Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#1

Post by tantadruj » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 8:37 AM UTC

In the times of World of Warcraft, virtual power positions quickly appeared on eBay and high point user accounts reached up to $2K.

Hacker News has its own karma based system, which gives high karma users a power to create destinies of stories and also users.

Since first page HN listing with an interesting title can generate 2000+ UQ visits in 6 hours to a specific target group, this definitely has some commercial value.

We've seen bots that automatically submit influencer blog posts to HN to gain karma. There are some Chinese farmers on HN which are building their karma to impress pg for YC submissions.

When will the first HN account appear on eBay? Or will it be single upvotes sold to generate long term income for farmers? Do you think this is already happening undercover?

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#2

Post by mihar » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 8:40 AM UTC

Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#3

Post by rf45 » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 8:53 AM UTC

Wouldn't there be an escrow problem ?

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#4

Post by tantadruj » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 8:55 AM UTC

rf45 wrote: post #3

Wouldn't there be an escrow problem ?

I don't think so, because this can be done over a cup of coffee. Everybody is in the Bay Area anyways :)

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#5

Post by rf45 » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:00 AM UTC

mihar wrote: post #2

Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.

I'd say, round $0.1 right now.

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#6

Post by rokgregoric » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:10 AM UTC

mihar wrote: post #2

Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.

My bet would be more like $0.01 and a $100 for a 1000 point account.

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#7

Post by franze » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:19 AM UTC

rokgregoric wrote: post #6

mihar wrote: post #2

Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.

My bet would be more like $0.01 and a $100 for a 1000 point account.

why the jump in valuation at 1000?

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#8

Post by limmeau » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:41 AM UTC

The rewards of owning a high-karma account are limited. You don't get to upvote a frontpage item more than once (or do you? not at 780). Your comments may receive an occasional fanboy upvote, but that only creates more karma and doesn't shift the visibility of your message by a large amount.

So in conclusion, I don't think HN accounts will be traded much. Perhaps more if the frequency of "free invites to our beta service for HNers with 1000+ karma"-promotions increases.

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#9

Post by limmeau » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:44 AM UTC

rf45 wrote: post #5

mihar wrote: post #2

Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.

I'd say, round $0.1 right now.

I don't think anyone would want to buy my account for $78. That's a pair of headphones or a big harddisk or nine months of Dropbox.

Re: Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay?

#10

Post by tantadruj » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 9:53 AM UTC

limmeau wrote: post #9

rf45 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say, round $0.1 right now.

I don't think anyone would want to buy my account for $78. That's a pair of headphones or a big harddisk or nine months of Dropbox.

Until you put it on eBay/market, you'll never know :) but I think $78 is pretty viable if you put yourself in pants of somebody that has to test/launch something