Ask HN: Rate this Start Up - half2you.com

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=949139

by pit_theo • 17 years ago

4 4 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hello HN,

Recently we launched a new project called half2you.com. half2you.com is an online marketplace which redistributes half of its income back to its shareholders. i.e. it's users! When you register, you become a shareholder to the site and at the end of each month, half of the site's net income is paid back to the registered users, according to how much they have used it.

The site generates income when the users buy online something they find interesting from the site's featured affiliates. We currently try to expand our reach of most commonly used brands and provide the latest offers.

It started as an idea of generating some extra cash and we thought, why not, let's get it out there.

You can have a glimpse at www.half2you.com

We would very much appreciate any suggestions, feeback or questions you might have. It is still in beta, and a lot of things to improve, but looking forward to your comments.

Thanks! :)

tdoggette• 17 years ago

The site looks ... shady. It doesn't inspire trust.

The text logo, the generic dinosaurs, the post-it telling my to register. A block of text in the middle instead of a clear, simple explanation and a call to action. The site layout looks generic, and the list of categories looks like every other list of shopping links on domain squatting sites.

Alnoor• 17 years ago

Fail!

carpo• 17 years ago

Interesting idea. I'm using Firefox 3.5.5 and the dinosaur images are positioned over the FAQ and Contact Us buttons, so that only the bottom half of them are clickable. They can still be totally seen, but the transparent part of the images are stopping the hover and click events.

spokey• 17 years ago

Interesting idea.

I think the feedback thus far is a little harsh. There's room for improvement but I don't think your average user will be put off by the design. I'd reconsider the "Register Now" post it though--the font feels a bit angry and the post-it image is a bit pixelated.

Here's a few more general thoughts

1) I'd look for a way to make the concept of the site a more clear. I know a thing or two about affiliate programs and it took me a minute to understand how this site works/what it does.

I'm confused by your introductory paragraph and what it implies. In four paragraphs of text you never really explain what's going on here. What do you mean by "use"? Where do you get your "income"? That's what makes it feel shady to me. I'd be more direct about what your business model is.

If I understand you correctly, you're just giving kickbacks of 50% of the money you make from affiliate deals. If so, I'd focus on making that clear. Find a way in layman's terms to say "We register for affiliate programs. You buy products using our affiliate links. We pay you back 50% of what we earn." For example, you could say something like "The website that pays you back: Simply by starting your shopping experience here at Half2You, you'll earn up to 7.5% of your purchase price back in affiliate rewards" maybe followed by more details on how affiliate programs work (something like question 2 on your current FAQ).

In particular, I'd reinforce the concept that (1) you aren't buying the products from Half2You and (2) you continue to shop at your regular online stores, you just start the process at Half2You in order to get the affiliate credit.

2) I'm confused by what I should expect to find under the categories, I half expected to find a list of products. If you want people to use this as a browser homepage, I'd focus on making it work more like a gateway. Maybe your homepage should look like the Opera speed dial--just quick graphical links to the stores I'm most likely to shop at.

3) While you're at it, in the store detail pages I'd be more explicit about the terms of your affiliate program. E.g., go ahead and tell people what percent they'll make with a purchase from that store. Among other things, this will help both you and them maximize the reward by selecting the store that gives them the most cash back.

4) I'd focus on affiliate programs and drop the revenue share on display and text ads. That seems to be moving you into a gray area.

5) It seems as if you are toying with notions of user generated content on this site--ratings, reviews, coupon codes, etc.--maybe even having folks create content pages to drive organic (non-registered) traffic. If I were you I'd focus my energy on the affiliate links in the short term, mainly from an MVP perspective but also because I think the kinds of user generated content you are likely to get will bring down the perceived quality of the site. To the average user this feels too good to be true. You need to give visitors confidence that you're not somehow scamming them.

TL;DR: I'd try to be more transparent about what this site is and what it does.