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Uber revives product deliveries with person-to-person 'Connect' trial
Uber is returning to goods delivery as its profits have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Steam's Lunar New Year sale begins with deals on GTA, Witcher and more
Steam is having a massive sale in celebration of the Lunar New Year and it all kicks off today. Right now, catch deals on Grand Theft Auto V (50 percent off), Dark Souls III (75 percent off), Resident Evil 2 (67 percent off), Disco Elysium (20 percent off), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (60 percent off), The Witcher III (70 percent off), and a ton of other titles. A handful of games are available for less than $10 -- the first episode of Life is Strange 2 is just $2, Rainbow Six Siege is $8, and Payday 2 is $5, to name a few.
Alibaba founder: Fake goods can be better than the real deal
If you use a contract factory in China to produce your goods, don't be surprised if high-quality fakes pop up online. That's the feeling of Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, who stands accused of effectively endorsing counterfeit goods while speaking at an investor event. The Wall Street Journal quotes the executive as saying that "the fake products today are of better quality and better price than the real names." It's a big issue for Alibaba, since its consumer-facing retail portals have something of a reputation for being the place to go when you want a knock-off device.
Etsy helps sellers produce more by connecting them with manufacturing
In recent months, Etsy announced a few new initiatives to make selling goods on its site a bit eaiser. Following crowdfunding and same-day delivery efforts, the online retail hub plans to take on manufacturing next. With a beta phase that'll begin in late 2015, Etsy will connect sellers with manufacturers in printing, apparel/textile, machining/fabrication, and jewelry and metalwork to handle the making of goods and increasing production capacity. Those areas are just the beginning, though, as the company plans to add more "industries" in the future. During the test period, Etsy Manufacturing will link sellers and manufacturers for free, but when the service goes live, it'll take a cut (no pricing yet) for its role as matchmaker. What's more, the trial will only be available to manufacturing outfits in the US and Canada, but plans are for the program to expand internationally later. Etsy can also reject any partnership if it violates the company's ethical expectations that keep an eye out for child labor, involuntary labor, inhumane working conditions, discrimination and sustainability. [Image credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than 'real' economy
A report commissioned by the World Bank's infoDev unit has cast fresh light on one of the more fascinating aspects of our brave new interconnected world: the virtual economy. The "third-party gaming services industry" -- where wealthy but impatient players have someone else grind away at online games for them in exchange for monetary reward -- is one of the focal points of the study, chiefly owing to it having generated revenues in the region of $3 billion in 2009 and now serving as the primary source of income for an estimated 100,000 young folks, primarily in countries like China and Vietnam. What's encouraging about these findings is that most of the revenue from such transactions ends up in the country where the virtual value is produced, which contrasts starkly with some of the more traditional international markets, such as that for coffee beans, where the study estimates only $5.5 billion of the $70 billion annual market value ever makes it back to the producing country. The research also takes an intriguing look at the emerging phenomenon of microwork, which consists of having unskilled workers doing the web's version of menial work -- checking images, transcribing bits of text, bumping up Facebook Likes (naughty!), etc. -- and could also lead to more employment opportunities for people in poorer nations. To get better acquainted with the details, check the links below or click past the break.
Making/Money: My value chains are broken
There's a person out there who claims that all they need to know about business can be learned from World of Warcraft. A fine sentiment, to be sure, but I take issue with its accuracy. Today we are discussing the first of their eleven business topics: value chains – and why they don't work. In brief, value chain analysis states that for any good requiring multiple stages of production (meaning you don't just rip it out of your backyard and eat it), value is added at each level of refinement. Therefore the price should increase along its path to becoming a finalized product.
Limited edition Goods-branded Zune gets teased
It's about time we started counting down the days until the standard Zune actually becomes the most sought after -- you know, considering that a limited edition iteration seems to pop out every other week or so. This go 'round, we're being teased with an oh-so-shiny Goods-branded version, which looks to come in both 8GB and 80GB flavors. Apparently, they'll be available somewhere in Seattle this Saturday for the first ten customers with deep enough pockets, but we've yet to find out if ten of each flavor (or just ten total) will be for sale. Hit the read link for a few more pics, and feel free to drop your best guess at next week's special edition Zune in comments.[Via GotZune, thanks Chris]
