Like all of us, Sampad Swain had a closet with some never-worn clothes and bookshelves brimming with never-read books. So when he decided to give it all away, he created a web space where people could offer their unwanted stuff and work off their “guilt of abundant consumption”. But this isn’t like eBay or other used-goods sites — what will sell on the website from August is digital content.

Anybody who’s got a piece of writing, a video or a tune and is looking for a buyer can register with Instamojo; a link is then shared through the site, on social networks and targeted blogs and will, Swain hopes, finally reach a buyer. The site will get a commission for such sales of digital content. The 29-year-old Swain started the site with Rs.5 lakh and has raised money from angel investors, including Google India head Rajan Anandan. But is there a role for a middleman on the net, especially when there are thousands of digital content websites around?