As children, we were taught not to talk or take candy from strangers. And yet, as grown ups, we not only talk to strangers online, but invite them to our house to look at (and hopefully take off our hands) that misshapen chair we inherited from grandpa Jo.

Maybe you’re not too keen on the idea, but you do it anyway. However, VarageSale wants buyers and sellers of used items to know there’s another way, which it’s communicating in a new campaign from John St.

The “family-friendly app” (which features a community of people that have been verified via their Facebook profiles, along with a personal bio and reviews, called Praises) recently conducted a survey of 1,000 Americans, with 51% of people admitting that they actually feel unsafe when meeting anonymous buyers and sellers in person.

“Buying and selling online can be intimidating for a lot of people, especially women,” said Angus Tucker, ECD at John St. “That whole ‘having some total stranger come to your house to buy your stuff’ thing is a real pain point.”

The below spot, called “Nightmare on Main Street,” shows the fear (exaggerated as it may be) some people feel when buying and selling items using other platforms that don’t follow the same strict sharing policy that VarageSale does.

[iframe_youtube video = “e_gWDtheHAk”]

The VarageSale app was created in 2012 by Tami Zuckerman after she was creeped out by the idea of shopping with strangers. She and her husband (who are from Toronto) built the app to include members that use their real identity, making 85% female member base more comfortable knowing who they’re buying their clothing, accessories, baby gear and home decor items from.

From Stimulant