Facebook Deals: Better with Friends | Hacker News Reader

Facebook Deals: Better with Friends

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32 pointskacy13 comments

I'm surprised New York isn't in the launch cities. The sheer density of people, businesses, and overpriced things requiring deals makes it a no brainer. Two cities in TX? I'd understand Austin over Dallas though (I'm from Dallas living in NY).

Facebook is also continuing its tradition of copying other people. They are the 1000th entrant into deals, so the only hope they have of success is their huge captive audience. Even that isn't doing well for them in the location game.

I don't think the location game is going well for anyone. Since techcrunch stopped pumping 4sq I haven't heard about it in a long time. I've never felt compelled to check in anywhere either.

I don't really fault them for copying other people. That's a pretty decent strategy for the market leader to take.

Deals is a fantastic way to monetize their competitive advantage (the massive database of social profiles and friendship connections). I'd prefer they implement all the creative ideas they can to keep Facebook usable and valuable, rather than suffocating the experience with ads.

This could partly be because of Facebook's sales office in Austin which may make it easier for them to ramp up their own deals (sourced by them vs. partners)

I still feel that some things people prefer to keep private. If I bought something at a discounted price I personally don't care to share that with everyone who I am connected to on Facebook, maybe just a few close friends and family members that's it, and that I do by emailing them.

Anyone know what Facebook's commission cut is compared to Groupon & Living Social?

I do know that they were in talks with shoplocal.com about using their api pass on deals to users. That company does alot of work in that space already. I know they developed the facebook pages for walmart, jcpenny, and gnc. It's a logical step for facebook to use their api.

Better with friends but not always, some purchases better be private.

Very interesting list of partners - some decently-sized deal sites but no Groupon or Living Social, the two behemoths in the space.

It's supposed to be the competitor to Groupon and Living Social, so of course they wouldn't be partnering with those companies!!

Is it really? Or is it a combination of direct deal-sourcing and aggregator?

After all, they're working with aDealio, Gilt City, HomeRun, kgb deals, OpenTable, Plum District, PopSugar City, ReachLocal, Tippr, viagogo, and zozi, and those companies are either primarily or substantially in the same business as Groupon and Living Social.

Unless Facebook decides to hire thousands of additional sales employees, located in every major market, in order to support the deals channel (which is a possibility, I suppose), they're going to need to get their deals from somewhere else.

Should facebook really hire thousands of sales people? Its already very well known. If they can show some good ROI for the initial customers should go to them to push deals. In fact most savvy businesses have a facebook page and so facebook can automatically poke them about pushing deals.

Everything I've learned about the daily deal industry over the last few months tells me local merchants have to be sold on daily deals - they don't just sign-up through a self-serve form. (Groupon's self-serve Groupon Stores, for example, seems to be flopping.)

Facebook might be able to change this. Who knows? Just because it's Facebook doesn't mean its new product lines are automatically successful.

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