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Magic+

getmagicnow.com

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Re: Magic+

#311

Post by Nadya »

justinpombrio wrote: post #305
mbrameld wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't need an extravagant income to do something like that. I just did a quick check and it costs less than $150 to overnight an 8lb package from NY to SF with 8am delivery. So the markup over just buying the meal at the restaurant is going to be less than $300 once you add refrigerated packaging and pay somebody to order it, pick it up, package it, and ship it. That's pricey if you're doing it every week, but…

Really - a $300 birthday gift to your friend? According to this website[1], the median American family has a combined income of 81k and spends about 1k of that on gifts. That's for the whole household, so more like $500/year for your friends. You're probably not going to blow half of that on one friend's birthday dinner. Of course there are plenty of people for who this is reasonable, but please don't be so ignorant…

>According to this website[1], the median American family has a combined income of 81k and spends about 1k of that on gifts

And some people are a bit more generous than that. Or only have 1-2 friends that they go "all out" for. Small $20-40 gifts for a few friends/coworkers and 1-2 $200-300 gifts for the close friends lines up with your estimate just fine. Especially since they said could afford to and not will do so.

I'm middle class and spent three times the average you cited because I budgeted it accordingly for the last year. This year was atypical, but was very much possible.

You don't need to be upper middle class to afford a one off large purchase. Maybe if you're struggling in the lower ends of the working class - it could be difficult. I don't see where you're finding fault with their statement... if anything you're supporting it.

Re: Magic+

#312

Post by mikeash »

mpeg wrote: post #291
mikeash wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screenshot says "free to chat," which Magic is.

Yeah, free to chat, not free if you want to actually use the service. It's the same as getting a quote from any other professional service (lawyers, doctors, etc.) which is generally free.

Sure. Just saying, the screenshot isn't misleading in that respect.

Re: Magic+

#314

Post by JackFr »

I think it speaks to the whole PG inequality essay. This is clearly a catalyst for a more natural equilibrium. It seems to me the main service provided by Magic+ is liberating money from those who have more than they know what to do with.

Re: Magic+

#315

Post by shitgoose »

is it just me or i hear indian accent when i read this web site?

PS you guys flagged a recent post with Obama's gun control executive action, but leave this one on??

Re: Magic+

#316

Post by JoshTriplett »

FireBeyond wrote: post #298
JoshTriplett wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What kind of income would a person need to fathom affording something like that? Depends heavily on how often they did it. A quick estimate suggests that a request like that would cost a few hundred dollars at most: the cost of the food itself, packing it in an insulated box with cold packs (some restaurants can do that themselves, and if not, a shipping service could most likely do that quite cheaply), and about $…

"A few hundred at most"? What? UPS rate calculator for overnight cross country shipping of a 7lb package is $285, not "about $100". All this rounding down is the difference between "a few hundred" and likely "just shy of a thousand dollars". A few hundred in shipping, a couple of hundred for a meal that's not "cornershop Chinese", the time for the service. Etc.

> UPS rate calculator for overnight cross country shipping of a 7lb package is $285, not "about $100".

I used FedEx overnight for a 5lb package, which came to less than $100.

> a couple of hundred for a meal that's not "cornershop Chinese"

I'd assumed a meal for 2-4 people at most, thus roughly $50-100.

> the time for the service

Given foreknowledge of the services needed to put together such a request, that should take a small fraction of an hour; 15-30 minutes, so $25-$50.

Put all of that together, plus the chilled packaging, and $300-400 seems like a reasonable estimate. Both of us made many assumptions based on lack of data.

Re: Magic+

#317

Post by jameshart »

tempestn wrote: post #116
jameshart wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that conveys how people really use the service, then, to many people, it also conveys that the people who use the service are, on average, lazy rich douchebags. If that isn't what you want to portray about your brand, you might want to reconsider your examples.

It conveys that the users are rich, yes. What about it makes them lazy or douchebags? Assuming you're rich, is it a logical use of your time to, for instance, go through the process of tracking down and renting a bunch of cars for some event online? Or would it make more sense to pay someone else $100/hour (considerably less than the opportunity cost of doing it yourself) to do it for you? Does wanting to meet a cele…

There's a certain 'I'm bored. Bring me Tina Fey' kind of tone to it that seems, oh, maybe just a little bit entitled and self centered.

Re: Magic+

#318

Post by cookiecaper »

craftkiller wrote: post #238
tghw wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An hour of my time is worth more than an hour of their time costs. And that's without counting the headache of doing it. Considering it would save me money for less than I would "spend" doing it myself, I don't see how it's not an application for most people.

$100/hr is a salary of $208,000 which only about 5% [1] of household incomes exceed that. Certainly not "most people" [1] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-p...

He's not going to hire Magic+ for 40 hours per week. Many services are $100/hr or more, they're just rarely billed out that way, because people have this reaction. If you have a moderate amount of disposable income, you can afford to have simple requests filled by Magic+ for $15-$30 (10-20 minutes of personal assistant time) several times a month.

The viability of the product for a solid middle class user really just depends on if Magic+ can fill the type of requests that you'd want to offload in a time-efficient manner or not. Some people in this thread say they're hyper-efficient and specially trained to do so, so it may be worth a try.

Re: Magic+

#319

Post by sauere »

What is it with all the comments about the service being for "elitist" or the "1%"?

People are paying for a convenient service - nothing special about it. Some pay the neighbors kid $20 to mow the lawn, others pay Magic $100 to get something done that would otherwise be a hassle for them. Same shit.

Re: Magic+

#320

Post by lkbm »

snydly wrote: post #223

So wait... did I miss the part about what happens if they fail to do what I ask? What happens then? "Finish my dissertation. Thanks."

Most things the answer isn't "No", but "Okay, this service will do it for $huge_number. Is that okay?"

Will it cure cancer for you? No. But if it can get you the best care available, that seems like a reasonable response.

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