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Migratory Junk Box Loss

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LAN_403

rp181

Fri May 14 2010, 11:52AM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

I will see what I have, atleast 1 cm600 and some nice IGBT drivers.

quicksilver

Fri May 14 2010, 02:00PM

Registered Member #1408 Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679

I would like to start one in the South West USA. I'm here in Arizona & there are a lot of folks in this geographical area.
I'm happy to help but to loose a whole log book after a length of time is a real drag.
I have quite a bit of stuff & I am really happy to give it to someone who would use it. but I really don't want it thrown out. It would be a serious waste to have a collection of Laser diodes or high current SCR's thrown in the trash especially if someone was waiting for the box to get to them for those items, per se'.

IntraWinding

Fri May 14 2010, 06:12PM

Registered Member #2261 Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581

A central box for the UK sounds good. Does the rest of Europe need a separate one?

Nicko

Fri May 14 2010, 06:54PM

Registered Member #1334 Joined: Tue Feb 19 2008, 04:37PM
Location: Nr. London, UK
Posts: 615

My problem is that the UK box is small, and full. Some of the stuff I want to get rid of is big and/or heavy, so its a(n expensive) pain to ship - the nature of what we do means that will be the case.

Maybe we should have a rather better swap meet etc. at Cambridge/Derby/Whereever. No way am I bunging big lumps of iron in a box and shipping it.

Cheers

Conundrum

Fri May 14 2010, 07:31PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4062

hmm..
same here. i donated a lot of stuff to the various boxes but what i have left is also very heavy with the exception of some of the laser and mobile transponder stuff.

one possible solution may be for the UK and EU users to decide what stuff from their respective boxes to donate to the new one.
this would save on postage methinks.

-A

Avalanche

Fri May 14 2010, 09:15PM

Registered Member #103 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845

why not consider a 'virtual' box where an inventory is kept online, and anyone can add to the inventory, then swaps can be set up and physical postage is kept direct and minimum. Could start out as a simple forum thing, and possibly even progress to a database with some kind of front end that allows one user at a time a bit like a real box!

I have absolutely loads of stuff I'd happily give away, but I wouldn't want to try and cram it all into a box and post it onto someone who would then post most of it on again.

I know it slightly defeats the object of the whole box idea, but it might be more suitable for heavy stuff?

Chris Russell

Sat May 15 2010, 04:43AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Avalanche wrote ...

why not consider a 'virtual' box where an inventory is kept online, and anyone can add to the inventory, then swaps can be set up and physical postage is kept direct and minimum. Could start out as a simple forum thing, and possibly even progress to a database with some kind of front end that allows one user at a time a bit like a real box!

There are a few problems with operating a virtual junkbox. As seen with the migratory junk box, people who do express an interest seldom bother to let anyone know that they are no longer interested. People are tend to have vacations, personal emergencies, and all sorts of things that get in the way of being able to send out a package on short notice. This means that the inventory of what's available in such a box is, at best, uncertain.

For people who'd rather swap stuff directly, and for items too heavy to be sent to an intermediary, a more sensible approach is to create a swap/freebie board that is cleaned out regularly. This way, there's no chance for it to become choked with stale or inaccurate information about what is available.

Martin King

Mon Aug 16 2010, 11:39PM

Registered Member #3040 Joined: Tue Jul 27 2010, 03:15PM
Location: South of London. UK
Posts: 237

Nicko wrote ...

My problem is that the UK box is small, and full. Some of the stuff I want to get rid of is big and/or heavy, so its a(n expensive) pain to ship - the nature of what we do means that will be the case.

Maybe we should have a rather better swap meet etc. at Cambridge/Derby/Whereever. No way am I bunging big lumps of iron in a box and shipping it.

Cheers

One alternative to proper shipping is to set up a "courier" thread. Unfortunately it needs a fair number of active participants who travel a reasonable amount to make it work and you can't be in a hurry for the bits. For example I don't live that far from you and travel to Tonbridge a fair bit and am driving up to Birmingham tomorrow so with enough notice I could easily have got something from you to Birmingham (or in between) with maybe someone else able to complete the journey. It sounds unworkable but I have participated in a similar scheme and it often works quite well. Ideally the recipient needs to have a car/other suitable transport and be willing to complete the last leg if the transfer stalls somewhere.

Martin.

Dave Marshall

Tue Aug 17 2010, 12:50AM

Registered Member #16 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554

Chris Russell wrote ...
For people who'd rather swap stuff directly, and for items too heavy to be sent to an intermediary, a more sensible approach is to create a swap/freebie board that is cleaned out regularly. This way, there's no chance for it to become choked with stale or inaccurate information about what is available.

Chris, how about a bookmooch style system that would allow people to get stuff without both parties having something the other wants?

-Dave

Conundrum

Tue Aug 17 2010, 06:50PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4062

Sounds like a good idea, if the costs of the courier are zero for <n kg, then the cost to each party becomes negligible.

Not so good if you are travelling by air however, the weight of a 10 kilo box even included in existing luggage can exceed five times the cost of the most expensive postal option.

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