Traveling buyer sells items via Pinterest

Shop Real Time lets customers purchase items from global cities, which are hand-picked by the site’s traveling curator in real-time.

Some of the most interesting and beautiful items in the world are handmade by individuals and sold in small shops and markets only in their own countries. We have already wrote about Anou — a language-free online marketplace which enables customers to buy directly from Moroccan artisans. Now Shop Real Time from Kay McGowan is an online pop up store where customers can purchase unique items from cities around the world, picked by the site’s curator in real-time.

Shop Real Time is available on selected dates, usually for about two weeks at a time. Recent trips have included Istanbul, Lima, and Singapore. To begin, Kay McGowan lists available items on a dedicated Pinterest board, with details about the cost, size, colour options etc. Then, if the customer spots something they want to buy, they email McGowan with the product number to reserve and pay for the item via Paypal. Next, McGowan makes the purchase in the city and ships it to the customer, ensuring that she doesn’t over or under order.

Could other globetrotters offer similar, curated retail services?