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Necessity gives birth to invention

By Raiza Canelon/Staff Writer

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Tyler Gildred holds his iPhone with a Zuujit logo. Zuujit is an “app” that allows the user to photograph and item, identify it and upload it for sale on eBay //Raiza Canelon/Staff

Tyler Gildred was standing in his barn in 2004, looking at industrial machine and car parts stacked to the ceiling.

The Santa Ynez resident had just bought the inventory at an auction, and he was thinking there had to be an easier way to re-sell it all.

“I was taking pictures, making sure they were the right size, uploading them onto the computer, filling out forms and just wasting time with all the inventory I had to put up for sale on Web sites like eBay and Craigslist,” Gildred said.

Then he lost his digital camera and had to use his cell phone camera to e-mail himself pictures of his products.

That’s when it dawned on him: He needed to come up with a computer application that allowed people to upload items for sale directly onto eBay from their cell phones.

“We originally went to eBay with the idea and had multiple meetings with vice presidents and engineers, and they all loved the idea, but the problem wasn’t the application but phone technology at the time.

“When Apple came out with the iPhone, I knew it could be done,” Gildred said.

Zuujit will simplify the process, he said, so all a seller has to do is photograph an item using an iPhone and let the “app”’ guide him through the next few clicks to identify the item and a selling history, which will help find the recommended price range. The seller will have the product up for sale on the Web without ever having to touch a com-puter.

“I really just wanted make it so my mother and grandmother could be able to use it. My mom has sold a pair of shoes without any instruction from me,” Gildred said.

A fellow graduate of Santa Ynez High School, Travis Purdy, started working with Gildred five years ago to help him sell that inventory in his barn, and Purdy is now the chief technical officer of Zuujit.

“We came up with the name Zuujit after playing Boggle and Scrabble,” Gildred said with a laugh.

Gildred received his bachelor of arts degree in art from Westmont College in Santa Barbara and also founded Gildred Racing, a performance automotive parts company.

Purdy has a bachelor of science degree in astrophysics with a minor in music history from UCLA.

After four years in development, Zuujit will be available in the Apple App Store this month as a free download, with a $1.99 transaction fee for each completed sale.

Gildred hopes to have Zuujit available for other mobile phone carriers in the future, but he’s concentrating on the Apple application for the moment.

For more information on Zuujit, log onto www.zuujit.com or e-mail tyler@zuujit.com.

October 1, 2009