Parts Swap

CD Forum Support
1

I was browsing the new posts this afternoon, and I came across one thread that gave me an idea:

In that thread, DeepWater inquired about a “Parts Swap” section on the forums. There’s currently nothing like that here, but I think it would be a great idea to have something like this. I think it would be an extremely valuable resource, especially during build season, when you’re looking for that one little kit part you lost or broke.

There are, as I see it, two ways to handle such a system. The first method would be to simply set up a “Parts Swap” forum, and let people post threads when they need something, or have extra parts to give out. While this method requires little work, it is also imperfect. People could easily overlook such a forum in the masses of subforums already on this site. Also, while it would be easy for people to browse and see what is needed, it would be much harder to find what is available, as users would be less likely to post when they have something to give away than they would be if they need a part.

The other solution is to create a separate parts-matching section on this website (or hosted off-site, for that matter, but CD gets the most visibility). Users with extra parts that they would like to trade could post what they have available, and users who need a specific part could post a listing for what they need. They could also include what they would like in return (money, other parts, team shirts/buttons, etc.). Then, other forum users could browse these listings, to see if something they need is available, or if someone else needs a part they have. The listings could include a contact feature, where people would type in what they offer for a trade, and then automatically email or PM that trade offer to the poster. If the poster accepts the trade, he contacts the buyer (or seller) through the system and when the trade is completed, the posting gets removed.

So, in essence, this becomes like a FIRST Classified ad system. It would predominantly be used for motors and other kit parts, but it could be used for anything teams have available or need.

With that, I’d like to ask for some feedback on this idea. Would you use a system like this if you needed parts? Do you think it improves on the current processes for when you need parts? Will Brandon kill me for suggesting such a time-intensive feature? Let me know what you think.

2

Hmm… I’ll add it to my todo list … it wouldn’t take that long, I don’t think.

3

Jeff,

I really like the idea. We had a parts swap forum on the Canadian Regional website this past season, and it worked wonderfully. It was different in nature, in that the Canadian forums are a lot smaller. The idea of the parts matching section would be a great improvement to handle the larger amount of traffic.
On recommendation I would add, is some sort of location filter. The reason the Canadian Regional parts swap forum was such a success, was because it was used extensively by the Toronto area teams. You posted a message about needing something, some responded saying they had, and bang you went to pick up the next day. No awkward and expensive shipping. I could see this being of special use for teams who come from densely packed FIRST territories, like Oakland County for example.

4

i was just giving a thought to this and i think the best place would be either of site and linked to cd, or at a site like, partswap.chiefdelphi.com. I think that maybe it could be set up through an online searchable database, sorta like ebay, where the option of including a photo is available but only at last resort if they dont completly know the name of the item. I think would be a great feature and it would work best. I think the only way though that it would work is to have 2 sections in it, the extra parts from a team, and the requested/needed parts for a team. Ill try to see if i can come up with a demo page and then temp host it to show what my thoughts are.

5

Brandon, I’m sure you know, but there are many different pieces of freely available software for doing web-based classifieds. I know most CMSs have free modules that handle it. (I only found one mod for vBulletin and it costs $500, so I imagine its out of the question.) You might adapt some other CMS classified mod if you don’t want to write it from scratch.

6

I have the thing written already – in the back of my head… :slight_smile:
I may code it up tonight or tomorrow, its nothing too huge.

My todo list is huge. I’m trying to figure out what to start on …

7

This definitely sounds like a great idea to me. I did not see this thread until Brandon brought it to my attention, but here are my throughts from the other thread I started yesterday about this same idea.

"
Some of the other FIRSTERs here at MSOE and I were discussing this the other day. The thread I saw about FIRST items on Ebay reminded me to post this idea.

What if there was a section here on Chiefdelphi.com called “FIRSTbay” where anyone in FIRST could sell anything? Primarily we were thinking that FIRST teams could sell off old motors, t-shirts, or even old robots if they were desperate for money. I realize that a lot of teams are willing to just give most of these items (well, not their robots) to other teams in need, but perhaps motors and other items of that nature could be sold for like $5 or something.

I suppose it could be broken up into a couple of sections - one for teams and one for individuals. The teams could post what they have there (I suppose they could post things with prices of $0…just a way to let other teams know what they have) as mentioned above. Individuals wouldn’t necessarily need to be restricted to FIRST items to sell and/or auction, but there would have to be some limits as to what they’d need to sell. As a college student, it could be a good way to find college books cheap.

These are just some ideas and there would definitely have to be some rules in place concerning what could or could not be offered. The transaction process would also, most likely, have to be left up to the two parties involved in a sale…i.e. Chiefdelphi would not be responsible whatsoever for shipping and payment arrangements."

Kev

8

I know iF (the Inspiration Foundation Inc.) came up with this idea a while ago. We just didn’t have anyone to develop the software basically. I’m sure if help is needed, we’d be happy to help. We just need a programmer that has the time. TTYL.

~Leon

9

An update …

I have most of the data model done, just need to do the interface.
Listen-To, and tonight work, has been taking up alot of my time.
It shouldn’t be hard once I get the time…

10

Wow, it’s been a while since I said “yeah, no big deal.”

So, yesterday (2-4 months later) I took some time to more or less finish up the parts swap system.

I have a request, though, and hope that someone knows where I can get this information from (without having to pay). I need non-US zip-codes (or countries equivalent code), and their corresponding latitude and longitudes. For the parts swap, you will be able to narrow down your search for parts within 10, 100, 250, all the way up to 500 miles. The only problem I have is that the only data I could find was for the United States, so those of you in Canada, Brazil, etc, won’t be able to search the system using mileage as a factor. I’m not sure how big of a deal that would be, since with FedEx and UPS, you can pretty much overnight stuff anywhere.

So, I’ve got a bit more testing to do, and then I’m going to open it up for use. If anybody has the information I’ve requested, please PM or e-mail me.

Thanks.

11

I stumbled across the scripts to calculate the distance between postal codes, and remembered that I never got ahold of non-US postal code data. I wondered if anybody has time to do some research and find this data (legally, without having to pay for it)? I have all the US postal codes, but nothing for other countries.

Thanks