haggle4me

B4UgoZzz

I have the total opposite opinion to you bs7

The basic idea of Haggle4me makes total sense in my view.

(a) It's a one stop shop where anyone can seek the help of others to find an item they want at lower cost. Of course, MSE can be a fantastic resource to this end, however I think Haggle4me should work well in conjunction with our forums here, as an additional resource.

(b) I have no objection at all to the notion of paying someone to do 'leg work' for me. Not least if I only pay them if they can save me money. Any payment being a % of what they save me. It's a no lose situation. No saving = no charge.

(c) If someone is willing to spend their time researching to help a stranger, why shouldn't they be paid for there effort? Sure, if people share information for free it's a wonderful, life affirming gesture. I share info to help others myself in fact. The difference is that I would never expect anyone to assist for free.

(d) If MSE launched a 'wanted' subforum, I'd use it myself and help others too. I don't see how this in any way discredits the haggle site. Surely shoppers could simply use both. To say that finding a bargain on the Haggle site will cost the user money is painting entirely the wrong picture.

(e) Bargain hunting is time consuming. So, any system (like screen scrapers) which aid shoppers find the best deal with minimal effort is a benefit to busy people. Posting on Haggle4me would, I'd have thought, be of most value to busy people, especially the less financially savvy. For example, such a person could just Kelkoo, MSE post, then Haggle4me post. Thereby, with minimal effort, be sure they are getting best value for their spending.

(f) Finally, addressing the fact the Haggle site is a commercial one and makes money for it's owners. Again I have no problem with this at all. It provides the arena for 2 types of people to meet in a trusted environment. They gain revenue from the Hagglers and only when a successful saving has been secured. Seems fair enough to me. If their fee to the people doing the bargain hunting was too high, then no one would join to do the researching would they? Sadly, I imagine that the cost of setting up that site has yet to be recovered by it's owners because it does not appear to have taken off. It's my guess that it would, with an injection of capital to promote it more widely to attract the mass market.

Keep smiling, Wilf.