Want a cheeseburger in 10 minutes? Try Zaarly!

A couple weeks ago I attended the LeadTech: Leaders in Innovation and Technology conference up in Bellevue, and the hottest thing there was a new iphone app called Zaarly. Have you ever said “I would pay ______ for a ______?” Zaarly helps you do just that.

It’s a super local, mobile marketplace that lets you post what you want, when you need it, and how much you are willing to pay for it. Say, a cheeseburger, in 10 minutes, for $10. Then other users who are in your immediate area are able to send you a message indicating that they can meet your need and terms. You award the gig to the user you like the best. You can message them through the app to arrange for delivery, and only when you get what you want and are satisfied do you hit the pay button to award the other user their earnings.

It costs nothing to post a need, but Zaarly takes 10% of the payment to the provider. As of now there is no way to rate other users, flag them or file a complaint. If you don’t get paid, or you didn’t get what you asked for, its up to you to work it out. While that may seem unsafe, it actually keeps things very simple. Think Craiglist – you just have to be careful how you deal. Meeting people in public spaces is always best. Only paying through the app, and only submitting payment when you get what you asked for are good ways to protect yourself as well.

So what can you post? Anything. Want a hamburger, within the next hour? Throw up a post, name a price and wait for the offers to roll in. I’ve had a few chances to use the app, and it works really well. When I was at the LeadTech event they handed out free t-shirts upon check-in. I was given a large, but it was clear I needed an XL. I pulled up Zaarly, posted that I’d be willing to pay $2 plus my large tshirt to someone for their XL tshirt, and that I needed it within 2 hours because I was leaving the conference early. Within 10 minutes I had an offer, met up with the guy at the coffee bar and he gave me his tshirt. I hit the send payment button and he was able to verify on his phone that funds were transfered to his account. Later on my iPhone was running low on battery power because I had been on conference calls all day. Once again I pulled up Zaarly, offered to pay $2 if someone let me use their iphone charger for 10 minutes, and within no time I was meeting up with someone and charging my phone.

What’s even cooler is that later on I was at a local coffee shop, and I noticed someone on Zarrly only a mile away was willing to pay $8 for a latte. I was there anyway, so I purchased an extra latte (cost me $3) and delivered the coffee, netting an easy $5 and making up for the money I spent earlier on the tshirt and charger. I’m addicted to this app! Someone needed iphone headphones the other day and was willing to pay $20… easy money for me since I had a ton of extra headphones.

There are a ton of offers available in Renton and the immediate area - which means a lot of users willing to meet your needs, as well as plenty of opportunity to make some extra cash!

The company’s story is just as fun. Bo Fishback founded the company just earlier this year. He was invited to the Startup Weekend in LA as a spectator, and after hearing all the ideas and not being all that impressed he decided to submit one his own ideas. A team was formed and they built the first Zaarly prototype in just 54 hours. Among the investors hearing the pitches for new startups was Ashton Kutcher, who decided to load his money into Zaarly. Only three weeks later they had $1 million in total funding from various sources including Kutcher. And only 3 months later we have the launch of the app that is available today. These guys have a brilliant team, and they’re working lightning fast so I’m sure we are going to see some great updates in the coming months.

They do plan to roll out the app to every mobile device in the near future, so keep an eye out for it on Android as well. In the meantime you can browse the marketplace and post a listing online at zaarly.com.

This post was originally posted on Mac & Andy on June 3, 2011.