Seniors find use for old fridges

Prospect Fridge and Mattress, which promises “discount refurbished fridges of many sizes, models and brands at the lowest prices available,” according to the group’s website, was founded by Mark Smith ’09, Adam Sanders ’09, James Burgess ’09, Anthony Rossettie ’09 and Peter Lambert-Cole ’09. The students came up with the idea when they saw seniors throwing out dorm furniture and refrigerators after graduating. Refrigerators became the focus since “they were being thrown out everywhere and they’re relatively small, homogenous and valuable,” Smith said in an e-mail.

“We all just picked up as many fridges as we could from seniors, figuring we could give or sell them to friends later,” Smith said. “I got home ... one day and realized we had dozens of fridges on our lawn, and then [the founders] talked a bit more seriously about what we were going to do with them.”

When they noticed that TigerTrade, a website where the University community can buy and sell things, was down, they “put together a similar website to show our fridges and help students recycle and save money at the same time.”

The group is “on pace to sell all of [its] fridges in the first 2 weeks of class,” Smith said. This year, Prospect Fridge and Mattress expects to make enough money to recoup the group’s expenses in gathering, cleaning, storing, advertising and delivering the refrigerators.

Students who have bought refrigerators from the group are satisfied overall. “The fridge was delivered to my door in great condition and payment was collected once I was sure I was satisfied,” Angie D’Sa ’09 said in an e-mail. “The whole experience was easy and convenient; once I placed my order online, I had to do zero work!”

Prospect Fridge and Mattress’ main competition is the Princeton Student Rentals Agency, which offers microfridges, televisions, DVD players and stereo systems for rent. There are, however, significant differences between the two ventures. Prospect Fridge and Mattress’ fridges are less expensive than the Student Rental Agency’s, and Prospect’s refrigerators are for sale rather than for rent. Because seniors donate their refrigerators, the group does not need to buy their stock of refrigerators, allowing them to sell at a cheaper price.

Chris Jones ’09 received his Prospect refrigerator the day he placed the order. “I think it retails for $210,” Jones said in an e-mail. “[Prospect] gave it to me for $100.”

“We take advantage of the arbitrage that exists between outgoing seniors who have lots of stuff but nowhere to keep it and returning students who would gladly pay for the high quality furniture and appliances seniors often feel forced to throw out,” Smith said. The group right now is significantly smaller than the Student Rentals Agency. Smith said this will change when Prospect Fridge and Mattress, whose mattress business did not take off this year, adds more services.

The managers of the Princeton Student Rentals Agency could not be reached for comment.

Smith explained, however, that the group will most likely not seek student agency status, instead preferring to keep itself an “informal student group” that provides its “own operating budget out of the proceeds from fridges” since University policy dictates that each student business receive official endorsement.

Prospect Fridge and Mattress faces another obstacle: All of the founders expect to be graduating this spring. The group would “love to pass this fun tradition on to a few underclassmen who might be able to expand [the group’s offerings],” Smith said, adding that as of now the future of the business remains unclear.