Here at RESCU, we’re excited by the new trend in e-retailing: group bulk buying. We logged on to OfferMe – Australia’s first group buy website – to find out how we could grab a bargain …
Free to join, OfferMe (www.offerme.com.au) brings the benefits of bulk buying to individuals through the group buy concept. It allows members to register their interest for an item then negotiates the best volume discount deals on their behalf.
Using OfferMe, there are two ways to buy – Group Buy and Request Now:
1) Group Buy – browse the daily Group Buy deals. We found a Sex And The City DVD boxed-set with all six seasons, which retails at $250 for under $100.
2) Request Now – use the OfferMe Search Bar to find an item or category, then click on the ‘Register Interest’ button. If OfferMe has registered sellers that sell the item then they will send you their best price.
Group Buy was launched in August 2009, and has run 248 successful deals and saved members a total of $170,000 (as of 9 March 2010).
There is also the newly launched GroupServe function (currently only available to Sydneysiders), which offers group discounts on restaurants, day spas and other experiences.
Other new Australian group buying companies include:
- Scoop Of The Day (www.scoopoftheday.com.au), where you can save cash on restaurants, day spas, and other services.
- Ouffer (www.ouffer.com), which has daily discount offers for restaurants, spas, concerts, bars, sporting events, classes, salons, adventures and more.
Costco is coming to Sydney!
If online shopping is not your thing, you can still receive great wholesale deals at discount warehouses like Costco and Campbell’s Cash & Carry.
Last August, Costo set up shop in Melbourne (381 Footscray Road, the Docklands) and is also coming to Sydney next year (it will be situated in Auburn on Parramatta Road).
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Costco store, which will be open 12 hours a day and will have more than 700 car parking spaces, is expected to make $90 million in sales in the first year. I’m counting down the days until it opens, but when I do go shopping, I’ll be following my golden rules as discussed in my recent article ‘The best ways to buy in bulk and save!’
To remind you, these bulk buy rules include: 1) Carry a shopping list to avoid ‘mindless’ impulse buys; 2) Be aware of use-by dates when buying food; 3) Remember, there can be too much of a good thing (especially when it turns out to be not so good).
The Money Maven will be back soon with more money-saving tips @ rescu.com.au/money/
