No, it’s not a cross between a zoot suit and a snood, it’s The Zood – the first ever group buying website for mountain bikers. The site had just been launched today and the founders reckon it could change the way bikers buy their kit.
Following on from the success of group buying websites such as Groupon and the savings they can offer, keen riders Ben Davies & Max Ainscough decided that mountain bikers should have access to a site and social community where group buying power means they can get better deals on bikes and kit – so they started up The Zood.
The idea is that you choose the product you’re interested in, then start to get together a group of similarly interested people using the social networking element of The Zood or just by asking around your own mates. Bike dealers and suppliers using the site can then offer the group a price for that item and choose the number of people they need to agree to buy to make that deal happen. Payments will be taken securely via Paypal so there’s no chance of losing money.
You can also search for other products that you’re interested in and see if there are any group buys going on that you can take part in.
Founders Ben Davies & Max Ainscough had been looking to set up a specialist social networking site for mountain bikers for some time. “We’d seen the huge savings being made by general mass-market group buying sites and wondered if we could maybe use group buying to get savings for us mountain-bikers. Let’s face it, it’s an expensive hobby and a way to reduce the costs involved looked like something we had to explore. We made a tentative approach to a few retailers and our idea met with an incredible response. So, here we are, about to launch, and hoping that other mountain bikers are as keen as we are to socialise with fellow mountain bikers and hopefully get some great deals as well.”
The founders reckon that the site will also provide a platform for mountain-biking clubs to exert (and increase) their existing buying power. “Quite often I’ve heard club members talking about getting together to buy kit but it can be quite difficult to do that. This makes it easy for them” say Davies.
For more information or to sign up, head to www.thezood.com
Comments (12)
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The homepage has a title of “Page Title”.
every page has the title ‘page title’
proper pro innit
It’s a really interesting idea, be interesting to see if it catches on more generally. Good luck to them (but I agree that polish lends credibility and there are a few rough edges to their site).
Wicked idea, groupon for bikes. That’s me skint forever then.
God awful website design….
I quite like the site design. Definitely a nod to social networking sites. Shame so many of the products don’t have any prices bid by retailers yet. My probelm is when I decide I want something, I want it now. I think I’ll watch how this one pans out…
I think it’s very handsome looking – good luck to them. Can’t be that much risk involved in a business model like that though – but they got in first. Well… after STW forum. And eBay.
Site design looks good to me. Come on people give them a break they only launched today. Good on them for trying something new.
Its rubbish! You cant see any of the products unless you drill through a million subcategories and look at every single brand individually. The search function dosnt work properly and the majority of items you do find dont have prices.
Dont waste your time.
Great idea. I hope it catches on, could make those distant XTR parts more of a reality.
There have been sites that have tried this type thing before, with all sorts of categories, not just bikes stuff, based on groups and individuals. They failed and left owing people money and generally didn’t work.
Best of luck.
re; thebikechain
What like the massive failure that is ‘Groupon’ ?!?!
I think it seems a great idea, just needs to gather a bit of steam.