Are you an Instagram seller who needs a real m-store? Or are you a brick & motar retailer who wants to sell your products on mobile? Here’s your chance. Set-up a Melltoo m-boutique today in 5 easy steps. 
Sell on Melltoo & Win “1 Million” by Paco Rabanne
SELL & WIN
Sell your stuff on Melltoo and win “1 Million” by Paco Rabanne!
How does it work? (see picture also)
1. Post an item (new/used) for sale on Melltoo
2. Tweet about your item from the ad details screen
3. Ask your friends to retweet your ad
4. The user with the highest number of retweets wins!
Terms & Conditions:
– To be eligible, user must post a NEW item for sale
– Retweets by same user only counts once
– Be sure to mention @melltoo_me in tweets
– Winner may choose “1 Million” or “Lady Million” by Paco Rabanne
– Prize delivered to location of user’s choice by courier
– Contest period begins on Sunday 16th March 2014 to Saturday 22nd March 2014.
– Winners are announced on 24th March here on Facebook and on Twitter (follow @melltoo_me)
– Winners will be contacted on the Melltoo app via chat, by email, and on twitter
May the best tweeter win!
To download Melltoo:
iOS: http://ow.ly/u7705
Android: http://ow.ly/u76IN
Final Launch Event in Dubai – Don’t miss it!
Join us for our final private launch event in Dubai @ The Cribb. Be among the first to experience classifieds like never before.
Date: Wed, 19th March 2014
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
The founders of Melltoo will share their startup journey of how a couple of non-tech people built a mobile app that re-invents the classifieds marketplace.
The event will also be an opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs in Dubai and to check out the co-working space @ The Cribb.
Be the first to buy and sell on Melltoo. Bring your smartphone (iOS/Android) and something to sell (or a picture of something to sell).
RSVP today for the event you wish to attend. Space is limited and is available on a first come first serve basis.
For directions, search The Cribb on Google Maps or call +971 4 319 7645.
Karuna Advani on Sustainability
[Video] Karuna Advani, Melltoo user, on creating a sustainable future by re-selling, re-using, and donating.
One of our primary values at Melltoo is to promote a sustainable future by helping you give your pre-owned things a second life. In this series of videos, we speak to Melltoo users about their views on creating a sustaiable future.
Selling a Used Car in Dubai – Step 1: How to Value Your Car
How to Sell a Used Car in Dubai, UAE
A step-by-step guide for selling your car for the best price
Step 1: How to value your car
Before you are ready to put your car on sale, you have to determine the market value first. There are a number of ways to do this.
Blue Book Value and Dealer Valuations
There is no such thing as ‘blue book value when selling your car in Dubai. There are a few businesses and websites that will propose to buy your car for cash. Don’t expect to get fair market value from them. For the most part, these businesses will squeeze you and give you the lowest possible price for your car. They have to make money afterall.
The same thing applies to dealers who are are a poor option if you want to get the best valuation for your car. They will offer you a ridiculous price and depress you! Authorized dealers are no better, they are just a bit politer and smarter in getting you to resell your lovely car to them. In some cases, authorized dealers will even make you pay for a valuation (up to 300 dhs) before they give you an estimated price on your car. The good news is, if you accept their offer, the valuation fee is waived.
Online Car Valuation
The other option for determining the value of your car are online valuation sites such as:
www.vehiclecheck.ae – they give you an online valuation of your car in few minutes
uae.sellanycar.com – they seem to be giving very low prices for cars
http://dubaicarprices.com/ – they seem to be accurate…following a 20-15-15 depreciation model
These sites should give you some idea of the ballpark value for your car. Their price range reflects what you should expect when dealing with potential buyers and accounts for the kilometerage you have on your car. However, these sites would require a vehicle inspection before they give you a final price. This estimate also assumes that the vehicle has GCC specifications and is not purchased outside and imported to Dubai.
The DIY approach to valuing your car
I recommend the Do-It-Yourself valuation. A simple way to value your car is the 20-15-15 model (20-10-10 model for Japanese cars).
Let’s say you bought your car for 100,000 dhs. Expect a hefty 20-25% depreciation the first year depending on the model and condition of the car. The second year would be 10-15%, again depending on the condition of the car. Be aware that good agency maintenance increases the resale value of your car. It is, in fact, an investment for future resale. Do not neglect this.
Valuation Example: 2011 Mercedes C200
Original purchase price = 100,000 dhs
First year depreciation 20% = 20,000 dhs
Resale price in 2012 = 80,000 dhs
Second year depreciation 10%
Resale price in 2013 = 72,000 dhs
Third year depreciation 10%
Resale price in 2014 = 64,800 dhs
Another way to value your car is to look at dealer showroom prices of current year models and pre-owned models and going prices on classified websites, such as cars.com, autotrader.com, or dubizzle etc. Of course, my recommendation is that you use our app, Melltoo, for iOS and Android to research the going price and to post your car for sale.
Please be careful when doing price research to compare apples with apples. Many cars in Dubai are used cars imported from other countries and have very little documentation. In many cases, these cars have a “salvage” title in their own country. Don’t be fooled.
Determining the correct valuation for your car is important when putting your car up for sale. If you don’t know how much the market value for your car is, it is much harder for you to negotiate a sale and you are likely to sell for less than what your car is worth (or not sell because you are asking for too much).
Once you’ve figured out how much to sell your car for, download Melltoo for iOS and Android and post it for sale on the app!
How to Buy and Sell in Dubai Responsibly
So as I’m writing this, I’m debating whether I should buy a new laptop. I have my eye on the 13-inch MacBook Air which I’m told is the best thing since the dishwasher. I go back and forth: My current 10-inch netbook 
works fine, but it’s really slow and it’s plasticky and pretty old-fashioned. I really need something faster with updated specs. I am a researcher after all, so much of my work requires me to be on the computer, looking for sources, playing with spreadsheet data, writing, communicating etc.
By this point, I’m nearly out the door on the way to Plug-ins to pick up the MacBook Air, having pretty much convinced myself that I NEED the upgrade, but then I feel a slight pang of guilt. Do I really need a new computer when I have an iPad for reading journal articles and my iPhone of course? Not really. And what the heck am I supposed to do with my netbook? Let it rot away in the closet? Thankfully, I don’t have to ask that question anymore, because we built a marketplace app to solve this problem: Melltoo.
Like most families in the UAE, my closets are bursting, my kids’ closets have burst (literally, the bottoms of drawers have fallen out, hinges have popped) and we are swimming in clothes, toys, electronics and color pencils. In the past, there were only two easy solutions to get rid of something: giving it away or throwing it away. But you don’t have to worry about the “UAE Consumer Guilt Paradox” anymore because Melltoo allows you to download and post your second hand items in less than 5 minutes!
But the app is more than just a marketplace, it’s a complete door-to-door service that allows you to buy and sell in Dubai guilt-free! Not only do we help you promote your second hand items to thousands of potential buyers, you can get paid on the app and get items delivered straight to your buyer without getting stuck in traffic or getting lost on your way to a meetup! No one said that being a responsible consumer meant you had to be inconvenienced one!
I love the idea of buying and second hand, because it allows me to reconcile my consumerist lifestyle with the ideas of minimalism and sustainability. Why not recycle the stuff that you don’t use anymore by selling them to others who will use them AND get some money back on your investment- so you can make room for the new stuff. And let’s not kid anyone, we’d feel much better about our consumeristic ways knowing that we’re not just throwing perfectly good stuff out. So get ready to declutter your home, buy what you want and feel good about it with Melltoo!
Melltoo Private Beta Launch
We are almost there…just 2 more weeks to the beta launch of the Melltoo app. You will find Melltoo in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store on the 1st of March. If you are in Dubai, be sure to join us at our beta launch events.
RSVP today for the event at The Cribb http://melltoolaunchthecribb.eventbrite.com