I've had a new project in mind, following in the footsteps of BookMooch, for a few years.

However, there are some parts of the idea that I haven't been able to solve, so I thought I'd post the idea here, start a forum on BM to discuss the idea, and see if all together, we can get the idea far enough evolved that it sounds like it might actually work.

Here's the idea for "Mooch Me" (.com):

Imagine a "mooch" web site, where we all trade favors for things that we love to do anyway. Our passionate hobbies, but not what we do for a living.

These are the activities we which we wish we could spend more time doing, but that we don't necessarily want to do for money.

Here are some activities I do, that I really enjoy, but don't want to make a career out of:

1. I love doing portrait photography, especially of quirky, artsy people, where it's a challenge to get their personality to show through the camera lens.

2. I also enjoy recording classical and folk musicians. So much so, that I created a tiny company to try to do more of it. Doing recordings for money has been fun about half the time, and truly awful the other half of the time.

3. I like doing pottery, but my house is cluttered with stuff I've made, and I'm nowhere near good enough to sell any of it (nor do I want to).

4. And finally, I love advising potential and actual entrepreneurs, and have spoken at many conferences about my ideas. For the right kind of person, my advice is helpful

These are all hobbies I would be happy to practice for someone else's benefit. At the same time, I don't want to get abused. Tricky problem to solve!

Like BookMooch, this would be cashless, with the only way to get favors is to do some yourself.

Everyone contributes.

What do you think of this idea?

Here are some of the problems I'm trying to solve

1. this is a new idea, never (to my knowledge) tried, but there are related ideas, such as Time Banking, and local currencies. However, none of those have focussed on the hobbies people are good at, that they love doing, but that they don't want to do professionally. These are the things that, for many people, give life meaning. When I explain MoochMe to non-moochers, they invariably (mis)interpret as something that's already been done. How can I explain this idea quicker and more clearly?

2. how should the exchange currency work? I dislike the time banking concept of "1 hour spent is 1 hour earned" because, like communism, it doesn't reward improving your efficiency, your quality, and doesn't reward years of effort to get to this point. At the same time, if everyone prices their work with variable "mooch points" this idea could very quickly feel like a marketplace, more like etsy, than a non-professional exchange. Another possibility is for MoochMe to operate without a currency: reputation is all that matters.

3. Many people lack the self-confidence or don't want to make the effort to very clearly describe what they can do. Fiverr.com does a great job of getting around that problem. I like and use Fiverr, but to me that site feels like exploitation, and Fiverr actively discourages the social dimension to the work.

I'd love to know what you think and if you have any ideas for solving the problems above.

If MoochMe sounds like something you'd like to have exist, please join the moochme forum.

-john

why not get this top level domain MOOCH.ME

I have not searched to see if it's available (because every time I search somebody steals my ideas).

re: US based : many things people can do are advice based and can be done via skype, such as my helping an entrepreneur, or an experienced knitter helping a beginner, or my doing a bit of photoshop work (my gf likes making album art for musicians). And don't forget that knits are very light and break-proof, so they can be mailed easily!

re: swap company -- the goal of this project is to get people doing more of the things they enjoy doing, and that they're good at. Things that don't have a cash price on them, and that thus exist outside the standard cash economy. Yes, of course, that brings into focus the problem of how to value what you do.

Another possibility is for people to build up "karma" when they do things for people, but they don't spend karma to ask for favors. Rather, people are more likely to do things for others if they have good karma. There are obvious problems with this approach too, but it's interesting to think about alternatives to currency.

I personally, like the "Karma" idea. Like "Karma" points, instead of "Mooch" points. So you will build up your Karma stake (or stash) and then when the time came you would use it on a project or something you need it on. Like a favor. Or having some help you build a website. Or creating something. Or tracking down some information. OR finding a publisher for your book. ETC.

"There are many paths to illumination."

http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Default.asp

The language exchange site gets the potential partners together but leaves them to work out their own arrangements.

People could use the proposed new site to exchange sport lessons or to find practice partners.

For something less than direct swaps, I am not sure how you would price that.

And you are very articulate in what you want to do here without being explicit. That said, you are trying to establish a gift economy. AFAIK there is no trivial or elegant solution to the problem in theory (only in practice!). That said, my thinking on this is that a gift economy works best when the giver sets the terms and the receiver agrees! I think it would be best if you combined the practice of bookmooch (giver offers and the receiver accepts) but instead of a clear 1:1 with books you have the giver take the effort to provide some clear description of the service (even if it is intangible) in terms of the amount of effort (essentially time and materials, so it takes me four hours and a ball of yarn to knit a mini-blanket) and offer that, the DIFFERENCE between this and bookmooch is that the receiver (the person who wants what the giver is offering) must TRADE it for a thing of their design (like me I make collages which I can only give examples of since every one is different, but takes me about an hour or two and honestly is made from essentially free recycled magazines or print work). If the giver of the thing that the offerer wants accepts, then you both have some amount of time to do your part. You could also add the intermediate of neither sends until both agree that they are done with their work.

I can flesh this out now, but I'm on a time crunch. What do you think?

re: fixing your vacuum cleaner -- I am not trying to solve this problem, as the normal economy has services that will fix your vacuum for cash, and nobody (that I know of) has a pleasureable hobby of repairing vacuum cleaners. As far as "I have nothing to offer" -- if that is truly the case, then this site wouldn't be for you. However, except for total couch potatoes, I have found that with a bit of nudging conversation with a mentor, most people do have things they can do, that they enjoy doing, that they could help others with. If not, well, then this isn't for you, no problem!

re: Holy $4!7 MAN! I LOVE THIS! -- I really like your points about articulating what your gift takes to make, in terms of hours and material costs. I also agree with you that 1:1 isn't a good model for this. However, it sounds like you (and another person too) are seeing this as a direct exchange between people. I knit, you make pottery, we swap. That does simplify things a lot, but it also makes exchanges much harder to make happen (which is why money was invented)

re: instructions/help -- you're undoubtedly right for simple abstract things, but "help me understand these instructions for this knitting project" isn't currently offered on the internet. Even Ravelry (which is amazing) doesn't do a good job with that problem, which is why my GF goes to knitting shop get-togethers, where there's a knitting goddess to help. In other words, "can I get an expert to talk to me about my specific problem" is something that I think could be useful.

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts! Don't forget to join the Mooch Me forum: moochme if you want to continue this conversation.

Mooch Me - some thoughts! And Suggestions to your Problems

Hi John

I have been involved in quite a few alternative things. There are sites that have been giving away things - for example couchsurfing.com, hospitality.org and bewelcome.org - have all given away accommodation for free. Care and Share Wien is for people to share tips and also give away anything they no longer want or for others to get (like a furniture bank, but people have also offered massage etc.) SADLY Jerk Tech is turning these via commodification into the kind of economy that is money based instead of favor or friendship- solidarity based. FOR example Uber (turning sites like freewheelers.com) and Air BnB (so people do not offer rooms for free anymore) are 2 that have monetarized things that were there for free sharing.

Having said that there are a bunch of sites where people have been looking at alternative currencies and economics. One is called Value For People
http://valueforpeople.co.uk/

and is run by John Rogers - he is a consultant that has worked on helping people to set up time banks (which is essentially what you are proposing - though you want to avoid the commodification aspect that stops people only doing it for money). I know John personally and ontop of a great first name :P he also is a very apporachable person.

Another is Reconomy where Kevin Parcell is trying to build a global level time bank. http://reconomyglobaltimebank.net/

I can give you these guys´ contacts and more if you want?

I have more thoughts, but to keep the post manageble I want to give some quick feedback on the points you ask about specifically:

1. this is a new idea, never (to my knowledge) tried,

It has been tried on a local level - it is a form of cooperative, whereby everyone agrees the value of a task. Also some ecovillages do this with rewards (kind of like stars) for nice things done - but without obligation. BUT for sure I never came accross this at a successful international level. PERHAPS on sharewiki http://sharewiki.org/en/Main_Page (but it is a hard site to navigate)

but there are related ideas, such as Time Banking, and local currencies.

YES

However, none of those have focussed on the hobbies people are good at, that they love doing, but that they don't want to do professionally.

True - but there has been something like this with the Arts and Crafts movement (1880s England) and nowadays Maker Fayres

These are the things that, for many people, give life meaning. When I explain MoochMe to non-moochers, they invariably (mis)interpret as something that's already been done. How can I explain this idea quicker and more clearly?

I would relate it to the Living Library concept - in the Living Libraries you "borrow a person" who is a book so for example I can borrow a rock star, a wheelchair user or a small girl - and then I can "read" the book as in ask questions of them and they answer them. There is no set time or requirements.

SO I would say that Moochme is "Borrowing a friend" in that way so they are PRACTICAL MANUAL or a service rather than a product - so your service might be portrait photography or pottery - this is distinct from you giving away pictures or pottery or furniture you made. THOSE aspects woudl have a cost just like mooching a book also costs in postage, book purchase cost, packaging (these are externalized in our Bookmooch market) and we trade only on book to book basis.

2 how should the exchange currency work? I dislike the time banking concept of "1 hour spent is 1 hour earned" because, like communism, it doesn't reward improving your efficiency, your quality, and doesn't reward years of effort to get to this point. At the same time, if everyone prices their work with variable "mooch points" this idea could very quickly feel like a marketplace, more like etsy, than a non-professional exchange. Another possibility is for MoochMe to operate without a currency: reputation is all that matters.

Reputation is a hard thing to measure as it is very variable, perhaps my friends like me so they say my crappy art paintings are good, but professional artists won`t let me exhibit with their artistically superior works? It affects their standing to be mixed in with worse stuff - I cannot just go on peer review.

I like the simple idea of different levels - so hobbyist (1): experienced (2): master craftsman (3) - and that each service is rated by the recipient and the offerer. It could be more complicated in that you have to give away some 1 pointers before you can offer 3 pointers (so the community is rating you with a reputation). As it is a service it is not based on a value time-wise nor cost-wise. So it does not become a market place. AGAIN it works on trust - the key thing is how can you see someone´s quality of work? And what if you are not happy? I think that Bookmoochers understand some trades do not go well with books, but here I am not so sure.

3. Many people lack the self-confidence

That can be improved by a standard form to help people and support from the community.

or don't want to make the effort to very clearly describe what they can do.

If they don´t want to make the effort then they are not reliable. AGAIN a simple way of doing this helps - that can grow with some thought on categories. I would say to keep it simple with only a few to start with so Language services, visual arts, cooking - 10 top categories to begin with. And then allow new ones to develop organically when there is a community to support them. Subcategories can be there for people to describe - for example - I come and perform music: could be all kinds of music.

Fiverr.com does a great job of getting around that problem. I like and use Fiverr, but to me that site feels like exploitation, and Fiverr actively discourages the social dimension to the work.

Fiverr seems to be focused on a business model of the world. Some of us want to help people and share our time. I think that we can build the social dimension and perhaps we can do that with some others like Michel Bauwens of the P2P Society - who I also know.

I think we can support the social dimension, but this might work with MoochMe meetups? I would want to support people to have useful hobbies - and not have 90% of people making Xmass cards - that they like doing, yet there is no real market / demand for. So this suggests bigger ideas, such as we see with Gamification that the Kahn Academy does where people learn skills for badges. I am personally not a big fan of that - but it does work and I would like to improve my repertoir - for example I can write poetry in French and English, but have written very little in Latin or Finnish and none in German, so to understand some of those forms could be good. And at the same time I cannot play guitar - so I am happy to share tips in creative writing for help in playing music - THIS kind of social experience and dimension can be encouraged. IT IS SLIGHTLY different as there is an emergent property of building a community and NOT just swapping something.

I did a similar project called Collective Kitchens - it worked very simply like this: A different ethnic food would be decided upon, someone would be Chef de Cuisine and anyone who wanted could take part. The Chef would order the food, share tips and the others would cook, shop and wash-up. Everyone paid the same and everyone got to eat good food and we socialized. As we were a very international group we had French, Italian, English, Swedish, Finnish, Indian and even Australian food cooked on different times. Poor cooks got better, good cooks learnt new techniques, people ate cheaper, less food was used etc. Everyone had a social circle once a week - and no pressure to do what they could not - anyone can carry food from the store or clean a table.

I hope these few thoughts help

m