Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

GroupMe: Split the Bill

blog.groupme.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 41 posts

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#11

Post by ultimoo »

mgkimsal wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…

It is actually a very widely used application for people living with roommates or other non-institutionalized housing arrangements where groceries and other monthly expenses are split on a regular basis -- college folk, young entrepreneurs, cash strapped people etc. I believe it is a pretty rife market -- rentshare.com, splitwise.com, billmonk, reconcileapp.com etc.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#13

Post by anthonycerra »

Just a data point from one person's experiences:

I feel like check splitting is always a bigger problem for the restaurant/server than it is for the people paying. All the customers need to do is pull out a credit card. It's the server that actually has to split the bill and you can always see the discomfort on his/her face when you ask them to split it AFTER they give you the check. Just let them know before ordering that you'll be needing separate checks.

The example on the site seems like a better use case, but the marketing copy "split the bill" immediately makes me think of a restaurant or bar tab which I don't regard as a problem.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#14

Post by T-R »

mgkimsal wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…

Bill split apps are really nice if you live in a shared housing/dorm type situation. At our hacker house, we're always going out for dinner together, or sending someone out to get food, or ordering groceries on Instacart - saves so much time not having to use cash, or keep track of who got what beforehand. Really wish this was an option while I was in college.

We've been using Split&Pay ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splitandpay/id593386557 ) - payment is really smooth (just click the button in the e-mail and you're done), particularly since we all already have WePay accounts, since that's how we organize our rent payments.

Full disclosure: Author of the app is one of my housemates, and founding engineer of WePay.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#15

Post by toddmorey »

mgkimsal wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…

I do think it's a real issue, but I think it's nuts that everyone encounters a 4% + 99¢ processing fee just to move money around among friends. Our payments system is in need of a serious update.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#16

Post by larrys »

Domenic_S wrote: post #7
mgkimsal wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…

I feel that. We can be old geezers together. We've had a solution to this "problem" for centuries: cash. If your group is too lazy to ask the server to split the tab 4 ways, what in the world makes you think they're all going to pull out their apps and pay this way? Then there's inevitably someone who doesn't have a smartphone, or doesn't have that app, or doesn't want to sign up for a new payment account, or doesn't…

"We can be old geezers together"

Not only that but it's like Nero is fiddling while Rome burns. North Korea is building up an arsenal to strike the US. And our best and brightest are solving big problems like this.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#17

Post by LargeWu »

anthonycerra wrote: post #13

Just a data point from one person's experiences: I feel like check splitting is always a bigger problem for the restaurant/server than it is for the people paying. All the customers need to do is pull out a credit card. It's the server that actually has to split the bill and you can always see the discomfort on his/her face when you ask them to split it AFTER they give you the check. Just let them know before orderin…

If it's really a persistent problem for servers, maybe they should think about asking themselves in advance of taking the order.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#18

Post by 001sky »

mgkimsal wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…

In simple terms, the value proposition is "not having to think about it". An app that adds functionality (ie, not-being-stupid about it) with practicality (not having to think about it) is sort of a classic win/win. The app that provides a bit of an audit trail, and allows for pre-negotiation, etc could even be tweaked over time to balance out even if simple stochastics dont do so by themselves.

Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill

#19

Post by OGinparadise »

What's the problem that this is solving? Paying friends with credit cards isn't the way to go. Cash, if you don't have this week (it happens) I'll /you'll wait for a week or x weeks.

People hang with people with similar values so it's extremely rare for friends to screw friends and when that happens, it happens once.

Post reply on HN