In 2018 domestic toy sales reached $21.57 billion according to The Toy Association.
Seeing the amount of toys build up in their own home, Shabbir Shams and his 11-year-old son Burhanuddin got an idea to trade their unused ones with other kids in their River Woods Elementary community.
Solving a Problem
And soon the self-proclaimed gadget geeks turned their idea into an app.
“Well like a lot of families we just have toys stashed in their basement,” said Burhanuddin. “And later on they just throw it [away]. It harms the environment. And kids just want more and more and more toys. So what happens is this way you don’t waste money, you don’t harm the environment, and they get more toys by trading and meeting new kids.”
About the App
Together they’ve worked with Canadian app developer Serind Labs to create QuikToy – an app for kids to directly trade, buy, sell, donate, and even barter toys with other kids.
It uses virtual tokens for the buying/selling aspect as well – one token is equal to $1.
“And ultimately this app is to be used by the kids,” said Shabbir. “Parents are in the equation in terms of getting alerts that look your child is messaging this child and this is the trade that they’re doing. The app is going to be ultra monitored, everything will be authenticated, and so on. And we want to make sure also that it’s a safe environment.”
Although still in the design stage, QuikToy will focus on the 7 to 15-year-old demographic once complete in a few months.
Creating Fun
“It’s really fun because what happens is I just feel the excitement of making something that will actually help lots of people,” added Burhanuddin.
A fun way for father and son to connect through tech.
You can learn more about QuikToy and be part of the first to know when it debuts by signing up on their website.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
