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Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

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Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#11

Post by nicbou »

mtmail wrote: post #2

Last week searched for to get a refund for a travel ticket (German train company). Several online companies claim the process is complex and offer an express service, for a 30% cut. The refund process is actually pretty straight forward. Same with a company that ranked high for "cancel $big_company subscription membership". You fill out a form, pay 10 Euro, and they will print a letter and mail it to $big_company on…

You can make a lot of money digitalising German bureaucracy against its will. For a lot of people, mailing free form letters around is a pain in the ass. It doesn’t help that some of the forms are complex and the processes unpredictable. My readership (see profile) speaks English, so even writing the message is a hurdle.

I used to think that people are dumb for paying for things that I show them how to do for free, but my dad is a mechanic and still lets someone else change his oil. People are busy and don’t like logistic friction.

I’m joining that industry myself with a 15€ Wohnsitzabmeldung. It’s worth it just for getting your Abmeldebescheinigung by email. I’m thinking of charging a little above cost for a nice layer over post-as-a-service and fax-as-a-service too.

Only in Germany!

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#13

Post by entuno »

solardev wrote: post #6
entuno wrote: post #3

It always astonishes me how much people are willing to pay for cosmetic digital items (game skins, stickers, NFTs, etc). But it's a huge market, even if you leave out the bits of it that are just gambling.

Hah, you're totally right. I'm one of those guilty of spending hundreds (or maybe low thousands? yeesh, I don't want to know) of dollars on Path of Exile cosmetics that have no gameplay impact. My justification (ok, self-rationalization) is that it supports a small company* making a really good free-to-play game that has no pay to win elements. As a gamer, I want more games like that, and cosmetics is a way for the w…

That angle is certainly more understandable - it sounds like you're almost treating them as a donation to the developers rather than purchases for your own benefit. Games like Deep Rock Galactic had something similar - the vast majority of the cosmetics (and all of the gameplay affecting items) were free - but there were a few "supporter" cosmetic packs you could buy.

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#14

Post by solardev »

entuno wrote: post #13
solardev wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hah, you're totally right. I'm one of those guilty of spending hundreds (or maybe low thousands? yeesh, I don't want to know) of dollars on Path of Exile cosmetics that have no gameplay impact. My justification (ok, self-rationalization) is that it supports a small company* making a really good free-to-play game that has no pay to win elements. As a gamer, I want more games like that, and cosmetics is a way for the w…

That angle is certainly more understandable - it sounds like you're almost treating them as a donation to the developers rather than purchases for your own benefit. Games like Deep Rock Galactic had something similar - the vast majority of the cosmetics (and all of the gameplay affecting items) were free - but there were a few "supporter" cosmetic packs you could buy.

Yeah, exactly! I think Deep Rock Galactic was like $20 when it first came out? I took a gamble on it and it was one of the best indie early access games I've ever played. For the amount of content and fun it provided, $20 seemed way too low. I was happy to support them and get some cosmetic armors in exchange.

The game kept getting better and better through the years. It's a pretty awesome success story.

They eventually made a board game too (it was okay, IMO).

Overall, I just prefer a gaming ecosystem made of many small but passionate players rather than the Ubi (or Wizards) of the world. And cosmetics can help with that without sacrificing gameplay integrity.

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#16

Post by gymbeaux »

hnreport wrote: post #12

Bill maher mentioned recently that it’s everything. Everyone has too much money to buy too little shit, and also the money is being inflated away.

Maher is one of those people who I agree with some of the time. Somehow he manages to be anti-woke but also anti-GOP, which is a unique position. He’s interesting. Maybe he’s just libertarian.

In any case, I was at my local city town center this weekend and it was an absolute madhouse. It was like Black Friday of seasons past. I’m not sure where the money is coming from except credit card debt, and I guess people are saying “fuck it” to that? It sure would be cool if this ended up being a precursor to a nationwide debt strike.

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#17

Post by solardev »

nicbou wrote: post #11
mtmail wrote: post #2

Last week searched for to get a refund for a travel ticket (German train company). Several online companies claim the process is complex and offer an express service, for a 30% cut. The refund process is actually pretty straight forward. Same with a company that ranked high for "cancel $big_company subscription membership". You fill out a form, pay 10 Euro, and they will print a letter and mail it to $big_company on…

You can make a lot of money digitalising German bureaucracy against its will. For a lot of people, mailing free form letters around is a pain in the ass. It doesn’t help that some of the forms are complex and the processes unpredictable. My readership (see profile) speaks English, so even writing the message is a hurdle. I used to think that people are dumb for paying for things that I show them how to do for free, b…

Whaaaaaaaaaaat.... the heck are Wohnsitzabmeldung and Abmeldebescheinigung? "De-registration"? Does that mean you have to go through some bureaucracy to move AWAY from somewhere (and then a separate thing to move TO somewhere, later, presumably...?)? That's kind of insane and also super interesting, lol.

I also love these German compound words that can turn entire English paragraphs into a single word. Do you have a word for when someone spends their entire life submitting to trivial government bureaucracies and then goes insane and breaks all the rules and rebels and moves into the woods and disappears from society forever without filing a single form?

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#18

Post by solardev »

rockyperezz wrote: post #7
giantg2 wrote: post #4

Porn. There's so much free content (even amateur), yet some people pay big money for it.

Agree with you there... O.F. especially

FWIW, ehhh... as someone who occasionally pays for porn subs but is generally too cheap for O.F., I'm also glad the porn actresses (and actors, I guess) are getting paid for their work. I wish there wasn't such a taboo against it in our societies.

If we support devs and writers and non-nude actors getting paid for their work, why shouldn't porn people also make a living?

Re: Ask HN: What online businesses do you find dumb but make a lot of money?

#19

Post by solardev »

rockyperezz wrote: post #8

(E-commerce example) Well I was surprised to find out the PetRock from the 70s had its own website and was still being sold - for USD29.99 a pop. Guess its easy to survive as a company with (I'd assume) ridiculously low production costs

It's kinda genius, isn't it?
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