
Cardpool (YC W10) acquired by BlackHawk Network - Timothee
http://www.cardpool.com/blog/2011/10/21/cardpool-has-been-acquired-by-blackhawk-network
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Timothee
I used Cardpool once to consolidate many baby shower gift cards into a single
one from Amazon. They executed a smart idea very well: the whole process was a
breeze and their commission was a small price to pay for having a gift card at
a store I actually use.

Congratulations to the team!

It looks like BlackHawk Network is the company behind the gift cards stands
that have flourished in grocery stores, so that seems like a great match. The
good news is also that it's going to be run as an independent business
according to the PR, so the service shouldn't change much for now.

~~~
dotBen
_It looks like BlackHawk Network is the company behind the gift cards stands
that have flourished in grocery stores_

Which I believe is the same company that actually runs and controls the
operations for these cards too (I don't have time to check + confirm).

But if that's the case, then I'd be cautious as to whether they've acquired
Cardpool to shut it down or at least change it's direction. Blackhawk's
customer is the retailer the gift card is for, and they may have views on
whether they like people exchanging cards on the secondary market.

If they already control the underlying technology + fulfillment, then they
probably could have created CardPool functionality already if they really
wanted themselves.

~~~
anson
You're right, Blackhawk manages many of the operations related to gift cards.

On the other point, however, I can guarantee that Cardpool is about get a
whole lot BIGGER, and won't be shutting down or changing directions anytime
soon ;).

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jcampbell1
My quick analysis:

Their margin is 7-12%, and they probably spend 5% on processing fees and
postage, for a net margin of about 5% which on a volume of $100k/day is
roughly $5k or $1.8M. The marketplace is also highly competitive and they
probably spend a large amount on ads, but still a nice business.

My guess is the founders have been eating ramen the whole time because of the
working capital requirements of this business, so this looks like a well
deserved payday.

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justin
Congrats, Anson! You guys deserve it.

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xtac
I used these guys in the past, excellent customer service, 100k daily is a
great metric to have!

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zach
Wow! Are we going to see a Cardpool machine at Safeway sometime in the near
future?

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veritas9
Does anyone else smell talent acquisition? I've been following them for a
while and they seem to never have over 400 cards at any given time. Didn't
seem to be too active after all the hype.

Regardless congrats on the acquisition!

~~~
kapilkale
This wasn't a talent acquisition. They were doing ~$35M top line a year.

~~~
lachyg
Is that $100k in profit (or their take on the cards) or is it their total
revenue?

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sumukh1
BlackHawk put together some of their own Bed Bath and Beyond gift certificates
and redeemed them for a Cardpool Gift Card.

A interesting combo. It's almost like TicketMaster buying Craiglist.

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snampall
BlackHawkNetwork says 'Acquisition of Carpool' on their website at
<http://www.blackhawknetwork.com/>

I hope they knew what they were buying..

