The Shopping Solution

It's no secret, folks - I don't like shopping.

Don't get me wrong, I loooove buying stuff.  But to get to a place that sells Things, I have to load kids into the car, fight traffic, refrain from smacking the children (within view of strangers) when they whine and beg for stuff they don't need, stand in lines, cram the entire family into the germ-infested public restroom when somebody has an Emergency...  Not fun.

Why don't you just shop online, lazybones,  you could suggest with impunity, since I can't hear you or see you roll your eyes about my first world problems.

Because shopping online can be just as annoying.  I could easily waste a whole day searching the innerwebs, comparing prices and shipping and in-stockedness, and still not end up finding what I want.  And let's not pretend like my kids can't whine and beg for stuff just because I'm on the computer all day - they know what Amazon.com is for.

It's overwhelming and time consuming, and I am - above all else - a woman with precious little patience.

Then there's the flip side of shopping - purging.  I can't keep hauling new stuff into the house without getting rid of the old stuff, or else the team from Hoarders: Buried Alive  will be here with a camera crew, and the next thing you know I'll be standing on the porch in my housecoat screaming for them to stay away from all my precious, precious treasures.

Nobody wants that.

But garage sales aren't my cup of tea.  Once I decide I don't want something, the last thing I'm interested in is putting a price sticker on it and spending quality time with it under the hot sun on my front lawn for an entire Saturday afternoon.

Also, no thank you to eBay with their fees and limited auctions, and to Craigslist with the random strangers and creepy creepiness.

Enter my new BFF, Ubokia.

Ubokia is a marketplace for lazy people - I mean, people with excellent time management skills.

You can list stuff for sale, and they find people who want it!  You can also browse the Wants, and see if there's anybody looking for the stuff you're selling - that means you don't have to wait around for people to see the junk you're trying to unload, you can immediately connect with people who are looking for what you have.

And speaking of Wants, you can list some wants of your own - no more searching for the stuff you want to buy, because the sellers come to you!

It's super versatile.  You can use it to:

• List the job/apartment/car you're looking for.
• Ask if anyone has a vacation rental available next week in Key West (I wish).
• Find a math tutor for your kid.
• Say you'd like to borrow a wheelbarrow on Tuesday afternoon next week.
• Offer babysitting services.
• Make some money on the clothes your kids have outgrown.
• Announce that you'd love some tickets to the Big Game.
• Swap recipes.

As for creepity creeps, you have no worries. They have a fancy system for confirming that people are who they say they are (they call it uTrust) which makes it the safest way to buy online, so you don't have to be concerned that you're dealing with a feeble old granny who turns out to be a beefy gun-toting crazypants. Things are much more pleasant that way.

As if all this isn't enough awesomeness, I'm hosting a Ubokia marketplace right here at HTV!

Click me!

You can shop and sell, all from the safety of the bosom of my blog (though I promise no actual bosom will be visible). You'll have access to the whole Ubokia network, but you can also opt to only deal within groups that you're comfortable in. You could even start your own uGroup - a kids' clothing swap in your neighborhood, a marketplace just for the people who work at your company, or a list of Wants for the teachers at your kid's school, maybe? Groups help you find like-minded people, people near where you live, or people with the same interests, making it easier to find what you want from folks you trust.

Get in there and check it out - you won't be sorry.

I was compensated for this post - can you believe it?  All opinions expressed are my own.
Come back and list your heart's desire any time - just click the Ubokia button on the left sidebar!
If you need practice clicking, might I suggest honing your click skills on the Top Mommy Blogs button below?