Dealplumber: a community-driven bargain site

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm, Social Software

Dealplumber: a community-driven bargain site

by David Chartier Jul 20th 2006

It seems like everything is going 'social' these days, and the tech bargain and coupon industry is the latest to join the list. Introducing: dealplumber, "a community-driven deals site that delivers the best deals and coupons from across the internet". Almost everything you might expect from a 'web 2.0-meets-discounts' site is here, including tags (complete with a cloud), comments, saving coupons, affiliate commission sharing, different views for deal lists (list - with pictures - and a grid view), RSS feeds and more.

As the first post in the dealplumber blog states, one of their main goals is to act as a unifying location for all deals on the web, instead of leaving the job to what they feel (and I agree) is a segmented toolbox of sites that don't seem to communicate or cooperate with each other, which ends in a lose-lose situation for everyone.

Being that they went public just this past Monday, I think they're already off to a great start. A click on their 'latest coupons' section gives me a list comprised of a laptop rebate, a Dreamhost discount, a deal on Adidas shoes and even an AVON bargain. I honestly never thought I'd see beauty product discounts next to rock-bottom RAM deals. Still, during my initial signup and browsing through the site, I find myself wishing for a couple of features, specifically: RSS feeds for all tags, as well as a more concrete system that tells the shopper who a deal is offered by. But hey: they can't reveal their entire hand this early in the game, right?

Like I said though: all things considered, dealplumber is off to a rockin' start, and they have already earned themselves a place at the top of my list of shopping sites. It'll be interesting to see how this social-bargain site evolves in the months to come.

Tags: bargain, community, coupon, dealplumber, discount, new, shopping, social, web 2.0, Web2.0

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rob said 12:51PM on 7-22-2006

I was checking out another community-based deals finder site, http://www.dealspl.us/, just started I think, seems pretty well-executed.

wireddeals said 3:46AM on 8-05-2006

I truly doubt the quality of the information posted on the site. The fact that everyone can post their own affiliate id opens a lot of possibilities to abusing the system. An intent to monetize on the posting becomes the driving factor as opposite to the sense of sharing with the community and receiving feedback (this is what holds together such sites as SlickDeals and FatWallet). The time will show if the concept survives. If anything it will take time and patience to enter the market.

Marc Mezzacca said 3:42PM on 8-11-2006

While I agree that the quality of the deals may be lower, I think they are aware of the potential pitfalls and will take strides to prevent it. It will take time and a lot of testing, but it could work well.

david fishman said 10:51AM on 8-17-2006

Deal Plumber is cool, think what would happen if www.shopathome.com finally goes this direction.

Also, since your writing about cool online social networking tools. thought you might want to check this out.

www.uplayme.com

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