Re:Ask HN: Critique this idea
by ErrantX on Wednesday July 01, 2009 @07:59AM
(#682465)
I was thinking about that.
Transaction costs (I assume you mean payout to the charity) weould be easy because you just store up the charity donations from everywhere till it reaches a reasonable value ($15 perhaps, or more) then payout costs are minimised.
As to donations - I had a big discussion about that last night. In the end we figured 3 things. Firstly collecting donations is a pain to handle so a lot of people dont bother (especially as there is little worth to them). Secondly there is no culture to donate even though many people probably would if it was easy and they could do it super cheap: a known central service to handle donations wold be recognisable and trusted. Thirdly as a portion of the beneficiary would go to charities and you could actually see that happening it might encourage more people to donate.
In terms of complexity: I think it just sounds more complex than it is. Really it IS just Twollars with a bit more on top.
Transaction costs (I assume you mean payout to the charity) weould be easy because you just store up the charity donations from everywhere till it reaches a reasonable value ($15 perhaps, or more) then payout costs are minimised.
As to donations - I had a big discussion about that last night. In the end we figured 3 things. Firstly collecting donations is a pain to handle so a lot of people dont bother (especially as there is little worth to them). Secondly there is no culture to donate even though many people probably would if it was easy and they could do it super cheap: a known central service to handle donations wold be recognisable and trusted. Thirdly as a portion of the beneficiary would go to charities and you could actually see that happening it might encourage more people to donate.
In terms of complexity: I think it just sounds more complex than it is. Really it IS just Twollars with a bit more on top.
Does that seem like a reasonable assessment?