24 ms·

Show HN: InboxFee – make strangers pay for their cold emails

28 points by brugeman 6y ago

indymike 6y ago
This needs to be real.
- brugeman 6y ago
  It is, would you try it?
  - indymike 6y ago
    Sure.
  - indymike 6y ago
    Best way to try?
    - brugeman 6y ago
      I guess it's at https://inboxfee.com https://inboxfee.com or in Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inboxfee.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inboxfee.a...
sdan 6y ago
This was actually earn.com
- brugeman 6y ago
  Right! But this time is a little different: - with Lightning Network fees are actually low, compared to on-chain - no need for a new email account, instead you can add inbox fee to existing email - full privacy, as your data never leaves your device, and payments are anonymous
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
theandrewbailey 6y ago
I looked closer, and it reminded me of https://thisstartupdoesnotexist.com https://thisstartupdoesnotexist.com
- brugeman 6y ago
  Could you please elaborate?
  - crmrc114 6y ago
    It looks kinda fake. The imaginary reviews I think are the part that remind me the most of the link above.
    - brugeman 6y ago
      Well that's why they have 'imaginary' job titles :) Thank you for pointing this out.
newman8r 6y ago
After seeing the the success of cameo.com, I think this could be a good way to get in touch with hard-to-reach influencers/celebrities/etc - might be a good way to send pitches to to high value contacts as well.
jlgaddis 6y ago
This seems to be yet another variation of the classic, mistaken belief that "your attention is so important that strangers will pay money to send you mail" [0]. --- [0]: https://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/you-might-be.html https://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/you-might-be.html
- brugeman 6y ago
  It definitely is a variation of that belief. Could you elaborate on why it is mistaken? I think: 1. Whether something is valuable can only be discovered if you try to set a price and sell it. Until then, you can not know. 2. LinkedIn has big part of it's business selling 'InMail' at around 2$ per piece. So clearly some people's attention is so important that strangers do pay money to send them mail.
- davidajackson 6y ago
  It's not a mistaken belief. People have been paying forever for meet and greets, intros, and connections--ultimately it's just an expected value evaluation. There are plenty of celebrities and icons that will make a lot of money off of tools like this. Just look at the success of Cameo. A requirement for such a startup to be successful might be that they require the celebrity to open the email and respond, in order that the customer feels their message has gotten through, but I bet there are celebrities with so much clout that they could probably make money for doing less.

28 points by brugeman 6y ago

indymike 6y ago

This needs to be real.

brugeman 6y ago
It is, would you try it?
- indymike 6y ago
  Sure.
- indymike 6y ago
  Best way to try?
  - brugeman 6y ago
    I guess it's at https://inboxfee.com https://inboxfee.com or in Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inboxfee.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inboxfee.a...

sdan 6y ago

This was actually earn.com

brugeman 6y ago
Right! But this time is a little different: - with Lightning Network fees are actually low, compared to on-chain - no need for a new email account, instead you can add inbox fee to existing email - full privacy, as your data never leaves your device, and payments are anonymous

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

theandrewbailey 6y ago

I looked closer, and it reminded me of https://thisstartupdoesnotexist.com https://thisstartupdoesnotexist.com

brugeman 6y ago
Could you please elaborate?
- crmrc114 6y ago
  It looks kinda fake. The imaginary reviews I think are the part that remind me the most of the link above.
  - brugeman 6y ago
    Well that's why they have 'imaginary' job titles :) Thank you for pointing this out.

newman8r 6y ago

After seeing the the success of cameo.com, I think this could be a good way to get in touch with hard-to-reach influencers/celebrities/etc - might be a good way to send pitches to to high value contacts as well.

jlgaddis 6y ago

This seems to be yet another variation of the classic, mistaken belief that "your attention is so important that strangers will pay money to send you mail" [0]. --- [0]: https://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/you-might-be.html https://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/you-might-be.html

brugeman 6y ago
It definitely is a variation of that belief. Could you elaborate on why it is mistaken? I think: 1. Whether something is valuable can only be discovered if you try to set a price and sell it. Until then, you can not know. 2. LinkedIn has big part of it's business selling 'InMail' at around 2$ per piece. So clearly some people's attention is so important that strangers do pay money to send them mail.
davidajackson 6y ago
It's not a mistaken belief. People have been paying forever for meet and greets, intros, and connections--ultimately it's just an expected value evaluation. There are plenty of celebrities and icons that will make a lot of money off of tools like this. Just look at the success of Cameo. A requirement for such a startup to be successful might be that they require the celebrity to open the email and respond, in order that the customer feels their message has gotten through, but I bet there are celebrities with so much clout that they could probably make money for doing less.