Local Drive Buy

We are a Real Time, Mobile nation. We want things quick, accurate, and yet somehow incredibly personal and connected. We want to do good w/ the money we spend, both for ourselves and the world around us.

What is Local Drive-Buy?
Local Drive-Buy is support for those ambitions and momentum for the future of local navigation. Edibles and goods can now be found almost anywhere and sold by almost anyone. Local Drive-Buy works like a classifieds system and can be for an ongoing business or a one-time listing. It is a mobile App that will map and showcase local brick and mortar businesses, yet also include the formerly difficult to find listings from local entrepreneurs, hobbyists, and neighbors. By creating an account on the website, anyone selling anything homemade or homegrown can promote themselves, sell, trade, or give away their goods and produce, and buyers no longer need to rely on word of mouth to find their local farmer or tailor.

Why would I want to sell on Local Drive-Buy?
This app is FREE for users, and it is intended to be ‘by the people’, and ‘for the people’. From a sellers perspective, Local Drive-Buy helps you connect with buyers who are actively searching, ready to purchase and are supportive of sustainable growth, supporting local business, and ecologically purposeful patrons.

What specifically can I do as a seller?
You can tell them that the first harvest of blueberries are in, that you are running special hours, that your location has changed. They can find you on a map on their phone, or at least identify that you are in the area and give you a call (depending on what a buyer decides). Perhaps you want some special attention given to your offerings, submit a request and pay a nominal fee to get your business/products showcased on the website. (Website will soon be updated with special attention paid to this ability to promote specific businesses).

Is there a way I can give back, or help my local community?
Being a part of Local Drive-Buy is a pretty good indication that you also have a heart of compassion, and we facilitate that by encouraging sellers to set something aside that can be FREE to folks and listed under our DEAL button. Let’s be honest, it does make you look good, but it also is a truly TRULY wonderful thing to care for those in our local community. It’s not only a benefit to that person, but it will impact families and is an incredible step in training up our next generation to call this way of life native, rather than foreign.

Why would I want to download the Local Drive-Buy App to my mobile device?
Local Drive-Buy is a unique buying experience. One can check the map and find out what is right in their neighborhood, they can search for a special item, and then they can also filter their search by numerous health or socially conscience categories. like Slow Food Restaurants, No-Spray Farms, or Gluten/Dairy Free. Buyers can see what is open, the latest listings, where to get some organic raspberries, find the nearest Thai food truck over their lunch hour, connect with neighbors and trade produce. It can be used by locals or even for tourists who want the best Michigan has to offer while they are here. Our vision is that Local Drive-Buy will one day be in all states, giving everyone, everywhere, a chance to go back in time and eat real food, and buy real things whether they are home or traveling.

What else is special about this App?
Now that it’s cool to be organic and green, it’s getting even harder to confirm what’s true. Local Drive-Buy will encourage sellers to sign a form committing to full disclosure of practices, and by that level of optional openness…we can connect good neighbor to good neighbor and thoughtful business to local patron, and we make it personal. We make it an honest and connecting process. *form will be implemented soon.

What if I don’t really know much about eating and buying local, or if I don’t know much about buying organic?
Follow Sheri Rop, owner of Nourish Organic Market in SE, Grand Rapids as she shares her knowledge of eating and buying local. Sheri has been living and breathing this lifestyle for years and she will sort out what is legitimate and give insight on some of her all-time favorites. You will find her editorials and learn more about Local Drive-Buy on our blog at, www.localdrivebuy.wordpress.com.

Why should I join the Local Drive-Buy Gang?
With the new Cottage Law, which allows our local citizens freedom to sell select items made in their homes, to the new sustainable small farms and community gardens cropping up everywhere, and now with our new Mobile Eatery laws allowing food trucks within Grand Rapids city limits…this is an incredible time. It is a perfect time for Local Drive-Buy. We have Craigslist, and Etsy, and Yelp, and countless other ways of finding things, but not one of them helps people find all our local edibles and goods, especially allowing for people up-and-comers, entrepreneurs, and maybe just a mom with extra tomatoes from her garden. This App can be used in so many ways, and helps us locate folks that are off the beaten path. You won’t have to always ask around for where to find raw honey, cage-free eggs, u-pick orchards, for someone that makes quilts, or makes tables and chairs. Those people can list themselves and share their talents and harvest. This site will grow, and we will continue to add other exciting aspects to it, but we will never lose sight of our mission. We want to connect people to each other so that we can all enjoy the best of what we can make and grow ourselves. Please join the Local Drive-Buy Gang, and the future of local mapping!

p.s. Local Drive-Buy does not discriminate. iPhone users…we love you. Stay tuned as our goal is to launch Local Drive-Buy on Apple as soon as we can.