Playing Santa with a clause

A website set up by a group of young professionals lets users send customised printed greeting cards and gifts to loved ones across the country -- for free. Only, there will be ads on the envelope

Playing Santa with a clause

A website set up by a group of young professionals lets users send customised printed greeting cards and gifts to loved ones across the countryu00a0-- for free. Only, there will be ads on the envelope

A group of young professionals are playing Santa this festive season by delivering printed greeting cards and gifts to your loved ones across the countryu00a0-- free of cost. The brainchild of five young professionals, www.dontspendjustsend.com allows users to select and customise greeting cards, which are then delivered, in physical form, to the doorstep of the intended recipient.

"We want people to be connected through this media platform," says Niranjan Subbarao, team leader. "We are also coming up with new things this Christmas, which include Christmas gifts like creative calendars."

How it works

Once a user is registered on the site, he can select greeting cards from 25 categoriesu00a0including Christmas, New Year, Birthday and Anniversary. He is then given the option of writing some text on the card and even adding a picture.

Once the customisation is done, the address needs to be keyed in and the card is printed by the company and then posted.

If a user does not like the cards available, he can even create his own card using the tools provided on the website.

Revenue model

"Our revenue stream comes from advertisements carried on the envelope accompanying the card. For example, an advertisement about a restaurant will be sent along with greetings sent under the birthday category.

However, the greeting card itself will not carry any advertisement," adds Subbarao.

The road ahead

Beginning December 20, the team also plans to include the option of sending free Christmas and New Year gifts from the website. This includes gift hampers and a two-sided photo calendar, which can also be customised by the user.

Though the website has been in operation only for three months, it has a loyal band of followers. "We need to cough up at least Rs 60 for buying and couriering a greeting card on any occasion," says MS Prasad, a user.

"The website is a unique platform that saves money while helping us express ourselves better by creating our own greeting."

The website claims to be serving over a 1,000 members currently and the team plans to take this figure to 5,000 by April.