Comments on: Skip The Virtual Shots: Give Real Lets You Send Your Friends Some Actual Booze

By: Zarklar Zaknomion

Zarklar Zaknomion — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:26:31 +0000

Nice. I like this idea.

By: JeffS

JeffS — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:05:11 +0000

I happen to have met the owner of this (not the person who created it, but the guy who bought the business and has the creator running it for him-i.e. an investor). He thinks highly of this idea (or he wouldn’t have spent the money to buy it), and I think he’s a straight shooter (he also bought a company I do business with daily).
I recently decided to try Give Real and sent a drink to a friend. When I learned that he had to not only give a credit card number (enough to make me nervous) but also provide his online username and password for his cc, I told him to have them cancel it, I’d send him a check.

Next time I talk to the investor/owner, I intend to let him know how unpopular I think this would be for most. I wouldn’t give them my log in information, so how could I expect my friends to do so?

By: Give Your Friends Something Real. at The Pursuit of Techyness

Give Your Friends Something Real. at The Pursuit of Techyness — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:30:27 +0000

[...] Founder Adam Ludwig says that the database is comprehensive and covers most restaurants and bars in the United States (though it doesn’t yet include any abroad), and that any transactions that aren’t correctly applied can be corrected by contacting customer service. (via TechCruch) [...]

By: Send Actual Booze instead of Virtual with Give Real | Startup Meme - Technology Startup and Latest Tech News

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:13:18 +0000

[...] does allow you to send ‘real’ shots to your friends. This however is in the face of a drink tab up to $99 from any restaurant or bar, using credits that can be tied to your credit [...]

By: Afri-silicon

Afri-silicon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:25:08 +0000

Good idea, but abit complicated for a beer. Maybe the simplicity of M-PESA as employed by safaricom kenya will be the ideal here. http://www.safaricom.co.ke A friend sends you some cash on your mobile, you walk to any pub of your choice, take what you want and transfer the cash to the moblie account of the pub owner. That easy!!!!!

By: 11 Feeds to subscribe immediately, when you start blogging at ZsoltBalla.com

11 Feeds to subscribe immediately, when you start blogging at ZsoltBalla.com — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:05:58 +0000

[...] Last week’s favorite post: Skip The Virtual Shots: Give Real Lets You Send Your Friends Some Actual Booze [...]

By: gran

gran — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:36:40 +0000

That’s the beauty of credit cards! Have you never given your cc # over the phone ? its a total secure deal for the cardholders . the only way money moves is with the approval of the cc company with the receiver known. … In other words , if you order something my shop and pay by cc, I don’t magically get the money from your card, I have to go to your cc company to get paid. And they know who I am (and where I live, if you know what I mean)

By: gp

gp — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:19:09 +0000

Sorry, but this seems completely different. buyyourfriendadrink is very limited, you can only use it at their list of places. But, I think, GiveReal can be used at ANY restaurant , bar ,pub (basically any place that serves alcohol and accepts credit cards) ….Thats probably why it has to be so complex, but once your in the system, seems pretty simple and cool.. check it out

By: Sonny Mayugba

Sonny Mayugba — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:41:56 +0000

I looked it and somewhat agree with Jason, it’s pretty convoluted to get you a $20 gift card. A system similar to how you send unwanted NBA tix or an iTunes gift would be much better.

“Hey Sonny, here’s a $20 gift check to INK Eats & Drinks from Ben, print it and use it whenever you want! And don’t forget to tell him thx. OR return the favor and buy him something by clicking here!”

That would be much simpler.

Either way, I’ll blog this on my site too.

let’s pray for some snow in Tahoe and the recovery of my buddy Chi Cheng.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:14:10 +0000

@jeff

Yea, these kids and their newfangled web 2.0.

That’s also why I don’t use email. Why would you send a message to your friend who will receive it instantaneously when, instead, you can buy stamps, paper, and an envelope, handwrite a message, and then drive to the post office so that you can send the letter which they will receive in at *most* a couple of days?

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:09:36 +0000

I don’t see how this is better than sending your friend a gift card/certificate for their favorite bar.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:50:25 +0000

When you sign up you’re asked not only for simple credit card information like card#, but for your online card management username and password. I’m ok with giving a simple card #/security code to be stored when I use a site but I’d rather NOT provide complete access to a credit card provider account management site. My Amex login provides access to at least 3 different cards, from corporate to personal. Yikes.

By: Carter

Carter — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:33:48 +0000

But that’s what is so cool about this application – By going through Facebook, if I send my friend a drink from Give Real, they get it through Facebook and see that it is from my personal Facebook profile, so they know it’s me.

Kind of like how blogs use Facebook Connect to verify commenters (will get on that soon…).

The best part for me is being able to give my highschool friends drinks now that we’re all at different colleges and can’t celebrate birthdays in person. I like knowing that they will go out and get a drink on me. Plus I love how unlike other gift cards, there is no annoying physical card that can get lost, expire, or be only partially used.

By: Scott Nelle

Scott Nelle — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:47:02 +0000

I think most people will get these notifications and promptly mark them as spam. “Someone wants to give you money, just give us your account info to receive it” is a line everyone’s heard before.

If they can build enough awareness around it to so people know that it’s legit it might have a chance.

By: Skylar Anderson

Skylar Anderson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:00:52 +0000

@Jason
If you read the post you would have noticed that this web app’s process of gift receiving is completely different than that of BuyYourFriendADrink. Since gift redemption is done at the receiver’s credit card level, establishment participation is NOT required. This is very contradictory to BuyYourFriendADrink’s establishment dependent gift reception model.

By: =jason

=jason — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:54:22 +0000

Tried in the past and failed.

http://www.buyy...k.com/home.php?

By: Suleman Ali

Suleman Ali — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:40:58 +0000

Love it! Yay!

By: fb2250783

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:11:23 +0000

If I’m understanding Give Real’s FAQ, it’s neither a gift card nor a direct cash transfer — it’s a rebate service, vaguely similar to rewardsnetwork.com. The recipient doesn’t really receive the money until AFTER they spend their own money at a bar.

That’s why the recipient has to register a credit card to receive the gift: Give Real is monitoring their credit card transactions to spot purchases that are eligible for rebates. Until the recipient goes out to eat or drink, the money presumably sits in Give Real’s bank, earning them interest.

(As I mentioned, RewardsNetwork.com does something similar, but only gives partial rebates and is funded by participating restaurants instead of users. Give Real is an old trick with a new funding source.)

By: fb2250783

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:56:42 +0000

I ignore most of the dumb startups offering invites here, but free alcohol always gets my attention. Best startup ever!

But seriously, forcing the recipient to register their credit card is going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of users. Too many people are too paranoid about their credit card numbers to hand over the number for something this nonintuitive.

Face it, “This is free, just give me your credit card number” sounds exactly like the kind of scam that consumer advocates are always warning people NOT to fall for.

By: COED MagazineBrand Spankin’ New Terminator Salvation Trailer «

COED MagazineBrand Spankin’ New Terminator Salvation Trailer « — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:40:36 +0000

[...] Skip The Vitual Shots…Get The Real Thing! [...]

By: Give Realで友達に（ホンモノの）酒を一杯おごれる― ただし手続きが面倒

Give Realで友達に（ホンモノの）酒を一杯おごれる― ただし手続きが面倒 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:26:59 +0000

[...] バーチャル・ギフトは面白いアイディアだが、結局は物珍しさの域を出ない。誕生日や本当のお祝い事の際に友達にプレゼントできるようなものではない。今日（米国時間12/10）、Give Realという新しいスタートアップが同名のサービスの公開ベータをローンチした。このサービスは友達にホンモノの酒をおごれるサービスを目指している。このサイトでは最高$99までの範囲で、クレジットカードを通じて、アメリカ全国のバー、レストランで飲み物をプレゼントできる。（同時にFacebook appでも同様の機能のアプリを提供している）。サービスのローンチを記念してGive Realでは飲み物5ドル分をTechCrunch読者、先着500人にプレゼントするという。サインインはこちらから。ただGive Realを通じて飲み物をおごる手続きは大分ややこしい。これは普及の障害になりそうだ。たとえば私が友達の誕生日に20ドル分の飲み物をおごりたいとしよう。私はまずクレジットカード情報をGive Realの支払いシステムに入力する。するとシステムが直ちに私のクレジットカードに20ドルを課金し、同時に友達にプレゼントが贈られたことをメールで通知する。友達がこのプレゼントを受け取るためには、この相手もGive Realのシステムにクレジットカード情報を登録しなければならない。友達がそのクレジットカードをバーかレストランで通常どおり利用すると、Give Realは私がプレゼントした金額の支払いを肩代わりする。（使い方のビデオはここ）。もしプレゼントを贈りたい相手がすでにGive Realのユーザーであれば、手続きは簡単になる。しかし、最初にプレゼントをもらった相手は、果たして自分のクレジットカード情報を気安くGive Realに登録するだろうか？　（もっとも人間はタダ酒のためなら相当の労力を払うのをいとわないものではある）。もう一つ、問題になりそうなのは、プレゼントされた資金はGive Realが承認したレストランやバーでしか利用できないという点だ。Give RealはMintと同じ財務サービスのプロバイダを利用しており、ユーザーのどのクレジットカード利用に対してプレゼントを行うべきか、クレジットカード利用履歴を解析してマッチングを行っている。ある利用履歴がプレゼント対象に該当すると判断されると、GiveRealはその支払いに資金を充当する。ファウンダーのAdam Ludwigはアメリカ中の（外国はまだサポートされていない）ほとんどのバーとレストランを網羅した大規模なデータベースを用意しているとしている。ただし、プレゼントされた資金の支払いにあたって問題があれば、ユーザーは同社の顧客サービス部門に連絡して処理を頼む必要がある。さて、それではどうしてこんな手間のかかるサービスの提供を始めたのか？　Ludwigはこのサイトの目的を、ソーシャルな活動を促すことにあると説明している。「友達にキャッシュをプレゼントするならギフトカードや為替にするだろう。Give Realを使えば、友達が外出してひとときを楽しむ手助けができる」という。それはもっともだが、もう少し簡便な方法がないものか。（Facebookが長らく噂になっているマイクロ支払いシステムをローンチしてくれればうれしいのだが）。[原文へ]（翻訳：Namekawa, U） ShowListings(”arc3″); ShowListings(”arc2″); AddClipsUrl = ‘http://jp.techcrunch.com/archives/20081210skip-the-virtual-shots-give-real-lets-you-send-your-friends-some-actual-booze/’; AddClipsTitle = ‘Give Realで友達に（ホンモノの）酒を一杯おごれる― ただし手続きが面倒’; AddClipsId = ‘2CBE02C952CFE’; AddClipsBcolor=’#78BE44′; AddClipsNcolor=’#D1E9C0′; AddClipsTcolor=’#666666′; AddClipsType=’1′; AddClipsVerticalAlign=’middle’; 前の投稿へトラックバック [...]

By: JJ

JJ — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:18:57 +0000

I’m sorry- I’m a fan of startups and innovation, but this is just too complex… Make it simple please!

By: Matt Keithley

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:25:38 +0000

horrible this idea…

By: Graham A Hoopingarner

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:19:25 +0000

Bringing holiday cheer with holiday beer (or hard booze) sounds like a good idea to me. Hopefully the gift receiver’s are not reluctant to give up their credit cards numbers prior to indulging in a night out on the town at their favorite pub or bar. You have my vote.

By: biznews

biznews — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:06:52 +0000

Isn’nt this what a restaurant gift card is supposed to do but you can buy anything at the restaurant .
Also these sites do the same thing

http://www.buyy...k.com/home.php?
http://www.youg...om/ygb/home.jsf
http://valleywa...rink-299344.php