

Ask HN: Review my new e-commerce model: self-serve group discounts - compumike

Dear HN,<p>Today, I'm launching "Buckits", a new e-commerce business model that I think you'll find interesting.  Hoping to get some feedback on the concept side and on the business / implementation side.  (Also trying to figure out how to best explain this concept to less-technical viewers!)<p>We are launching a new e-commerce model where groups of customers can pool together to receive discounts.  A "Buckit" takes the simple idea of a group discount and augments it for the modern Web.  Anyone can create a Buckit, or join one that already exists. The more people who sign up for a Buckit, the less everyone pays for his or her own item. The final price each Buckit member pays for their itemis based on the number of people in the Buckit, and the amount keeps going down as more people join.  This model lets people take advantage of their social networks (online and offline) to spread the word about a cool product and save money at the same time.<p>NerdKits is launching this today and applying this to the educational kits we've sold online since 2007, but we're also interested in applying the concept to other e-commerce areas where there's a "social or network utility" to a product: event tickets, multiplayer video games, etc.<p>For more information, we have a 2-minute video demo:<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0<p>Our live website:<p>http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/<p>Plus this morning's press release with more details:<p>http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm
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satjot
I understand where it can become a bit cumbersome to explain to non techies. I
would agree with the point above that the explanation does not to be as
overblown as it is. Just get the key concept out: 1) Want to buy something,
but pay less? 2) Invite your friends and if a few of you buy it, everyone will
save.

The specific dynamics of how things work do not need to be in the pitch. Good
luck!

P.S. I've been working on something in this space. Coming at it from a
different angle, though. Hopefully I will be able to have something to show in
the next couple of months.

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yuanthelottery
Yeah, I get it. Personally, I am an avid skier, and I'd love to use this
product to get together with fellow skiers/snowboarders and take advantage of
existing steep discounts in group lift tickets.

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fnid2
I've seen this trend popping up a lot lately. Pooling buying power among
individuals to get discounts _up_ the supply chain. It makes great sense.

I think there is a lot of potential here because it is only at a certain scale
that some ideas become profitable or even implementable. In the old days, some
investors got together and created companies at great risk in order to see if
there is a market for a product.

Taking these group buying systems to one more level, people who _want_ a
particular product can pool their resources in order to get the product
_developed_. I don't think Venture Capital sees the threat from models like
this.

Imagine the CNC market that is getting a lot of buzz for enabling them to be
built at home. If you create a company where when 100 CNC products are
ordered, then everyone is charged, ALL the parts are ordered and constructed,
perhaps in part by one such already existing CNC -- _created_ just this way.

This model enables the consumer of the product to be the _investor_ in the
product. Models like this eliminate the need for venture capital in a lot of
spaces with currently large barriers to entry.

EDIT: Yep, here's another example, right on the front page of HN.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1149207>

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compumike
We're taking a slightly different angle, in that the individual customers each
have a better experience with the product when it's done together.

What you're mentioning, in terms of pooling resources toward getting a product
developed, is also a really neat application. But it adds another layer of
uncertainty (i.e. can the developer actually deliver on what's being
promised?), so we're starting out with a product that exists and already
extremely well-received by its target audience, and applying the model there.
If we can prove that consumers understand the model for an already-existing
product, then we (or others) can push into the not-yet-developed product area.

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csbartus
This idea is very useful for shop owners too. We have realised not the
customers are coming to your shop anymore but you'll have to go to their space
(like Facebook)

Future is about customer driven shops: they define what they want at what
price they want. Shops will be the clients of these groups serving them with
lower margins at highest quality.

So the question of the business model shifts to shop owners how they can
afford to operate in such (hostile) environment

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compumike
2-minute video demo: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vVhaUj8r0>

Our live website: <http://www.nerdkits.com/buckits/>

Plus this morning's press release with more details:
<http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3632034.htm>

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jonah
Group buys happen a lot of the (Audi) Quattro World forums for example.

A member comes up with an idea, runs it past a vendor, and posts a notice -
say, group buy for 10 sets of wheels. People respond by placing pre-orders
with the vendor. Once the minimum is reached they turn into orders at the pre-
arranged discount and shipped out.

Could even be a generic service to facilitate these kinds of deals through
arbitrary small vendors.

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elpuri
Some people might remember letsbuyit.com from the late nineties and early
noughties. If I remember correctly it had the exact same idea. The site seems
to be still up with the same brand, but it seems to have become some sort of
"shopping community" without the group buying feature. You might want to find
out what happened to them.

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apsurd
It's a nice and simple enough idea that has a chance at doing well. The girl
in the video is talking way too fast. I know there's a lot of content but the
idea is simple enough that she does not need to blow through everything.

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compumike
Thanks, glad to know that it's an understandable idea. We did have a 2-minute
time limit on the video (per PayPal's rules for the developer competition --
see <https://www.x.com/community/ppx/devchallenge/lp> ). But perhaps it is too
fast.

