This seems like a strange, yet brilliant move for a company like Dell to make. The computer company has just launched Dell Swarm, an online social buying tool that lets you band together with other Aussie consumers to buy gadgets in bulk from overseas for big savings.
Here’s how it works: You can either opt in to join a current swarm or suggest a new swarm via the Dell Swarm website. Once enough people have signed up, the swarm will go Live and you can confirm your order. Once the order’s been placed, you’ll receive a unique code to be able to customise and pay for your new purchase. Simple, right?
Then there’s the social element. To try and increase the size of the order and therefore the savings, you can easily share information about the swarm with friends using Facebook or Twitter or just email. The more people involved, the better the bargain.
The best part about it is that it’s not just Dell products that are on offer. On the Dell Swarm page, Cisco, Belkin and Kogan are all acknowledged as partners, so you can expect to see plenty of their products available as well. But it’s not restricted to them either – the site promises things like DSLRs are potential swarm purchases.
Some of the savings on offer are pretty good. A Flip Mino II camcorder is currently going for $129, which is 54% off the RRP. If you’re thinking about buying gadgets online, it’s definitely worth checking whether anyone else might want to buy the same thing with a tool like this before you pay full price…