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Introducing Customer Acqusition as a Service: Referly API & Shopping

36 points by dmor 14y ago

osuburger 14y ago
Really intrigued by the social referral program. I'm excited to play around with the API and implement it on our company site
latchkey 14y ago
I like the idea, but I don't understand why I'd use referly for this. If I'm going to spend the time to implement their api on my site, I might as well just implement the whole thing. It isn't like this is that hard of a problem to solve.
- dmor 14y ago
  Its true that the technology of creating referral programs isn't hard, but sadly it usually gets relegated to the back burner for development teams who don't want to maintain it. Marketers who want to run experiments with referral marketing find they can't get buy in, so they don't try it. By offering an API that marketers can bring to developers, in a format developers can respect, we are hoping to change that.
  - latchkey 14y ago
    The problem I see is when the marketing department wants 'one more quick feature'... you know it will happen. I'm all for not re-inventing the wheel, I'm just not sure that this api is that much of a value add. I also tend to shy away from businesses which haven't figured out their pricing yet. '100% of funds are passed through'... but no mention of what happens when the beta is over. 5%? 10%? 3.5%? Give some sort of guesstimate. To me, that also says you're still trying to figure out your own business model, which is fine, but not something that I'd want to build my own business around. I want to know you're going to be around in a year and that I'm not going to regret not implementing this myself. Don't let me sound discouraging. Keep plugging away though. I'll check back again when I'm ready to implement this on my own site and make a decision then. =)
    - dmor 14y ago
      Sounds like we better hurry and decide. Thanks for the candid feedback, its the best kind and I hope you'll keep it coming
DanielRibeiro 14y ago
A very lively and interesting discussion on this launch is going at this moment on this other thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4281724 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4281724
klbarry 14y ago
Will this ever be integrated into an existing cart like shopify, so that total non developers can use it?
- dmor 14y ago
  Yes! I am working on a Shopify plugin right now actually - can you email me at danielle@refer.ly so I can hear what you'd like me to make sure to include?
  - klbarry 14y ago
    I have no current use for it so I can't help you, but I know if I was to make an e-commerce site, I would use Shopify. Your offering looks very useful, so I asked for future reference :)
ig1 14y ago
In the case of fraud where does the liability lie ?
- dmor 14y ago
  The merchant is required to report chargebacks to use within 60 days
dmn001 14y ago
Other competitors: http://crowdfactory.com http://crowdfactory.com http://www.curebit.com http://www.curebit.com http://socialtwist.com http://socialtwist.com How does this service differentiate from those already established in this space?
- dmor 14y ago
  One way we are different is that we also offer a fully featured consumer experience, the API is awesome for businesses but we also bring an audience to brands since we are a marketplace with both sides.
wamatt 14y ago
Getting a 404 on the homepage. http://www.refer.ly/ http://www.refer.ly/
- dmor 14y ago
  Site was briefly overloaded, everything is good now

36 points by dmor 14y ago

Really intrigued by the social referral program. I'm excited to play around with the API and implement it on our company site

latchkey 14y ago

I like the idea, but I don't understand why I'd use referly for this. If I'm going to spend the time to implement their api on my site, I might as well just implement the whole thing. It isn't like this is that hard of a problem to solve.

dmor 14y ago
Its true that the technology of creating referral programs isn't hard, but sadly it usually gets relegated to the back burner for development teams who don't want to maintain it. Marketers who want to run experiments with referral marketing find they can't get buy in, so they don't try it. By offering an API that marketers can bring to developers, in a format developers can respect, we are hoping to change that.
- latchkey 14y ago
  The problem I see is when the marketing department wants 'one more quick feature'... you know it will happen. I'm all for not re-inventing the wheel, I'm just not sure that this api is that much of a value add. I also tend to shy away from businesses which haven't figured out their pricing yet. '100% of funds are passed through'... but no mention of what happens when the beta is over. 5%? 10%? 3.5%? Give some sort of guesstimate. To me, that also says you're still trying to figure out your own business model, which is fine, but not something that I'd want to build my own business around. I want to know you're going to be around in a year and that I'm not going to regret not implementing this myself. Don't let me sound discouraging. Keep plugging away though. I'll check back again when I'm ready to implement this on my own site and make a decision then. =)
  - dmor 14y ago
    Sounds like we better hurry and decide. Thanks for the candid feedback, its the best kind and I hope you'll keep it coming

DanielRibeiro 14y ago

A very lively and interesting discussion on this launch is going at this moment on this other thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4281724 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4281724

klbarry 14y ago

Will this ever be integrated into an existing cart like shopify, so that total non developers can use it?

dmor 14y ago
Yes! I am working on a Shopify plugin right now actually - can you email me at danielle@refer.ly so I can hear what you'd like me to make sure to include?
- klbarry 14y ago
  I have no current use for it so I can't help you, but I know if I was to make an e-commerce site, I would use Shopify. Your offering looks very useful, so I asked for future reference :)

ig1 14y ago

In the case of fraud where does the liability lie ?

dmor 14y ago
The merchant is required to report chargebacks to use within 60 days

dmn001 14y ago

Other competitors: http://crowdfactory.com http://crowdfactory.com http://www.curebit.com http://www.curebit.com http://socialtwist.com http://socialtwist.com How does this service differentiate from those already established in this space?

dmor 14y ago
One way we are different is that we also offer a fully featured consumer experience, the API is awesome for businesses but we also bring an audience to brands since we are a marketplace with both sides.

wamatt 14y ago

Getting a 404 on the homepage. http://www.refer.ly/ http://www.refer.ly/

dmor 14y ago
Site was briefly overloaded, everything is good now