18 Sep 2007, ST, , Digital Life
'Tumpang' your purchases at this bulk-buying site to pay less, THAM YUEN-C advises
Like all savvy shoppers, Malaysian Jefrey Ong likes a good deal. But instead of just waiting for sales, the technopreneur, 25, creates them - by going online on bulk-buying sprees.
Two years ago, when he wanted to buy a Chelsea Football Club jersey, he went onto a football forum, where he met another fan of the team.
That fan had managed to swing a good deal on the RM269 (S$116) jersey, and had secured a RM89 discount.
The only catch - they needed to buy at least 50. It didn't take them long to get together a large enough group.
After that, the real hard work started.
'Can you imagine 50 people buying 50 jerseys? You have 50 different sizes, managing the order was crazy,' said Mr Ong. Delivery information of the buyers also had to be taken down.
That experience inspired Mr Ong's Tumpang.com, launched in April this year. Tumpang (pronounced toom- pung), is Malay for pooling, as in car pooling.
And that is the vision behind the site, which offers bargains on all sorts of goods by allowing people to team up for bulk purchases.
Mass-buying websites began during the Internet boom in the late 1990s, but few people went online then. In the last few years, sites that pull together the buying power of crowds, have gained poularity, especially in China.
'What is new... is the dizzying ease with which likeminded, action-ready citizens and consumers can now go online and connect, group, and ultimately exert influence on a global scale,' said a report from Amsterdam-based trend spotting firm, Trendwatching.com.
Tumpang.com, first launched in Malaysia, now caters to a worldwide audience. What makes it different from other bulk buying forums, is that it provides tools for organisers of these buying sprees to manage orders, said Mr Ong.
On the site, sellers pay a fee to list items. At Tumpang, items range from a collectible toy train to jelly shoes. Sellers then set a validity period for the offer, and a limit for the minimum number of buyers needed to secure the discount.
All buyers have to do is join in the shopping spree of their choice, and wait for enough people to turn up.
Those who want to get together a group to buy things from the websites of foreign stores like Victoria's Secrets, can also organise this via the site.
Since its launch, the site has signed up 5,000 members, including some from the United States and Europe.
'It'll be more difficult out there compared to the local market, the culture is very different, and people buy in different ways,' said Mr Ong. 'Most of them won't even know what tumpang means. But we want to go international because the larger the community grows, the cheaper the goods will be.'
'Tumpang' your purchases at this bulk-buying site to pay less, THAM YUEN-C advises
Like all savvy shoppers, Malaysian Jefrey Ong likes a good deal. But instead of just waiting for sales, the technopreneur, 25, creates them - by going online on bulk-buying sprees.
Two years ago, when he wanted to buy a Chelsea Football Club jersey, he went onto a football forum, where he met another fan of the team.
That fan had managed to swing a good deal on the RM269 (S$116) jersey, and had secured a RM89 discount.
The only catch - they needed to buy at least 50. It didn't take them long to get together a large enough group.
After that, the real hard work started.
'Can you imagine 50 people buying 50 jerseys? You have 50 different sizes, managing the order was crazy,' said Mr Ong. Delivery information of the buyers also had to be taken down.
That experience inspired Mr Ong's Tumpang.com, launched in April this year. Tumpang (pronounced toom- pung), is Malay for pooling, as in car pooling.
And that is the vision behind the site, which offers bargains on all sorts of goods by allowing people to team up for bulk purchases.
Mass-buying websites began during the Internet boom in the late 1990s, but few people went online then. In the last few years, sites that pull together the buying power of crowds, have gained poularity, especially in China.
'What is new... is the dizzying ease with which likeminded, action-ready citizens and consumers can now go online and connect, group, and ultimately exert influence on a global scale,' said a report from Amsterdam-based trend spotting firm, Trendwatching.com.
Tumpang.com, first launched in Malaysia, now caters to a worldwide audience. What makes it different from other bulk buying forums, is that it provides tools for organisers of these buying sprees to manage orders, said Mr Ong.
On the site, sellers pay a fee to list items. At Tumpang, items range from a collectible toy train to jelly shoes. Sellers then set a validity period for the offer, and a limit for the minimum number of buyers needed to secure the discount.
All buyers have to do is join in the shopping spree of their choice, and wait for enough people to turn up.
Those who want to get together a group to buy things from the websites of foreign stores like Victoria's Secrets, can also organise this via the site.
Since its launch, the site has signed up 5,000 members, including some from the United States and Europe.
'It'll be more difficult out there compared to the local market, the culture is very different, and people buy in different ways,' said Mr Ong. 'Most of them won't even know what tumpang means. But we want to go international because the larger the community grows, the cheaper the goods will be.'
No comments:
Post a Comment