Social Networking for Boat Stuff

[NelsonQ]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Hi,

I don't think the mechanics would be too tough... But the real trick would be explaining to trusted members would be what the meaning of "trust" is. Let's say I buy a $1,500 outdrive on eBay... Fine, the transaction is done. The seller is in Ohio. I need to be able to trust the chain of people that will get it to New England.

Alan

And that's the difficulty. Some folks would still put effort into getting into the 'trusted' circle and make off with another members property. Sad reality of it all.

I'm sure there has to be a way to do this...

 

[Beefer]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

I think this is an awesome idea. What about setting something up on Linkedin?

I think the toughest hurdle would be how would the decision be made as to who is a 'trusted' member? I have tons of personal references, but that wouldn't mean diddly-squat to most. Would it be a closed network, ie., if you aren't a trusted member, you wouldn't be able to ask for help? Or would the network be willing to help those that aren't in the network? Trust is earned, and not assumed (in this day and age), so how would the trust be earned? I get a personal satisfaction helping others, as I believe you get repaid 10x for every good deed.

 

[MISSBAJA]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Yeah I love that Idea! Lets look each other up on linkedin!

 

[legoman67]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

ive got a fair extent of website programming knowledge, could probably make up a site to connect the network. then i could either leave it on my server, or send it to iboats..

i need the practice anyways, and its a good challenge for me.


what do you guys want in the site?

 

[bowman316]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Hi RedFury...

Interesting idea, but I think we should stay away from the issue of buying and selling as TD said. (That is, buying and selling should probably be handled PM, eBay, Craigslist, etc. Seeing how iboats pays for the bandwidth of this forum, the last thing we need to do is create a social network that will try to find a way to undercut their prices for a new propeller for example.)

Anyway... My idea is just that we find a way to cheaply move heavy stuff like boats and motors from point "A" to point "B" via a network of trusted boating friends, many of whom have never met.

I like the idea of the MySpace page... Something like that anyway...

Alan

I think it would be cheaper to pay to ship something heavy, than to pay for the gas to drive it half way across the country. Shipping companies can use economies of scale to reduce the cost or shipping, and an individual can not.

 

[Stoutcat]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Hi,

Bowman316... The idea behind a social network like this is to eliminate shipping charges altogether. Example - My brother lives in R.I. but comes down to the Cape quite often anyway. So if I find a motor in R.I. I can work out the deal with the seller, buy the motor from him via PayPal or whatever and then my brother can deliver it the next time he comes down to the Cape. But suppose that a great deal on a motor is available in FLA? My best friend lives there, and he could pick up the motor... But now what? Normally, he travels quite a bit, but not all the way to Cape Cod. If only there was a trusted stranger who could relay it to my brother... And so it goes. Nobody pays for shipping because everybody is going through their normal travel habits. (Yeah, out of decency, any time we ask strangers to transport stuff, we should toss a few bucks their way for gas if for nothing else...)

Legoman67: That's a great question about what we'd want on the site... Let's see:

• Obviously, we need to know who the person is and why he's trusted and who trusts him.
• We need to know his location
• When does he typically travel and to where?
• What sort of vehicle (with description) does he have?
• How far is he willing to go out of his way
• What's his physical condition
• How long is he willing to hold on to an object before the next trusted person picks it up. (The entire journey should be mapped/planned before it even begins.)

I know I'm missing stuff, and no doubt that others will have ideas...

But I keep coming back to the issue that created this post... It's a shame when the wife and I see a perfect motor in MO, and just can't afford the shipping even though there are trustworthy people who travel a lot normally who could shuttle the motor our way.

If we're thoughtful, and careful, we could set up a "Mapquest" sort of a route planner for the item... Enter the starting location, enter the ending location, and then use the database of trusted friends to connect the dots. In my former life I was a computer engineer, and can maybe implement that. (Gulp!)

Alan

 

[jspringator]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

I don't look at it so much as a mechanism to avoid shipping charges, but as a way to have someone do a cursory inspection of an item and supervise its shipment. The seller would have to accept pay pal for this to work. The buyer would receive an all clear from the member, pay via pay pal, the seller would get e-mail verification of payment, then the item could be shipped.

 

[legoman67]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

i could definatly set up the basic site, just just have a search by city name or something, i could attempt to work it into a map, but i have never done that.

anyways, ill try to make up something well im waiting on parts for my outdrive

 

[legoman67]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

i need a box of parts in New york that weighs approx 100-150lb,(new risers and leg parts) you guys want to test the network? LOL
even if it could get to blaine WA, that would be cool.

 

[Stoutcat]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

jspringator: I wasn't picturing th inspection side of this, but you have a good idea... It would be nice to have someone check out an item... But I was thinking of something along the lines of the following: This summer, the wife and I bought a runabout/skiboat on eBay... We asked for lots of pics and was assured that the motor was running... When all was said and done we bought it sight unseen using PayPal. eBay and PayPal are pretty slick. Once we were sure that the deal was legit and that we had a mid-way drop off point, we paid PayPal and the seller got the money. Once he confirmed that the payment was good, the seller sent the title and paperwork to us. (If the guy had been a crook, we could have used PayPal and eBay to get our money back.) Anyway, the seller was legit and dropped off the boat at a trusted family member's house halfway between Cape Cod and Amherst MA. A couple weeks later, the wife and I went up and got the boat. Great deal all around.

legoman67... Here's where things get tricky... Suppose I live in NY and was planning a road trip to see my old Aunt Gertrude in Blaine WA... How do you know that you can trust me to bring along your box of parts? The logistics of this sort of network (at least at its simplest level) are pretty straight forward... It's the trusting the friend of a friend of a stranger that's going to be the hurdle.

Alan

 

[legoman67]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

yeah, i have been trying to figure out that, i was thinking a style of feedback system, but what if it goes through more then one person....

 

[bowman316]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

i have already started a yahoo group trying to do something like this. It is for Prop exchanges. If you want to test out ofher props, you can trade with someone else on here. You may want a different pitch, and someone else who has the pitch you want may want the same pitch the you have.

we could also use it for general boating networking.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propexchange/

 

[zach103]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

can you make it so that we sign in with our screennames from iboats.. that way we know who were talking to.. like say bowman316 is on there but is signed in as cooldude89 how would i know its him.. if we do this everyone should be able to sign in as their iboats screenname.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

can you make it so that we sign in with our screennames from iboats.. that way we know who were talking to.. like say bowman316 is on there but is signed in as cooldude89 how would i know its him.. if we do this everyone should be able to sign in as their iboats screenname.

well the group is on yahoo, so i don't think you can use something other than a yahoo e-mail address.
I know i have the same sn for both, but a lot don't.
the only thing you could really do i shave a list of who's sn corresponds to what iboats sn.
then you could search the database for a yahoo sn and see what their iboats sn is.

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

What about asking iboats permission to create another section for this where people on iboats can post threads for this activity.

Again, perhaps the mods can chime in on this to see if it would be acceptable.

We have this great community already setup that everyone is familiar with. Why not simply leverage it for that.

 

[legoman67]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

I could combine usernames, but i would need Read rights to the members database on this site.

 

[redfury]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

As far as finding someone, you could use the google maps gadget that allows members to see where everyone is in the network on the map, you could then click on their names and see where they travel to, to see if you could map out the path your part would travel.

 

[Stoutcat]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Hi Red,

That's the sort of thing I was thinking about... Not a huge deal. But the problem remains the same... How do we trust strangers or much worse yet, friends of strangers? I guess in a way, we're facing the kind of problem eBay faced when they were getting started - how do you coordinate a system where strangers have to trust strangers? It's "doable"... But how?

Alan

 

[chrismarion]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

I havent read the second page of replies yet, as I understand where this is going. I am a part of a forum of guys/gals that is Highly respected in the automotive world. From actual drag car drivers, Lemans team memers/builders, down to the enthusiast. To be invited into this network with tons of benefits, you have to be vouched for. If the person you vouched for screws up, he is gone as are you! Permanently. The cost of others trusting your word. May suck, but is this "buddy" worth the risk? These people are members of public forums too, not giving their identity out there. BUT, can throw you under the bus even to the public's eyes.

Also on deals gone sour, which does not happen on this forum due to everyone knowing your identity, its nice having a lynch-mob across the US, Canada, P.R., Australia and New Zealand. Along with people that have jobs that benefit the group in these times. You know Lawyers, cops, ceo's, investigators, military, etc. Its nice to be able to send someone a package with pictures of where they live, yard, house, even them! 9 out-of 10 the deal quickly gets rectified.

We also have a map done of all the members, just like a google map. Shows country, state, city population of members and where they are located. A programming engineer member made this up. This would be very beneficial for this purpose as you can see right away who to contact for help passing the item down.

This is the benefit of a social network that you are discussing. Still have this forum and everything it offers, just a side group of honest/trust worthy people that are there for each other and help out. WITH A VOUCHER SYSTEM!

I like the idea, you should go with it.

BTW, you can see that I use my real name here as I do everywhere. I got nothing to hide and thats how it should be.

 

[redfury]

Re: Social Networking for Boat Stuff

Well, there's always some sort of Deposit system in the beginning......refundable after delivery. If you want in on the system, you put up a little cash to be part of the club. The pool would help offset the cost of any loss as I would assume that the first bit of horse trading would be for smaller items.