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Comment by pg | Hacker News Reader

You always have to pay to send someone money. And a giftcard for a store or restaurant also requires your friend to go there.

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Me: "Hey dude, there's this great new Mexican place on your block. Here's $30. Enjoy." = free

Me: "Hey dude, check out this website that's going to tell you about this great new Mexican place on your block. Here's $30. Enjoy." = not free

Seems like you're arguing against gift cards in general. $100b worth of gift card spending suggests other people feel differently. Maybe you're not the target market?

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1005802

$X is worth $X in gift cards. I'm fine with that. I hate the idea of paying this company when they don't add any value.

"Don't add any value"? I thought the idea/value was to give people the option of sending gift cards for any business. That Mexican restaurant you keep referring in your examples may not even have a giftcard program.

It wasn't a gift card in my examples. It was cash. Or an American Express giftcard. Just like you'd be getting with GiftRocket, except GiftRocket wants a cut.

It wasn't a gift card in my examples.

That's what makes it invalid as an example.

It really depends on whether the cost is worth avoiding the effort to get the gift card and send it to your friend.

I don't see a lot of value add (as a giftcard replacement) for vendors who are already selling gift cards online.

Sure, but in that situation, as you say

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2351451

you wouldn't give a giftcard either. Giftrocket is only meant as a replacement for giftcards, not as a replacement for cash.

I would give a giftcard if one were available. I'd buy a $30 card for $30. If one weren't available, I sure wouldn't pay a company $1.50 to set up a hoop for my friend to jump through.

You already said (http://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=2351451) you'd give cash in that case. It seems clear to me that you're just trying to invent reasons to attack Giftrocket.

That's unfair. I have no skin in this game. The example I gave originally addressed the establishment with no gift cards. Then I had to respond to the claim that Giftrocket is trying to replace gift cards, so I said I'd always pick a gift card if one were available, and if not, I'd give cash over paying a third party.

You'd use the service. I wouldn't. I argued why I don't see anyone using it. Don't write me off as an internet misanthrope trying to ruin everyone's fun.

edit: I'll be more constructive. I'd consider using this if it somehow felt like a gift card instead of a deposit to my paypal account.

I believe paypal doesn't charge you anything when you send your money to your friend on a non-business issue.

That's only true if you pay them out of your Paypal account or linked bank account. If you want to pay with a credit card, you have to pay a fee.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-receiving...

Yes, you are right. It just happened that my bank account is integrated with paypal, so it was always free for me.

Not any more. "Our fees are now the same for all accounts - Personal, Premier, and Business."

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outs...

From your own link:

Free when the money comes from PayPal balance or bank account. 2.9% + $0.30 USD when the money comes from a debit or credit card or PayPal Credit (the sender decides who pays this fee).

I had only heard of Treatful in this space. They said a common use case they didn't expect was buying a gift card for someone on the other side of the country. A lot of times people wanted to get a friend a gift for a local joint in NYC but obviously couldn't pick it up. Makes sense.

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