Get started
Support Scoodi
Go Greener, Australia
Monday, 10th November, 2008 | spread the word | No Comments
Check out this really excellent blog called “Go Greener, Australia”.
Julie has started collecting lots of good information that we can all use to make our environment greener. Take some time to read the about page, Julie makes the point that we are all personally responsible for making change happen.
I managed to find the blog, because Julie mentioned Scoodi in one of her posts on saving money, timely information given the current financial climate.
Thanks for your hard work Julie 
Cheers
Pete
Not been getting your daily email fix?
Monday, 3rd November, 2008 | support | No Comments
It looks like we have been having some issues with the Scoodi email alerts. Email is a funny thing, we get as many people ask us how to turn them off as we do people who notified us that they had stopped receiving them.
If you are a fan of the emails then you will be happy to know that we have resolved the issue, and your next email, full of re-use goodness should be on its way imminently.
Email is not for everyone, so if you are not a fan of the email alerts then take a look at setting up an RSS feed for all the new listings on Scoodi.
Thanks very much to all those who let us know they had not been receiving their daily emails.
Good Luck
Pete
Map issues
Sunday, 26th October, 2008 | support | No Comments
Thanks to everyone who notified us of the problems with the maps on items. Scoodi uses Google maps, and we had some issues that caused the box and controls to not work correctly.
Scoodi is run and maintained by a small group of volunteers, so we really appreciate feedback from users when something is not working. It’s taken us a few days to get it sorted, so thanks for your patience.
Best of Luck, and thanks for contributing to the Scoodi community.
Cheers
Pete
Buyer protection.
Thursday, 2nd October, 2008 | usage | No Comments
As part of the eCommerce revolution, there has been a transition from the purchase of things locally, to the use of online shopping and associated postage of goods. The ability of the web to aggregate price data and provide a mechanism to purchase at the cheapest price, usually takes place with little consideration for geography. Posting items, and paying online has become “normal”.
In the real world of people and stuff this model starts to break down. You start to work with individual people (isn’t that nice) rather than commercial organizations that have insurance, registered post and complaint departments to deal with transaction issues. In the world of real people, there is significantly less protection for individuals when items are posted but do not arrive, they are damaged, funds are not transferred etc.
This situation existed long before Scoodi arrived, and it has been an issue that has plagued many sites and also the classified market that were the precursor to the online markets. Many attempts have been made to provide members of these communities with buyer protection, to provide dispute resolution, to insure people against bad transactions. It’s complicated, it’s confusing and it’s not fun.
“Act local” lets you decide if an item is close enough to go and pick it up. If it’s a fridge you might drive across town, but if it’s a book you might only be willing to ride your bike a few blocks. When you list your items, mark them as “pickup only”. If people ask you to post it, then politely tell them that you do not wish to post the item - it really is fine to say no.
The reality of picking up an item is that it’s the best buyer protection you are ever going to get. Turn up, look at the item. If its not what you are expecting then the seller can simply relist the item and you walk away with your funds intact. In most cases though, you will pick up the item and it will be just what you wanted, the seller will be happy and you will be happy - no stress, no waiting for things to arrive in the post, no wondering if you’re going to loose your cash.
So, if you want buyer protection then just walk up and say hello.
Cheers
Pete
Photo uploading with internet explorer 6
Wednesday, 17th September, 2008 | support | 2 Comments
Thanks to all those Scoodi users that reported, and helped us fix the photo upload problems we were having with Internet Explorer 6.
We are pretty sure that we have resolved it now, so if anyone has problems uploading their photo’s then please let us know.
Good luck
Pete
Issues with some browsers
Saturday, 13th September, 2008 | support | No Comments
It seems that some people are having problems with Scoodi when they use internet explorer 6 or 7 browsers (the default on windows). The issue seems to be that the “make and offer”, and “ask a question” buttons do not appear on the item pages.
If anyone is able to reproduce this problem, then we could really use some information so that we can work out what is causing this issue and get it fixed. This issue seems isolated to the internet explorer browsers, so if you are having this issue then try the free Firefox browser whilst we work on a fix. 
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pete
Update:
We released some patches today, and we hope the issue with the offer and message buttons has been fixed. Please let us know if it it is working for you now, or if you are still having problems.
We think we might have a lead on the issue with uploading photos as well, we should have a fix in the next day or so.
Thanks for your help and feedback
Pete
New Scoodi features - September 2008
Tuesday, 9th September, 2008 | news, usage | No Comments
Scoodi released a new set of features last night. We hope these changes make the site easier to use, and respond to a lot of the feedback we have been receiving about wanted items, and moderation.
There is a wanted item type now, so now you can specifically search the wanted items to see what people near by are looking for. If you see someone that is looking for something, but they have listed it as a free or sell item then please send them a message and let them know that they can now change it. If you have existing wanted items off your own on Scoodi, just click edit on the item, and then under the description box you can set the item to type to wanted.
In addition to wanted items, there is now also a swap item type. This is great for DVD’s, Books, CD’s etc so that you can start to trade those DVD’s you own and have watched, with your neighbors DVD’s that you haven’t seen. Keeping these items moving is great for re-use.
We have also had a lot of feedback about moderating the items on Scoodi. It seemed to us that it would be better for us to empower all our users to see only the items they are interested in, rather than have the site moderated. It seems everyone has a different idea on what should, and should not be on Scoodi.
When you do a search you will see the “Refine Search” box has changed. In that box, you can pick the item types that you are interested in (free, sell, swap and wanted), you can pick how you want them displayed (closest, cheapest, latest), and we have also made it easier for you to change your current location and control the distance you want to search. These settings are “sticky”. Once set them, you can click around the tag cloud or search, just seeing the items you want and Scoodi will hide the items you don’t want. Maybe we could call it “moderation through choice”.
Good Luck
Pete
What items are valid on Scoodi
Friday, 5th September, 2008 | usage | No Comments
When we started Scoodi, we had a clear idea of what we wanted Scoodi to be used for. We wanted people to take all those things they stored up around the house but never used, and place them on Scoodi so that someone else can use them. We believe the process of re-use increases the amount of value recovered from the environmental cost of manufacture, it finds items for people at a reduced financial cost, and it connects local communities together.
In the very early days, that’s exactly what Scoodi did, because it was the people that built Scoodi that were first to use it. As time goes on though, we discover that people have different ideas. There are items on Scoodi that we never thought we would see, and with some of them its hard see how they fit into the ideas of re-use. Real estate, rooms for rent, pets, notices etc, items which strictly speaking, are not “stuff”.
One thing we have learned along the way, is that building a website like Scoodi does not define what the website will be used for, and its actually the users of the site that provide the content and value. New members bring with them new idea’s, or see other ways they can contribute to the Scoodi community and their ideas may be quite different to the ideas that we originally started with. This leaves us with a number of options. We can try and control the content and force our ideas onto the Scoodi community, but that’s not the Scoodi way. Better still, we can watch, listen, learn and tolerate, and over time adapt Scoodi to be useful and valuable to all Scoodi members.
For quite a while, we have been watching wanted items, and its clear to us now that there is a need for people to list the things they want, so you will see wanted items handled better on Scoodi in the next few weeks. We also see that people look at “All the latest stuff”, and as the amount of content on Scoodi increase we would encourage people to reduce the distance that they search so they can find items local to them. “All the latest stuff” is interesting, but it has nothing to do with acting locally, and Scoodi was built to act local
So together we watch Scoodi grow. If you see an item that is in-appropriate, an business or service ad, retail or wholesale, then we encourage people to report these items and they will be removed from the site. But if a listing is not an item or it does not quite fit with “re-use”, then let us know (via feedback), we might just learn something.
- Pete
Scoodi gets a mention in Map Magazine
Monday, 25th August, 2008 | news, spread the word | No Comments
This month sees the 100th edition of Map Magazine.
Editors memo: “Since map did its very first Eco issue, back in 2006, general awareness about living in a greener lifestyle has increased dramatically. We can now green all parts of our lives, from our clothing, houses and cars, to our food, travel and even our pets. But for those who feel a little overwhelmed by all the eco-friendly options and finding exactly where to start, there’s a simple way to make your life more planet friendly; simply slow it down and appreciate the small things. Have a picnic with friends. Borrow a book form the library. Shop at your local farmers markets. Revel in the gentle moments spent with loved ones. Leave someone a thank-you note, simply because. Read a child a story. Smile at a stranger. Wake-up early just to see the sunrise. And take the time to smell the flowers, pat the dogs and breathe in the beautiful fresh air along the way. Welcome to our 100th issue, our Eco issue, to be enjoyed at your own pace.” Mikki Brammer, Map Magazine Editor
Thanks to everyone at Map Magazine for telling people about Scoodi. You can find mention of Scoodi on page 16, as one of the many easy ways to re-use and act more sustainably.
If you didn’t get a copy, you can read it online at Map Magazine.
Good Luck
Pete
Book theory
Wednesday, 20th August, 2008 | Stuff | No Comments
Scoodi was built on a number of theories we came up with, about Stuff. Book theory was one of those theories, but its not just about books. 
I have listed a book I read recently on Scoodi for Free. The book is a current best seller, and its in perfect condition. It cost me about $15 when I bought it a few months ago.
Common logic would suggest I put this book up for sale, maybe $5 - someone will save $10 and should be happy. For arguments sake, lets say they also have a best seller, in the same condition as mine - lets say they have it on Scoodi for $5, and someone buys it from them. If you continue this argument - you end up with books going one way and $5 going the other - the net effect is that nobody is keeping the $5 so you are no better off.
The other side of the $5 argument is this; someone has to come and pick up your book - they have both time and transport costs to collect it. The book cost in their mind is the $5 financial cost for the book PLUS the cost to pick it up. The reality is that the seller will think $5 is cheap for the book, but its probably not a bargain for the buyer. This increases the chance that it won’t sell, the seller does not get their money and the item does not get re-used, and that’s bad.
From an environmental perspective, the cost of extraction, manufacture, printing and transportation of the book is a fixed environmental cost for the first reader, so from an environmental perspective keeping the book moving is one of the great things we can do to maximise re-use.
So, Book theory goes something like;
- If you sell a book and buy a book, you are no better of financially (but you got to read them both).
- To the buyer, the book is more expensive than the seller thinks - so charging for it reduces re-use.
- Re-use of books is great for extracting maximum value from the environmental cost of producing the book in the first place.
- Book theory is just a name, it applies just as well to CD’s, DVD’s or any number of other items around your house.
So, get a book and post if on Scoodi for free. If you just can’t bear to give it away, then make it clear you want to swap it with someone, and then you both get a new book to read. Just don’t charge for it - its a no win game.
Good Luck
Pete