Idea 463 of 500. Cluster 24: Proof and trust, as a business
A used-vehicle history check: the owners, the mileage and the accident record of any car, searchable by its number plate
The mechanism, from the book
The one thing. A country where people do not expect the rules to hold cannot build anything else, and proof can be manufactured by private people, one published record at a time.
Every idea in cluster 24 uses this mechanism.
A first step
With the sellers' agreement, gather the history of 20 used cars offered for sale near you: the service book, the number of past owners on the papers and any repair bills for accident damage. Put each in a one-page report and offer it to buyers looking at those cars for a small fee. Then ask 3 used-car dealers whether they would pay to show a checked report with every car. One dealer who pays is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A family buying a used car who fears a hidden accident or a turned-back mileage, and will pay to know before they hand over the money.
- What leaves today
- Buyers who cannot trust a used car pay less for all of them; a checkable history lets an honest seller earn the right price.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. SixThe Fridge by the Road
The fridge by the road: proof that the rules hold - Ch. FifteenThe Odds
13 of 101 countries made it, and what Singapore's prosecution cost
More from cluster 24
- 451A verified-review platform for Sri Lankan businesses where the reviewer is real and the review cannot be bought
- 452Escrow services for transactions between strangers, so that the money moves when the goods do
- 453Published price lists at the tourist sites and in the taxis, with a complaints line that answers
- 454A landlord and tenant rating service, since neither can currently check the other
- 455Contractor registries with completed jobs photographed and clients named
- 456Independent building inspection, so that a buyer abroad knows what was actually built
Idea 463 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.