I know just a little about Neighborgoods. @mickipedia (twitter id) is the founder, she's based in Los Angeles, and even before starting this site, she's been interested in the environment for a bit. I don't know her personally, but she seems constructive and smart and funny.
As for monetizing it, since their system will/does support renting/loaning between people, I imagine they can take a cut of that? Maybe membership? (Now i'm just guessing)
I in no way mentioned Neighborgoods as a reason you should stop working on your project, but rather something to validate it! (Yep, I'm one of those polyanna's... :D)
I really do think you should open source it though, or at least big chunks of it, even if you do a hosted service. (I can save the reasons for this for another time.)
As for eBay rep, I don't think it should replace an internal reputation system, but especially in the early goings, what could it hurt? And not just eBay, selective data from as many 3rd party places as possible. Even a Twitter account that's more than 6 months old could make some people (like me) more comfortable loaning certain kinds of things.
And man... I think there's so much wasted cycles on sites like Freecycle and Craigslist free section... basically there is no item "management." Even when stuff is free, so many inquiries on stuff that's gone, or redundant follow-up letters to tell people it's taken, etc. I know your system is a different use-case than give-aways, but I see an overlap in need and purpose, and stuff + relationship management is applicable to multiple situations (and similar demographics of people who like to be resourceful).
As for beta of NeighborGoods, I have an invite for you. I will hit you up on the email I found in your profile.
As for monetizing it, since their system will/does support renting/loaning between people, I imagine they can take a cut of that? Maybe membership? (Now i'm just guessing)
I in no way mentioned Neighborgoods as a reason you should stop working on your project, but rather something to validate it! (Yep, I'm one of those polyanna's... :D)
I really do think you should open source it though, or at least big chunks of it, even if you do a hosted service. (I can save the reasons for this for another time.)
As for eBay rep, I don't think it should replace an internal reputation system, but especially in the early goings, what could it hurt? And not just eBay, selective data from as many 3rd party places as possible. Even a Twitter account that's more than 6 months old could make some people (like me) more comfortable loaning certain kinds of things.
And man... I think there's so much wasted cycles on sites like Freecycle and Craigslist free section... basically there is no item "management." Even when stuff is free, so many inquiries on stuff that's gone, or redundant follow-up letters to tell people it's taken, etc. I know your system is a different use-case than give-aways, but I see an overlap in need and purpose, and stuff + relationship management is applicable to multiple situations (and similar demographics of people who like to be resourceful).
As for beta of NeighborGoods, I have an invite for you. I will hit you up on the email I found in your profile.