Thingstrend.com was created and brought to campus by three ACU students this semester. The students started the social commerce website exclusively for ACU students, staff and faculty.
It is a new website where people of the ACU community can sell textbooks and clothes, as well as other miscellaneous items such as furniture, movies, videogames and artwork.
The site is a new, safe way to buy and sell things locally, but also a great way to meet new people within the ACU community.
Seniors Weston Schulte, communications major from College Station, Allen Taylor, informational technology major from Pflugerville, and junior Tyler Eidson, marketing and finance major from College Station, collaborated on the project, which opened up at the beginning of this semester.
“It was actually from an intro to business course I took my sophomore year. They were implementing something called Venture Out 2.0,” said Schulte.
Every student in the Introduction to Business course must complete the Venture Out project, where they are required to create and sell a product to the ACU community, usually consisting of custom t-shirts, sunglasses or other little items.
“With Venture Out 2.0, they wanted something you could spread to other universities and communities,” said Schulte.
“We did really well on the project and it went onto the community springboard elevator pitch, and we got $750.00,” said Schulte.
While Schulte and Eidson had the business aspect of the idea covered, Taylor figured out the technological details.
“Weston and I had this idea and Allen had the programming talent to implement our idea,” said Eidson.
Edison has spent the last two and a half years immersing himself in the coding, programming and technological process for the site.
“We drive what goes on the website, how it looks and how it functions, but Allen makes it happen,” said Schulte.
Several adults at ACU helped the men turn this idea into a real, successful business plan.
“We received a lot of one-on-one mentorship from different professors and entrepreneurs who helped us at the start,” said Eidson.
While the website is starting build its success, the process did not come without challenges.
“Throughout this whole process there have been a lot of barriers to get over and I think that’s part of our story and still is,” Eidson said, “I’ve spoken with a lawyer for multiple hours.”
Eidson also said the website has a fully legal 12 page terms of use and privacy policy agreement, as well as a company bank account.
“Each time there is a sale we take a small percentage from both the buyer and the seller,” said Eidson, “2.5 percent goes to the buyer, and 2.5 percent to the seller.”
For the most part, the guys rely on word of mouth to market the site. The website is now in operation with almost 150 accounts established.
