While the tech world waits for Pinterest to reveal a money-making strategy, social discovery rival Fancy is rolling out yet another shopping feature.
The New York-based startup, which lets people curate and purchase items through its site – and even compensates users for their actions – is now giving users the option to organize group gifting on its platform.
The new feature, which the company said has been a popular request, enables users to organize a gift, invite others to contribute and have the gift sent directly to the recipient. If the gift invitation doesn’t receive enough contributions within seven days, it expires and the company refunds all of the money.
Amazon, which acquired group gifting startup the Gifts Project a year ago, also gives users the option to chip-in on a joint gift. Swedish social gifts startup Wrapp offers a similar feature. The startup FriendFund provides a platform explicitly for group gifting.
For Fancy — which is steadily building a business but trails Pinterest in numbers — the group gifting option gives non-members a new reason to join the site.
The startup also announced a partnership with American Express, which enables members who sync their cards with Twitter to receive $ 20 back on their next purchase of $ 100 or more if they tweet #AmexTheFancyOffer. The deal doesn’t extend to all items and only lasts through the end of the September, but Fancy said it’s the beginning of an extended relationship with American Express.
