GYFT.COM: wonder why you'd never heard of it before?

[mjosephs]

Let's count the ways:

1. They sell "gift cards" that can't be transferred to somebody who hasn't installed their app.

2. Their app asks for an unbelievable number of unnecessary permissions from your phone.

3. They only let you use it on a mobile phone registered to a US cellular network (aka stingray compatible).

4. Visit the website with private browsing enabled and the site blocks you out with a message saying "This app does not support private browsing. Please turn it off and try again." (this is their website, not their app).  And that's just private browsing -- forget about anything like Tor.

5. They insist on friending you on the facebooks or googling you or tweetering at you before you can use their service.

6. FINCEN just made a big stink about gift cards (which are convertible virtual currencies and therefore unambiguously subject to FIN-2013-G001) being exchanged without a "paper trail", putting a bunch of giftcard-for-bitcoin businesses, (many of which were bitpay customers), out of business.

And BOOM this company nobody's heard of before, with a product that is a solution-looking-for-a-problem (who wants gift cards that are worthless without a smartphone? what's wrong with QR codes?) flies out of Jen Calvery's ass.

It's not a conspiracy, since that requires actual deception or secrecy.  Instead, you're simply being herded.

Maybe, just maybe:

[vokain]

i think it's a great idea. a digital place to store all your giftcards? I carry a wallet with only slots for three cards so that I will never feel inclined to carry gift or loyalty cards or anything of the sort. an app that can store the code to a gift card i have that can check with corporate account balances would be a total game changer, and would kill all those unoriginal giftcard exchange website ideas my entrepreneurship class had

[mjosephs]

a digital place to store all your giftcards?

apparently you have never heard of these things called "QR codes".

[vokain]

It seems you haven't heard of these magical things called "QR codes".

Honestly I've yet to use qr codes in a practical everyday life sort of way (yet). most qr codes i've run across are ads to "find out more!" about stuff marketers are trying to pedel in web 2.0 (or like dotcom a decade before) fashion.

[mjosephs]

Honestly I've yet to use qr codes in a practical everyday life sort of way (yet).

Lemme get this straight, you're posting on a bitcoin forum, claiming QR codes have no practical use?

Troll harder, buddy.

Or join the herd.  Ducks are easily herded.

[mjosephs]

For all you out there preparing for your college entrance exams, the analogy goes like this:

   GYFT.COM is to BTCBUY.INFO as RIPPLE is to BITCOIN

[NielDLR]

Vinny Lingham, the founder of Gyft (previously founder & CEO of Yola.com), is actually quite respectable guy. I met him when he did a talk at our media lab in South Africa last year. He's got too much reputation to risk. I trust him. It's not a trap. So don't worry.

[mjosephs]

previously founder & CEO of Yola.com

Another website nobody has heard of.  Are you sure he wasn't also CEO of hamster-dance.com?

I met him in South Africa last year.  I trust him. It's not a trap. So don't worry.

Gee, I can't tell you how much that comforts me.

[westkybitcoins]

Hmm. Looks like you've overreached.

The most troublesome issue here (to my mind) is issue #4.

Yet I just used Tor AND private browsing to access their website. Seemed to work fine for me.

FUD much?

[mjosephs]

Yet I just used Tor AND private browsing to access their website. Seemed to work fine for me.

You forgot to try to log in and you know, actually, do something.  Click the "create an account" button or pretty much anything that isn't static content.

FUD much?

Yes, you do.

Besides, the whole internet is on my side.  Look, the "YES" option is winning the poll!

[westkybitcoins]

Do you normally try to log in to user-friendly websites without cookies enabled? How does that usually work out for you?

[mjosephs]

Do you normally try to log in to user-friendly websites without cookies enabled? How does that usually work out for you?

In fact I am at this very moment logged into a wonderful website called bitcointalk.org, in private browsing mode, and everything works perfectly.

Maybe these GYFT jokers could learn something from whoever runs the show here?

[Mike Christ]

I can't create an account if I don't participate in social media?

What the fiddly fuck is this shit?

[Jace]

I can't create an account if I don't participate in social media?

What the fiddly fuck is this shit?

This. I like the whole gyft idea, but WTF is up with that social media crap all the time

[kokojie]

Nice poll. yes and yes 

[Lethn]

I don't know what you mean by honeypot? I know of honeytrap which is a term used for female agents who seduce victims so they can get intelligence from them for whoever they work for I do know what you mean by the site though, that's clearly either a data farming operation ( which is borderline illegal ) or it installs extremely dodgy software that can create an entry point to your computer without you knowing. This is why I don't trust anything that has DRM on it and forces you to connect to a server.

I don't even trust many free BTC sites, why would they give away such a low amount of BTC? I think they're trying to harvest peoples retrieval addresses like they do with emails, all they need is to know is that you're a real person and have something to connect to.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Brainstormin' to the nth degree with the help of Google, I learnt there's a myriad of Gift Card Exchanges like http://www.giftcardrescue.com/sell/cards/new.

Using the GCR as an example, you see below that they purchase GCs but pay via a check.





BitPay needs to approach them, offering up a better solution, thereby sellers could get paid quicker via Bitcoin. Those same sellers will become buyers, many a times on the fly, e.g., 30 minutes from now a Bitcoiner is thinking about eating lunch at some restaurant that accepts their gift cards, but he doesn't have one--yet. But he will when he buys one using bitcoins either from his wallet, an online service like BitPay, or perhaps has a few on account at GCR, obviously the quicker solution, albeit the other options shouldn't take too long either.

Thinkin' further outside the box, it's not outside the realm of possibility for a person(s) to amass gift cards for the sole purpose to sell them on an exchange like GCR for bitcoins, a unique way for them to get them, to be used for whatever purpose they have in mind.

In fact, a whole new exchange could be created to do just that if nary existing GCeX don't come aboard.

Please point me to some link if this has already been discussed or is in the works.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I don't even trust many free BTC sites, why would they give away such a low amount of BTC? I think they're trying to harvest peoples retrieval addresses like they do with emails, all they need is to know is that you're a real person and have something to connect to.

Many of those facet sites don't require any login info. Just being able to view the ad is more than enough for the bitcents being offered. If a login option is available, it's not intended to glean information from savvy folks like yourself, even if more bitcents are being offered for the information. Yes, the money's in the list, but not if the list is too much populated with those not willing or capable to act with their wallets.

[fwho]

Brainstormin' to the nth degree with the help of Google, I learnt there's a myriad of Gift Card Exchanges like http://www.giftcardrescue.com/sell/cards/new.

Using the GCR as an example, you see below that they purchase GCs but pay via a check.





BitPay needs to approach them, offering up a better solution, thereby sellers could get paid quicker via Bitcoin. Those same sellers will become buyers, many a times on the fly, e.g., 30 minutes from now a Bitcoiner is thinking about eating lunch at some restaurant that accepts their gift cards, but he doesn't have one--yet. But he will when he buys one using bitcoins either from his wallet, an online service like BitPay, or perhaps has a few on account at GCR, obviously the quicker solution, albeit the other options shouldn't take too long either.

Thinkin' further outside the box, it's not outside the realm of possibility for a person(s) to amass gift cards for the sole purpose to sell them on an exchange like GCR for bitcoins, a unique way for them to get them, to be used for whatever purpose they have in mind.

In fact, a whole new exchange could be created to do just that if nary existing GCeX don't come aboard.

Please point me to some link if this has already been discussed or is in the works.

The problem with buying gift cards is that the company would need a credit card on file anyways. In the event that someone sells a gift card, gets paid, and then uses it anyways. Or claims it lost, bought it with stolen funds, etc. I was actually about to open a new gift card site when gyft was announced and was considering moving towards buying as well.

[TimJBenham]

I can't create an account if I don't participate in social media?

What the fiddly fuck is this shit?

This. I like the whole gyft idea, but WTF is up with that social media crap all the time

Exploiting social media by making all your customers friend/like/follow/buddy/whatevs you seems to be the latest Big Idea in marketing and CRM.