Get a $20 Amazon Gift Card for $10 today from LivingSocial | Hacker News Reader

Get a $20 Amazon Gift Card for $10 today from LivingSocial

livingsocial.com

27 pointsmaguay14 comments

Ah, just like the old days where companies were happy to virtually pay customers to make a purchase.

Then again, cost per acquisition via ads is inching up to $10 anyway. That, and with that company they're always in the shadow of having a $200+ valuation per user, it sorta kinda makes sense.

But if you're looking for a "the bubble is back" indicator, this is as good as any.

If the cost of acquiring an active user (signup + purchase) is close to $10 per user on other marketing channels, why is this promotion a bad idea?

Seems like a pretty creative move if they have the excess marketing spend. I've seen a ridiculous amount of LivingSocial ads on Facebook, Google, etc., etc. and the deal today was what made me finally sign-up (I've been using Groupon for a while). Yeah, that's anecdotal, but I wouldn't be surprised if the promotion makes sense when they look at the LTV of the new users they get today.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea. It's a good idea but it is from the late-90's playbook of user-acquisition desperation, which is perhaps concerning.

It's more expensive than $10 per new user since all existing users also get the deal, though.

I also signed up after hearing about it and I never joined either. It's going to be interesting to see how wild this gets. Not that Groupon will retort, just in how high these numbers will go by tomorrow morning.

This has nothing to do with a bubble. I work for Groupon and now LS has my email address. If that's worth $10 to them (and Groupon's numbers suggest that it is), then it's money well spent.

I thought the same thing. It's like 1999 all over again.

Amazon recently invested in LivingSocial, so this is their way of driving business to that investment. Seems like a smart play.

Although it seems not to be a direct play as the footnote states that Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion.

This was the first time I've used LivingSocial, but we all can usually find a way to use $20 at Amazon, right?

Side note: If you purchase this and can get 3 friends to purchase using your referral link you get your gift card for free.

Being a cynic, I was kind of surprised that the OP's link didn't include a referral code.

I guess he managed to get three friends to click already and didn't need the help.

the model has an expectation that the number of people redeeming will be less than 50%. I guess they have data that suggests it, but I find it hard to swallow.

Also, an accountant could tell you better, but gift cards are great for accounting purposes.

I don't think they want to make money on this deal. They want to get a lot of new people's emails so they can make more money on future deals.

443,137 purchased so far. That number surprised me a bit.

I compared it to how the $20 off $40 at the Gap did for Groupon which supposedly $10 Million in one day or something really high!

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