Heartsy VIP?

[LithiasCreations]

You can now sign up to be a Heartsy 'VIP' for $7.99/month to get extra deals from specific sellers.

What is your opinion? Positive/negative? Are you going to go for it? Does this change anything for you as a buyer and/or seller?

[Former_Member]

I don't really see the point. You risk there being no deals you want one month.
Plus, if you check your emails first thing in the morning, you will always see the deals right away.

[waterwaif]

i don't see the point, either.

keep the $8 a month and use it to buy an extra voucher at someone's shop or something.

plus, WHO has to pay for the extra discount given to VIP's? The seller who is already discounting their stuff or heartsy?

[NathalieVan]

I don't think this is good unless you purchase a TON of stuff on etsy. Maybe they have more extended deals for VIP's and sort of like a search for discounted items.. I'd see that MAYBE working..

[AeridesDesigns]

The buyer pays the fee in turn for additional goodies with Heartsy. There are other discount sites that have similar programs.

For example, a Fashion Flash sale site (Ideeli) has VIP membership and makes sales available to those buyers an hour before the regular members. This means often the good stuff is sold out by the time I can buy ;)

For the hardcore frequent shoppers, I can see it would be worth it over time.

[Former_Member]

maybe this is just the start of heartsy making money from this whole thing. I would never pay it, but I am sure some serious buyers would.

[RuneLeatherJournals]

I like it, because at first many people thought Heartsy was going to start charging a fee to shops on top of the discount. I think that would be too much.

As a buyer, it seems like it would be worth it if you make one purchase a month.

I just chatted with them to see how it works:

me: I have a question about the VIP membership. It says you save an additional $5 to $10 with every deal-- who pays for that? Do the featured shops have to discount more for VIP buyers?


nathan:
its an arrangement we work out with the sellers...
having said that... its a totally voluntary program..

me: So you mean sellers can choose to offer more to VIPs or not?

nathan:
well sellers can choose to be part of the VIP program or not...

nathan:
if they do choose to be part of the VIP program, they would need to offer a slightly deeper discount...

[NathalieVan]

I definitely don't like having to offer a vip a better discount without gaining anything from it.. I like the idea that AeridesDesigns has about vip's gaining access to deals first, this way the seller isn't offering discounts that are crazy, plus it might actually be worth purchasing the heartsy membership to be the first in line..

[SayItInASnapJewelry]

This is a classic business model, Heartsy is a start-up, they need cash flow, ongoing "royalties" fees, etc. are cash flow....it's creative, very commonly done. I personally am maxxed out on the same types of shops over and over and over so for me it's not worth it....but for others who buy handmade jewelry, soap, etc. it may be worth it.

Mary

[SayItInASnapJewelry]

On the seller side, maybe we should just give away stuff free! How can you seriously expect a shop to offer bigger than say a 60 or 70% discount? Clearly you can, with 500 plus deals in the can, I guess you have demand. It is "free" publicity...in one aspect. Fascinated to see how it all goes.

[ForageAntiques]

As a buyer, I don't think much of it. I understand that they have a right to try to make money like everybody else, and (assuming that participating sellers are okay with it) I don't mind those willing to pay for VIP status getting an extra discount. But I think it's silly to have unsold deals sitting there reserved for VIPs and untouchable by the rest of us peons. That has damped my enthusiasm a little.

[Former_Member]

I like it and have signed up for it. They needed to find a way to make money and I'm very happy they didn't decide to take it out of the sellers.

This way, too, I'm able to financially support a site that I enjoy using while getting a further benefit myself. :)

[ForageAntiques]

I don't object to a membership fee and told them so. Just not wild about the VIP thing for several reasons. But it may be moot for me anyway. If they continue to start deals as late as they are right now, I definitely won't be paying to shop there. No point if deals are sold out before I even see them.

[SayItInASnapJewelry]

I think it's a lovely idea for Heartsy.me to make some money ..without it where is there revenue source? If you think about it, they don't have one...unless they start taking a slice from the seller or buyer on each transaction. They have to have cash flow, they can't "live on love" so to say. I won't be paying the fee, because I don't think the deals are all that exciting for me personally. Still have yet to get an order from about two weeks ago....so I'll skip it, good luck to Heartsy.me if they can make it work. One more thing...leaving deals on the table though for VIP only and then those don't end up selling and could have sold to a regular buyer - they need to rethink that. That's going to lose them some potential sales.

[Former_Member]

I would've bought it if they offered Paypal... you get the $8 back from just one deal since they're giving an extra $10 off for some offers.

I doubt many people would buy it though... from their advertisement, you can tell that less than 100 signed up.