Buyasone Launches Unique Bargains Portal

Synesis Online, a Bangalore-based start-up, is all set to change the way consumers buy high value items.

The company has just launched BuyAsOne.com, a B2C website which will try and get consumers the best bargains on items ranging from televisions to suitcases by aggregating buyers of specific products on the Internet.

"We want to use the power of buying as a group to get the best bargain on any item," said Hema Parmeswaran, CEO, Synesis Online.

"The modus operandi of the website is quite simple. If you want to buy a particular brand of a 21 inch television , log on to BuyAsOne and register on a specially created SmartCycle for that product. Chances are there'd be several others with the same requirement as you. If each of these people becomes part of the SmartCycle, very soon you'd probably have a conservative estimate of five people who are part of the SmartCycle. The Cycle closes in seven days."

Here's when the actual bargain happens. Synesis has predetermined slabs on the amount of discount you can get on a particular product depending on the number of buyers that are in the cycle.

So hypothetically, for 1-5 buyers each buyer may get Rs 2000 off, if there are 6-20 buyers each would get Rs 4000 off and so on. The actual slabs will be pasted on the net for every product, for all to see.

"In real life it would probably be difficult for you to scout around for someone whose needs match yours and buy two units of the product together to be in a position to bargain. This is where our site steps in," Parmeswaran says.

And how does the website make money ?

BuyAsOne buys at a discount from manufacturers simply because it is buying in bulk and factors in a margin.

The cost to you as a consumer is still lesser than if you were to buy individually. And Synesis buys only at the completion of a SmartCycle, which means no unnecessary inventories.

It has a tie-up with road transporter SafeExpress and delivers the product at no extra cost to your doorstep.

The website has a participation fee for the SmartCycle to discourage non-serious visitors.

Its alliance partners currently include Philips, LG Electronics, Titan, Sumeet, National Panasonic, Siemens, VIP Industries, JT Mobiles, Samsung, Ericsson, Gili, Onida etc and the list is growing.

Parameswaran herself is an IIM graduate with prior experience in marketing and e-commerce with LG Soft and Satyam Infoway, colleague Avaneesh Akhoury is ex-Planetasia. The chairman is Uday Punj who is also on the board of Punj Lloyd.