A great way to thank people who help you out

[sethwartak]

Here's an idea, let me know what you all think.

Lots of times, someone will do a favor for you, and you might want to thank them or wish you had a way to show them your appreciation.

What if I came up with a service where you pay me a few dollars (or whatever) and I'll ship them a beer with a nice note (chosen by the person)? Almost a little bit like Flattr.

Nice copy, nice design, thanksbeer.com or something way catchier.

Thoughts or ideas?

[JacobAldridge]

In the absence of market research, here are my immediate thoughts on ways to make this work:

Try to find some of the Tooheys New tv ads (Australia) - they're currently promoting themselves as "the official currency of the beer economy", which is basically what you're talking about - beer as thanks.

Payment system will need to be easy - even things like selecting a beer and writing a note might make it too hard, so offer 'random' selections of premium / boutique / foreign beers and random selection from a page of sample thank you notes (these would be short, funny, grateful, and blokey - the sort of page I might share as a link even if I don't use your service).

I think thanksbeer, thankbrew etc are all good. Something incorporating 'Cheers' could be nifty, as Cheers means both 'thank you' and 'bottoms up'. Cheersbeers.com?

I wonder what restrictions / limitations you encounter selling alcohol over the internet?

Definitely not part of the MVP, but being able to login and create my 'wish list' would be awesome. Then when a mate says 'I'll get you some beers' I could say 'Go to Thanksbeer, look me up and it will give you some ideas'.

Having 'different' beers is probably critical. I assume it would be cheaper for me to buy a friend some beers locally rather than use your service for the same brand, but I'll gladly pay a premium for a beer I've never heard of or tried before.

And final thing which is relevant to all business planning - how much gross margin can you realistically make? (Say, a couple of bucks per beer? $10 per carton?) How much do you want to make from this (Say, $5000 per month)? And then is it realistic, and if so how do you, go about building this so you can sell 500 cartons a month?

[osopoderoso]

It is always a good idea to be in the chain, one gives other receive and we take some benefit from it. But the difficult point is how are we going to be in the middle?

  You should be around, helping that communication or action to happen but the prize is for the person who find the way to be around and not only as someone to reject.

[malandrew]

how are you going about shipping a glass container full of alcohol through the mail?

When I visited the US recently to resolve some tax issues I tried to mail a bottle of Brazilian cachaça from NYC to a friend of mine in California. The US Postal Service, FedEx and UPS are refused to mail it except from one specific location prepared to mail glass bottles filled with liquid. On top of that they said that I need a liquor license to send beer through the mail.

[_delirium]

Craft-beer aficionados do it pretty frequently without much in the way of problems, though it's definitely a gray area. FedEx and UPS seem to take a don't-ask-don't-tell approach to what's in the box, though don't expect to claim insurance on broken bottles. Here's one guide: http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer-News/Article-174.htm

[shaunxcode]

partially because I don't drink alcohol and thus would prefer a different beverage (coffee, tea, bawls rootbeer etc.) and partially because it sounds like a dog talking - I think "thankbrew" is a better name... I think it's available as well.

[lazyjeff]

I'd use it. Like the domain too.

[ashleyreddy]

Yes! I would use it.