RackUp Hits The Gift Card Market (TC50)

Living so far away from my family (and with so much time spent working and traveling), quality gift buying can often be a challenge, and gift cards are my easy/obvious solution. RackUp.com, which just announced their launch at TechCrunch50, “leverages behavioral economics to disrupt the $100B gift-card market and, more generally, the pre-paid market. Fun, fast and thrilling, Rackup.com features a revolutionary gift card auction where winners always get more than they pay for. Rackup promotes customer engagement, drives traffic to retailers and increases revenue.”

Put more simply? RackUp.com lets you bid an amount of money against competitors in a virtual auction room, for a chance to win a bonus amount on the gift card ranging from 3% to 100%. The fast-paced auction lasts only 60 seconds, and the amount of the bonus correlates to your spot in the bidding rotation. You can win cards for a number of brands, ranging from retailers to entertainment chains like AMC Theatres, or travel companies like American Airlines.

The company hopes to compete for a share of the Black Friday and holiday market. What do you think? Would you use a site like RackUp.com to purchase gift cards?