I’ve had some wonderful experiences here lately, not that odd really, but somehow things have really become giving around here lately. And that has got me thinking.
With the Secret Santa GB beginning to form, a wonderful idea of giving and feeding our obsession and Goldhammer going out of his way to fill one of my “have to have” kits on his own, I’ve been inspired. So here is my idea. Let me know what all of you think.
All of us have kits or bits we want or need. Some of this stuff is hard for us to find or afford giving each members unique situation. I propose this idea for the members. Obviously, this would be strictly voluntary and by no means required, just a nice thing to do for each other.
Why not have a list of ONE kit or bit (PE or resin or whatever) that you want, but don’t have in your stash. Perhaps it’s hard to find, perhaps it’s just out of reach for you? The list would be posted in a running thread, updated on the front page to show who wants/needs what. Then as other members stumble across these items/kits they can, if THEY wish, get them and send them to the other member on a strictly PAY IT FORWARD basis. No end date, just let it run. No exchange of funds allowed, and no worrying whether or not you spent enough. Just giving back to one another as each member that chooses to participate sees fit.
I really like the idea, it kinda goes on anyway, just quietly behind the scenes. Let’s bring it out and help other members fill their need/addiction.
I think the original idea is a good one. As for a swap meet, my reading is that it’s against the forum rules. I don’t know what that means in terms of any enforcement, but i would guess that Aaron would prefer it not be a thread or a regular post.
I’ve seen people doing this around here for quite awhile, I have even helped out individuals who were looking for a specific part that I had and wasnt going to use. And others have done the same for me. I thnk a thread or section devoted to that is awesome. I know I’ve seen threads on other pages devoted to a similar kind of thing and it seems to work fine.
Ya, further thought on the Swap meet idea does spell its doom. I do think having a section for us to post items we are trying to find. Whether its kits or parts or whatever. Nothing to change hands, at least not swapping or buying, just a way for us to help one another out.
Say your wanting to find a kit you really want but just haven’t seen in a while. Perhaps I find one somewhere and decide to go ahead and pick it up and send it to you. That’s it, nothing more. Just us feeding our own addictions and feeling good about it.
Can’t do the trade thingy, it’s not allowed. So, it would be a “pay it forward” thread where we do super cool, nice things just because we feel like it.
It sounds like a great idea if Finescale would go for it. But what about shipping costs? Would it be okay to ask for reimbursement of them? I have quite a few kits I could part with but shipping could get expensive.
I would think that just a “I’m looking for…” page would work, then the members can go to a PM communication to go from there. Then all that is there is the first post and maybe a reply of “PM sent”, and that is all that would be allowed and put in big print as a sticky.
I agree Goldhammer. The idea is we all have things we want or need and with all the extra sets of eyes out there looking someone is bound to see something that fits the bill. Then we can let each other know what we saw, where, etc.
Then if a member feels like being generous or kind to the other, great. If it only helps the other member locate something, they can relay that info to the member and they can follow up outside of the forums. Either way, we help each other out. That is the idea behind what I am thinking.
This sounds cool, just a suggestion to maybe add a way for folks who may not want to " pay it forward" but would be willing to pass on information on an item someone is looking for. If one comes across the item, ask for as much information as possible about how an individual from another location might obtain it. Then pass that on to the searcher. I personally have a hard time receiving something simply cause I’m looking for it, however I REALLY do like the idea laid out above, not enough nice things happening these days and this is a refreshing idea.