Multilateral exchange

There are: HTC Hero with a buggy bottom of the screen, a shabby Nokia e51, a pair of long-range radios, 2 bluetooth headsets, a blue Ikea table, metal and wooden shelves, a system unit, a DECT phone, 30 meters of twisted pair, the same TV cable , 2 shovels, rake, garden wheelbarrow, MR-16 3w 12v LED-lamp, old corner sofa, kitchen 4-ring stove, Samsung laser printer working, but without a cartridge, many children's clothes, services of cool php-programmers.

It is necessary: LED-bulbs MR-16 220v, LED strip, paper for the printer, colored paper, solar-powered flashlights to the country, knitting wire, cut board.

Anyone want to change?
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Problem

Each of us has things to throw out a pity, but we should. At the same time, we understand that hardly anyone will agree to pay at least some money for these things. On the other hand, we often need to buy things that do not have to be new, and for which you also don’t really want to pay. The classic solution to the problem is to announce an exchange. When resorting to such a decision, we are faced with the fact that even in big cities there are not too many people who have what you need and who need what you have.

Idea for a startup

Bulletin board. There are two types of ads:

• I have
• I need

A user gets access to the contact information of other users only when he places at least one ad of each type. It is important. As soon as he does this, the system begins to build a chain (one or more alternatives) of exchange, which would satisfy the following conditions:

1. At the ends of the chain should be participants who have what you need and who need what you have
2. The chain should be the minimum length
3. All participants in the chain must be within the reach of each other (in the same city, district)

Where's the money?

Monetization options:

1. Advertising (ingenious, right?)
2. Premium accounts (members with a premium account are included in the chain first)
3. Financial Guarantor Services
4. Exchange organizer services

Directions for the development of ideas

• Chain Companies
• It is possible not only “pure” exchange, but also with a surcharge, as well as the exchange of several things for one or several
• Search not only for what is clearly needed, but also for what can be useful in principle. Fuzzy search terms

Problems

• Inconvenient organization of a meeting of a chain of more than 4 participants
• Many visitors will be just too lazy to enter information about what is available and what is needed
• Nontrivial (and therefore probably expensive to implement and maintain) search chain algorithm

They would have implemented it with the forces of their team, but we will not last long on enthusiasm, and the project is not fast. Therefore, I make the idea public.