If you’ve ever played a role-playing video game, you are familiar with the concept of a “Quest Board”. Townsfolk post their problems for you, the Hero, to solve and consequently collect the reward.
Milk.ly is attempting to replicate this in the real world. It’s currently in beta, and mostly limited to the UK, but it’ll open up when more people sign on.
The concept is simple, fun, and will likely prove effective. If you have a small, local task that needs doing, but you don’t want to do it, you post it to the website. “Pick up my groceries from the store.” “Bake some cookies for our Bake Sale tomorrow.” “Help assemble this IKEA table.”
Along with the task, you post a reward, the remaining time left to complete it, and some location and description details. The site lists prices as “suggested”; Milk.ly accepts on-site payments through credit cards, but I think it’s more likely that users will simply resort to cash in cases where it’s required that they meet face-to-face.
This platform could get a lot of traction. Many users will both post and complete tasks, creating a veritable barter-based local economy for minor labor. It’s great for kids and teens who have lots of spare time and not a lot of spare money, or for grown-ups who have the exact opposite problem.
I’m personally very excited for Milk.ly. I’ve had this exact same idea in the past, and now I’m somewhere between excited that it’s a reality, and disappointed that I wasn’t the one to bring it to fruition. I signed up for the beta because I want this in my neighborhood for when I’ll eventually need help moving. You should sign up too if you want to see it in your community!
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