Come join us on NeighborGoods!

September 24, 2009 at 12:43 pm in Announcements

I’m so excited to finally be able to announce this! For over a year now LA’s own Mickipedia has been trying to solve a problem and I think she came up with a fantastic solution with NeighborGoods!

We all have stuff sitting around our houses that we bought for one specific need, then stuck in the closet and haven’t used since then. And how often does something come up where you need something like a powerdrill or a larger piece of luggage for one single use but dread the thought of spending the cash and then not needing it after wards? What NeighborGoods allows you to do is list those extra things you have that you aren’t using (an extra bike, a ladder, a waffle maker, etc) and then link up with your friends and share those items with them, as well as see what they have that you might need. I don’t own a ladder, and I know if I need one I’d much rather call a friend who has one, borrow it for a day, then give it back then spend the money on one and then have to figure out where to store it and let it sit there unused. NeighborGoods makes that possible on a whole new level.

The site is brand new, and only now slowly rolling out in Los Angeles. We’ve teamed up with them to allow all of our readers a chance to use it, skipping the beta application process, and jumping right in. We are one of the first to offer our own group that you can join when signing up that will link you with other LA Metblogs folks so you have a network of contacts and people to share with right out of the gate. The site is really smart and you can be very specific about who you want to share with, and who can see what you have to offer. And if you don’t really want to share, but have extra stuff you want to give away or sell you can do that as well.

As someone who is constantly trying to minimize possessions and fight the endless war on clutter I think this idea is amazing and has a chance to do some real good in all of our lives, as well as help on a larger level by reducing the extra crap we all keep consuming. I’m really excited to have this opportunity to share this with everyone, and can’t wait to see how popular it gets. Here’s the link to our group where you can sign up. Give it a shot!

8 Comments »

http://faboomama.com faboomama

This is wonderful. I’ve been working on a website for a year (called What’s in Your Toolbox?) that does this exact same thing! Naturally, I think it’s a brilliant idea. Congrats.
http://neighborgoods.net Mickipedia

Thanks so much for your support. I’m so excited to welcome LA Metblogs readers to the neighborhood!
http://blog.seanbonner.com/2009/09/24/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/ Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | sbdc

[...] just wrote about NeighborGoods over on LA Metblogs so I won’t repeat myself here other than to say I’m so incredibly [...]
http://la.metblogs.com Burns!

This is awesome. I’m uploading my shareables now. Sean is right on the money when he says this is going to help everyone with the reduction of clutter and needlessly spending on those one-time-use items.

Everyone should sign up, but especially the person who can loan me a yacht. I need to borrow one of those, just for a bit…
ben franklin

And if the borrow doesn’t return it?

Or if someone borrows your hedge trimmer (“just for a day!”) and then
returns it broken?

Or the batteries are dead.

It can be tough getting your own neighbor to return a power tool – I can’t imagine what it would be like to try ot get some new “friend” to bring it back.

The ONLY way lending something works if YOU DON”T EXPECT IT BACK (and are pleasantly surprised if they do return it!)

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
http://seanbonner.com Sean Bonner

Aw, who woke up on the grumpy side of the bed this morning?
http://la.metblogs.com Burns!

Ben: Of course there is always the risk that something you loan might be difficult to get back or in the same condition as you loaned it. If you look at the NeighborGoods site, though, you’ll find that there is accountability built into the system. In addition, you can also mitigate the potential risk by controlling who you choose to lend to.

I’m sure Micki can respond to your concerns more thoroughly than I have. I just thought I’d jump in because I think it’s a great idea and I’m excited to be invited to participate.
http://neighborgoods.net Mickipedia

Thanks, Burns! NeighborGoods gives you all the tools you need to decide who to share your stuff with. If you only want to share with your friends, you can do that. We also have the usual things like comments and ratings to help you make your decisions about who to share with.

On top of that, we have a pretty neat self serve dispute process for when things go wrong. So far, no one has had to use it but it’s one of my personal favorite features.

Even with all of these protections in place, the truth of it is, not everyone wants to lend out their stuff. That’s ok! You can still borrow from other people. And you also have the option of selling and renting. We’re offering a pretty robust system that supports members of all comfort levels. I encourage everyone to sign up and poke around the site to see how it works! I know sharing your stuff can be a scary proposition but we’ve worked really hard to make it as safe and fun as possible!

Come join us on NeighborGoods!

Search

Sponsors

Archives

Recent Comments

Sponsors