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Comment by gk1 | Hacker News Reader

Great idea.

Can we find out how much it costs, or do we just have to trust that the quoted price for the task isn't too much above actual cost? Or does it not have any service fees? The site is really vague about pricing.

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This is a great question. We are still trying to figure this out right now. Our vision is to be a service that handles everything - and that means everything from ordering food, to ordering clothes, to booking a one week's vacation in St. Thomas. The fees obvioulsy vary. Any ideas you have about doing this in a more straightforward way would be welcome. For now what we are doing is thinking about what would be reasonable on the fly. Sometimes it's more than people think, i.e. if someone wants milk delivered to their house in Wisconsin, we have to call a local courier, etc. However we've found people are willing to pay more than you would think, too.

First thought that comes to mind: Look into how Virtual Assistant services do pricing... Whatever it is, I'm sure it could be improved, but it might be a good starting point. I imagine they either charge a % of the cost (eg, milk+courier+0.15(milk+courier), or a subscription (plus cost of each transaction of course), or time-based (how long it took to complete the request). Maybe urgency-based?

Or a combination of any of above.

Why do the fees vary? Why couldn't you have flat min fee + % of total cost? Am I missing something? I feel like pricing transparency is key to scaling quickly here.

Presumably what their fee covers is their work arranging it. I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to charge much more for ordering a plane ticket than a pizza; it's not so much more effort that a percentage makes much sense. On the other hand, "get me a Philly cheesesteak delivered" (which someone mentioned) may entail both "find me a cheesesteak" and "find me a courier" - so you charge more because it's more effort.

I think the most important aspect of pricing is that your stated prices are itemized. That way you'll build trust with users.

As for pricing, perhaps a flat rate per request ($1?) that comes with up to 5 minutes of operator time for free. Then any time past 5 minutes could be billed in 5-minute blocks, perhaps $2 each (base price) and tiered up by order price (I dunno, maybe $3 for $500+, $5 for $2500+, $8 for $15000+). Also, you could charge predefined flat rates for any aspects of the order that can be automated.

Again, the important thing is that you're clear about what you're charging and why.

Great idea!

EDIT: changed suggested prices (redid math)

My bold suggestion would be to not do what other posters are suggesting about making pricing clear and itemized. As I've said in another comment, I think this service mainly fulfills an emotional need, not a rational one (and that's not bad for a business at all), so make your customers feel luxurious. Bean counting isn't luxurious. Do exactly what you do now, just handle the request and state the price. Getting people to think about pricing by having pricing listed and itemized will just ruin the experience. Besides, people prone to bean counting will quickly figure out this isn't worth it. Don't be Amazon, don't race to the bottom. Just find a way to scale your fee estimation process to stay reasonable enough without bothering your customers with it.

Excellent advice and goes back to the basic rule of know exactly who your customers are.

Completely Agree with this. Your service is extremely easy to use and your customers will choose if the price is too much or not.

Right from the site:

> It's completely free to chat with Magic. When you order something, we'll let you know the total price so you can confim it before you are billed. There are no hidden fees, and tip is included.

You have to confirm the price. It sounds like you can decline if you think it's unfair.

I saw, but it doesn't say how their fee structure works. I would rather not have to compare their quote with the original price every time just to be sure I'm not being dealt a 50% "convenience fee."

My thoughts exactly. I have no idea what the "tip" is and if it perhaps varies depending on what service I'm requesting, time of day, whether my phone number is even or odd, etc. It would be nice if this was more transparent.

I read that as meaning that the operators and delivery persons won't hassle you for a gratuity, which is a plus.

It seems to me that their target market is people who read the quote and go "I don't care enough about this to look elsewhere" - i.e. people who care if they're acquiring sufficient value for money+time spent, rather than people who care that they're acquiring the most efficient use of their money.

When you buy pizza for delivery, do you need to ask about their margins?

"I want X." "That'll be 22.50 with delivery." "Ok."

If the price is fair to you, buy it. View this as another store which happens to have everything. Under the hood they run out and subcontract.

If you're concerned about minimizing the price, you probably shouldn't be using a service designed to charge you for a few minutes' work. The target market for this thing is people who are looking to trade money for time.

Wasn't it actually convenient?

I like the one cost quote. Perfect. Things are worth what people will pay for them.

They quote, you either find it's worth it, or not, no worries.

Seems to me, there will be people who value their time low, who will not want to pay so much, and others who will value their time highly and will pay.

Scaling off the latter crowd might be easier to do and capitalize on.

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