etc.

What it is

etc. is a marketplace you talk to. Tell the assistant what you have and what you’re looking for, and it works on finding a match. You can get back to your day.

The first version is for trading things with neighbors. A bike sitting in your garage could become the patio chairs you’ve been looking for. No money changes hands, and both people decide whether the trade is right for them.

How it works

Start with a text. Send a photo of something you’d like to trade and say what you’d want in return. That starts the search.

Let etc. look. The assistant looks for someone nearby who wants what you have and has something you want. It keeps looking so you don’t have to browse listings or keep checking a feed.

Decide when there’s a match. You get a text with a possible trade. Both neighbors have to say yes before arranging a handoff.

Where it is today

I’m starting with local, item-for-item trades at etc.so. The project is early, and I’m building it in public. The focus is making this first use case work well: finding a trade that makes sense for both neighbors, with as little effort as possible.

The vision

Any marketplace built around finding the right match could work through an assistant. That’s the idea behind etc. Neighborhood trading is the first place I’m putting it to the test.

In a matching marketplace, the job is to connect a particular need with the right person, thing, or opportunity. Today, people do much of that work themselves: searching, filtering, comparing, reaching out, and starting again. My vision for etc. is to give that ongoing work to an assistant.

It starts with a simple input: what you have, what you need, and what matters to you. That could be a text, a photo, or eventually a voice message. The assistant can ask follow-up questions, keep looking, and come back when it finds a promising match. You make the decision.

For a job search, that might mean: “Here’s my experience and what I want to do next. Find a role that fits.” For a home search: “Here’s my budget, where I want to live, and what I need. Find a home that fits.” The market changes; the core job stays the same.

Jobs and homes are possibilities for the future, not features of etc. today. Each market would need its own data, rules, and care. What I want to prove with neighborhood trades is the foundation: you describe what you’re looking for once, refine it when needed, and let the assistant do the ongoing work of finding it.

Start with the things in our garages. Build toward a marketplace that works from a conversation, wherever finding the right match is the job.

Follow along

I’m sharing what I build and learn in my field notes, starting with the idea behind etc..