WhatsYourPrice.com is an online dating website where “generous” suitors pay for dates with “attractive” singles. It’s a business model that really stands out in a crowded space, and is the perfect example of the free market at work. Customers browse the profile of prospective dates and bid cash for the privilege of taking them out … Read more
I was working on a project that I was NOT looking forward to. You know the kind: hours of tedious mind-numbing work with no foreseeable shortcuts or efficiencies or automation. Table of Contents About Mechanical TurkTroubleshootingMy Mechanical Turk ResultsHow Much Does it Cost?Is Outsourcing to Mechanical Turk Worth It?Who Are These Workers? About Mechanical Turk … Read more
CareerExcuse.com is a company that provides fake work histories and professional references for job hunters. If you are unemployed and haven’t yet resorted to lying on your resume, maybe you’re not trying hard enough. With plans starting at just $20/month, CareerExcuse.com will help you lie your way into a new job. It is a fascinating … Read more
I had a hypothesis that text messaging is a huge cash cow for mobile phone carriers; a high-value product with virtually no variable expense. So I did some homework and found out I was right, and it was even worse than I imagined. Text Message Pricing On Verizon, text message pricing is as follows: $0.20 … Read more
I got an interesting mailer the other day from a company called storesonline.com. It said, “FREE Livermore Dinner Conference… Two Tickets Enclosed…” and, “Dinner Table for Nicholas Loper and guest.” Now, knowing that nothing’s free, I was even more curious to find out about this company and what the sales pitch was going to be. … Read more
Satellite radio is an interesting business model. They have extremely high overhead (satellites definitely aren’t cheap), but the marginal cost of additional customers is basically zero. Their satellites are already up there beaming signals down to earth; if the signal hits one receiver or a million, it’s all the same to them. In December, mom … Read more
How Restaurant.com Works Restaurant.com sells gift certificates to local restaurants at deep discounts. Their normal price is $10 for a $25 gift certificate, but they often run promotions where you can buy the same $25 gift certificate for just $2 or $3. $25 worth of food for $2! What’s the catch? Each restaurant has their … Read more