4 ms·

Ask HN: Review my new e-commerce model: self-serve group discounts

28 points by compumike 17y ago

Dear HN, Today, I'm launching "Buckits", a new e-commerce business model that I think you'll find interesting. Hoping to get some feedback on the concept side and on the business / implementation side. (Also trying to figure out how to best explain this concept to less-technical viewers!) We are launching a new e-commerce model where groups of customers can pool together to receive discounts. A "Buckit" takes the simple idea of a group discount and augments it for the modern Web. Anyone can create a Buckit, or join one that already exists. The more people who sign up for a Buckit, the less everyone pays for his or her own item. The final price each Buckit member pays for their itemis based on the number of people in the Buckit, and the amount keeps going down as more people join. This model lets people take advantage of their social networks (online and offline) to spread the word about a cool product and save money at the same time. NerdKits is launching this today and applying this to the educational kits we've sold online since 2007, but we're also interested in applying the concept to other e-commerce areas where there's a "social or network utility" to a product: event tickets, multiplayer video games, etc. For more information, we have a 2-minute video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0 Our live website: http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/ Plus this morning's press release with more details: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm

compumike 17y ago
2-minute video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0 Our live website: http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/ http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/ Plus this morning's press release with more details: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm
yuanthelottery 17y ago
Yeah, I get it. Personally, I am an avid skier, and I'd love to use this product to get together with fellow skiers/snowboarders and take advantage of existing steep discounts in group lift tickets.
apsurd 17y ago
It's a nice and simple enough idea that has a chance at doing well. The girl in the video is talking way too fast. I know there's a lot of content but the idea is simple enough that she does not need to blow through everything.
- compumike 17y ago
  Thanks, glad to know that it's an understandable idea. We did have a 2-minute time limit on the video (per PayPal's rules for the developer competition -- see https://www.x.com/community/ppx/devchallenge/lp https://www.x.com/community/ppx/devchallenge/lp ). But perhaps it is too fast.
fnid2 17y ago
I've seen this trend popping up a lot lately. Pooling buying power among individuals to get discounts up the supply chain. It makes great sense. I think there is a lot of potential here because it is only at a certain scale that some ideas become profitable or even implementable. In the old days, some investors got together and created companies at great risk in order to see if there is a market for a product. Taking these group buying systems to one more level, people who want a particular product can pool their resources in order to get the product developed. I don't think Venture Capital sees the threat from models like this. Imagine the CNC market that is getting a lot of buzz for enabling them to be built at home. If you create a company where when 100 CNC products are ordered, then everyone is charged, ALL the parts are ordered and constructed, perhaps in part by one such already existing CNC -- created just this way. This model enables the consumer of the product to be the investor in the product. Models like this eliminate the need for venture capital in a lot of spaces with currently large barriers to entry. EDIT: Yep, here's another example, right on the front page of HN. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1149207 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1149207
- compumike 17y ago
  We're taking a slightly different angle, in that the individual customers each have a better experience with the product when it's done together. What you're mentioning, in terms of pooling resources toward getting a product developed, is also a really neat application. But it adds another layer of uncertainty (i.e. can the developer actually deliver on what's being promised?), so we're starting out with a product that exists and already extremely well-received by its target audience, and applying the model there. If we can prove that consumers understand the model for an already-existing product, then we (or others) can push into the not-yet-developed product area.
jonah 17y ago
Group buys happen a lot of the (Audi) Quattro World forums for example. A member comes up with an idea, runs it past a vendor, and posts a notice - say, group buy for 10 sets of wheels. People respond by placing pre-orders with the vendor. Once the minimum is reached they turn into orders at the pre-arranged discount and shipped out. Could even be a generic service to facilitate these kinds of deals through arbitrary small vendors.
satjot 17y ago
I understand where it can become a bit cumbersome to explain to non techies. I would agree with the point above that the explanation does not to be as overblown as it is. Just get the key concept out: 1) Want to buy something, but pay less? 2) Invite your friends and if a few of you buy it, everyone will save. The specific dynamics of how things work do not need to be in the pitch. Good luck! P.S. I've been working on something in this space. Coming at it from a different angle, though. Hopefully I will be able to have something to show in the next couple of months.
elpuri 17y ago
Some people might remember letsbuyit.com from the late nineties and early noughties. If I remember correctly it had the exact same idea. The site seems to be still up with the same brand, but it seems to have become some sort of "shopping community" without the group buying feature. You might want to find out what happened to them.
csbartus 17y ago
This idea is very useful for shop owners too. We have realised not the customers are coming to your shop anymore but you'll have to go to their space (like Facebook) Future is about customer driven shops: they define what they want at what price they want. Shops will be the clients of these groups serving them with lower margins at highest quality. So the question of the business model shifts to shop owners how they can afford to operate in such (hostile) environment

28 points by compumike 17y ago

compumike 17y ago

2-minute video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0 Our live website: http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/ http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/ Plus this morning's press release with more details: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm

yuanthelottery 17y ago

Yeah, I get it. Personally, I am an avid skier, and I'd love to use this product to get together with fellow skiers/snowboarders and take advantage of existing steep discounts in group lift tickets.

apsurd 17y ago

It's a nice and simple enough idea that has a chance at doing well. The girl in the video is talking way too fast. I know there's a lot of content but the idea is simple enough that she does not need to blow through everything.

compumike 17y ago
Thanks, glad to know that it's an understandable idea. We did have a 2-minute time limit on the video (per PayPal's rules for the developer competition -- see https://www.x.com/community/ppx/devchallenge/lp https://www.x.com/community/ppx/devchallenge/lp ). But perhaps it is too fast.

fnid2 17y ago

I've seen this trend popping up a lot lately. Pooling buying power among individuals to get discounts up the supply chain. It makes great sense. I think there is a lot of potential here because it is only at a certain scale that some ideas become profitable or even implementable. In the old days, some investors got together and created companies at great risk in order to see if there is a market for a product. Taking these group buying systems to one more level, people who want a particular product can pool their resources in order to get the product developed. I don't think Venture Capital sees the threat from models like this. Imagine the CNC market that is getting a lot of buzz for enabling them to be built at home. If you create a company where when 100 CNC products are ordered, then everyone is charged, ALL the parts are ordered and constructed, perhaps in part by one such already existing CNC -- created just this way. This model enables the consumer of the product to be the investor in the product. Models like this eliminate the need for venture capital in a lot of spaces with currently large barriers to entry. EDIT: Yep, here's another example, right on the front page of HN. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1149207 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1149207

compumike 17y ago
We're taking a slightly different angle, in that the individual customers each have a better experience with the product when it's done together. What you're mentioning, in terms of pooling resources toward getting a product developed, is also a really neat application. But it adds another layer of uncertainty (i.e. can the developer actually deliver on what's being promised?), so we're starting out with a product that exists and already extremely well-received by its target audience, and applying the model there. If we can prove that consumers understand the model for an already-existing product, then we (or others) can push into the not-yet-developed product area.

jonah 17y ago

Group buys happen a lot of the (Audi) Quattro World forums for example. A member comes up with an idea, runs it past a vendor, and posts a notice - say, group buy for 10 sets of wheels. People respond by placing pre-orders with the vendor. Once the minimum is reached they turn into orders at the pre-arranged discount and shipped out. Could even be a generic service to facilitate these kinds of deals through arbitrary small vendors.

satjot 17y ago

I understand where it can become a bit cumbersome to explain to non techies. I would agree with the point above that the explanation does not to be as overblown as it is. Just get the key concept out: 1) Want to buy something, but pay less? 2) Invite your friends and if a few of you buy it, everyone will save. The specific dynamics of how things work do not need to be in the pitch. Good luck! P.S. I've been working on something in this space. Coming at it from a different angle, though. Hopefully I will be able to have something to show in the next couple of months.

elpuri 17y ago

Some people might remember letsbuyit.com from the late nineties and early noughties. If I remember correctly it had the exact same idea. The site seems to be still up with the same brand, but it seems to have become some sort of "shopping community" without the group buying feature. You might want to find out what happened to them.

csbartus 17y ago

This idea is very useful for shop owners too. We have realised not the customers are coming to your shop anymore but you'll have to go to their space (like Facebook) Future is about customer driven shops: they define what they want at what price they want. Shops will be the clients of these groups serving them with lower margins at highest quality. So the question of the business model shifts to shop owners how they can afford to operate in such (hostile) environment