Via CodingHorror — Penny Auctions: They’re Gambling, on “Swoopo”, a penny auction site where you need to buy credits before you can start bidding. Because Swoopo is, at its heart, thinly veiled gambling. The companies backing Swoopo and other Penny Auction sites are hoping unsophisticated regulatory agencies will buy the “It’s not a game of chance” [...]

Via this old thread on Whirlpool forums, where I noticed two new Australian “bargain sites” have been posted over the last month. BShare.com.au First we have BShare.com.au. I presume B in BShare stands for Bargain, and it looks like it is still in pre-launch stage: Well. There’s very little I can find out about this website. Its 1st [...]

Via the comments posted by shaztronics at OzBargain. DealDump is a feed aggregator that put all the latest deals from OzBargain, Buckscoop and RetailMeNot into one spot. In fact it does a bit more than that — it also lists out the current sales from various one day one deal sites (Zazz, CotD, OzStock, etc). [...]

Lasoo.com.au, backed by an ASX listed company, has launched a new social sharing site — u.Lasoo. The basic principle is simple — you register, you submit deals, you vote for the submissions you like, and you comment on them. Yes, just like OzBargain and a growing number of independent bargain sharing sites in Australia. There are [...]

Thanks to rhys for notifying me about this evening’s A Current Affair, where some of the best online deal websites are featured. Especially Catch of the Day and Deals Direct. Note that Deals Direct has already been on ACA before, but the growth of CotD over the last 2 years is really remarkable. Looks [...]

Hasn’t it often occurred to you that why things are so expensive in Australia? Even when you factor in the 10% GST, the shipping cost, the distribution cost, etc it is still far more expensive buying gadgets in Australia than from Hong Kong, Singapore or the US of A, especially when AUD to USD exchange [...]

I spotted this site the other day, and it is yet another bargain/deal website for the Australians — Bargain Sniper. Yet another one?! But the truth is, bargain/deal sites are far from saturated in Australia (when you compare the same niche with sites in US), and there are always new bargains waiting to be [...]

Update 10 August 2008: It appears that TechaDay is no more! From what I have heard that they have done a runner on some buyers. For more information please join the discussion in OzBargain forums. Recently I have been notified yet another one deal a day site, but focusing on electronic gadgets — TechaDay.com.ay. From [...]

Via ProBargainHunter, Trezr, a US-based bargain sharing website that I reviewed in September last year, was sold on eBay for $30,100.01 with only 4,000 visitors and 7,500 page views a month but runs on a $79/month dedicated server. As I have already commented on Yan’s blog, 4k visitors a month is less than 135 visitors [...]

Recently I have come across another Australian bargain sharing website as it was advertised here via Google AdWords — Fobo.com.au. According to its About page, Fobo is the leading Social Bargain Sharing website for Australian consumers. Based on the idea of community bargain sharing, our users can not only share and recommend bargains but also vote [...]

Adam sent me his website 2 weeks ago and asked me to take a look. Sorry I only had a chance to write about it this week. Worse, it has been sitting in the draft tray for almost the entire week because I wass sick… Anyway. Click and Save.com.au is yet-another local business directory that [...]

A few weeks ago “Jimmy” sent me an email about his website — JimmysDeals.com.au, which is another bargains website that collects deals, coupons and special promotions. From its about page: When you sign up to Jimmy’s Deals, I will pop by and visit you weekly in your inbox, armed with the top deals and coupons [...]

1-Day.com.au is the latest 1 day/24 hour deal site in Australia. Instead of one single deal everyday for 24 hours, it gives you 3 deals every day. Moreover, the cycle starts at 10am AEST each morning, instead of weird hours like 12am which compels people to stay up late at night. 1-Day.com.au is part of [...]

Meg from dLook posted a list of Top 100 Australian Websites based on the Alexa traffic rank. While Alexa traffic rank is no where near an accurate measurement of real traffic, it is still a good indication of how popular a site is. The top 100 contains all kinds of web sites, but I will [...]

Cashloop’s motto, “it pays to shop online”, pretty much reflects its business model — it is (yet another) cashback/moneyback/reward website that gives back a part of its affiliate commission to its members. When you enter into online retailer’s websites via these guys, an affiliation cookie will be installed on your web browser, so that [...]

Have you ever wondered, why people run websites? Especially the websites that aggregate hot bargains? In an attempt to answer a question on the Whirlpool forums, I posted a list of Australian bargain sites, which got me into thinking this question (my post has been deleted but that’s another story). There have been quite a [...]

Ever since Digg raised to popularity, community-based voting/bookmarking sites pretty much spawn into every corner of Internet. After all, in the age of Web 2.0 user-generated/user-moderated content rules. There is no exception in the realm of bargain hunting and sharing. What was once dominated by forum communities, many Digg-like sites have also emerged over the [...]

Dealighted is a relatively new deals / bargains website. It describes itself as: dealighted is a selection of today’s best deals + many deal forums combined into one. Under its nice and clean user interface, it is actually two different sites. You have a deals aggregator that analyses forum threads in major deal forums, and you [...]

I have just read ProBargainHunter’s review on Crazy Refund, one latest start-up that gives affiliation sale commission back to the customers. But this is with a twist — you get full refund the purchase price, only if you are the “lucky winner”. For example, according to this table, one out of 40 shoppers at [...]

Welcome to our very first interview on Oz Bargain Blog. We are hoping to interview other Aussie online bargain hunters / deal website operators in the future, and big thanks to Raja Devanathan of Save As You Spend to be part of our first interview. Hi Raja! Introduce yourself and tell us who you are. [...]

100 Big Coupons is a comprehensive directory of online shopping coupons. It has coupons for many top retailers in the United States, and its goal is to help online shoppers to save big. Yet there are already many coupon sharing sites with similar goals, and what makes 100 Big Coupons different? From its about us [...]

OneItem.com is yet another one deal a day website — like Zazz, Catch of the Day and SnapItUp — but with a twist. First of all, it actually has two deals everyday. Secondly, the products are specifically for babies and toddlers, or rather — they are for those keen new parents who are looking [...]

9malls.com is an online coupon/shopping website. From its About Us page: 9malls.com online shopping mall is dedicated to providing its visitors with coupons, coupon codes, special offers, discounts, and shopping information that will save users money and enhance their on-line shopping experience. From its “About Us” page, it also details what sets 9malls.com apart from many [...]

I have just had a chance to test drive MoneyBackCo, who tagged themselves as “Australia’s Moneyback Community”. It is basically a “cashback” site, where they give you back the commissions from the affiliation sales, just like Buckscoop and OzRewardS which I have previously reviewed (as well as the biggest in Australia, EmailCash, which I [...]

We all love great bargains — getting something and paying less than everyone else in the neighbourhood. But for some of us, we love freebies even more!! I have been subscribing to The Freebie Blog for the last two months, and I was amazed that how many freebies are there on the Internet! The latest [...]

Jonk’s Bargains is an interesting Australian bargain site. First of all, it is what it claims: This website turns grown men into excited school-girls. While I do not completely agree with this statement, but I have no doubt that whoever runs this site do “spend THAT many hours on the internet finding the best, cheapest websites [...]

Just found another great Aussie cashback shopping site — Buckscoop, with its tagline “shopping… with a cherry on top”. It’s a new website (since Nov 2006), and WA-based. Its front-page pretty much tells us what this site is: Scoop: Earn cashack at loads of major online shopsSave: Browse the hottest member-submitted dealsShare: Hang out with [...]

WebbyPlanet is a relative new comer in discount coupon code listing sites. Launched by German company AZ73 LLC, its aim is to have an easy to use interface to allow users quickly find coupons offered by their favourite shops. Currently boasting 5,000 business affiliating with them, shoppers can easily find what they need through its [...]

Got my Deals Direct newsletter this morning. Saw an interesting banner ads at the top of the page, clicked on it, and it brought me to The Trove which has just been launched! What is it? The Trove is a great place to sell items for free, because we’ve got the muscle of DealsDirect.com.au behind [...]

Just let me blow my own trumpet here. I am here officially launching OzBargain.com.au, one of my “other” websites in development. It’s been in development over the last month, and some strange voice tells me that it is now ready to see the public. Do note that little green “Beta” at the top of [...]

Fax?! What is that?! (Just in case you really have no idea what it is, here’s the Wikipedia entry) As more and more is done online, fax has become less and less relevant to our lives. I don’t have a fax machine at the place I live for the last 11 years, and I [...]

Channel 9’s A Current Affair aired a program on Save online this Christmas, featuring some of the best online stores that gives you good products for bargain basement prices. By shopping over the Internet you can also spare yourself the crowds and queues and shop 24/7. Here’s a list of Netguide’s recommended shopping sites. www.graysonline.com.au — great for [...]

Yet Another? When the idea was first implemented, it was such a novel idea. When a similar site was built here, it surely can claim “Australia-first”. That does not take long for the first copycat to appear onto the scene. However, do we really need a 3rd one day deal site? Maybe the market ain’t as [...]

It appears that Zazz is not alone. Catch Of The Day is the new kids on the block of 24-hour-cheap-deal websites. Launched last Wednesday, it looks disgustingly similar to Zazz! — from its home page, 3 product images with Javascript roll-over on the front page, product discussion forum, dry humour on the product description, [...]

eBay Australia has just launched DoorOne. Looks like it is another price comparison site that is affiliated with Shopping.com, which is another eBay company. At DoorOne.com.au, our mission is to save shoppers time and money by making online shopping simple. In today’s cluttered online world, smart consumers demand simple and easy comparison shopping features that [...]

Adam wrote to me about their latest website, Trezr.com (pronounces “treasure” apparently). It is a social bookmarking website, where members are free to create links to the best bargains they have found on the web. From its about page, Trezr links to the best sale and discounted items on the web each day: designer shoes, [...]

Saw on Whirlpool about this new “auction” website, Aussie Fuel Auctions, where you can bid for Caltex fuel cards. The site design looks a bit dodgy, but $500 worth of fuel cards have been won for $14.40! Now who cares about the petrol crisis?! Everyone can now go back and buy the latest HSV [...]

My wife Vivian is a CPA. For those who ain’t that good at TLA’s, that’s “Certified Public Accountant” (btw, TLA=Three Letter Acronym). However she is not doing any accounting related at the moment. The only thing that reminded us her CPA-ship is her monthly subscription to the InTheBlack magazine, which I occasionally randomly scan [...]

What if you combine a bargain blog like this and social bookmarking service like del.icio.us? You get DealPlumber! From its about page: dealplumber aims to address this problem (unable to find best deals across the web) by delivering a community-driven deals and coupons engine where you can simple search or browse for deals on product [...]

Just discovered an Australian bargain website Zazz! with an interesting tagline — “One Day, One Thing, One Chance”. Basically it sells one and only one product each day at an extremely low price, and it is usually sold out within a few hours after the product is available on their website. It is like [...]

Juergen sent Bargain Blog an email last week. I would like you to check out following site… Great places to pick up Bargains… www.lastminute-auction.com It’s basicly the bargain bin of eBay — that site shows up to 20,000 auctions at one dollar and with only one hour left. For some reason, eBay does not offer a list like [...]

Hunting for bargain is a tedious process — I know because for the sake of writing this blog I am constantly looking for them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they just come knocking on your door?! Or, wouldn’t it be nice if a computer program is written to automatically search for the cheap deals [...]

I have just discovered a great website for Australian on-line shoppers — OzRewardS.com.au. From their website: At OzRewardS we want to give you, the consumer, the opportunity to benefit from your Internet use. So we’ve teamed up with some of today’s best online retailers to bring you some fantastic shopping opportunities, and unlike many other [...]

Just spotted a new advertiser on my index page — OO.com.au (not zero-zero, but Oh-Oh). They are a bit like one of my old-time favourite, DealsDirect, who is like a department store that sells a bit of everything at bargaining price. They called themselves an Overstock Outlet company (hence OO). From its About page, oo.com.au has [...]

Earlier this morning I received an email advertising ozziebids, which claims to be “a comprehensive Australian online auction website offering an alternate method of online shopping”. It lists brand new products on its website and its members can start bidding on these items. While thinking, oh yeah, another eBay wannabe, I actually went and checked [...]

So, where to find the best bargain on the latest foo, bar and baz that you always dream to have? Want to save that extra $2 getting that new motherboard? Sick of spending whole night checking out each individual e-commerce site and compare their prices? I have discovered price comparison websites a few years ago, [...]