For the past three years, startup companies have fought to present at TechCrunch 50, a conference held by popular tech website TechCrunch.com, in order to win a $50,000 grand prize. Companies demoing wares were as varied as a Penn & Teller iPhone app to the next big social media website. Mixed in with this varied lot are several cool companies that will make it easier to buy and sell used cars, earn money from endorsements and conduct gift card auctions.

Keep in mind that some of these companies haven't completely launched yet, so when you visit them you may have to ask for access by providing your email address. Doing so will let the company give you early access to these new and exciting services before the general public. When the companies launch in the coming months, WalletPop will bring you more details and information about how these services will affect your life.




Mota Motors - Helps you buy or sell a used car

Mota Motors is a really cool company that addresses a major need in the used car market: trust. Mota works to empower both buyer and seller and in doing so aims to create a better marketplace for used cars, with numerous benefits to both buyer and sellers.

Some of the most exciting benefits buyers include:

• What questions to ask about a specific car. For example, this car is known to have bad breaks-- ask when they were last changed.
• Independent inspections at autoshops nationwide, including a partnership with Pep Boys.
• Access to financing and used car warranties.

For the Seller:

• Mota helps you value your car based on current trends.
• Creates an easy to read listing and makes it quicker to post your car more places.
• Reduces the selling time from eight weeks to eight days!

By linking up with trusted third parties and even attaching FaceBook profile pictures to the transaction Mota brings more trust to an otherwise anonymous transaction. Mota Motors is currently in a Beta which you can request access to by visiting Mota.com.

Udorse - Turn your Facebook photos into cash

Have you ever wished that you could turn your fashion sense and closet full of designer goods into cash? If so then Udorse is exactly what you've been looking for. This new company connects to your FaceBook account and allows you to tag the clothing you are wearing from partner merchants.

When a friend makes a purchase through the endorsement you made you'll earn a 25% commission which you can donate to charity or take home as cash. Trevor Austin, co-founder of Udorse, corrected an earlier version of this article letting you know that, "Udorse will let users tag and endorse anything in their pictures from day one. We hope our users don't feel we're placing limits on what they can do." This includes electronics and other consumer goods in addition to the clothing partners announced at TechCrunch.

If you're interested in joining Udorse to endorse their current partners, Armani and American Exchange, you can request beta access by visiting udorse.com.

Rackup.com - Competitive gift card bidding with bonuses for buyers

Rackup isn't just another gift card auction site. Rather than auctioning off gift cards you don't want or trying to buy a discounted gift card from another individual Rackup connects you straight to merchants and provides every winner with an extra bonus of between 3 and 100%.

A Rackup auction is a very short affair, 60 seconds long, and every auction has 10 winners. Every bid increases the auction by 10 cents and every bid is free. The addictive part of Rackup is that to get the 100% bonus you have to bid the enough money at the just right time to make it to the top of the auction block by the end of 60 seconds. If you aren't in the top 10 you don't win and in turn don't have to pay anything.

The best part about buying a giftcard through a service like this is that no matter what you'll get more than you pay which makes it a wonderful deal for products you already pay for. To get a better idea of how Rackup works watch the video below.

Rackup has partnerships in place with American Airlines, Applebees, AMC theaters and others for its launch in November. If you want to take RackUp for a spin you can participate in an adrenaline rushing demo auction for gift cards that come with up to a 100% bonus.

Wrap up

These three companies were just a few of the really exciting new startups that presented at TechCrunch 50 this year in an effort to secure funding and exposure in a turbulent marketplace. It's refreshing to see the passion that is behind so many small companies and the innovation and stimulation that they are bringing to the marketplace.

Three years ago another small company called Mint.com took the stage and the award at the TechCrunch conference: Today Mint.com was bought for $170 Million.