5 ms·

Pricing can turn a good business into a dumb idea that doesn’t really deserve to exist. MoviePass in one direction, Juicero in the other.

microdrum 8y ago
Bird and Lime, too.
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  What’s dumb about their pricing? As far as I know the $1 plus 15c/min is profitable for them and yet not discouraging users?
  - hndamien 8y ago
    I still think private ownership for something that is 7.5 - 12kgs makes more sense. Always with you, charge yourself, not cost prohibitive. The market for transient ownership and use still doesn't make that much sense to me, but I guess it works.
    - zhoujianfu 8y ago
      I actually bought one of the scooters bird used because they’re cheap and they don’t usually have one right by my house... but I still rent them semi-frequently. They come in handy whenever you need to do a one-way trip, or spontaneously realize one would be useful and didn’t bring yours, and it’s kind of nice to not have to worry about maintenance/charging.
      - hndamien 8y ago
        I see a place for both, like you say, but I think this might make it harder to be financially viable.
    - mylons 8y ago
      i disagree for exactly the reasons you listed. i don't want to charge it myself, i don't want to lug it around or worry about it's security once i'm at my destination. i'm paying for the ability to leave it anywhere.
      - hndamien 8y ago
        I agree that it is better, I guess I'm just surprised that the unit economics work. For the price it is great to relieve yourself of the burden, but they have to contend with chop shops, private ownership, damage, network rebalancing, scooter hostage and other issues. If they get it to work financial it will be great!
        mylons 8y ago
        true, the economics may make no sense.
Bartweiss 8y ago
I saw a joke a while back about a new startup. Their business was selling dollar bills, and their model was to start by charging $0.75 to drum up business. Once they had a large user base and a well-tested service, they were going to raise prices to $1.25 to become profitable. (MoviePass might be a good idea, but it looks like almost all the value they actually offered came from the unsustainable pricing.)

microdrum 8y ago

Bird and Lime, too.

zhoujianfu 8y ago
What’s dumb about their pricing? As far as I know the $1 plus 15c/min is profitable for them and yet not discouraging users?
- hndamien 8y ago
  I still think private ownership for something that is 7.5 - 12kgs makes more sense. Always with you, charge yourself, not cost prohibitive. The market for transient ownership and use still doesn't make that much sense to me, but I guess it works.
  - zhoujianfu 8y ago
    I actually bought one of the scooters bird used because they’re cheap and they don’t usually have one right by my house... but I still rent them semi-frequently. They come in handy whenever you need to do a one-way trip, or spontaneously realize one would be useful and didn’t bring yours, and it’s kind of nice to not have to worry about maintenance/charging.
    - hndamien 8y ago
      I see a place for both, like you say, but I think this might make it harder to be financially viable.
  - mylons 8y ago
    i disagree for exactly the reasons you listed. i don't want to charge it myself, i don't want to lug it around or worry about it's security once i'm at my destination. i'm paying for the ability to leave it anywhere.
    - hndamien 8y ago
      I agree that it is better, I guess I'm just surprised that the unit economics work. For the price it is great to relieve yourself of the burden, but they have to contend with chop shops, private ownership, damage, network rebalancing, scooter hostage and other issues. If they get it to work financial it will be great!
      - mylons 8y ago
        true, the economics may make no sense.

Bartweiss 8y ago

I saw a joke a while back about a new startup. Their business was selling dollar bills, and their model was to start by charging $0.75 to drum up business. Once they had a large user base and a well-tested service, they were going to raise prices to $1.25 to become profitable. (MoviePass might be a good idea, but it looks like almost all the value they actually offered came from the unsustainable pricing.)