New Crowdbuy Site!

We are in the process of putting the finishing touches to the new, improved Crowdbuy website.  You can expect to see this live today.  


We're excited, its no lie.  We hope you will be too when you see it!


But I hear you ask "What is Crowdbuy?"

Well, Crowdbuy is a platform that encourages people to come together online to purchase products in a crowd and therefore attract group buying discounts.

All the products you see on the site have been added by you, our customers. We don’t suggest products for you. You find what you want to buy then come to us to see if there’s anyone else out there wanting the same.

We've launched the site but are constantly looking at ways to improve your experience with us. Some would call this being in 'beta' mode but beta is so yesterday.

How does Crowdbuy work?

Add a product to Crowdbuy that you want to buy - this is really easy using our form, or better still, our super little bookmark tool.

Once a minimum number of people have joined the crowd, we’ll go and get you the best discount we can. Retailers bid on what they can sell the product for, and as more people join the crowd and more retailers get involved, the price drops. You can really help here by telling all your friends onfacebook and twitter about the stuff you want to buy.

You get a great discount and the retailers get to sell more of their products. Win Win. The retailers can even negotiate directly with the crowd to really get to know what kind of deal you're after.

At the close of the crowd, the retailer will send you a code that will give you the discount when you checkout at their online store.

Are you just another daily deals site?

Absolutely not!

With Crowdbuy you get to buy the products you want to buy, not what a daily deal site has done a deal on. With Crowdbuy, if a retailer offers you 50% off a product, that’s what you receive, the full 50%. With Crowdbuy, the retailer does not pay us a fee for selling that product to you - with Groupon they get charged up to 50% (not a sustainable model for the retailers if you ask us)

We are not a daily deals site. The discounts shown on our site are for products that you have requested. We normally add a time for when a crowd will end, but that is to help you with your decision to buy.

So how does Crowdbuy make money?

We charge retailers (not a vast amount) to be part of the Crowdbuy Community and be able to bid on product sales.

We hope these answer some of your questions, if not please send us an email info@crowdbuy.com

Also, follow us on twitter!

Time to Haggle

It's been a great year for the Manchester Christmas Markets... over a million people have passed by the multiple stalls dotted around 7 sites in the City Centre. A record breaking year.

Manchester Evening News are reporting that traders are now also prepared to haggle with customers over the next few days as they want to get rid of their remaining stock prior to Thursday.  Fancy a bargain? Now is the time...

As us Brits aren't used to it, here are some tips on how to Haggle

In the New Year let Crowdbuy do the haggling for you.

We are getting ready to launch our new and improved site for 2012 and urge you to sign up and get ready to save on the products you want.

Buy Together and Save!

The bigger the crowd that wants a product, the more bargaining power Crowdbuy has to bring down the price.  So Spread the Word!

Hell Bent on Shopping

Aston Villa fans were outraged on Sunday after their star striker, Darren Bent, was photographed out shopping in Cambridge after picking up a thigh injury which prevented him from playing against Liverpool.

Twitter was flooded with furious fans venting their fury at Bent for not even watching the game on TV, never mind being at the Villa Park to support the team.


Bent responded via Twitter: “I can assure the Villa fans that I’m committed to the football club and I love playing for Villa... I’m fully committed to the club and there is no other agenda here and I haven’t fallen out with the manager."


Maybe Darren would be better off doing his shopping online in future to avoid such a backlash!

The Death of the High Street?

TV’s Queen of Shops, Mary Portas, has released a report labelling Britain’s high streets as “on the brink of extinction” and found that up to 20 shops a day are closing down in some parts of the country. And she feels a complete change of mindset from consumers, retailers and councils is what’s needed to change the situation. The report also claims that only 40% of retail spends will be done in high street stores by 2014. 

With many consumers never setting foot in their local shops except for essentials, and simply buying groceries, leisure and luxury goods from the comfort of their living rooms, maybe the answer lies in this population of internet-savvy customers. What if they could have the option to buy their items online but go to a local, high street business to collect the item, having been given a significant discount first? This social-shopping, as it’s called, could kick-start city centre economies whilst maintaining customers’ shopping habits.

Crowdbuy is at the forefront of the social-shopping revolution. And it’s really easy to become a part of it. You simply create your profile, search for a product you want and that’s it. It might already be on the site, but if not simply add it. The more people that want your product, the cheaper it is. Crowdbuy then negotiate a discount and email you the details.  You can either apply the discount online at checkout and get them delivered OR simply collect your goods from a local retailer. And it will benefit retailers too; as Crowdbuy will recommend them to their community and the retailer knows that they’ll have multiple consumers buying goods directly from them.

To become a part of the revolution, check out www.crowdbuy.com. If you’re a forward thinking retailer, contact Kris Barnes on Kris@crowdbuy.com to hear about the fantastic opportunities at Crowdbuy now.

The above is a guest blog by Nick Pagan of Nick Pagan Copywriting. If you are looking for a Copywriter who really knows how to express your Business message then contact Nick at nick@nickpagancopywriting.co.uk or visit www.nickpagancopywriting.co.uk

Shopping... Under The Influence

During the run-up to Christmas it’s a sure bet that we'll all have a few drinks to celebrate – and some of us a LOT!  And according to shopping comparison site Kelkoo, it’s also a sure bet that us Brits will spend £2bn shopping online whilst under the influence of alcohol this festive period.  A sobering thought eh?

Kelkoo reckon that 43% of us have shopped online whilst a little bit (or a lot) tipsy. They estimate we have already spent £5.2bn and this Christmas it could amount to an extra £2bn... That's a lot of Snowball cocktails!

Chris Simpson, Kelkoo CMO,  said: “Online shopping has become a daily part of Brits’ lives and people are taking advantage of being able to shop at any time of the day, whether at home in bed, on the move, or in bars and restaurants. Our research shows that while people shopping under the influence of alcohol could spell good news for those on the receiving end of gifts, we’d always advise shoppers to think carefully when making purchases and remember that they are able to use retailers’ returns policies if they realise afterwards that they’ve purchased unwanted items.”

So when you get home from that forgettable work Christmas do, a few festive drinkies with your mates, or from a family meal having had a few too many cherries, be careful! You may just wake up in a couple of days with a signed photograph from Kriss Akabussi, a new boat or the complete works of Shawaddywaddy!

OR - if you are going to shop online - make it a considered purchase and visit Crowdbuy where you can buy together and save. The more people who want the same product, the cheaper Crowdbuy can get it for you. So spread the word - don't buy it, Crowdbuy it!

Striking to the Shops?

Last Wednesday we all know that public sector workers were on strike and it was impossible to miss the column inches, news coverage and general comments across the social sphere regarding the strikes.

 What was also quite noticeable in Manchester that day whilst walking through the City Centre was that it was so much busier than a normal Wednesday. The Arndale was just as packed as on a Saturday afternoon and myself and my girlfriend Dyna were surprised at this and both made tongue-in-cheek comments about people going on strike to go shopping.

But after reading the FT on Friday it seems we were right!

Across the nation Experian reported that footfall was up 38% on last year's figures based on samples taken from above 50% of the UK's shopping centres. This is quite an increase but some context is surely needed here as these figures may be misleading. There are no figures as yet on the amount spent last Wednesday - high street 'browsing' is a cheap day out; There is also a strong case that people simply brought forward the day they went shopping and as such no more money will be spent overall - its not true that these families have any more money to spend!

It was also noted this week by KPMG that UK consumers are amongst the most tech-friendly and embracing consumers in the world. We seem to be embracing technology a lot faster than most countries do. The BBC reported that "Seventy-seven per cent of British shoppers prefer to buy goods like CDs, DVDs, books and video games online - compared with 65% globally."

This is encouraging news to us at Crowdbuy as we hope you, the UK consumers, embrace YOUR online shopping community and Buy Together and Save!

Visit us at www.CrowdBuy.com and join Your Community Today! Spread the word!

What do we want? Retail Therapy! When do we want it? Now!  Photo courtesy of thisisleicestershire.co.uk 

Twitter: @crowdbuy

Online Retail Partnership Opportunity

We at Crowdbuy are offering anyone who runs an online shop the opportunity to expose their products to a social media savvy community of online shoppers. If you have an online store and would like to find out more information please email kris@crowdbuy.com Crowdbuy: Your Partner and Your Community