A North Wales mum who built an online marketplace for baby and children’s belongings has introduced two AI-powered features designed to help screen unsuitable photographs and make selling easier for parents.
Kidora, founded by Broughton mum-of-two Karolina Gudes, has added automatic photo screening and AI-assisted listing creation to its iPhone and Android apps. The new features address two problems the team wanted to tackle as it developed the specialist marketplace: keeping inappropriate and misleading images out of listings, and reducing the time parents spend describing clothes, toys and baby equipment their children have outgrown.
Kidora’s image-screening system checks new listing photographs for potential problems before a seller can complete their listing. These include AI-generated or synthetic images, screenshots, images that appear to be copied product photographs, identifiable children or adults, private information and items outside the marketplace’s permitted categories. If Kidora’s AI screening rejects an uploaded photograph, the seller cannot submit the listing until that image has been removed or replaced. The seller is also given an explanation of why the photograph was rejected. The checks are intended to discourage misleading uploads, reduce opportunities for misuse and help keep the marketplace focused on items suitable for babies and children, rather than unrelated adult products or general household electronics. Children’s electronic toys and appropriate baby equipment remain permitted where they meet Kidora’s marketplace rules.
Karolina said: “We built Kidora because we wanted somewhere specifically for parents to buy and sell children’s things. We didn’t want it becoming a general marketplace where people could upload anything. “We also wanted to make it harder for misleading pictures or unsuitable items to appear. If the system rejects a photograph, the seller has to change it before they can finish the listing. It’s something we’ve put in place to help maintain the kind of marketplace we set out to create.”
Kidora acknowledges that automated image screening is not infallible. The technology can make incorrect decisions and cannot guarantee that every unsuitable image or potentially fraudulent listing will be identified. Sellers remain responsible for the accuracy, condition and suitability of the items they offer.
Alongside the screening system, Kidora has introduced an AI Auto-fill feature to reduce the work involved in creating a listing. After uploading suitable photographs, sellers can ask the app to suggest a product title, description, category, brand and other relevant information based on the images. Parents can review and correct those suggestions before setting their own price and submitting the listing.
Karolina added: “As a mum of two, I know how quickly children’s clothes and toys build up. You finally find time to sort everything out, take the photographs, and then you’ve still got all the descriptions to write. “We wanted to make that part easier. The AI can suggest most of the information, but parents still check everything and decide what price they want. It gives them a starting point instead of another long form to fill in.”
Kidora has been developed by a three-person team working alongside full-time jobs, with around £7,000 of their own money invested in the business and no outside investment. The family platform has attracted national and regional media coverage, including a feature in The Sun on Sunday, and has been recognised through entrepreneur Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday initiative.
The new features are now live on Kidora’s iOS and Android apps. The marketplace allows UK families to buy and sell baby and children’s items without Kidora charging sellers a commission on their sales.
