

Adding Game Mechanics To Daily Deals - KenjiCrosland
http://www.unreadyandwilling.com/2011/08/startup-idea-adding-game-mechanics-to-daily-deals/

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xyzzyz
People from my university had just recently created a startup with similar
mechanics, based in Poland -- it has English interface too, though no support
for other currencies yet.

<http://clicxs.com/how-does-it-work/>

Basically, you pay a small amount of money to uncover a price of a given item,
decreasing it as a byproduct. For instance, if a price is 50 PLN, uncovering a
price (which costs 2.50 PLN) decreases it by 1 PLN. The more people uncover
the price, the cheaper it gets, until someone actually buys it.

1 PLN is about 0.35 USD, by the way.

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KenjiCrosland
That's pretty cool, kind of like a reverse auction. Only one person gets to
buy the item though?

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xyzzyz
Yes, uncovering only decreases price of a specific item, so if it's sold, the
price is back up.

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vertr
I like the idea of adding game mechanics to daily deals, but I'm not really
sold on the idea of doing it for travel. Seems like it would be best if it
were applied to products that can be sold in more locations. Travel would need
to be city specific and it requires a major commitment.

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KenjiCrosland
Yeah, it might work if you only started in one city, just to test the product
though.

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Hisoka
It's the online gambling part that's the hugest hurdle. After that it's the
business deals. And you're conceding you're gonna do it in a narrow niche.

Add those three together, and you got a business model that's not worth doing.
"Cool" idea but not worth it.

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KenjiCrosland
A lot of game companies get around this hurdle with virtual currency, although
this might get a little over-complicated for your average deals site user.
You're probably right though.

