19 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Sunsetting Secret Santa and Reddit Gifts
I mean, they had full time employees dedicated to it, right? Def seems like something weird to dedicate resources to when it didn't make them any money directly (AFAIK)
Comment by Bunny_Larvae at 09/06/2021 at 19:52 UTC
35 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Not everything a business does is directly profitable. Reddit makes money off of advertising traffic. Anything they do that improves user experience will, keep current users happy, increases their time spent on Reddit, and attracts new users. So if people really like the gift exchanges it would make Reddit more profitable, just maybe it doesn’t increase profits enough to make it worth the resources. I’m sure time will tell. Maybe enough people hate this so much they leave, or spend less time on Reddit that they lose money. Probably not, but who knows?
Comment by EatMoreHummous at 09/06/2021 at 22:05 UTC
14 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They made money by selling elves memberships (which they mention in the post). They aren't very public about info, so I have no idea how that cut into the operating budget, but they at least made something.
Edit: Also, the guy who started it offered to take over everything again, including all of the costs, and even run Reddit's ads. And instead they're going to axe it for no apparent good reason.