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Ask HN: Review my startup: Parking Ticket Reminder/Payer

27 points by aren ↗ HN
I was tired of paying late fees on my parking tickets, so I created a system to detect new tickets and email me weekly reminders. The site can also automatically pay the tickets for the truly forgetful, if the user sets it up.

It's only for San Francisco right now, but would love the wider HN community's feedback as well. Is this something you'd find helpful? Worth paying for?

http://www.sticket.net

29 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 72.0 ms ] thread
tyrelb
Neat idea - how do you organize the payment of those tickets?
aren
Many cities have online parking ticket payment systems, so paying for the tickets can be easily done with a credit card.
acangiano
The background image is a jpg with compression artifacts. Use PNG, and if you can, a different font.
aren
thanks. Yeah, graphics are definitely not my forte. I'm going to have a designer-friend make me a new image. Do you think poor logos/images detract substantially from a site's credibility/first impression?
acangiano
Generally speaking, it matters a lot. The idea behind your project is pretty cool and useful. A more attractive design will definitely help you acquire new customers.
sounddust
I'd put a big disclaimer in there somewhere that you're absolutely not responsible for late fees or anything else if your service fails. Not just for legal reasons, but because there are many non-technical people that don't understand the possibility that a service like this could fail (not to mention the small group of dummies who will undoubtedly think that your website is sanctioned by the state of CA).
aren
Great call. Definitely important -- I will be adding it.
unignorant
Cool idea!

* Would I find it helpful? -- Yes.

* Would I pay for it? -- No (with a "perhaps yes" if the charge was per ticket, and relatively small)

And I am terrible with design, but it seems to me that you need to work on the UI a bit.

aren
Thanks! Design definitely needs professional help :)

re: pay for it -- currently the email reminders are free, but if the user wants their tickets automatically paid it's a per ticket fee (like you suggested) of $5.

etxeba
I thought it was a little bit nifty and then signed up for it. Found a parking ticket I didn't even know I had! Awesome.
gcheong
Interesting. Side question - is it economically rational in San Francisco for a person to repeatedly acquire parking tickets rather than seek out parking or pay for a monthly spot somewhere?
sokoloff
For me (Cambridge, MA) it was definitely cheaper to get and pay tickets than to pay for monthly parking at my two apts ago apartment building. I averaged well under $100 worth of tickets a month, against a parking garage charge of $250/mo, plus I didn't ever have to wait for my car to be brought out by the garage valets.

Back in college (again in Cambridge, MA), a resident parking violation was $10, and garage parking in Harvard Sq for the evening was $14. Guess how hard it was for the residents to use their resident parking spots... (They've since raised it signficantly.)

clistctrl
I wish it was $10, the ticket I got today (was 3 minutes late to the meter) was $30. Of course this is Somerville, but the laws seem to stay consistent between the two.
angelbob
Often. Long-term parking can run $600-$800/mo in many areas of SF. While a ticket can be up to $50 (sometimes more), you won't necessarily get them every time, and it's often hard to find legal, convenient parking, or you'll pay $20+/day for it.

So yeah, it can be, particularly when convenience is figured in.

Parking fees are one thing that put me off the Ruby on Rails startups in the city :-)

awongh
also, unlike nyc, it's rare to find those people in sf who will move your car across the street for 10 minutes once a week while the street-sweepers come. that's how I get all my parking tickets. average of at least 1 per month......
christonog
For marketing, you could possibly "disguise" flyers as parking tickets, and put them on cars parked in areas that are highly ticketed (downtown, college campus, etc). When a potential customer opens it up, it could have a link to your site and a small call to action.
jonnycowboy
Don't do this! I'd be seriously pissed off if I saw a 'ticket' on my windshield and then realized that it wasn't one.
christonog
I'd be more relieved than pissed. I'd be more pissed off if it was an actual ticket I had to pay!

Edit: I do agree that it could possibly be a bit misleading, but the idea of putting a flyer on cars in areas where there is notorious ticketing could potentially get your product in front of real customers.

jhancock
This type of service has been around in Shanghai for quite a few years. Its been very useful to me.
hockeybias
...In SF in the 80s if you had outstanding parking tickets on your current car (car A) and then sold car A and bought a new car (car B), car A's tickets were no longer tied to you via the city's database. ...I had a friend who knew he was going to get a new car within a year, so he parked where ever he wanted (right on the sidewalks at times) and had a stack of tickets a foot tall within 10 months. He bought a new car and drove happily ever after!
rewind
It's people like that who make reasonable people (who are capable of following basic societal rules) want to smash things.
asdf333
awesome. i have this problem all the time. does this include daly city all the way through to the south bay?
aren
It's just the city of San Francisco for now... I hope to add the rest soon.
ashishbharthi
The application looks good. The overall idea is also good. But I got "An error occurred Application error" when I tried 2nd time.
teej
Design: I like your simple design for one reason - your call to action is up front and straightforward. That is ruined by the bright yellow box right next to it. I can't stop looking at it! Take it out or tone it down a lot. The design needs some obvious work beyond that, but the fundamentals of your site are better than most.

Marketing: You aren't selling a "Parking Ticket Reminder/Payer", you are selling a system that ensures your customers will _never pay a parking ticket late again_. Benefits, not features. Focusing your marketing message not only helps increase conversion, it also forces you to outline who your customers are. In this case it's obvious - people who get lots of parking tickets. Write your copy to those people!

Idea: definitely interesting. I know a handful of people who would uses this -today-. Also, thank you for thinking about revenue up front! Not enough people do this.

PebblesRox
Is clicking the back button the only way to get from the FAQ page to the home page?

I like the word sticket, but I don't like the ellipses afterward. It sounds weird in my head with that pause. The other thing is that maybe the "to the man" part should match the S (because you add both of those parts onto the word "Ticket").

clistctrl
Whoa how relevant to my interests, not 15 minutes ago I went to my car to find an orange red envelope waiting for me (however I didn't get as excited as I do when it comes from a Redditor) Unfortunately I live in Somerville MA, so your app doesn't help me (yet?)