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A few guys over at Groupon on West Chicago Avenue in River North have recently founded this other little thing called oBaz. Short for Online Bazaar, its an online community that uses group buying power to negotiate discounts for products and services that you nominate and choose. Begin by using the search bar to type in a specific product (LED cat collar, bright blue medicine ball, Richard Simmons-inspired sweatband) and either join an existing group or create your own. From there, the user invites people they know with similar interests or who want that product to join the group using the social tools provided by oBaz. Our hagglers will email you once they've pulled a few strings and scored you a deal.
oBaz is the first web-based community to use crowdsourcing and game mechanics to build group buying power around products and services to help members save money on things they really want. Because there's no risk for potential buyers, merchants and it's completely free, this pet project is expected to grow like buku-bonkers in the next few months.
· oBaz [Official Site]