Hyperlocal classifieds alert users to service providers with last-minute availability

Billing itself as an “availability engine”, UK-based Ginjex aims to give local service providers a way to advertise their up-to-the-minute availability in real-time.

Back in 2010 we covered a Twitter-based classifieds service called Anttenna — now known as Antengo — and recently we came across something similar. Billing itself as an “availability engine”, UK-based Ginjex aims to give local service providers a way to advertise their up-to-the-minute availability in real-time. Now in beta, Ginjex likens its service to a virtual “taxi light” that service providers can turn on when they get a last-minute cancellation. Short for Global Instant Jobs Exchange, the directory lets users search the site for whatever kind of service they need; available categories currently include IT, hair and beauty, home and garden, and “man and van”, for example. They can also indicate how far they’re willing to travel to a provider’s location. Service providers with an open time slot, meanwhile, can advertise their availability in up to 140 characters, and when a match emerges, Ginjex alerts the consumer via SMS. Also recently added to the site is a “volunteer” category allowing would-be volunteers to broadcast when they have some time, similar in many ways to what we saw a while back at Catalista. Ginjex will soon expand its platform with listings for a variety of other goods, services, offers and deals, it says, and a mobile app is forthcoming as well. One to partner with or emulate in your area?