Website where parents can buy and sell used kids' clothing launches

Loteda, the Cincinnati-based startup that offers an online marketplace where parents can buy and sell children’s gently used clothing by the lot, has launched their beta site via Shopify.
 
Loteda (pronounced lot-i-da), began earlier this year when Josh and Anna Fendley learned that they were expecting a baby girl, who was was born in August. They already had two boys and were left with bins and bins of outgrown boys clothing and a need for an entire new wardrobe of baby girl clothes.
 
“I really wanted to try and recoup some of our investment, in hopes that I could put the money toward some baby girl clothes,” Anna Fendley says. “I started researching online and was shocked at how limited the options were.”
 
Fendley began working on an idea for the marketplace that would become Loteda, while Josh, a partner at local digital marketing and product development agency Ample, began to work on building the site they envisioned.
 
In August, Loteda won second place in the fifth annual Cincinnati Innovates competition, earning them a $10,000 cash prize from seed-stage investor CincyTech.
 
“We’ve used the money to launch our beta site, and are now in the final step of our testing phase,” Fendley says.
 
With the beta site up, Fendley is hoping to attract parents with a similar need who want to earn a little money back on their kids' outgrown clothes and/or who save money/time by buying an entire season’s worth of clothing in one fell swoop (known as buying “by the lot," hence the name).
 
Between starting a family and starting a business, the Fendleys understand the need to save time as much as anyone.
 
“We’re very fortunate to have a network of family and friends who help us, with the kids and the business, so that we can spend as much time together as possible,” Fendley says. “We’re really inspired by the entrepreneurial ecosystem Cincinnati has going right now; it’s motivating to know that the community genuinely wants startups to succeed.”
 
In 2014, Loteda will continue to raise capital to build out the full site and recruit users looking to save time and money when it comes to their children’s clothes. To join the marketplace, visit www.loteda.com.  

By Mike Sarason