As a degenerate clubber, I often find myself back in the VIP where I enjoy fine libations and the company of many ladies. But what about the pain point of knowing which club to visit and how much to spend on bottle service? NightPrivy has a solution.
The service allows you to bid on or buy bottle service or reservations. Before hitting the club, you get on NightPrivy and pick a seat that you’ll share with your friends. For example, you can spend $500 on this package which includes a table reservation for 10 people. While I don’t quite understand the economics here – I never have to wait for a table because the bouncer knows me from all my video reviews of standing desks – $500 could mean the difference between getting a seat and some booze and slumping at the bar with all the other schmucks.
The site is actually quite unique. Founded by Julius Stewart, Ryan Beal, and Robert Hallback, the company is completely bootstrapped and it attacks a very specific niche, namely people who will spend a few hundred on a table. The lads have signed three nightclubs in DC so far and they’re adding new ones over the next few weeks. They are all based in DC and we met them during a meet-up there.
“We use an auction-based system that allows for dynamic pricing, rendering maximum value for our nightclub partners and our customers. While there are other sites that offer reservation services in other cities, we are the only third-party players in the Washington DC market,” said Julius.
Why did they build the site? Because they like clubs. “As frequenters of many of the clubs we now work with, we found the process of having to have multiple points of communication with promoters from each potential location (inquiring about availability, price, & providing reservation information) to be inconvenient and time consuming,” he said.
“The auction function allows them to list their inventory below market value (to ensure full capacity) or above market value (during high-demand periods). This yields the optimal, or consumer-driven, price. For consumers, our value proposition centers on ease, convenience, and access. There is no obfuscation of prices and no need to interact with club promoters in order to book a table.”
The site was down last week due to Hurricane Sandy, but it looks like it’s humming along just fine right now. I think Julius et al. have an interesting business idea, but as some Brits may attest, the name needs a little work.
