Some people like to get discounts but only when it's doesn't consume a lot of their time. There are numorous price trackers/monitors, some with sale alerts.
How about a service that one can enter an item they want to save on, and the service buys Item when it's price has dropped or there are discounts that go near or below a certain price.
User would register with Service, enter the Item (with notes specifying options/features/colors etc.) with optional notes for first choice/second choice for Item. Default Deal timeout is 6 months, User has option to set it for shorter legnths of time. User has the options to put a credit card/payment method on file, or can places an amount of money with the Service with the option to notify User if amount of money is not enough to acquire deal or auto charge payment method on file. Service then watches multiple online sites and brick-and-motor online storefronts for Item to fall below a discount threshold (possible selectable by user). When a deal on Item is found, Service buys Item on User's behalf, delivering it to Users address. Service takes a small percentage at Item purchase time to pay the bills and pull a profit.
Example: User has planned a purchase a pallet of Storable Coffee, which regularly retails for $600. User enters pallet of Storable Coffee with Service giving a Deal timeframe of 3 months. User has payment method on file and can afford the charge. Within one month the service finds a rare discount offered by a small online store, "pallet of Storable Coffee $200 off with FREE shipping!" Service orders it on Users behalf, charging a single digit percentage for the service. The savings on the pallet of Storable Coffee are more than the service cost, thus User saves not just money, but time not watching prices on a pallet of Storable Coffee.
This Service is also great for those who want to make a one-off purchase and don't want to watch prices of something not to be bought again as well.-- Dignium, Dec 26 2015 This is baked for computer parts. There's a website where one can enter the price one is willing to pay and the purchase only goes through at that price or lower.
It's also baked to a crisp in business-to-business bidding platforms.
Furthermore technically a futures purchase offer bakes this.
overdone [-]-- Voice, Dec 26 2015 This is a service for the CONSUMER, I.e. you and me. I for one would love a consumer-oriented deal watching and buy-on-my-behalf service. I would pay for this kind of service for those one-off items, when the savings are more than the service cost ofcourse. Plus it's for any kind of item, available online. For brick-and-mortar online storefronts like target.com I would even have the option to ship to store if I was travelling for example.-- Dignium, Dec 26 2015 Welcome to the halfbakery [Dignium]. Hope you enjoy your stay. Your idea is rather interesting, and I don't know if something like this already exists, but if not, it should. +-- blissmiss, Dec 26 2015 // they can place a bulk order. Say its 1000 XBoxes for a knock down price, even slim margins on 1000 guaranteed customers isn't bad. //
Baked: Massdrop, Crowd Supply, GroupGets, and every other group-buy platform.-- notexactly, Dec 28 2015 random, halfbakery