New site for jobs and product exchange

A finalist in the entrepreneurs’ Rocket Pitch Competition has launched an online “odd job market place” for Bermuda. 

Courtney Daniels-Bushner, a graduate in Technical Communications and Global Studies, has been working on the site since August of last year and her idea won second place in the competition. 

Oddjobber.co is an online space where islanders can exchange everything from jewellery and medical equipment to cleaning and maintenance services with deliveries and payment taken care of through the site. 

Bushner told the Bermuda Sun: “It started out being a place where people could create a vendor page and put their service on there for sale. So, say someone was painting or into maintenance, they could create a web page on our site saying Tommy’s
Maintenance with all the details included. 

“They can say I am a cleaner I can clean your house for a day for $30 or I could spruce up your kitchen for $50. 

“Now it has turned into something where people want to sell their products and goods so instead of creating a store front in town and renting out a building, people are looking to do everything through the website. 

24/7

“I have someone who just closed down a store because they can’t wait on a few people to trickle in each day — they want something that they can have 24/7 where they can present their goods to more people online.”

There are over 30 categories on the site — the main categories being health and fitness, food services, regular services and hand made goods.

Clients can create their own store page on the site while it is free to browse. There is a sign up fee of $35 per month of unlimited posting and a small service fee. 

The site includes a messaging system which allows the customer and vendor to exchange goods, deliveries and talk about the size of the items etc.

Another option is the ‘vendor 20 per cent’ where Oddjobber.co takes 20 per cent of a sale.

“A boutique just signed up called Wanderlust and Rachael Sawden has done a good job of putting her logo up. She’s uploaded her shirts, jewellery and prices and now we will take over the marketing for her. We will send out email marketing campaigns and use Twitter to gain the attention back to our website so she can make sales. 

“People ask me is it like Amazon.com, Etsy.com, zaarly.com and ebay.com. It is like that but just
local, for now.”

Asked what compelled her to launch the website, Bushney said: “I feel like in Bermuda there is not a lot of online presence. With me having a communications major and a degree in technical communications the Internet is what I am drawn to — I don’t want to pick up the Yellow Pages — I want to go online and spend five seconds — type in “yoga” and see what pops up. I need quick, I need convenience. I felt like there were so many people being laid off but they have these skills… these sites are popping up all over. I had my developer Melvin Dickinson (Mediaville) help me build the site from scratch and we are continuously adding features.”

The site, which officially launched two weeks ago, has about 15 clients signed up and Bushner hopes to increase that to 100 by the summer. 

“Our site presents a place for local vendors and larger business owners to get their goods out there. 

“It is an alternative means of income if people are struggling with money but have a skill, they can present it and make money trough Oddjobber.

“I want to build a relationship with Harbour Nights I really want to get involved in that. I also am going to offer promotional items.”