Trade things?

Hey, as the SmartThings store still isn’t open, I just wondered if anyone had extra things they were interested in possibly trading. If you got any items you want to trade I’d suggest posting them here. Of course, SmartThings is not liable for any trades that go bad between individuals, you assume all risks. Both parties would have to pay and shipping, etc. etc.

And of course if the powers that be (that is, SmartThings) decide they’d really rather not have something like this going on on their forums, they might delete this thread without notice. That’s entirely their right and I would understand if they did.

I ended up not getting any presence sensors cause I didn’t think I was going to use them, but in hindsight I wish I’d gotten them. I do have a SmartOutlet that I’m not really using. Anyone have a couple of presence tags they’d like to trade for an outlet?

Hi. I got a presence without any specific purpose in mind, and haven’t found a use for it. While I don’t have two of them, I would be happy to trade one-for-one for an outlet (or possibly some other compatible device).

I was kinda hoping to do a two-for-1… I think the outlets are going to be more expensive than the tags.

haha, I’ve got 2 presence tags that I’m currently not using. I had selected them before knowing I could use my iPhone as a mobile presence.

You can actually buy the outlets now. They are “off the shelf” zigbee outlets that they rebranded. They are pricey though, I think I remember them being something like 80 each.

Don’t happen to have any clue what ST will sell the tags for, do you?

I’m asking 2-for-1 for my outlet, but I don’t want to screw anyone over. If the tag will sell for $50 or more that isn’t a far trade.

I thought I read somewhere that they would go for 30…but I have no idea if that’s just a figment of my imagination or not.

I hope the presence tags will not be $30 a piece. One reason I backed Smartthings was the hope they would break the mold of the Smart Home pricing scheme. It will be very disappointing if the price model is the same as the existing ones.

I have a motion detector (SmartThings model), that I am open to trade. I have tested it, works… but after a few hrs, I cant figure out how I would want to use it. Very open for a ‘like priced’ trade, and open to trading for non-SmartThings branded zwave/zigbee device. Ideally im looking for door sensors (need 2 more), whatever I need to get my garage door to open/close (I realize multiple solutions have been built), light switches, and outlets. Open to discussion, feel free to message me. Tnx.

I can’t wait to see pricing for Things (and Arduino Shield…); even if delivery dates are not yet firm.

Meanwhile I’ve had good luck finding a bunch of surplus reliable dimmer outlets (Z-Wave) for ~$20. That is a hard price to beat!

I found some XBee wall switches and Thermostat, but these need reprogramming and Device Handlers to be customized, at least, presuming they can be forced into ZigBee HA mode.

I don’t need my SmartPower Outlet Thing.

Willing to trade for 2 x SmartMulti-Sensors.

Without a 100% compliant HA stack, the ZigBee stuff is absolutely more trouble than its worth. Even re-flashing the chip doesn’t provide reliable performance.
This hub is, in the current iteration a z-wave hub, period. Anything else is more work than ordering a Vera and downloading the needed plug ins. I have a pallet of Vera’s, how many would you like?

@solardave1 remember that ST is still in its infancy. IMO, the hardware is well-designed and implemented, the basic software functionality is well-thought out. If they keep at this pace we will probably end up with a solid HA system, but it’ll take time.

@solardave1

How programmable is Vera? I think the true power of ST is going to SmartApps more than the hardware.

For instance, can I program Vera to open my garage when I get home, turn on an outdoor light if it’s after sunset and before sunrise for my area, then unlock my side door… finally automatically closing the garage after my side door opens/closes, than then turning off the outdoor light after 4 or 5 minutes?

Can I program Vera to “link” two of my switches so that if I turn one on it turns both on? And if I turn one off it turns both off?

Can I program Vera to respond to a double-tap of a light switch and perform a specific set of actions based on that?

I’ve never used Vera so maybe this is simple to do, but what I’ve heard/read seems indicate that doing things like this isn’t exactly straight forward or easy.

@CosmicPuppy

As this thread as kinda evolved if might make sense to start a new thread with your trade proposal.

On a side note, I’ve been meaning for a while to post here and say that Jeff and I completed a successful trade of things. Thanks Jeff for the trade!

@solardave1 and @chrisb , etc…

This is certainly off topic, but I figured I’d repeat one of my usual rants…

Home Automation for the direct-to-consumer market is definitely in the infancy of a very FAST MOVING transitional phase. There have been very few products out there that are reliable, expandable (and “open”), easy to use, and powerful. On the other hand, there are countless “luxury” brands and integrator-seller-partners (Crestron, Control 4, and on and on…), that I assume work extremely well (or at least come with professional service that fixes problems quickly enough to keep customers satisfied. These “luxury consumers” are like “pro-sumers”, I guess … through partnership with the integrators, can get anything done that the customer desires.

The direct-to-consumer brands have varying levels of reliability and expandability … and “automation” programming. GE, Lutron, Vera, Iris, X10.

In this context SmartThings is revolutionary – a direct-to-consumer product that has promising signs of being “consumer” friendly (no integrator-reseller required).

But a few points:

  1. SmartThings (Physical Graph Corporation) is not necessarily going to be THE company that revolutionizes the industry. There is suddenly a lot of start-up competition (Motes, WigWag, …), as well as hardware projects that make connectivity-of-things easier (Spark Core, Bluetooth LE, smart phones, The Ubi, wifi light bulbs, Ivee, Electric Imp, ZigBee HA Version 2, …). These companies and technologies could just happen to leapfrog SmartThings, or win out even without overall superiority (such as Beta vs. VHS, DVD-HD vs Blu-Ray, …).

  2. SmartThings publicized ecosystem model (the concepts, API, GUI, SmartApps, Device Handlers, …) has a lot of good things about it, and, IMHO, has quite a few things I feel are drawbacks or weaknesses – elements that I would have designed differently. Some of these will evolve and resolve – as “early adopters / backers”, we are, in reality, Beta testers.

  3. Finally, SmartThings (PGC) is NOT open-source – not technically, nor as a BUSINESS. They are not sharing their underlying business model with us. It may be, at the extreme end, “nefarious”; I don’t mean “evil”, but rather, their focus may not be critical early-adopter hacker visionary folks. What is their target price point for devices? How will they strategically work with partners (API-API connectivity, new device integration, App developers, …), particularly if these partners may ALSO be COMPETITORS?

I am expressing that there are currently far too many unknowns here; and that makes it very RISKY to base a lot of work or money on this one company / product. It is certainly an educational experience, and we experience both wonders and frustrations right now. While I wish SmartThings all the best, I also have the same wishes for most of the up-and-coming competition – with the belief that competition will help evolve the rights products at the best prices.

If I could be granted wishes:

(a) SmartThings would be much more “open” technically (published and open source, API’s directly to the hub, ability to code and sell completely customized front-ends, …) and about their business strategy (how partnerships are likely to work (integrator-sellers, App developers, device developers, cloud subscription pricing…).

(b) SmartThings would have a more formal way for us to contribute to the evolution of the product (a bug/features request system with voting, for example – that’s a pretty common tool these days; … or a development-community “super-committee” with real power to influence design priorities and decisions.

Those wishes may not be granted and I still may end up being a super SmartThings fan… but I’m not jumping in yet. I’m enjoying the exploration and shared learning experience here.

In the meantime, those of us that just NEED “something that works”, must realistically consider what is available and working NOW (e.g., Z-Wave on Vera, X10, Insteon, …); and not be too distracted by the uncertainty here.

…CP.

You raise a lot of good and valid points here. I do have one question: What about SmartThings does not work for you right now? I mean if you’re in the I NEED “something that works” mode, would SmartThings not be something you consider, and why not?

@chrisb (cc: @solardave1, @dlieberman) … Good question, thanks!

I have to remind myself that SmartThings is in Beta mode (or pre-release, agile cycle, … whatever): i.e., they are promising both steady improvement AS WELL AS major feature additions and changes. The Android UI is obviously Beta, but could feasibly be up to par with iOS pretty soon, and we might be surprised by a web UI too; and direct LAN IP device connectivity by firmware upgrade is being “promised” within or month or so, I believe.

That said, there could be a very long answer as to what I need or want; it really is a matter of priorities and trade-offs (lack of alternatives – though, as I said, there are alternative/competitors/startups materializing more and more).

I would like to have an official “Road Map / Bug-Tracking / Feature Request” forum so that we could see how our priorities line up with others in the community along with official responses from SmartThings.

For now, here is just a rough undetailed outline of my wish-list from highest-priority to lower:

  1. Reliability/Security/Consistency/Responsiveness-Latency (including OFFLINE internet-down functionality!). This applies across the entire system within the basic feature-set scope (hub, UI (iOS and Android), add/modify standard devices, basic SmartApps (linked switches, timers, motion sensors).
  2. <li>Responsive support for things that are in the scope of #1 that don't work out of the box, or fail without reason. I am actually quite pleased with the responsiveness of the support@st email.</li>
    
    <li>Availability of affordable fundamental devices: This does not mean proprietary Things from ST; preferably, any Z-Wave and ZigBee HA compliant hardware should be recognized; at least for typical functions (switches, dimmers, outlets, buttons, motion sensors, contact sensors, locks, keypads). So far, Z-Wave devices (even cheap surplus ones from eBay) are working pretty well, with a few kinks addressed by Support. Third-party ZigBee devices, however, are much more uncertain. Is ZigBee HA compliance not stringent or common? Regardless, a firm timeline for sales and delivery of SmartThings branded devices would be really helpful, as well as debugging tools to help us hackers resolve other likely compatible devices, and ... IP, Bluetooth, perhaps.</li>
    
    <li>SmartModules / Arduino shields (and/or XBee support!): As a maker/developer/backer, I want to be ahead of the industry in prototyping innovative devices. If device communication hardware not available, this is discouraging.</li>
    
    <li>Development environment (IDE, simulator): It currently lacks editing/refactoring tools, revision control and sharing features, can be very unresponsive, a lot of the documentation is weak, simulator crashes...</li>
    
    <li>Architecture documentation (so that I can develop Apps and Devices "properly" and consider how to concurrently develop for multiple Home Automation platforms taking into account their different models and APIs).</li>
    
    <li>Finally: As an <strong>Entrepreneurial Developer/Maker/Integrator/Customizer/Installer</strong>: Where &amp; when is my potential and reliable <strong>revenue stream</strong> (show me the money!)? I'm looking for more "certainty" as to the roadmap of SmartThings. Not only the timeline of various stability issues and features and Thing sales; but also the timeline and revenue strategy for SmartApp developers, device builders, service integrators, customer installers, and other possible partnerships. How will intellectual property be protected? What is the revenue sharing model? Will their be official co-branding, certification (e.g., "Works With SmartThings logo certified"), OEM branding, etc.</li>
    

What about your needs / wants / wish-list? How does it compare to mine?

…CP.

Let’s see if I can get this old thread back on track:

I’m just starting with ST, my hub and smart power outlet are in the mail to me now. I do not think I will be needing the Smart Power Outlet, would anyone like to trade for:

  1. Smart Sense Multi Sensor?
  2. Smart Sense Open/Close Sensor?
  3. Smart Sense Motion Sensor?

I have been told the outlet is new / unused.
Maybe someone in East / Southeast FL wanting to trade?

How well does the Smart Power Outlet work as a booster?

Thanks,
Dave

I got a Pivot Genius, new in box, is anyone in Canada interested?