Dealfun: a new idea

Dealfun looks like an interesting new way to buy things on the 'net.

Here's a few people looking at it: on Yahoo, MSNBC. This isn't an entirely new idea. There have been sites that work this way before.

The thing about dealfun is that you purchase the right to bid. Tickets, coupons, bid points, call them what you like. You can then bid on the items, iPads, iPhones, Kindles, LCD TVs and so on, using the bidding points that you've purchased to do so.

As I say, this isn't an entirely new idea, there were several sites that worked the same way. However, the other sites, when you bid, at what looked like great prices, you had just used up the bid points that you had purchased.

What makes dealfun different is that this isn't what happens. Even if you don't win the bid your bidding points can still be used against the purchase price of the product at the regular site pricing.

Which is really rather interesting, both as a business model and for people using the site. It might be that you get one of the great deals, the bargains at incredibly low prices: but if not, everything is not lost. It's still possible to buy what you want with the money you're spending.