I’m working with a group on a version of this now that allows customers to request a gift card from any local business in the US. I could use some help a pm and a full stack dev with ecomm / payments experience. Ping me if interested. Michaelpatrickmcc@gmail.com
Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
31–40 of 58 posts
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#32Why just restaurants? This should be expanded to support barber shops, nail salons and massage business. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other business that could benefit.
Barbershops etc. are a class of business that gift cards aren't the best fit for because they have finite, nonscalable capacity.
You buy a gift card for a timeslot, which helps the barbershop's cashflow now, but when you redeem it later, you're clobbering it's future income.
A barber can work overtime and open up more slots, but he might never catch up. Unless you have really short expiry dates or low redemption rates. In which case the gift cards become more like a donation, which under the current circumstances wouldn't be a bad thing.
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#33Why just restaurants? This should be expanded to support barber shops, nail salons and massage business. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other business that could benefit.
I usually pay my barber in cash. If I wanted to send her a payment in lieu of my next appointment, what would be the most sensible way to do that? I could mail her a check I suppose. ACH transfer? (I assume I would have to ask her for her bank account info which might be a little awkward.) Venmo? (I've tried to avoid it thus far.)
My barber has an iPhone, so I offered to Apple Pay him (no fee if linked to debit/cash account). All I needed was his phone number.
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#34My real worry is that if the restaurant goes under (or sometimes, even changes ownership), your gift card is worthless. Dunno if a chargeback would go through, since you technically received what you paid for.
The website lists a restaurant (Southern Proper in Boston) that shut its doors months ago. The space already has a new tenant, has been renovated and has new signs up.
Edit: It appears the site immediately posts any user submissions without any verification. I posted Toro, and it immediately went live on the site. They’re worth posting, because they’re sharing 50% of gift card proceeds with staff through the end of April: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9zIuPkB4U-/
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#35cool project. Good extension of the pledge show hn the other day I’d love for a feature “within 25 miles of {zipcode} so I can find some around me. (I’m in the suburbs where local doesn’t mean the same city) Clicked “view all cities” Not down to type in the name of every city around me
You can type the name of the city you're searching for on this page - https://givelocal.co/search Great feedback though! This is definitely something we pulled together quickly over the last few days.
That search page seems to use infinite scroll for its results. That makes searching within the results using the browser's Find function impossible.
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#36a better one for SF: https://saveourfaves.org/
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#37Why just restaurants? This should be expanded to support barber shops, nail salons and massage business. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other business that could benefit.
I usually pay my barber in cash. If I wanted to send her a payment in lieu of my next appointment, what would be the most sensible way to do that? I could mail her a check I suppose. ACH transfer? (I assume I would have to ask her for her bank account info which might be a little awkward.) Venmo? (I've tried to avoid it thus far.)
Sincere question - how widespread is actual check usage in the US nowadays? As in, would "mail her a check" be a colloquialism for an Apple Pay transfer or similar, or would it mean just what it says - write out a check, mail it, wait for her to cash it?
(Question comes from Norway, a small country with only a handful of banks which very early collaborated to get electronic payment options available - to the extent that debet card terminals are everywhere, even kids have cards - and I think the last time I saw a check was in 1992 or so, at which point my reaction was "wow, do these still exist?")
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#38Why just restaurants? This should be expanded to support barber shops, nail salons and massage business. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other business that could benefit.
Barbershops etc. are a class of business that gift cards aren't the best fit for because they have finite, nonscalable capacity. You buy a gift card for a timeslot, which helps the barbershop's cashflow now, but when you redeem it later, you're clobbering it's future income. A barber can work overtime and open up more slots, but he might never catch up. Unless you have really short expiry dates or low redemption rate…
> You buy a gift card for a timeslot, which helps the barbershop's cashflow now, but when you redeem it later, you're clobbering it's future income.
This is most business though. You have unearned revenue which helps because you have accounts receivable and you're waiting on cash. It bridges the gap.
I agree partially on barber shops though because few have AR. Still, they get revenue upfront which can cover hard costs during this time.
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I usually pay my barber in cash. If I wanted to send her a payment in lieu of my next appointment, what would be the most sensible way to do that? I could mail her a check I suppose. ACH transfer? (I assume I would have to ask her for her bank account info which might be a little awkward.) Venmo? (I've tried to avoid it thus far.)
Sincere question - how widespread is actual check usage in the US nowadays? As in, would "mail her a check" be a colloquialism for an Apple Pay transfer or similar, or would it mean just what it says - write out a check, mail it, wait for her to cash it? (Question comes from Norway, a small country with only a handful of banks which very early collaborated to get electronic payment options available - to the extent t…
Checks are still an everyday thing in the USA and Canada for rent, grocery stores and more-expensive services.
Checks are generally not used for small amounts, and where the Not Sufficient Fee (NSF) fees would be a problem. So usually not for restaurants, barbers, etc.
Banks until recently issued free "basic design" checks, but it looks like my national-level bank stopped doing that last year.
The advantages of checks over eletronic payments is that you don't need an always online network, and you can mail or give checks in advance of the payment date.
Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them
#40My real worry is that if the restaurant goes under (or sometimes, even changes ownership), your gift card is worthless. Dunno if a chargeback would go through, since you technically received what you paid for.
It is a bad idea anyway.
The revenue will be missing anyway, if not now then later when they are trying to re-bounce but most of their guest come to eat for 'free' (well, already paid, but not for the food).
If one genuinely interested in saving a restaurant should invest or better, donate.