The value of a Facebook application
Widget-maker RockYou may be willing to spend millions on Facebook applications, but bidders at eBay are a little more discerning. Michael Zhang was first to auction a Facebook application on eBay, and the bidding on his Logbook app closed yesterday. Logbook documents movies, music, and books and ties into Amazon's affiliate-marketing program as a source of revenue. It's less popular and viral than spraypainting your friends' walls — on the other hand, there is the potential for actual revenues — an unusual feature for Facebook's hangers-on. So how much was the winning bid for Logbook?
A mere $2,550. Zhang surpassed his asking price, so he can't be too unsatisfied by the outcome. We should give him credit for knowing the value of his work. But other developers dreaming of much richer valuations are unlikely to be satisfied by an efficient, transparent marketplace like eBay. Take, for example, I Am Hungry, a completely useless app on which the bidding, with three days to go, is currently well below the reserve price of $5,000.