Out with the Old!

In with the New! This is a reference I have been thinking about a lot lately given that I have relocated into another home. While still controversial, I am about to sell my old home and move into a rental for the first time in my adult life. For the family, it has been a new beginning in many senses as some of our routines will change. For me, it has brought a number of changes that I honestly welcome.

I have moved into a community with a complex for its residents. This means my new home does not have a pool. While it took some convincing of the family, I now no longer have to worry about the maintenance of a pool which, given my obsession to saving money, I would do myself. My rental includes the maintenance for the lawn which I also learned the last couple of months is better when an expert does it. I used to do it myself but the effort and time never really paid off; considering the fact that my lawn looked mediocre because of my attempts to do it myself.

This has left me with a number of supplies and tools that I no longer have a need for. The also take up plenty of storage space so although I made the effort to move them into the new place, I am actively considering how to get rid of them. After we disposed of many items before moving, we progressed to the next option; gifting items. We gave away a number of pieces of furniture over the past month and those that nobody wanted, we disposed of. It was sad to see a couple go given some of the memories.

However, this got me to thinking about selling some items. I am an awful salesperson so a garage sale or anything like that would not work so I recently tried a app that is a peer to peer marketplace. I was immediately attracted to the concept given how peer to peer approaches have disrupted many industries. Within 15-20 minutes, I was setup and ready to upload pictures to sell some items. I put up the tools I had for the lawn maintenance and was surprised to almost immediately get offers on two or three items!

I guess I underpriced both as a bidding war ensued and ultimately I offered it to the person who could come and pick it up that same day. Hours later, I had more space in the garage and a couple of dollars in cash in my pocket! It was seamless for me and I did not get charged a fee or anything. It reminds me how user interface it so important these says as it makes adoption easier.

I believe that many Blockchain projects are slowly going in the same direction to offer a better user experience. This will lead to adoption and disruption in the many industries that have opportunities for decentralized alternatives. As we have learned this week, it comes with bumps on the road but the benefits ultimately outweigh the wait and the challenges!