A new online auction platform operating out of a small warehouse on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard lets area shoppers bid on brand-name merchandise starting at $1.
MingoBid, founded by CEO Sean Futchko and COO Nicole Colvard, soft-launched Aug. 1 with about 350 people on its pre-launch interest list and 1,000 inventory items ready to go, the Business Observer reported. The site and free app run three-day auctions on returned and overstock goods from retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco and Home Depot. Winners pay their bid plus a small buyer's premium and pick up items at the warehouse.
Futchko, an IT professional with 15 years in logistics and supply chains who previously worked as an analyst for GameStop, designed the platform. Colvard, a former teacher who also ran a horse farm in Ohio, handles operations. The two are in-laws who moved to Lakewood Ranch from Ohio this spring.
They bootstrapped the company on less than $5,000, took no loans and have been hauling pallets in their personal vehicles to stock the 300- to 500-square-foot storage space.
"The scrappy startup idea is feeling authentic because [Futchko] and I are making trips to buy pallets and look at what's available — geeking out about, oh, someone's going to be so excited if they can get this Melissa & Doug playset for their grandchild for $5," Colvard told the Business Observer.
The concept was inspired by OLA (Online Liquidation Auction), an Ohio-based platform founded in 2014 that runs multiple warehouse pickup locations in Northeast Ohio. MingoBid brings that model to the Sarasota-Manatee market.
Every lot is inspected and graded before listing, with conditions ranging from like-new to as-is. No mystery boxes.
According to the company's website, MingoBid plans to open a second warehouse within weeks and aims to have multiple locations across Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice within a year to shorten pickup drives for customers. The company also plans to hire staff to unload inventory as it scales. Colvard told the Business Observer that hauling pallets in personal vehicles is "not sustainable long-term."
The MingoBid app is available free on iPhone and Android. The company's mascot is a flamingo named Mingo.
