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Group buying

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Does anyone know anything about 'Group Buying' or 'Group Switching'?

It is where a group of people, not necessarily known to each other switch gas and/or electric suppliers.

Thank you.

Comments

  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The problem is that you need maybe 500K people to negotiate a decent group deal. Energy companies who have their own wholesale supplies have millions of customers: they're not going to cut a special deal with a few thousand only. Which? organised The Big Switch in 2012 and got 300,000 people registered, but the tariff deal they produced (from Co-Op energy) was no better than people could get individually via any comp site.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Bark01
    Bark01 Posts: 892 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I've also never seen a collective switch that has offered anything cheaper than what's already available.

    Suppliers are limited to only offering 4 tariffs at any given time, they don't have the spare slots available to waste on tariffs that have limited customer numbers.
  • SailorSam
    SailorSam Posts: 22,754 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 7 October 2014 at 9:33AM
    I've seen adverts in the local papers saying they were organising a 'group switch' around here and there was a bit to enter your post code to see could you be included.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/9069342/Big-Switch-40000-consumers-join-forces-to-get-lower-utility-bills.html
    Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain,
    What it may grow to in time, I know not what.

    Daniel Defoe: 1725.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Anyone remember 'pipeline'? They tried to do the same group buying discount thing with petrol/diesel about 5 years ago, signed up thousands of people but it never came to anything.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Marilyn4 wrote: »
    Does anyone know anything about 'Group Buying' or 'Group Switching'?

    It is where a group of people, not necessarily known to each other switch gas and/or electric suppliers.

    Thank you.

    It doesn't work.

    Some councils and other orgainsiations have tried but suppliers just bid in one of their existing tariffs.

    Use a comparison site to fine the best deal for you
    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity
  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    macman wrote: »
    Anyone remember 'pipeline'? They tried to do the same group buying discount thing with petrol/diesel about 5 years ago, signed up thousands of people but it never came to anything.

    Well apart from the spam they received, coincidentally for gas & electricity supplies instead of petrol/diesel they were wanting. Iirc, it was for the supplier that cannot be mentioned anywhere else but the dedicated existing thread. You know, the one that sales people (or distributors as they call them) get handsomely rewarded for signing people up to.
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