And already a copycat going @genieservices lol

This has been done a dozen times and will be done a dozen more. Nothing new or novel here. Just a flawed business model that won't work. Maybe if it sticks to illicit goods it'll carve a niche out but enjoy the cat and mouse with LE

Great idea. If someone wants to pay for something bad enough, get it for them. I can see this being a novelty type service people use at least once. It is such a great time to start a business. The custom software company I run (MyProgrammer) is working with 5 or 6 startups now, and a few are at the VC stage now. One is women owned, which is also nice to see. The projects range from file collaboration to personal training. It is an interesting time to be in our industry.

The success of this comes down to how much trust are people willing to put in a largely anonymous response on their phone. No way am I going to hand any significant money over to that.

And that's before you consider what happens should anything in the chain of supply breaks down. Didn't get what you asked for? Who takes the blame? Magic? Or the actual supplier? Want to return what you got? Who do you contact? Does the supplier contact you, or Magic, if the money turns out to be no good? It's a legal minefield that's going to kill this idea dead.

The problem with this type of service is the gimmick itself, the "everything" is just too large for the team that size to cope with.
They are obviously treating it as an experiment but if they wanted to take it serious they would start smaller with clear defined categories of what they will get you "tickets, cars" and make them work perfectly, smoothly with incredible customer service and building up client lists to get the best deals for those categories customers will ask for until they are the MUST GO TO guys to get tickets to a concert or get the best deal on a 4X4. Once they have developed that and looking to profit from it they can expand on to bigger locations covering more of the US or abroad, or on to more categories, expanding into airline tickets, restaurant bookings, phone deals and so on, all the while making sure that what they offer is also great value, quality and what the customer is looking for. Eventually their supplier lists will grow and better discounts will be offered, their customers will become repeat customers and spread the word, and more locations and more categories will bring more investment and profits for this company. No company in the world will ever be able to offer "Everything" as its an infinite prospect that one day will be tested by a customer with unimaginable wants, but it can eventually offer "almost everything". But customers don't want "Everything" on tap, and if you try to you end up with customers disappointed about losing money, etc. It is far more important to take an idea and make it work perfectly, putting a bit of a "wow" smile on a customers face and that customer, and his friends are going to spend with you each and every single time.

I wish them a lot of luck, its from ideas and testing waters like this that has lead people on to multi-billion $$$ ideas, but they need to decide soon whether to take it seriously and go with a proper plan of action, or stick to their fun gimmick and have a ball doing it, but potentially throw away the next big eBay, Amazon or Etsy idea waiting to be created.

I have to disagree. You are making precisely the same mistake that Microsoft did when it went up against Google in search. Microsoft wanted to cover the 95% of search requests instead of spending a ridiculously disproportionate amount of resources to cover that last 5%. But it turned out people wanted 100%, not 95% or even 99%. Same thing here.

I already have a universe of corporate types trying to sell me the easy stuff like music, directions to the nearest Chinese restaurant, and airline and concert tickets. They are selling to this caricature of the American hyper-consumer who does nothing but eat out, listen to music on their Beats headphones, and take comfortable middle class vacations.

Yawn.

I rarely use any of these search services, it's not worth my time to even set up the log in. Now if the service includes "where can I find someone to teach me how to do a flip turn while swimming", or "how do I get access to a mass spectrometer to test my reef tank's water", then I'll bite.

But I think, that's the thing, they know that people isn't prepare to go that far and buy a car or a tiger through their service. Although, they sell this "everything" propaganda, as the CEO said himself, deep down they know that people will stick with the basics and ask for food, clothes...
In my case, I wouldn't use such service, I rather call the a pizzeria or whatever and order food, than pay more and get the same result.

Have you seen the preferred VIP list yet? They are totally going to make a buck off this. It is just going to be a luxury service you really have to pay for first. Until they can support a workforce of "magicians" that can cater to the rest of us cheap peasants.

How does Magic differ from traditional concierge services?

You can probably argue it's more accessible as it doesn't require a fancy Credit Card. Also the asynchronous nature of sms is more convenient. Not having to actually call someone and wait for them to figure out your request and give you options is certainly convenient. You raise a valid point though.

Magic doesn't work?

"We Also Walk Dogs," by Robert Heinlein.

There's always money in giving people what they want.

Of course, and it isn't new.

Start getting residual money each week... This is a great part-time job for everyone... Best part about it is that you can work from your home and earn from $100-$2000 each week ... Start today and have your first payment at the end of the week...>

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Der Sir, I am the high prince of Uganda. I'm interested in this. In fact so interested, I have $10,000,00.00 in US funds waiting for you. All you need to do is give me your bank account number, social security number, and wire me $1,000.00 US and you will receive $10,000,00.00 in quick reply. Please respond to this amazing offer.

That comment matches your username perfectly. But in all seriousness, ideas like Magic are making people very wealthy. We (MyProgrammer) are working with 5 or 6 startups right now, and maybe half have a shot of being paid.

"General Dynamics" is a much better name than "Magic".

It's like credit card concierge taken to the next level! So ridiculous that I love it, because 'Murica.

What a waste of time that was!! ANYONE can claim to run a business doing anything else. But if it's not working, it's not working... therefore this was a complete waste of time. I was hoping for some pointers, but oh well... :(

At first I thought this article was about a weed delivery app. Instead, it's about yet another app that promises to deliver anything you want to your door. This has been tried before and failed. If, however, it was a weed delivery app, it would probably be very successful based on the popularity of weed and a pothead's lack of motivation to leave the house.

Actually, we had someone request some marijuana from a dispensary today and had that delivered to them.

I've used weed delivery services before, here in the UK where it's not even slightly legal.
You'd ring a number, a (incredibly rude) guy would answer and ask how much you wanted, and where you were, and then tell you to be at a certain place, in a certain amount of time (no home delivery unfortunately).
You'd stand there, a car would pull up, you get in, hand over cash and receive weed while they drove round the block, and drop you off.
I have no idea how they weren't caught, as they'd sell to anyone who rang them, but I guess they made enough cash from it.

So they take your money and don't actually deliver anything in return?
Are we sure this is not just a scam?

Nah, if the order is incomplete or the customer unsatisfied, the full amount is refunded.

So, you order the helicopter to Vegas, it arrives on your roof and you find out the seats are red, which is unthinkable for you, so you just wave it away and get a full refund.

Are you 100% sure about that?

I am 100% sure similar refunds have happened. But who knows, I'm sure they're changing policies by the minute at this point, and something unreasonable might not fly today like it did yesterday.

I was just saying it isn't a scam. Ask the writer of this article, I bet he got refunded.

So, give them your money, wait for a product that never shows up, understand that you will not get the product or your money back. Move on.

I can see this getting big. Really big. This reminds me of Eden of the East, it's instant. People will love it - even for the little things. It's the perfect thing for people who just want something done and can afford a little more.
This team has stumbled on a big future.

so it's a poor man's vertu, could work depending on how it handles the growth

ATTN MAGIC. HIRE ME AND I WiLL BE YOUR BEST MAGICIAN

This would work a treat in Vietnam where stuff can be hard to find. Often it exists somewhere but there is no mention of it online.

So basically its a concierge service which runs via SMS?

Cool idea - tough scope though. We've been doing this (just for food) for a year here at eatabit.com. 11K orders last year in Charleston, SC. We also built cellular ticket printers that go right in the restaurant.

The real Magic will be how quickly and by how much the founders hit pay day by snagging yet more stupid angel/VC money that lately seem incapable of recognizing the difference between a biz model that actually MAKES money vs. the next useless, unprofitable, but "hey we got on the Today show," copycat-app-with-a-twist. Conceptually great, operationally not gonna happen...and I rarely write off innovative ideas, but the idea still needs to be reasonably plausible, and most importantly MUST make money in the end to survive.

Has anyone used Magic? I am a reporter for a new startup Tech.pro and am writing a story about Magic. Looking for users. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

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