Web application for secondhand products (thrift world)

118 WEB APPLICATION FOR SECONDHAND PRODUCTS (THRIFT WORLD) J.M.P.K Jayakodi1, Dr. Amitha Paddukage2 1University of Sri Jayewardenepura, [email protected] 2University of Sri Jayewardenepura, a[email protected]c.lk Background Secondhand products are currently an increasing form of items which many people tend to use in their daily lives. In Sri Lanka this secondhand market is limited mainly to few items like electronic products such as mobile phones, washing machines, laptops, desktops, vehicles etc. But there is a wide area which covers many other secondhand product (The products that are previously owned by some person or company but currently in very good using condition) that can be used by other such as clothes, plastic items, books, furniture, baby and maternity items and many more. Even though small markets exist in various places across the country there is not one common social platform to connect these people. Hence application “Thrift World” comes in handy as the best way to communicate the presence of secondhand items and requests for secondhand items and build the communication between sellers and buyers going beyond the business perspective. Organization and Business Domain Proposed system is a web application working as a social platform more than a commercial platform. This web application “Thrift world” is the best solution to fill this gap. Scope of this application ranges from product owners posting reusable items under relevant category for users to refer and contact the owner to acquire the product and also any specific uses like schools, charities, orphanages to post requesting reusable used products so that anyone who refer the “request” section can easily get contact with them and do the needful. 119 Overview of the Existing System Existing secondhand product market is limited to few product categories as mention in the background like electric and electronic items, vehicles. And items like clothes are being sold in marketplaces at cities at considerable prices and most of those items are imported clothes from other countries’ secondhand markets and not the ones from Sri Lanka. And most of the used clothes are either thrown away if the owners couldn’t find someone who wants them and they never bother posting them on websites like ikman.lk for many reasons like they never expect commercial benefit out of it, reputation issues etc. Most people won’t post that they have an extra rice cooker or extra furniture available or good working condition gas cooker available in commercial public website much. Hence there is a unique gap in the market to meet this social need of having a common platform for people to share information about secondhand products they have and secondhand product which they wish to have. How the existing system functions: In the existing secondhand market is people giveaway their unwanted items to random trucks that come to collect plastics and electric equipment. Most of them buy products and use them for some time and put them away and move to new products. But the old ones are still in good working condition. Options available for the owners are to throw them away, give them away to any neighbor or a known associate who might want it or to sell them by posting an ad. Problems with Existing System: People mostly tend to throw away the reusable products since its less likely that they go on searching for anyone willing to use it unless it’s an expensive product they don’t bother reselling it. Hence there is a need for a more convenient way to deal with used items that would benefit the 120 owners, people who might be interested in acquiring them and for the country. System Analysis Problem Analysis The existing secondhand market in Sri Lanka is limited to few product categories due to absence of a proper socialized system which connect parties interested in sharing items and having items. At present websites like secondhand.lk, ikman.lk are commercializing and operating as forms of advertising websites which or may not be posting item that are secondhand. Secondhand.lk maybe posting secondhand products but it doesn’t have a way of where user can request for products. Hence there is a gap where people are in need on a common daily using application which they can use to post small simple items to large items. And also, where people can request for single item to bulk items from people who wish to share them. For example, a children’s home can request for used and reusable toys for kids or clothes or garden products and parents to be can request for reusable baby and maternity items which are costly to buy and wasted by many after few years of use etc. Requirement Analysis Society is in short of a platform to share information on daily basis on presence and absence of secondhand products which they can acquire or get rid of so someone in need can use it. To cater the above requirement web application “Thrift world” is developed as a social platform allowing users to communicate news on request for products and availability of products where products can be easily searched and requested via product categorization. It’s a solution to excess and unnecessary wastage of material and resources and increases product reusability in the society. 121 System Development Development Methodology used For the development of the application “Adobe Dreamweaver” was used as the IDE. “Thrift world” web application was developed using this IDE using technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. After analyzing the ER diagram and class diagram database development was done. Selection of a database management system is an important part in developing a system because it is where the sensitivity data collected through the system is stored. MySQL was selected as the database management system for this project. Since it can handle high volume of data, has high data security and good data processing performance. In the database planning stage, we defined relevant entities, their attributes, and relationships between entities referring to the collected information. Technologies used ● Windows 7 or above OS ● Chrome or Firefox or any web browser. ● HTML and CSS to create front end ● Php for backend. ● MY SQL for database ● WAMP server. Conclusion This application was developed with the objective of creating a social platform where product owners and requesters can easily find information and post information about products while making a platform where people can share all sorts of secondhand products that are usually not posted in commercial websites like clothes, kitchen items, accessories, furniture etc. And also, to make a trend of using reusable items as a new normal in the society which saves money and resources 122 and reduce wastage of resources. Going beyond the concept of information sharing social platform, this can be further developed in a way that viewers can directly connect with the product owners or requesters through the application instead of just displaying their contact information. Plus, a small chat room can be developed to chat with the admin or the account holders to create a small secondhand community. And further improve the privacy and security aspect of the application and even allow to post advertisements and make a source of income come from the application. References Tutorialspoint (2020) System Analysis and Design. Available at: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/system_analysis_and_design/system_an alysis_and_design_overview.htm [Accessed: 01-Dec-2020]. Tutorialspoint (2020) System Analysis and Design. Available at: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/system_analysis_and_design/system_de sign.htm. [Accessed: 02-Dec-2020].