Gearsecure.net

[Dyne]

So, I just checked my twitter to find I was being followed by this new web site called Gearsecure. So, I thought I'd share their site with everyone, because well, I think it's interesting, and you might have use of it.

To give you an idea of what they do, here's a quotation from the web site about who they are, and what they do.

Gearsecure is a company dedicated to prevention of loss to theft and accident for musicians, music businesses and music retailers. We hope to work with manufacturers, retailers, law enforcement, and consumers to provide more awareness of specific instances of theft, and how it can be prevented.

Our idea is to create a database that can be accessed and searched by anyone thinking about purchasing a piece of musical equipment. The database will be searchable by serial number so that anyone can verify the equipment they are considering is legitimately the property of the seller. We have many plans to advertise and network the site so that it becomes larger and more fully featured than any other similar site. We will do this as a commercial service rather than a goodwill spare time gesture because we feel that if we do this part time it will never reach its potential as a serious tool for loss prevention.

As we considered how to design this site and why we should undertake this project, we looked at the issue from the point of view of both retailer and professional musician. Our experiences in loss prevention at a large music retailer showed how much a loss could affect the bottom line profits of an individual retailer. In one case, we managed to recover a $25.000 limited edition Martin guitar for a competitor in a different state. In another instance, we recovered $40,000 worth of stolen guitars stolen from stores across the country in one location. This dollar amount is critical to the success of a business. As musicians we also realize that professionals can be stretched very thin financially, and we rely on our equipment to make a living. If an instrument is lost, we don’t just lose the value of the instrument, we lose a cherished companion and a livelihood. We hope to prevent both from happening, but right now there is no national network to deal with this, and even for our chain of stores, this information is only communicated via email, providing no lasting record.