Ideas

sounds so easy that it should exist...but I could find it in a quick search

There are thousands of sites that specialize in finding certain kinds of information, products and/or services. A good example is Appartment finders for a particular city. My idea is to get people from around the world to join as finders and find "products or services wanted" within their community and list those so that other finders can act on them. This centralizes things far more than is currently available.

Please let me know if you can find such a site. I have looked and nothing jumps out at me so far.

Like I said I couldn't find it either...
Specialised sites you can indeed find.

Great Idea! I want to be a finder.

I am currently working on a data model for this idea. The chalenge so far is to manage the flow of information between the buyer and seller in such a way that they cannot or will not circumvent the process and do the deal outside the system.

So far, all I can come up with is to get the buyer and seller to "sign" a contract detailing the find and the fees agreed to just before they are put in touch with each other. All that does is put the liability on them if they do the deal outside the system. It does not enforce anything.

Everything else in the model is definitely doable.

great idea but there has to be good incentive to get anyone to do the find; never enough to just want to be a 'finder'.

Here is a possible example for a find:

A group of investors are looking for venture capital to build a movie studio. The finder's fee for this could be worth millions. Split two ways, that is still a great incentive to be a finder!

My model would set a minimum fee for any find of $200. This stops any "tire kickers" from clogging the system. A good finder could have hundreds or even thousands of listings, each worth at least $100. Its a great part time or even full time business.

I like this idea, please keep me informed as to developments.

Good Luck,

Thanks

Thank you for your endorsement CharonV,

I have been working on the data model and what the front end should look like. I am NOT a web graphics designer. My specialty is back end database design and programming.

I think that this could be a viable business and would be looking for joint venture participation. Revenues for the clearing house would be 10% of ALL listed finders fees. This business could hit critical mass and generate finders fees in the millions, 10 percent of which accrue to the clearing house.

I think it could work. Probably you might want to target industrial clients and their suppliers. Given your background with Motorola, you should be able to identify and convince the right amount of people to sign up with your service.

http://www.i2.com/customers/ i2 .. sort of does this .. if a company signs up with them they will go out and source every maker of parts that the company who signs up with them uses so they always have it available and can also compare prices..I actually use to Source for them.

I myself have at times wanted a service like this. I have a question , but is there not a wanted.com or something maybe ebay's want ads that is similar? But I think this is an awesome & simple Revenue model with a low take for the owner and the opportunity for moving money and everyone making a nice amount.

Lostrelics, i2 is a supply chain management company, and what I am proposing is not that sophisticated. I'm not sure that i2 would be interested in finding a rare piece of antique or jewelry. They may not even want to deal with small "mom and pop" manufacturers who are looking to get better pricing for a widget, which they may buy in small quantities.

eBay does have a section on want ads that could be similar to what i want to do, but it follows their auction model and it is not broad enough in scope.

My idea is to have finder members from all over the world, discovering opportunities in their local communities and listing them on a common network. This makes these listings available to every member finder to fulfill. There will be NO restrictions on where a member can find the opportunities.

Bizfunder, That is a natural spot to start looking. There are lots of other ways to find opportunities as well, and the findersnet network would provide training material to help members get started and prosper.

Isn't this very similar to craigslist? Or how is it different from e-procurement solutions? I'm not trying to be negative, I just think maybe I don't fully understand it.

E-procurement
http://www.verian.co...rkwZICFQwHQQoddXWQYA

"Verian Technologies' Purchase Manager is the core component for our 100% web-based, easy-to-use procurement and invoice automation solution. Purchase Manager is designed to integrate and manage every step from requisition to payment and reconciliation without adding work or slowing down the process - which can lead to unncessary financial waste"

Findersnet is not a software package as such. It is a network, similar to Visa or mastercard is a network of credit granting financial institutions.

My idea is to provide a vehicle where finders of products or services can place their opportunities so that others of the same interest can participate. Both parties would be compensated for their part in bringing together the buyer and seller.

Craigslist is actually a good place for a finder to find opportunities. Those who place ads there looking for an item or service seldom get what they need. Where do they go after that? A good finder with the findersnet behind them could list that requirement on the network and some other finder somewhere else could actually find a seller.

Whats wrong with just using Yahoo/Google answers? Its basically an identical setup.

I didn't think yahoo/google answers was still available I haven't used that service. I'll check it out.

I was of the impression that you would ask a question in conversational english and that a research department at yahoo/google would find an answer. I wasn't aware that you could place a query for a certain product or service at a preferred price and the research department would find it for you. Had I known that, i would not have come up with this idea.

Thanks Kevin, I may have to rethink this.

Correction: Google answers is no longer available. It has branched off into http://www.uclue.com

Yahoo answers is still available as well.

I like the idea. The key is figuring out how to get the optimal finder's fee out of the user. I'd enjoy working on this one, too!

good idea! you can probably use this findersnet to find if there are findersnet type sw out there!

Nickonomics101 has a good point. My proposal is to come up with a sliding scale of fees based on the final selling price of the product or service. There would be a range of negotiations possible within that fee range, but it would have certain minimums and maximums allowable.

One minimum that came to mind was the minimum fee to charge. I set that at $200. This may seem high, but it prevents a lot of frivolous finds being listed and also makes it worthwhile for the finders to do some research.

B to B for hard-to-finds. I guess. But wouldn't people be more likely to Google for that general industry and narrow from there?

They would certainly do just that, but there is still room for a finder, and there are many finders out there who make a living filling in where google can't finish.

Findersnet is just a network for finders to list their finds and get other finders to assist in other opportunities that they would otherwise never hear about.

Oh my god, do it like a cross between elance.com and fundable.org

Have people sign up and post what they are looking for, ( info, goods, services ) and set the finders fee.

People ( like me! ) who can find just about anything in a few minutes online provide the location of the thing someone is looking for, I get the finders fee.

You ( the business ) get a cut of the fee from me ( the finder ). I suggest 7-10%, that covers the 5-7% cut from payment processors, and puts some money in the bank.

I absolutely love this idea. This is a definite gem.

I wanted to check out "ebay's want ads" that threeg5 mentions and just wanted to share that it is called want-it-now and can be seen here...
http://pages.ebay.ca...wantitnow/about.html

I have not tried it myself as I didn't know it existed. Will do. But so far my experience on usenet and facebook when looking for a cheap used version of a particular camcorder (JVC GR-HD1) has been no luck.

Possibly the eBay want-it-now is more effective. But my take on this... most people won't go thru the effort to "sell" most of the crap they have. Like I have stuff I threw out in the past, despite it being potentially valuable. I just didn't have the time or energy to try line it up with the most appreciative recipients. So it all went to the recycling depot. What-ev.

I'd suggest services like eBay's want-it-now (and I know this isn't focusing on the clearing-house seller, just the random stuff people can't be bothered about) suffer because...
- Most people aren't aware everything they have until its time to get rid of it, and then they don't want to hang on to it 'cause its cleaning time baby!
- It is not perceived as important to anyone because the need is terribly niche. (I'm thinking an Atari 800 for example.)

MAYBE one aspect of this problem to consider is helping people maintain lists of their own inventory, in a public (but obfuscated) way. Maybe they'd photograph it when its getting stored (for insurance purposes?), rather than only worry about it when its clean-up time.

Also, I'd suggest (if small quantities are being transacted) that trying to be a financial middle-man in these matters might be more trouble than its worth. Certainly eBay does fine with that model, but if you can get by with alternate revenue streams, then you don't have to be a communication bottleneck. Otherwise they'll try establish communications around your site and cut you out of that % of transaction. Better to speed up the transaction and communication by letting it happen directly.