video transcript

UPSOUND: TV ADVERTISMENT It's a simple concept and one that's proving a hit with shoppers like Katie Jeffes from London. She recently bought a printer through Buyapowa for £40, 60 percent cheaper than the retail price. SOUNDBITE: Katie Jeffes, Buyapowa customer, saying (English): "With all four products, I've probably saved about half. I've spent just over £70 and I think retail if I'd have gone to a shop to buy those items I would probably have spent around £165/170 pounds. " Buyapowa features a deal a day. It relies on people recommending the products to their friends through social networking site Facebook. The more people that shop, the more prices drop. And the person who brings more co-buyers than anyone else gets the product free. SOUNDBITE: Katie Jeffes, Buyapowa customer, saying (English): "There was one lady ahead of me who'd managed to recommend two other individuals into the co-buy, I'd recommended one other individual into the co-buy. If I'd managed to get another two this morning I would have got my tricycle for free - so I think that's probably why I quite like using Buyapowa because there's that kind of anticipation, gaming that sort of can I get it for free aspect." Group buying websites are becoming big business. Groupon is perhaps the best known - with some 80 million users in 43 countries. But Buyapower's founder Gideon Lask says his business is different. SOUNDBITE: Gideon Lask, founder of Buyapowa, saying (English): "We're more about boxed branded products than services, we're not about deals in a specific city, we actually aggregate demand wherever it is and we listen to the requests of our community and if a beauty blog asks for a specific range of products we're going to go out and source those, we're not going to force you to just have the deal we have today." When there's enough demand Buyapowa will try to negotiate a deal with the manufacturer. Savvy shoppers can save between 30 and 80 percent off the retail price - depending on the item. SOUNDBITE: Gideon Lask, founder of Buyapowa, saying (English): "At any one time there's probably 500 people in the market for a big Sony TV flatscreen television well now we can actually identify who they are, bring them together and go to Sony direct to achieve the same kind of discounts that a John Lewis or an Amazon would get." Katie is certainly happy with the savings she's made using Buyapower. She's not given up shopping on the high street just yet but with Christmas coming says she'll be keeping a close eye on what Buyapowa have to offer. Hayley Platt, Reuters