The nature of One Spark makes is such that many of the creator projects are quite young – less than a year or two old and/or a relatively low level of traction. However, this year there is a fairly well established, in terms of traction, setting up shop at the crowdfunding festival: Vinny. Vinny is a free application that helps you to find the real value of a used car. Just scan the vehicles VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) barcode, or entering the VIN number, adjust the condition of the vehicle (mileage and wear) and the app gives you the “Vinny Price.” Here is how the company describes the “Vinny Price:”
Vinny’s Price is formulated using data collected by monitoring thousands of used car transactions across the country. We then enter these figures into sophisticated statistical algorithms to calculate the Vinny Price for the car within seconds of scanning.1
Further, the app allows you to view and explore the retail and book values of the vehicle from such sources as Kelley Blue Book and NADA. It also allows you to view the full specifications, and to purchase a vehicle history report (think Carfax) for $4.99. Compare that to the cost of $39.99 for one vehicle history report from Carfax.
One of the best qualities of the application is its simplicity. Simply scan or punch in the VIN, and there is all of the information in an easy to understand and easy to navigate format. As anyone who has ever used Kelley Blue Book’s online pricing tool can attest, Vinny is a major time-saver when looking for the perfect vehicle.
The simplicity and functionality of Vinny is best illustrated by a quote on the companies One Spark profile. Alexander Kiss, one of the company’s Co-Founders wrote: “We recently crossed 80,000 downloads with nearly zero marketing spend.”2 That statistic speaks volumes about the quality of Vinny.
Here is a short video showing Vinny in action:
We will definitely be stopping by the Vinny booth during One Spark. Check out the rest of our 2014 One Spark coverage.
