Rate the idea/site: GiftOrTake.com

AntiThesis

AntiThesis

Executive Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
5,595
Reaction score
217
Location
East London
So, this is a site that a friend and I have been working on. He's sitting in Boston so the time difference gets pretty hairy sometimes (no sleep for me!) :D

It's basically the concept of Christmas everyday - you register, get three Giftees and send them gifts. At the same time, your name is on a bunch of people's lists. Bizarrely, the system works. People have received arb things like drawings and some things like cameras and game systems.

We've created this thing and I wanted to pick your guys brains on what would make the site more trustworthy to you - like what would encourage you to take the plunge and actually register.

Some things that I know suck (we're looking for an experienced UI designer if anyone is keen):

- The whole layout is done using <table> and <td> :sick: I haven't had a chance to change it yet, that's just what the original template was
- The main banner is badly done
 
I'm a designer and might be able to help out from time to time but at the moment I am up to my neck with work.

To be honest the site idea is nice if we lived in a perfect world. People will find ways to abuse the system and no one really has money to spend on others.
 
Yeah - see trust is a problem that we're fighting with. The system really does actually work, and if you get enough people interested in it, it won't matter if a couple people don't buy gifts for others.
 
Can't you do something simple... like every registered person is required to acknowledge receipt of the gift... giving the giver a "point" and only people who have a point may receive a gift? - when you receive the gift you have a point taken away... send 1 get 1 type of thing....
 
Sounds interesting. I just registered, got my giftees and have awesome ideas for 2 of them (just have to find what I have in mind).

Once you do send on a gift, does the sender also record it on the system, or only the receiver?

What about international gifts? It gets a bit more tricky there, as I'd rather spend money on a gift than on postage.
 
It's recorded on both the sender and receiver side. Once they receive the gift, they click the "I got a gift!" section and register that they've got it (and post a picture).

As far as international goes, so far I've been using amazon.com and sending small things in envelopes etc.
 
I got giftees! And from SA too :) Have some ideas and will be going out tomorrow to sort things out. Sweet.
 
Last edited:
What's the timelines for sending gifts? I have something ideal in mind for 2 of the 3, but may take some time finding it (what I have in mind is likely not easy to find, unfortunately).
 
There's no set timeline for sending gifts - though internally we've agreed that 4 months is probably somewhat excessive.
 
AntiThesis said:
So, this is a site that a friend and I have been working on. He's sitting in Boston so the time difference gets pretty hairy sometimes (no sleep for me!) :D

It's basically the concept of Christmas everyday - you register, get three Giftees and send them gifts. At the same time, your name is on a bunch of people's lists. Bizarrely, the system works. People have received arb things like drawings and some things like cameras and game systems.

We've created this thing and I wanted to pick your guys brains on what would make the site more trustworthy to you - like what would encourage you to take the plunge and actually register.

Some things that I know suck (we're looking for an experienced UI designer if anyone is keen):

- The whole layout is done using <table> and <td> :sick: I haven't had a chance to change it yet, that's just what the original template was
- The main banner is badly done
Click to expand...

Well done I like your guys concept, I love it when people start something unique :)
 
I think its a great concept, would like to register but wanted to know how the gift process works? I know you get 2 giftees right, then do you do all the posting etc? What if its to oversees...can become expensive (guess its better to keep it small?). What if someone from overseas sends here....and our customs get hold of it and charge some ridiculous prices to clear it?
 
Yeah - overseas gifting is something of a wild card unfortunately. We're working on making it possible for users to restrict to just their country. What I've been doing for US/UK people is using something like Amazon to order something small for them - works out much cheaper than posting all the way from here. That and sending small things in envelopes - drawings and so on.

You are responsible for all postage of course but then so are the other people who send to you so I guess it works out.
 
Cool idea. Its like reddit Secret Santa, but all year!

I suggest adding an area on the site where receivers can post photos of their gifts. Some people will get quirky & cool gifts and allowing photos may make it seem more like a community type vibe. Not sure how your selection process works, but having a place where giftees can put the shipping/tracking code for the receivers would help a lot.

Check out RedditGifts (if you're interested) and see how far the community has come. I've received things from the US, Iceland, Canada, and even Turkey! You may get some ideas to apply to your site!
 
Thanks for the link hungrybeaver :) Very cool.

I'm building the public viewable gift gallery at the moment but there is a place inside where people can post their gifts and when you send a gift you get to put in a short message (with tracking numbers and so on)
 
Awesome concept.
Can we have a facebook like button added perhaps, so we can share this with our friends and family?
 
Sure :) I'll include it in tonight's update (there's usually one every night). Any other feature requests are totally welcome - I'll be freezing the featureset for this version on Sunday night though so I can work on taking out all the <table> and <td> mess.
 
The facebook like button is up :) and there are a bunch of backend improvements.

We've chatted about limiting by country and it's definitely going to happen, we just need to figure out the best way to do it.
 
This is a great idea. I can see myself ordering alot from DealExtreme.com for this! It's cheap, awesome, and free shipping worldwide!
(That sounded horridly like an advert - sorry!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X