Today we launch SafeTradeSpots.com, the largest national and searchable database of thousands of police departments and law enforcement agencies that have designated locations to conduct in-person transactions.
This original post can be found on the OfferUp blog here.
If there’s one constant that has followed us the last seven years, it’s that we’re always innovating to deliver exciting new features like shipping and community programs like NeighborUp to our marketplace. We do this because we’re always seeking opportunities to improve and give our users what they want. The ability to ship items is important to people who want a unique item they can’t find in their local area. NeighborUp was created to continue building trust, both on and off the app, with our neighbors, our communities.
SafeTradeSpots is our latest initiative that takes another proactive and actionable step towards building a trusted and safer peer-to-peer marketplace. We kicked off our community safety efforts with our Community Meetup Spots last year, and this collaboration with the AIM Group was the next logical step in combining similar efforts with one goal in mind: creating safer communities.
As much as we care about keeping the OfferUp experience as safe as possible, our work wouldn’t be complete without creating a nationwide database, accessible to anyone — OfferUp user or not — where people can exchange an item in a brightly lit and surveilled location. Community Meetup Spots aren’t going anywhere, but they are expanding as a resource for anyone to use at SafeTradeSpots.com.
SafeTradeSpots.com combines the locations currently available as Community MeetUp Spots in the OfferUp app and from the AIM Group’s SafeTradeStations.com. The new site is the largest repository of safe-exchange locations in the U.S with more than 1,300 verified locations. It’s now ours to continue to host and grow this existing database in our app, and manage and update the new SafeTradeSpots.com site as new law enforcement agencies are added to the program as part of our larger goal to educate individuals and law enforcement on how transacting at public and surveilled spots can keep our neighborhoods safer.
We encourage everyone to take advantage of meeting at a Community Meetup Spot. Find out how by checking out this post from our online Community. Anyone who doesn’t have a sign in their town need not worry. Simply ask your local police department to request a free sign here, and as soon as we have confirmation that their sign has been officially designated, you’ll be able to select that location in the OfferUp app and find it at SafeTradeSpots.com.
If you’ve used a Community Meetup Spot, we want to see your OfferUp meetups! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #offerup to be featured in a post. Share your meetup stories below!"
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