« Fair Traders | Main | productgrill - barcode power »
ShareStuff.com
FROM: John Naylor
What NEED does this meet?
One man's junk is another man's treasure. So instead of throwing away those 5 year old stereo speakers, maybe there is someone nearby who would love to take them off your hands for free. We will cut down on waste and give a financial break to those who probably need it the most.
What is the APPROACH?
There is no rocket science here, just a site where the haves can share their old stuff with the have nots. Imagine a free ebay.
What are the BENEFITS to people?
The rich can get rid of what they consider junk and the less rich can save money. We can also cut back slightly on what we send to landfills.
What is the COMPETITION?
I am not sure.
What BUDGET & LOGISTICS are required?
I built a site last year (goodhousefixing.com) with reusable java components that performs well and is highly scalable. The new site could be built from these components for nothing. All we would need is someone who can pretty up the front end. For about $200 per month (dedicated server) we could be up and running in less than six months.
November 3, 2003 in Connecting People, Giving stuff away, Matching System | Permalink
Comments
This is a great idea, everyone has useless stuff that isn't really useless. This idea could be an expansion of or part of the recycling computers idea that was near the beginning somewhere.
One possible problem could be that now lots of people try to sell this stuff on eBay.
Posted by: dave at Nov 4, 2003 8:34:38 AM
Brilliant idea, which works sometimes unofficially in my area, as every time I leave something in the front garden for the council to take away, at least one thing (ie: a fridge/a sofa/a snooker table, even!) has been taken by the morning when the council get round to my house!
Not sure how you'd get over the transport issue though - in fairness the receiver would probably have to arrange pick up themselves, but it may be a problem if they don't have transport, which negates the idea that it is free after all. Expecting the giver to deliver it may be a bit much, as if you're giving something away, you're not necessarily going to feel happy about delivering it too. On the BBC website today there's a comment from a chap who says maybe everything should be put in an area at the side of the local tip, so that it's in a central point & people can collect it if they want to?
Posted by: Melanie Clark at Nov 5, 2003 12:41:47 PM