unstash - peer-to-peer platform for sharing
'Unstash' is a peer-to-peer online service for collaborative consumption. Our mission is to make sharing awesome again. We tackle the often unspoken cause behind greenhouse gas emissions and climate change - our unending consumption of goods.
We're creating a platform for people to easily list, share, and track things that they own within trusted communities. Maybe you have a power tool you bought once, and never used again. Or maybe you bought a Nintendo Wii that's collecting dust. Or maybe you need a tent for a camping trip but don't want to buy one for a single occasion. Maybe we have more than we think - it's just not sitting under our own roofs.
Some updates in response to climatespark feedback:
- This is not a craigslist that involves buying/selling and it is not a swap site which depends on a coincidence of wants - Our focus here is on facilitating and enhancing the sharing experience within trusted communities.
- We will be leveraging a user's existing online social networks to make connecting with those you trust extremely easily.
- We'll offer more granular levels of privacy control of users who wish to make things available to one group versus another.
- Because sharing physical goods require physical encounters unstash is designed and marketed towards local neighborhoods or groups that frequently meet together- User segments include condos, neighborhood blocks, schools, dorms, workplaces, faith groups, clubs, associations, immigrant centres, etc.
- We will provide metrics so users and groups can see how much less they've consumed through sharing
Unstash wants to help Toronto embrace 'access' over 'ownership'. We're designing the experience to be dead-simple to use, safe, and even fun. We believe sharing is the new shopping and together we can help people save money and deepen community ties, all the while creating a more sustainable future.
The most obvious potential for emissions reduction is through helping people minimize the purchasing of consumer goods. For example, a DVD has a carbon footprint of 3 kilograms of CO2 (manufacturing and distribution). A study out of Australia correlates that "every additional dollar of consumption is responsible for 720 grams of greenhouse gas emissions and 28 litres of water." (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/shopping_is_cos.php). Hence, every item shared, rather than purchased would contribute to a reduction in overall emissions.
Packaging could also be drastically reduced. For example, containers and packaging account for 31.6 percent by weight and 29.6 percent by volume of the municipal solid waste (MSW) in the United States (—US EPA). If the same percentage applies to Toronto as a typical North american city this can help alleviate the 46,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions potentially caused by garbage in the form of packaging and containers. (/garbage/facts.htm)
In the 50 years the average family size has almost halved, while the average home size has doubled, but a rapidly growing number of self-storage facilities now outnumber Starbucks shops. Clearly we still don't have enough room for all of our stuff! Sharing helps reduce the burden of storage and in turn the emissions created for additional buildings constructed over green space.
As Unstash helps cultivate more closely knit communities through sharing of goods, it also encourages other shared activities and services. By helping create more local economies within Toronto neighborhoods, travel and shipping is reduced, further curbing emissions.
Lon Wong, co-founder, Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Divinity, 10 years in both the high tech industry as well as community development
Samuel Wong, co-founder, Master of Applied Science, 12 years of software development experience, app developer with patent pending
Team of passionate developers, designers, and advocates who volunteer their time because they believe in the vision of the project.
Unstash is a free service to all users. As a web service, unstash is highly scalable and will be financially viable through
- On-going sponsors that align with our values and vision
- member/supporter accounts with additional features
- customization for groups, whitelabeling our services or larger organizations (likely our largest revenue stream)
- potentially a fee-based rental system in under debate
- should users not be able to find a product on our site, purchasing through us would earn us a referral fee
- a mobile application for added accessibility
Comments
sharing is key
Thanks for the feedback!
bartering, swapping, donating, etc. will be important aspects as our site evolves, however at the onset we're laser focused on tackling the issue of sharing specifically. We want to facilitate and enhance what people are already doing - sharing in trusted social circles - not with strangers. So granular privacy settings will be a key feature.
This isn't a billion dollar empire, but it will be sustainable. Besides premium features for our most active users, whitelabeling the platform for other community groups will be a big part of the revenue model. From our research many existing groups (clubs, churches, condo associations, etc) would be willing to pay a small annual fee to enhance their community experience. We would offer a seamless experience integrated to their existing sites, and they would be able to connect with a moderate a community they know best that has existing bonds of trust to share between.
Regarding the impact of stores - we're not against purchasing things, in fact we want to help shift to a culture where people value their stuff even more; enough to not allow it to collect dust, enough to share it with family, friends, and neighbors. From a macro level, in the short term we could see a sharing-economy impacting retail sales, however the hope would be that this encourages businesses to take this as an opportunity to create more durable, shareable goods. The long-term benefits of this are tremendous, including job creation in order to innovate upon existing products.
that's my 2 cents at the moment.
Impact of Stores/ Existing Social Networking Apps
To add to your point about stores, today in the Globe and Mail, an article introduced a campaign by the clothing store Patagonia to promote reuse:
"Of course, the Common Threads initiative also underlines how dependable that outerwear is: If it didn’t last a long time, people wouldn’t be able to sell and buy it second-hand"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketin...
Since this proposal is based on existing social networks, how can you leverage existing applications/data like facebook?
Can this application be done now on social media like facebook (for example) and how will you compete with that?
stores & social networks
Thanks for the article! There's always going to be criticism about anything worth doing. Which is why marketing-wise we'll be focusing on those who 'get' it and have alignment with our value for community building, simplicity, and sustainability. Of course we'd love to win the masses over, but we can't try and please everyone from the start on this.
As for social networks - absolutely. We're integrating with both facebook & twitter as well as standard sign on while being able to connect with gmail contacts. We don't want people building a whole new social network - however we're designing it so that it offers more granular levels of privacy needed for the sharing of consumer goods.
Great comments & questions!
This is a good idea!
I like the concept a lot and I feel that it is essential in our society today! However, I am unclear of how the physical part of sharing will take place. What I mean is if a group is created.. take for exampla, a condo association, I see on your platform that apt A has a toaster that I could borrow. Do I sign it out, go to Apt A and pick up the item physically? If that is the case, then the sharing will have to take place between people of close proximity or have access to a vehicle to pick up the item? Also what if the item is breaks when borrowed? How is this reconciled? Sorry for all the questions.. I think this is a great idea and really believe in the concept of collaborative sharing.. just want to make sense of the business model :)
Great question.
We've grown accustomed to sharing media, ideas, and what you ate for lunch online, but having it translate to making offline impact is where we believe things are going. So yes, people will need to physically meet with one another.
There have been other sites that have tried to offer a mailing service to help people share across the country in the States, and there are sites that require a downpayment and insurance policies signed - However, our approach is that this is for existing trusted communities.
This isn't a public craigslist, or a an ebay between strangers. In our research when it comes to 'sharing' people already do it (and want to do it more) amongst friends and peers they're already connected to. And this makes the most sense locally. Local could also mean anywhere you regularly gather as well - so we've heard from churches, workplaces, and clubs that would like to use our service. It would be a tad inconvenient to have to meet up just to share something, but if you're in communities that regularly connect (your own local neighborhood being the most convenient likely) our hope is that people can share as they gather. This also results in ongoing relationships being established and deepened rather than a mere transaction of goods.
We're putting the onus on our users to reconcile issues. This avoids the legal/insurance/financial barriers that other sites have come across. Couchsurfing for example where people offer up their very homes for staying in has over 99% user satisfaction reviews. People tend to care for other people's things better their own, even moreso when it is out of kindness rather than a monetary exchange quite often.
I've also seen in my own experience as a community developer that the inherent 'risk' in the exchange of goods, actually builds community. Every time people step out, risk, and see an agreement honored, relationships are deepened. This builds a virtuous circle where people trust more, share more, and in the process consume less while making a healthy more sustainable city.
Another question..
Thanks for the answer :) Really cleared up the picture some more. But I still have more questions.. Will the user/member upload information about the items they will share? Also will you need to hire people to physically sell the site to the different groups... and will you be able to breakeven?
what about approaching university residences, especially for international students so that they dont have to buy everything the first year of school..e.g. blankets, pots, etc.
More good questions
Since this is a peer-to-peer approach users will need to 'upload' items they'd like to share. We're not a Business-to-Consumer model like zipcar where we're owning and maintaining a fleet of goods. However, we've made it super easy for people to add items (rather than having to take a photo and upload, or type tedius details) with a couple keywords a user can retrieve photos, descriptions, pricing, etc. details to be added to their own 'stash'.
Where we could use the funding is streamlining this process further and making a mobile application so it's easy on the go as well.
The great thing with a project like this that is social in nature - is that every user would be our marketing channel. The more they want to share/borrow the more they'd be inviting others on the system. Connecting with groups will take more leg work, but we've got a revenue model that allows us to grow with our users and given enough users we should be doing far better than breaking even.
As for universities / dorms - they're definitely on our list. Immigrant centres were also - but I hadn't thought of international students specifically - Thanks!
I'm a big fan of the collaborative consumption trend
Great idea -- and I've been looking for someone to finally take the plunge into peer-to-peer "asset" sharing beyond the automobile. Beware Stephenson's Rent-All, your days are numbered.
A couple of questions: Do you think it's wise to begin with a "share anything" approach rather than focus on particular items and expand from there as you gain more experience. Peer-to-peer carshare services are just getting started and there are significant challenges related to insurance and logistics, but I wonder if there is another major asset (or a few) you could target that would could allow you to focus how you market this free services. Kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and canoes come to mind, as do gardening/yard equipment and books and bicycles. Leaving it up to just "stuff" makes me think the site will be a confusing jumble. Maybe I'm wrong. But I worry about this loss of initial focus. It strikes me that if any of the carshare models get it right they are in a better position to expand into other "stuff" that you guys are starting from scratch.
And while we're on the topic of P2P car-sharing, the idea there is that people who "share" aren't sharing as much as renting their asset. My question: Will your site give people the option of making money by "sharing" certain larger items, such as that Kayak or air compressor or bicycle? Or is this general sharing of stuff all a feel-good exercise for the person signing up?
You might want to consider having two aspects to this service: free sharing and for-fee sharing. The latter will require a back-end system that enables such a transaction, but it could prove more valuable for a certain segment of consumers.
All that said, a worthy area to pursue and big potential for impact -- if you can get it right.
See discussion above.
super feedback
Thanks for really thinking through the problem we're trying to solve. The issue of product focus on our site has been an ongoing debate on our team. A specific niche brings clarity while a sense of intimacy with the users. At the same time we've come across people who just have quite a variety of things they would like to share and don't want to be hopping on a multitude of sites to do so.
One solution we're going forward with is through custom groups - people would be able to create and moderate their own groups and be responsible for maintaining that sense of focus with what's being shared by the users they bring in.
The other thing we're debating and haven't fully mapped out is to create a number of 'sister' sites with the same technology and link it all with a single log-in while giving users 'boxes' of items they can share with one group and not another potentially.
We're definitely open for feedback here on the best approach.
Regarding renting - absolutely. Right now we're highly focused on 'sharing' specifically - but rentals is in the roadmap - and likely a fee associated with the rental or tied to a flat-fee for pro-accounts that want to monetize their stuff.
Yay Sharing! But Accountability?
I think that this has been an idea buzzing around for a while, and it's interesting to see someone try to take it on for real.
I am wondering if people will really be willing to lend out their stuff to just ANYONE, rather than have a space where people in certain communities can form their own particular groups and list their items privately to each other? THis would feel like a better way to maintain accountability and would up the usage of this site, I believe.
Great question
You hit it nail on - I too wonder if people will share stuff with 'anyone'. Our entire approach as previously stated is based on enhancing 'existing communities' with granular levels of privacy. Some other sites have tried to make everyone share out of a need for more users - but we're making this very much for groups that would like to share with people they already trust - or potentially by a single degree of separation - such as a common club, association, group, neighborhood, etc. We're definitely not encouraging anyone to share things with anyone they don't trust.
for sure
Good eye on catching the common problem we're both tackling. I'm actually friends with Andrew of Trash Nothing and we've worked together in the past. So collaboration is something we're both very much up for.
There are different nuances to how we're approaching things that is quite different - I'd say both approaches are needed. While from a birds eye view there may seem like overlap - we're both focused on what we're best at - Trash Nothing is focused on re-distributing goods and typically one-way transactions - where unstash is geared towards sharing - requiring the tracking of items and an ongoing relationship within an existing community. On top of that there's plenty of other things that are tailored towards a better experience for our specific use cases.
Totally agreed though - we can all collaborate more. I actively share about Trash Nothing when I present on unstash and really do feel there's plenty of room for everyone to play as I believe a whole spectrum of solutions are required to solve the issue of over-consumption and under-utilized assets in our communities.
Sharing works
I too am really happy to see someone take this on, thanks
The accountability piece needs to be hashed out
definitely important
I answered some of this in the comments above - but your comment reminds me I should really update the proposal to include the additional details brought up in the discussions. i'll get on that soon.
But to answer the question of accountabililty in greater detail
1. We're pushing all liabilities to our users - some sites in the states require insurance forms of credit card access in case something goes wrong - we're not doing that and we think that it's an important feature. We're not trying to make people share who wouldn't already be willing to share with one another. Intrinsic to sharing is risk, and we'd ask that people put that into consideration in the context of their existing relationships.
2. There will be a feedback rating system generated as users loan/borrow so users can have additional information to better inform their decisions
3. When it comes to custom groups - we're offloading the accountability and management to existing community leaders who know their communities best. We're not going to get into the messy business of resolving relational conflicts - we're here to faciltiate sharing and enhance existing communities. Moderators of groups will be empowered to hold people accountable and remove users from groups as they see fit.
Speaking specifically of the concept of 'sharing' - from what I can tell and couchsurfing's amazing satisfaction ratings speak to this as well - when people are sharing and the exchange of money is not involved - there is an aura of kindness and respect and grace that is not in formal 'business' arrangements. If you were renting something from a store and paying money for it - the expectations for a perfect transaction are very different - form our scenario of a community of friends, collaborators, and neighbors who simply want to share and see good come of it.
Ion
Sounds very unusual, but it makes very simple common sense if you believe in sharing and loving. Part of the climate change has its origin and roots in greed and selfishness of mankind. So sharing might change all that.
If you also include your service in facilitating bartering each other that help reduce consumption. And it will unplug yourself from money that money power stand over your shoulder. You may help people off-grid from financial strangulation. I love to see bartering come in vogue. Single monetary economic system of the world eventually created financial crisis and economic breakdown. If you go to TED video and search for that German economist (sorry I forgot the name off hand), you know what I mean. So I think it is good idea if you can stretch to include battering.
Financial Strategy: Bootstrapping and your Lead Customers
Please read below.
I’m excited to see so many entrepreneurial proposals on ClimateSpark. I especially like the model of social ventures that can sustain themselves by creating their own revenue and be less dependent on grants or gifts.
In my own experience starting and building several companies, I’ve often employed “bootstrapping” techniques so I’m not dependent on external capital (VCs, etc.). One technique I’ve used successfully is to recruit one or more “lead customers” who pay me up-front for a service (e.g., consulting or something they need right away), which gives me the capital to build my product or capability for them. The big advantages: cash up-front (or early); a real customer to help make sure my design is something they’ll want to buy; and a great partner to test ideas with as I’m getting off the ground.
What’s your bootstrapping strategy? Have you tried to develop “lead customers” for your product or service? Have you talked to potential customers ? What are you doing to get cashflow from them early, so your idea can gain traction?
bootstrapping
We've already went ahead and have been bootstrapping this project even without outside funding - like many others on climatespark that's how passionate we are about bringing our idea into reality - though the funds for buliding up a dedicated team, accelerating the development, and commercializing the service within a year in a timely manner is critical for us.
We've already got 'customers' who I don't even know who have donated to the project, who believe in it enough to help us see this through - and we also have lead customer segments identified that we will be working in partnership with in these early stages. Thanks!
Clearly expressing your business value – Mock Press Release
Each proposal in ClimateSpark is bringing a valuable community based idea forward to help with energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emissions
Centennial College, School of Communications Media & Design, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Class of 2012 will be working on a set of mock press releases, in anticipation of this proposal being one of the 20 to be selected on October 31 to continue to ClimateSpark Ignite Phase 2.
If you would like to be interviewed as part of the mock press release development process, please send a note to Professor Barry Waite, [email protected] by Friday October 21, 2011.
If you choose not to be interviewed, the mock press release will be developed based on Information currently posted in the description of your idea, as well as information gleaned from the various comment interactions.
sounds fantastic
thanks for the offer, we'll be taking you up on it!
Love the idea of free-cycling
Love the idea of free-cycling. Sharing things with others when I don't need it instead of letting it go to waste or vice versa - awesome
strengths: builds community
strengths: builds community while reducing consumption
weaknesses: the concept is one founded on trust and accountability... and there are people who may abuse the system
Can I get a hedge trimmer?
This is a great idea -- probably because so many have thought it would be a great idea when we find ourselves without that critical tool we need (and i am looking at my scraggly hedge right now).
Here's the challenge -- it's more of a community venture than a business venture, no? If it works, it will be at the neigbourhood level (obviously -- who's gonna drive across the city for a ladder or a wrench?). and it will be in the spirit of community sharing. Perhaps we would pay an annual registration fee to be part of the service, and some of us would join just to make sure it is there when we need it (just like bike owners have joined Bixi).
You might also find that local realtors or businesses will sponsor the site. Picking up on Tyler's point, you might find Stephensons Rent All would sponsor or advertise on the site to catch all the people who don't find the tool they are looking for.
This is like community gardening: the value of the project goes far beyond carbon counting. This is far more a community-building project than a climate change project, and that is what will make it successful.
I would look for ways to connect U-share services with on-the-ground efforts to build community -- be it Transition Towns, Live Green Toronto, or Project Neutral. From a resident's perspective, the simpler and more interconnected all these initiatives are, the better.
Happy to help (once I've finished trimming the hedge).
great feedback
You've got it Chris - this is definitely more of a community venture for sustainability than a business venture - but we're convinced it'll be viable and then some.
In terms of registration fees - we wanted to keep the barriers to entry low - but we do want to create a way for people who want to simply support us (we've found that some do just to be a part of this) while also enabling some added features - this could be where we allow people to rent out items as well and we monetize as our users do.
Great point on the sponsors - it's always been in our plan - but identifying those specific ones that line up best will be one of our next challenges.
we definitley don't want this to be purely about carbon counting, or merely transactional in nature - we think there's a lot of value in making this a community thing.
btw if you're in the don mills / sheppard area i'd gladly loan you my trimmer!
There's a community aspect to this which is key.
I think the collaborative consumption idea is great, and is incredibly timely. When I moved recently, I realized how much stuff I had sitting around unused. There's probably a lot of items that aren't in daily use that can be shared, if there was only a way to identify where the supply and demand are.
There have been a lot of mentions about accountability with strangers. This would work far better if you could find a way to sign up groups at a time, perhaps organizations, where people already know each other and are already sharing things, but without a tracking system.
If you track who shares what with whom, and score how well the users treated the items, you can build an accountability system, with data that might be quite valuable. After that you can extend communities to strangers who have an accoutability history.
Idea
the idea of getting people to
the idea of getting people to share resources within a trusted community
Trust
This concept would work great in a perfect society, however this is not a perfect place and people will abuse the system
Not sure how
trust
we haven't proposed sharing with people you don't trust. again, we're about facilitating and enhancing the sharing experience within trusted communities. There are huge opportunities left on the table between people who already trust one another due to simply a lack of awareness. The over purchasing of consumer goods plays a massive role in environmental degradation - ie. i recently read that the average woman purchases 62 pounds of clothing a year and have 20 pieces that hang never worn. We're looking to chip away at typical consumption patterns.
Sharing
I would use this service. Getting people to share might be a difficult task but if accomplished can flourish into a 'new thing'
Get more venture partners and you will be set! And you need a great website.
1-starring
Can people go easy on the 1-star votes?
It's not that hard to calculate that we just had three (make that four) 1/10 ratings in a row. Do you really hate our entry that much? I'm positive we're not the only team suffering from this. Here's to hoping next round being different - Let's have strictly an upvote system rather than a 10-star rating.
re: 1-starring
The good news is that it seems to be happening to almost everyone. The bad news is I've noticed that the lowballers are getting more subtle since we've started calling them on it. Projects I've tracked that have been near the top have had a number of two-star votes -- essentially the same effect.
As for the next round, I'm not sure an upvote system would be much better. Any competetive process undermines the goals of collaboration and community-building. I'd much prefer to whittle down the 800 people in the community to the 20 - 50 who are actually reading proposals and making positive suggestions.
I Love to share!
the strength:
1. we don't have to buy those things we only use once or once a year or once a couple years.. sometimes, i stored them somewhere in the basement and never get to find it. Then, i bought a new one.
2. build trust. share and return..
the weakness is not the idea but the people. I am also the person who forgot to return things.
communities
The idea is cool, but what communities do you think can be trustworthy
Define the target market in more detail
communities
Good question. on trust worthy communities.
At an individual level - every person defines who they trust. Every person's social graph of trust will look different - don't share with those you wouldn't trust. There will also be more granular levels of privacy on a item basis on who it's visible to. You've got certain people you trust, we want to enhance your sharing experience with those particular people.
On a community level we've identified three overall types of segments - 1. values based orgs like treehugger/environmental groups, faith communities, and humanitarian organizations 2. product-centric communities such as photography clubs and mommy groups and 3. neighborhoods that have self-organized email lists already setup to help promote sharing. Our goal early on is to connect with groups that already have an established level of trust and helping them do it even better.
Not only it helps saving the
Not only it helps saving the environment, it also brings people together and developer deeper communities.
Sharing concept will really
Sharing concept will really work because it will foster the feelings of unity among the individuals.This proposal is worth appreciable.
With so many bad ideas for
With so many bad ideas for using social networking, I would have to say this is not one of them! Score one for the great ideas!
Nice Idea
I think the intent is great, sharing can help build community while slowing consumption.
I do think that perhaps focusing on a few particular key areas (electronics, garden tools, sports equipment, school supplies etc.) might be easier to coordinate at startup - then with success branch into sharing more broadly.
Thanks
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. mjanes - we're definitely thinking through that approach. I'd love to hear thoughts on if we should create a number of sister sites that are specifically geared toward each product set - that would give it focus and clarity - but then it could also scatter our user base (we could have a unified user profile for all sites - but then there would still be the issue of have user's items scattered on multiple sites)
The other simpler alternative is to just market differently to each area - we could potentially have a unique landing page for each - but ultimately it'd still be the same backend system.
YOu woudl need to expand on
YOu woudl need to expand on this idea with some concrete structure
The ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge is a project of:
Our sponsors:
The idea of sharing is great.
The idea of sharing is great. But I see some potential issues with this business model. Based on the description, it sounds like this business model is a hybrid model of bartering and donation. The founders should provide more details on how they plan to estiblish a system that allows user to share. If the idea is to estiblish a netowrk of mass sharing goods, this will impact the local/neighbourhood stores as people potentially will spend less.