What's good website to request for items to borrow/buy locally from other people? Besides Craigslist.

October 23, 2009 10:55 AM

What's good website to request for items to borrow/buy locally from other people? Besides Craigslist.

Craigslist does this in an "item wanted" section, but in my experience it isn't used very much. Most people are there to sell their stuff, similar to ebay.

Is there a good site that lets people list things that they want, and then other people pitch to sell/borrow it to them? Local, like Craigslist, is better.

Yeah, this is for Halloween =)

posted by jeff1010 to grab bag (9 comments total)

Freecycle.
posted by amro at 10:59 AM on October 23

Kijiji lets me do that.
posted by Shepherd at 11:11 AM on October 23

NeighborGoods runs a site for this in Los Angeles, at least. I'm not sure if they have plans to expand.
posted by divka at 11:12 AM on October 23

You don't say where you are, but ask around if there's an organization where you live similar to our Local First.
Our motto:
"Shop outside the box."
posted by BostonTerrier at 11:59 AM on October 23

I think these sorts of systems evolve into niche forums rather than local ones mostly. I remember ten years ago people buying and selling MtG cards over the net. I also recall there being systems in place attempting to do something like a community driven netflix, but I can't recall any details. Judging by google search results most swap sites are attempting to form a market via scrip (community currency) instead of straight trades. The problem with scrip is that while it enables a more liquid market, its less restrictive than plain old cash. Which is pretty much the point, to avoid cash accounting and taxation.

Ultimately, I think the want-to-sell model works better than the want-to-buy because the seller is the one with inventory risk -- depreciation, devaluation, theft and friends. In order to hedge that risk they need to advertise and pitch to as many people as possible.

For large purchases, my employer does do a request for pitches, through the local paper Ali Baba lets corporate buyers place wanted requests. But the standing offer market system has a lower fixed transaction cost so it only makes sense for large institutional projects not personal purchases.
posted by pwnguin at 12:41 PM on October 23

Freecycle is great for giving stuff away. Like a half-eaten birthday cake (seriously). You can post things you want as well, but it's not as busy in that direction.
posted by gnutron at 12:56 PM on October 23

NeighborGoods.net is meant for exactly this purpose! I know because I run the site. :) We just launched in LA and we do certainly plan to expand. Members can borrow, lend, rent, sell and give stuff away locally with people they actually know. It's really easy to create a wishlist and you get a message if anyone adds the item to their inventory. If you're not in LA you can ask for an invite code and we'll let you in. Sorry if this doesn't solve your immediate Halloween issue but hopefully we can be a resource for you in the future.
posted by Mickipedia at 1:01 PM on October 23

Not online, but potentially useful: posting boards at cafes and colleges/universities.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on October 23

Right, I forgot - I'm in LA. Thanks for the responses so far!
posted by jeff1010 at 2:40 PM on October 23