Biz Idea: Consolidating Used Prepaid Calling Cards(a .6 billion dollar industry)
09-22-2013, 11:34 PM
I'm not quite sure how you would make money. Can you explain that further?
So let's say a customer comes to you with a $0.10 and $0.20 calling card from companies A and B. What do they get, and how do you monetize it? Do you give them a $0.30 calling card in return?
Also long-term, I don't think this is such a viable industry (though maybe the short term will last for many years). First, telecom prices continue to drop as the infrastructure shifts to VOIP, and IP transit prices drop along with it. So if calling prices drop to $0.01/minute, then even a 10-cent card is worth keeping, and it only becomes useless when it's about 2 cents, but most people will just toss it at that point because who cares about 2 cents?
Next, mobile phones, especially smartphones with calling apps like Skype, will become more common among the type of people that buy prepaid calling cards, so they'll have less of a need for such cards.
So let's say a customer comes to you with a $0.10 and $0.20 calling card from companies A and B. What do they get, and how do you monetize it? Do you give them a $0.30 calling card in return?
Also long-term, I don't think this is such a viable industry (though maybe the short term will last for many years). First, telecom prices continue to drop as the infrastructure shifts to VOIP, and IP transit prices drop along with it. So if calling prices drop to $0.01/minute, then even a 10-cent card is worth keeping, and it only becomes useless when it's about 2 cents, but most people will just toss it at that point because who cares about 2 cents?
Next, mobile phones, especially smartphones with calling apps like Skype, will become more common among the type of people that buy prepaid calling cards, so they'll have less of a need for such cards.