CPAPtalk.com

The idea for this site is simply to allow users who want to trade masks to find each other, arrange the trade, and deal with the fallout themselves

Great Blarg, do it. One action is worth a 1000 words and this will be a step forward, its progress and I love it.

Ok so Blarg will have release 1 of MaskTrade in action soon.

Can I open up a discussion on release 2?
I see a situation where I have mask A, and want Mask B. But the owner of Mask B wants Mask C and the owner of Mask C wants Mask A. This is the collective idea. Can we have system where I offer a Mask A and get system credit for one mask which I can then use to get Mask C. Yes its an honor system, yes there are going to be ripoffs, but maybe its worth it. Maybe receivers can offe their e-bay rating as a sign of credit worthiness Then people offering masks have the right to refuse requests based on the receivers reported credit-worthiness. Use acknowledgement of receipt as an internal reliability report.

Legal issues. When a person offers a mask, maybe they also send in a release of liability form or something.

Just ideas, I love what Blarg is doing. Its the doing thats important. Ideas are like snowflakes, pretty to look at but fade fast when they hit the ground of reality. Thanks Blarg

John

Currently, what we're doing is using a straight up bartering system. When you say you have a mask available for trade, you say what you would accept as a trade for it. There's no value system or anything like that, because you can't really put value on used masks other than what they originally cost, which is NOT representative at all of what's going on. Just because you want to trade your Hybrid for a Comfort Gel doesn't mean that the person trading the comfort gel should get less credit for the trade.

Basically what I'm saying is when you get into stuff like group trades, the paperwork becomes a nightmare and also harder for people to understand, which I think would do more to clutter things and confuse people than it would to help. It's probably not that common of a situation either.

Also, I already have categories in there for replacement cushions and nasal pillows, they're just not published, so you could use this site to trade those as well once I get all the core functionality there. (Example: I have a set of medium Aura pillows I'd trade for a large...)

Sounds like a great idea, especually for hybrid users that get 3 sets of cushions and pillows with each mask and typically will only need 1 size of each. you could trade the unused for your size.

I doubt I would use it for trading masks or wouldn't very often, but would definitely be interested in a section where people could trade interfaces or find people to trade with regularly.

(I use Aura/Headrest/whatever in size L, but they usually send both M & L. So if I found one in the same boat that uses size M, we could regularly swap).

Maybe a simplified version would be best. Could you create a new section on this site for mask exchanges and sales? If there are complicated transactions like the one listed above, those involved can work it out. Otherwise, anyone can go in and post masks they want to borrow, buy, trade, loan or sell.

Just my .01 worth (not sure its worth .02).

Great idea, sound like alot of work for someone.
I have one mask for sale. I've already sold one on this forum for about half what I paid.

In order to do this everyone would need to very clear about the exact type of mask and the exact size. Some masks have several size options and me FF mask is limited because it is a small/shallow so clarity would be important. Also if headgear, hoses, etc are included.

Just my 2.5 cents

blarg,

I visited your site under construction. This seems like such a great idea. I agree that it would be best to just have a place to list "I have to trade" and another that has "I'd like to get."

Chances are that there won't be all that many active posts at any one time, but users can create their own 3 way trades by comparing the lists and emailing one another.

Thanks for getting this started. Hope I don't need it!

Jeff

To answer the concerns, yes, you do need to know what size, and yes you'll be able to tell.

Basically, the site is going to appear like a store. If someone has a mask available to trade, it'll magically appear in the available masks because it'll be "in stock". As soon as it's marked to trade, it'll disappear. And yes, this includes specific sizes of masks. It doesn't now, but when you look at the mask in detail, it'll tell you what the person trading it wants for it, and if there's more than one person trading, it'll tell you what all the possible masks/people are. For example, "This is an Aura with M and L pillows, and Blarg(5) would accept a UMFF Medium or a Breeze with M pillows to trade." The users will have feedback just like on eBay. If not now, soon.

When you go to add it to your cart, you'll have to select one of your available masks to trade with them out of the list of what they want and what you have available.

I could also easily have a forum section, but at least for now I'd really like to avoid having people selling masks until I get the trading part done.

I love the idea of a mask swap forum, personally I have purchased and traded several masks on the forum just by posting, and I think it would be great to have a website that was just for such purpose.
It seens everyone has a "mask drawer" of masks that just didnt work out for whatever reason, trading for something that might work seems easier on the wallet than simply buying new again.

Blarg,

I would suggest that you also include whether the mask is from a smoke free home.

Blarg,

Could you add a place as to whether the mask is from a smoking or non-smoking home?

Speaking of a smoking home, I got an Aura from a smoker and was able to get most of the smell out. But the Medium Aura pillow still smells like smoke. And I only use the Large pillow anyway.

If there are any smokers out there who use a Medium Aura pillow, I would be glad to send it to you.

Smoking/non-smoking home would be a great feature for revision 2.

Basically it'll go like this:
User 1 says they have mask to trade.
User 2 finds that mask and offers one of the accepted ones to trade with.
Both parties are sent an email stating that their trade is pending.
They both then have the option to confirm or cancel the trade, given the other person's shipping address (Say it's obviously fake for example) and email address (actually email the person and chat and stuff if you want).
Once it's confirmed, you'll then be given the option to leave feedback for each other.

Right now, you'd just take care of the smoking bit before you confirmed the trade by asking.

Could you include things like chin straps too? I have one of those, slightly used......

They're already in the database.