'Yakult ladies' go to work for Mercari to unearth latent assets

Miyoshi, Japan -- Secondhand marketplace Mercari has begun an experiment in Hiroshima to collect unused items from households through Yakult Honsha, the maker of a probiotic beverage still sold in a traditional door-to-door fashion.

Under the joint experiment, delivery workers known as "Yakult ladies" leverage the relationships they've built with customers over the years and suggest undertaking treasure hunts inside homes to uncover forgotten nuggets buried in a closet or chest of drawers. If a client agrees and some treasure is indeed discovered, the sales rep will collect it and arrange for it to be put up for sale on Mercari's flea market app.