everyone Venmoed me ahead of time…No one was haggling or lowballing me,” she said. “Conversations were really friendly, and it just felt a lot more fun. I wasn’t worried about strangers coming over to pick up this furniture because they’d already been vetted to be in the group.”

Her brother — another founder of Allhers — was thinking of ways to innovate the buy and sell space around the same time Becca had this experience. He interviewed many female consumers about their experiences on these platforms, Becca said, and realized many had negative experiences with men when buying or re-selling household items. 

Becca said some women might feel wary of going to a stranger’s home – especially a man’s – to purchase something. Further, she said, some may want to avoid giving out personal information so they don’t go on to receive inappropriate (or “creepy”) messages after the transaction is complete. 

“[We thought:]’What if we do something that just doesn’t involve men?” Becca said. “That’s how it all started. It was really a safety mission to begin with.” 

And people have resonated with this business model. Allhers has nearly 28,000 verified members since starting in 2020, and the company only serves women-identifying and non-binary people in the Austin metropolitan area. While they are only in Austin now, Becca hopes to expand the platform to be available in other parts of the country. 

“When you eliminate men from the equation, the way that women interact with one another is really different,” Becca said. “They can feel free to be vulnerable… and communication is way better.”

To join the Allhers community, one must signup on their website. There, prospective members will be asked to upload their photo ID, add a profile picture and make a promise not to spam or bully, and most importantly, be nice. Moderators cross-reference the photo and identification submissions and then admit users into the community.

Becca said she was surprised something like Allhers didn’t exist before she launched her company. 

“It feels like it is something that resonates really well with women,” she said. “It’s important to have spaces that exist — safe spaces that exist — for everyone,” she said.