h a l f b a k e r yRenovating the wheel
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Travellers often open their hotel minibar, sigh at the prices, and close it again. Or they take one drink, wish for something else, and leave behind the rest. Meanwhile, the guest in the next room may be craving exactly that overpriced ginger ale you regret buying.
The Hotel Minibar Exchange is
a floor-localized trading app. People may bring and sell their own snacks or perform arbitrage from the existing minibar. A bottle of Perrier for a packet of almonds. Half a Toblerone for two mini-vodkas. Reduces waste of perfectly sealed items. Adds a small thrill of bartering to otherwise sterile hotel stays. Creates the illusion of community among people pretending not to see each other in the corridor.
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I'll buy you a drink ... (+) |
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I'll swap you a half-eaten croissant for a 20cl bottle of champagne [+] |
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A few of the colonies. Loud but friendly. |
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It's got to be done with a private app. No hotel will allow commercial or barter transactions that affect its bottom line and the incredibly huge markups on snacks and drinks. |
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Launch the app and enter what you've got to trade. Proximity sensing lets you know what is on offer in your small "neighborhood" of other lodgers. Without giving away your room number you meet to do the exchange at a convenient ice machine. OK! Pringles and gin! |
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Gonna be in Washington by chance? |
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I thought you were bargaining for a haircut. |
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That would require a secondary market in haircuts. Services (such as haircuts) are generally harder to on-sell than products. If you could find a way to make that work then (a) you might become extremely rich by enabling the off-shoring of whole new sectors to low- wage countries but (b) you might then need to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder for angry men with straight-edge razors. |
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[pertinax] The barber shops are doing the barbitrage, not the customers. Brings to mind: |
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An established barber in a small town notices a new barber shop opening directly across the street with a fancy storefront and a big sign "$6 Haircuts!!!" |
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That's not a living wage for our barber and he doesn't know what to do. Lower his price? No can do. He comes up with a genius advertising idea: |
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