oBaz Scores Lightbank Funding, Promotes New Way to Haggle

This might be the epitome of “strength in numbers.”

oBaz, a new site whose name is short for “online bazaar,” is attempting to give wannabe-hagglers the opportunity to crowdsource their way to a better deal, TechCrunch reports.

“oBaz uses group buying power to negotiate discounts for products and services that you choose,” the company explains. “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, invite people you know with similar interests to join the group using the social tools provided. Our hagglers will email you once they've pulled a few strings and scored you a deal.”

oBaz is so confident in its ability to score a better deal that it is daring customers to find an item it can't haggle. And with an undisclosed investment from Lightbank, the venture firm launched by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, oBaz should have the capital it needs to embark on this promising journey.

“The group is very important,” Brian Ficho, founder and CEO of oBaz.com, told Benzinga during a recent interview. “We're entirely community-driven, so we do put the onus on our users. It's kind of up to them. They can't join a group with one person and expect us to haggle them an offer. That's just not gonna happen. If they do get a big group – obviously the bigger the group, the more leverage we have – what we offer retailers is kind of unique. We don't charge retailers anything. We just say, ‘Here's all these people that want to buy something that you want to sell, and all you have to do is give them something compelling to get them to come buy it and we'll push it to them for free. That's part of our pitch.”

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