Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money on the web?

Re:Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money... by HeyLaughingBoy on Sunday February 12, 2012 @06:13PM (#3583369)

If you're looking for a product idea; here's one that I have thought of since it's something that both I and enough other people have wanted that I think it's profitable.

A simple invoicing and shipping application, SAAS at a fairly low rate for tiny businesses.

You need to be able to enter customer data and product/service info, generate a nice, printable invoice and envelope and also offer the option to email the invoice. On the ship side, it should print out a packing list and a shipping label. Bonus points if it an print USPS postage paid labels, or FedEx, or UPS.

A very simple app to be sure (so why the hell haven't I done a basic version for myself yet but still keep doing it manually???) but I've seen enough people online looking for this that I'm convinced it's worthwhile. Go build it and make millions with my blessing!

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Re:Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money... by hrayr on Monday February 13, 2012 @02:41AM (#3584647)

You should look into http://www.freshbooks.com/ I use this for my invoicing needs, and they do offer to send paper invoice as you describe. They have awesome customer service and the people behind the company are great too, I think they send a cake to a randomly selected new subscriber every month.

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Re:Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money... by HeyLaughingBoy on Monday February 13, 2012 @04:10PM (#3587348)

I have tried Freshbooks. Nice service, but it only does the invoicing part, leaving me to do the packing list + labelling myself. The service I want/should program myself does both automatically.

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Re:Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money... by hrayr on Tuesday February 14, 2012 @04:03AM (#3589236)

Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly but Freshbooks has a service that will print out the invoice, pack it, and send a physical envelope to the client on your behalf. You don't need label or pack, they will do this for you for an additional charge.

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Re:Ask HN: What are the good old ideas that still make money... by drue on Monday February 13, 2012 @11:07AM (#3586068)

Freshbooks is great for long-term clients. I don't think it's adequate for one-off invoicing in an e-commerce type situation.

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