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USC Alumni at the ClassifiedBuyers offices (from left): Employee and
fellow Trojan Cliff Cohu (Viterbi, ’05) with Web site founders Kelsey
Durkin, Jeff Grant, Casey Cosgrove and Mike Willman.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of ClassifiedBuyers.com
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Alums Put Education, Each Other to Work
Four USC grads launch ClassifiedBuyers.com online marketplace
By Kaitlin Solimine
December 2005
The bonds students create at USC extend far beyond the classroom,
campus and even graduation — as proof, take the four USC alumni who
have launched an online business that they claim will “provide a better
way than eBay.”
ClassifiedBuyers (www.classifiedbuyers.com), an Internet buy/sell site,
was launched in early January of this year. Alumni Jeff Grant (B.A.,
psychology, ’02), Casey Cosgrove (Marshall, ’99), Kelsey Durkin
(Annenberg, ’04) and Mike Willman (Viterbi, ’04) worked together to
create the auction-based Web site.
The group established the online service as an alternative to fee-based
Internet e-commerce sites, offering such free features as a built-in
payment service, secure transaction technology, competitive offers,
automatic e-mail notifications and shipment tracking.
“Collaboration is key to developing a great Web site,” said Grant, who
met Durkin, Cosgrove and Willman through the USC Greek system. “More
than most universities, the USC student community provides a lasting
opportunity for people to network. That’s one reason why
ClassifiedBuyers continues to recruit from the Trojan Family.
“My education at USC gave me the confidence to dream big and also
showed us all the value of a strong work ethic. By inspiring us to
dream big and work hard to make this dream come true, USC prepared us
for the reality of today’s business environment,” he said.
The prominent feature of ClassifiedBuyers is its “buyer approval”
process: once offers are formalized with a purchase order, funds are
held for safekeeping and both buyer and seller are notified. The buyer
has seven days in which to authorize the seller to be paid. This
process protects both parties from fraud, according to Grant.
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