by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- PayPal has launched a clever online tool that lets friends and acquaintances bribe each other into doing little jobs for each other. The website, DoStuffForMoney.com, facilitates the bribery through Facebook or email.
- The briber offers a sum of money to his or her bribee, along with any additional commentary. Recent examples, published at the site as “recent offers,” show that it’s all kind of tongue in cheek: “Kyle offered Bob $1.00 to ‘Go see Harry Potter on Friday!’” and “Ross offered Adam $1.00 to ‘Eat the rest of my quesadilla.’”
- After the offer is made, the note can be posted to the recipient’s Facebook wall or emailed. And if both parties are serious, the bribe can be paid instantly via a handy link to PayPal.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Paper checks are still the most common form of person-to-person payments, but a whole raft of e-payments companies are trying to get consumers to use online billpay, instant messaging services and other alternatives.
- PayPal is still the best known brand for online funds transfers. If they built an iPhone app around DoStuffForMoney.com, they could turn a joke into a killer P2P payments system.
RESOURCES
