4 ms·

The very first line is "Candy Japan ships candy to subscribers twice a month." I read that and had to pause. Wow. I don't think if I tried for months that I

The very first line is "Candy Japan ships candy to subscribers twice a month." I read that and had to pause. Wow. I don't think if I tried for months that I could have done a better job describing _any_ business in such a small number of words. And that line and the last line are the only "marketing" this article does. It's subtle too, because the first line is completely necessary to introduce why the author wanted to algorithmically fit candy. It's just ... beautifully done. I'm not being sarcastic when I say any of that. Candy Japan has written a number of content-marketing articles and they're always informative and interesting. Obviously others agree because they bubble to the top of HN frequently. Candy Japan's articles should probably be mandatory reading for anybody wanting to start a small, online business, because this type of marketing is gold.

philliphaydon 10y ago
Lol I read that line and thought to myself "sold where do I sign up"
LeifCarrotson 10y ago
My only complaint is the "dark pattern" of not listing prices. There are prominent calls-to-action to enter your email address and sign up. I don't want to enter my email address unless I want to sign up, which is dependent on the price. "example@example.com" now has an email from Candy Japan, and I obviously can't click on the verification link there. After some digging, I found https://www.candyjapan.com/gift https://www.candyjapan.com/gift, which lists prices: 24 shipments! ($348.00, sent over one year) Dozen shipments ($174.00, sent over six months) Eight shipments ($116.00, sent over four months) Four shipments ($58.00, sent over two months) Two shipments ($29.00, sent over one month) Doing the math, it's $14.50 per box. Even though many levels are listed, there is no quantity discount, which is not obvious - I'm not good at multiplying 29 or 14.5 by powers of 2 in my head. If it was $20 or $30/month, that would be a little different. Some more digging with a disposable email finally brought me to https://www.candyjapan.com/subscribe https://www.candyjapan.com/subscribe, which shows that it's still $29/month whether gifting or subscribing. Furthermore, anyone can go to that page and see the price. No, the tiny "subscribe" link on the main page under the comic does not link there - it's an anchor to the email entry point. Perhaps A/B testing says differently, but I would like the business a lot more if there was a big label, above the fold, on the main page, that said "$14.50 per box" or "$29 per month".
- Zikes 10y ago
  The home page says "For $29/month (shipping included) we'll start hunting for interesting sweets for you here in Japan twice a month, then box and ship them directly to you by Japan Post." It's easy to miss, which is unfortunate, but I would classify it as more of a marketing oversight than as a "dark pattern" which would imply intent.
  - LeifCarrotson 10y ago
    Yup, missed it. Agree it's an oversight, but it's still annoyingly difficult to find if you miss that line.

philliphaydon 10y ago

Lol I read that line and thought to myself "sold where do I sign up"

LeifCarrotson 10y ago

My only complaint is the "dark pattern" of not listing prices. There are prominent calls-to-action to enter your email address and sign up. I don't want to enter my email address unless I want to sign up, which is dependent on the price. "example@example.com" now has an email from Candy Japan, and I obviously can't click on the verification link there. After some digging, I found https://www.candyjapan.com/gift https://www.candyjapan.com/gift, which lists prices: 24 shipments! ($348.00, sent over one year) Dozen shipments ($174.00, sent over six months) Eight shipments ($116.00, sent over four months) Four shipments ($58.00, sent over two months) Two shipments ($29.00, sent over one month) Doing the math, it's $14.50 per box. Even though many levels are listed, there is no quantity discount, which is not obvious - I'm not good at multiplying 29 or 14.5 by powers of 2 in my head. If it was $20 or $30/month, that would be a little different. Some more digging with a disposable email finally brought me to https://www.candyjapan.com/subscribe https://www.candyjapan.com/subscribe, which shows that it's still $29/month whether gifting or subscribing. Furthermore, anyone can go to that page and see the price. No, the tiny "subscribe" link on the main page under the comic does not link there - it's an anchor to the email entry point. Perhaps A/B testing says differently, but I would like the business a lot more if there was a big label, above the fold, on the main page, that said "$14.50 per box" or "$29 per month".

Zikes 10y ago
The home page says "For $29/month (shipping included) we'll start hunting for interesting sweets for you here in Japan twice a month, then box and ship them directly to you by Japan Post." It's easy to miss, which is unfortunate, but I would classify it as more of a marketing oversight than as a "dark pattern" which would imply intent.
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago
  Yup, missed it. Agree it's an oversight, but it's still annoyingly difficult to find if you miss that line.