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Top Secret Project Interview
Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 12:30 PM
There are two things for certain about the developers here at tagvillage. One, they are definitely some of the most brilliant programmers in the world. Two, they are a little bit unconventional in their thinking. These are the two impressions I had when I left a meeting this morning where I was assigned to interview the mastermind behind the Top Secret Program. My assignment was to get as much information as I could about the Top Secret Program so I could write an article about it for our members. So, I sat down at the table with our lead software architect and asked him point blank, “tell me everything you can about the Top Secret Program.”
“Have you ever wondered why you pay different prices for different things?” he responded. I was a little bit confused. So, I went on to tell him I thought different products have different prices because they have different production costs, advertising costs, and different profit margins. He decided to confuse me even more.
“Why? Who says a BMW is worth more than an iPad?” was his next question. I have to admit, at this time I was trying to decide if I was talking to one of the most brilliant programmers on earth, or a crazy person. But then he went on to make a valid argument, which I will now summarize. What is the true value of a product? Is it the plastic, or glass, or metal that it is built from? Is it the cost of the labor that created it? Is it the value of the brilliance of the engineer or inventor that created it? Or, is it the usefulness for the buyer? After all, one could argue that a person who buys an iPad and uses it to create and invent a brand new thing that changes the world purchased a more valuable item (the iPad) than a person who bought a BMW and parked it in their garage forever without using it.
He went on to describe how a computer could be a more ‘valuable’ purchase than a television. Or, a dog leash could be a more ‘valuable’ purchase than a computer. Basically, he was trying to get me to understand a different concept of the word ‘value’. This concept is that ‘value’ is highly relevant to how the product is used, or the affect the purchase has on the life of the buyer. Looking at prices from this standpoint, one can see why the statement, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”, is so true. To one man something may be ‘worthless’ because it provides little ‘value’ to his life. Yet to another man, this same item may be worth a lot of money because it provides a lot of ‘value’ to his life.
As we were getting lost in this profound approach to the value of things, I was happy to hear him say that he didn’t want me to think he was completely crazy. He made sure to confirm that products have different prices because the price is normally set by the seller. The seller calculates the cost to produce and advertise the product. They calculate the cost to ship the product to a store or to the buyer’s house. They calculate a little profit into the price. And finally, they test market the product to calculate the price that is best received by the collective body of buyers. So, yes, products have different prices because there is cost and profit involved. However, the reason we pay the price when we buy a product is because we are trying to purchase the value it will add to our lives.
Suddenly, the conversation changed gears. The next question he asked me was, “why is gasoline so cheap in the USA and always so much higher in other countries? Does it cost less to make it and sell it here? Does it cost more to make it and sell it there? Do other people in other countries value gasoline more?”
I was beginning to wonder who was interviewing who. But his questions were good ones. I started thinking about this. Do people in the USA value gasoline less? After all, they tend to drive more. Surely it cannot cost less to make and sell gasoline in the USA. So, what is the reason? Then, I remembered, in the USA, the government subsidizes gasoline. So, because of our government, prices are held to a lower point than the ‘natural market’ would allow. Actually, in many countries different products are subsidized. So, the market ‘shares’ the cost in order to keep the individual price points lower than they normally would.
Now, it was my turn to interview. “OK. So what does all this have to do with tagvillage and the Top Secret Program?”
He smiled at me with a funny look, like he was up to something and asked, “What if we found a way to kind of subsidize everything? What if every product could be sold for the exact same price whether it was a computer, an iPad, a BMW, or a pair of shoes? What do you think the price would be?”
I noticed I was scratching my head and thinking he was crazy again. I told him I thought if every product in the world sold for the same exact price, it would have to be a very high price, which would mess up the entire market. After all, I wouldn’t want to pay the same thing for a pair of shoes as a BMW. But he said I was thinking again from the standpoint of ‘cost’ not ‘price’. Then, he completely shocked me.
“What if everything in the world could be sold for $0.10?”
I have to admit. Now, I was certain I was talking to a lunatic. I was beginning to think I needed to excuse myself from the interview and report to our CEO that we must be overworking our programmers because they are definitely going crazy! However, just then, our CEO walked in and joined in on the conversation. And, to my surprise, he asked if we had gotten to the part where tagvillage is going to sell every product on earth to its members for a fixed price of only $0.10! How could this be? I had to learn more.
What I learned is nothing short of brilliant. Our incredibly talented team has found a way for tagvillage to essentially ‘subsidize’ the entire marketplace throughout the world. In a few short months, members of tagvillage will be buying iPads, computers, bedding, televisions, shoes, art work, baby cribs, and pretty much anything else they can ask for. However, unlike the rest of the world, the members of tagvillage will be paying a whopping $0.10 for any item they purchase! Imagine selling a Tag for around $1.00 and then buying a nice new pool table to reward yourself. Now THAT would be cool.
But hold your horses. I know it is extremely exciting to hear you will be able to buy that brand new 60” Sony Bravia LED TV you always wanted, and only pay $0.10 for it. However, what is more incredible is how they described the reward system for our members. They have also found a way to reward our members for referring others to the site in a much more powerful way.
Let’s take the 60” Sony Bravia LED TV for example. Say this item normally sells for $2000.00 in a retail store. Now, let’s say you referred a friend to tagvillage and they decided they wanted to buy this TV, but they only paid $0.10 for it. How much commission do you think tagvillage would pay you for referring them? I was thinking it makes sense that tagvillage would pay nothing at all. After all, they are selling a $2000 TV for only $0.10 so surely they cannot afford to pay a referral commission. Or, maybe just to be nice, they would pay $0.01 or something like that. But no, instead, they are going to pay you 5% of the RETAIL VALUE of the product!
Yes, you read that correct. If you refer a friend, and they buy a $2000 TV on tagvillage, even though they only pay $0.10 for the item, you would get a referral commission of $100.00! I think they have gone completely insane around here. But they assured me; they have negotiated and developed the most revolutionary market place ever. They promised me; there is a subsidizing system built into this amazing new platform that will allow every product on earth to sell for a whopping $0.10 and yet they will still be able to reward the person who referred the buyer with a 5% commission of the actual retail price.
Right about this time I was itching to make up a sudden illness and get out of work for the day. I was thinking how much I wanted to go home and start advertising my referral link all over the World Wide Web. I could just imagine all sorts of referrals joining tagvillage, buying televisions and computers and books and new shoes for $0.10 and me making hundreds and thousands of dollars in referral commissions. I really didn’t want to spend my morning writing an article; instead, I wanted to spend my morning telling people about this insane, yet incredibly brilliant opportunity!
Just as I was about to pretend to suddenly get sick, they changed the subject to something that really caught my attention. What does all this have to do with Tags? After all, we are a Tag Village.
First, it is obvious we are about to explode into a brand-new, revolutionary market. Tagvillage should become a website flooded with people looking to get the best deal on earth for whatever gadget or gizmo or service they are seeking. However, products will not be available for $0.10 in unlimited quantities. So, while this is an amazing opportunity on a grand scale, it is also an amazing advertising and marketing opportunity for the makers and sellers of these goods and services. Which means, the desire and participation of advertisers is expected to climb sky-high. In essence, owners of great Tags can expect higher advertising revenue from advertisers because there is more ‘in it’ for the advertiser. Tagvillage won’t just be a place to run tile ads or text ads beside search results and social networking pages. It will also be an active, vibrant marketplace like eBay or Amazon.com!
Then, our CEO fed me the juiciest news of the day. What if there was a member who really wanted to own a certain Tag? However, what if this Tag was owned by another member who wanted to sell it, but the price was too high for the person who wanted to buy it? This is not a good situation for either member, or for tagvillage. So, what if tagvillage could ‘subsidize’ the Tag market as well? That would be revolutionary!
Imagine if a member owned a Tag worth $750. He really wants to sell it, but the member who wants to buy it doesn’t have enough Credits to make the purchase. What if the seller could place the Tag into the brand-new ‘subsidized marketplace’ and tagvillage would help the buyer purchase that Tag for a crazy low price? What if the buyer could actually buy that same $750 Tag for as little as $20? That would be insane!
This is what the awesome developers here at tagvillage are planning. They know some Tags will grow to be highly valuable and ‘out of reach’ for many members. So, rather than just leave them ‘out of reach’, they are going to allow high value Tags to be placed into the ‘subsidized marketplace’. Yet, they are building this brand-new secondary Tag market so that it will also reward all of the parties better than the traditional Tag Trading market.
Here is a scenario. Say a seller has a Tag valued at $750. He wants to sell it, but nobody has bought it from him in the traditional Tag Trading market. In the traditional market, the Tag would sell for $975. The seller would get $862.50, the referrer would get $37.50, and tagvillage would get $75. This is how the current Tag Trading market works.
Now, let’s say the seller decides to enter the Tag into the ‘subsidized market’. Tagvillage will use available ‘subsidizing’ funds and help bridge the gap between the Tag’s current value (sales price) and the buyer’s ability to buy it. So, in this case, the buyer may be able to pay $20.00 for the Tag. The seller paid around $577 for the Tag and doesn’t want to lose money. So, in the new ‘subsidized market’, here is what would happen. The buyer would get the Tag for only $20.00, the seller would get $867.00 and the referrer would get $37.50! The seller actually gets MORE for the Tag than they would in the traditional Tag Trading market, the buyer gets a highly valuable Tag for an extremely discounted price, and the referral still earns his commission! Now THAT is an awesome opportunity.
You may be thinking we have completely lost our marbles around here at tagvillage corporate headquarters. You may be scratching your head wondering how on earth we plan to pull this off. You may even be trying to figure out the details of such a program. I assure you, after meeting with our CEO and the head of our software development, this is for real. I am not allowed to give away too many details right now. So, I can’t tell you exactly how tagvillage will pull this off. However, I can tell you they showed me the exact structure and I now know they have a brilliant concept that is going to work.
Our CEO told me he will allow us to provide more detailed information about the Top Secret Program as we get closer to launching it live on the site. We still need to protect the exact technology and marketing strategies that will make it all work. However, I assure you, when we are allowed to reveal step-by-step instructions for the Top Secret Program; you are going to be screaming “BRILLIANT!” and jumping for joy. I am sure that anyone who has a lot of referrals will see so many referral commissions hitting their account as people buy TV’s and laptops and clothes for $0.10 that they will think they have made it to heaven!
This is going to explode tagvillage into an entirely new market. We think tens of thousands of people will be joining in waves to purchase brand new items at $0.10 each. And each one of you will be earning FULL RETAIL COMMISSIONS from their purchases. Also, those of you who own Tags that are highly valuable will be able to enter them into the ‘subsidized marketplace’ and sell them for 10%, 20%, 100%, maybe even 500% or 1000% more than you could in the traditional Tag Trading marketplace. This is going to be a winner! Tagvillage has the details all worked out. The programmers are working around the clock to develop this revolutionary platform. We plan to beta test the market soon and launch it live around the end of May.
Now, I am starting to feel a 'cold' coming on, so I need to clock out and get home. After all, I really need to get more active referring new members and building my Tag inventory. I have a few Tags I wouldn’t mind building up to a higher value so I can really take advantage of the new ‘subsidized marketplace’.
Rock on villagers! May you have a rich and rewarding weekend!
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