Featured Startup Pitch: 1SaleADay brings ultra-discount shopping to the web

Company: 1SaleADay

Website: www.1saleaday.com

Headquarters: Brooklyn, NY

Year Founded: 2006; website launched in 2007

Founder: Ben Federman

Investors: Self-funded

Employees: 40

Company Description: 1SaleaDay offers unheard of discounts on name brand electronics, watches, jewelry, toys and wireless gear. Deals last just 24 hrs!

By Ben Federman, Founder

What is 1SaleADay.com?

1SaleaDay.com offers rock-bottom daily deals on electronics, watches, family products and jewelry with unheard-of deep discounts up to 90 percent off retail on products that are only available for just 24 hours.  The site is the largest independently-owned daily deal site in the world, and wields tremendous buying power to offer outrageous deals to more than 350,000 daily site visitors on everything from high-end GPS units and digital cameras to pearl necklaces, luxury watches and even housewares and games.  As a special surprise, the company clears out its inventory with its Chunk o’Junk Deal that features a box full of items randomly selected from past deals—for just $10.  Customers never know exactly what they’re going to get, but Past Chunk o’Junk deals have included laptops, MP3 players, GPS units and even a 42-inch TV.

Founder’s Story

I founded the company as a Milwaukee native with no more than a high school equivalency degree after having joined the military as soon as I turned 18.  My inherent belief in doing what’s right for my fellow man and the discipline gained during my combat experience fueled my entrepreneurial spirit.  I launched 1SaleaDay.com from my living room, where I also stored inventory until I ran out of room and had to move product to a generous friend’s house.  With no financial backing beyond a handful of credit cards, I started the company at 25 years old.  Now, at 27, I own three other deep discount sites, employ 40 people and have a healthy revenue stream that last year allowed the company to donate 50 percent of its profits to charity.

Business Model

1SaleaDay.com leverages incredible buying power to offer customers the steepest discounts available anywhere, attracting throngs of Internet shoppers and allowing the company to generate revenue based on volume rather than markup.  Where other online retailers might carry hundreds of SKUs and a 50-100 percent markup, 1SaleaDay carries just five products each day, at single-digit markup.  No deal makes an appearance on the site unless it is hands-down, no questions-asked the best deal available anywhere.  Driven by this commitment, 1SaleaDay.com has earned the trust of hundreds of thousands of customers who make the site their first web stop of the day.

Current Needs

1SaleaDay.com is always on the lookout for great products that manufacturers/distributors need to move in high volume without hurting their market price.  Since the product is only up for just 24 hours, this safeguards against search indexing and comparison shopping.

The company is also on a mission to build greater awareness.  To keep prices so low, 1SaleaDay.com does absolutely no paid advertising and relies solely on word-of-mouth exposure from its loyal fan base to help spread the word.  The profitable company is currently considering outside investment offers, but not actively seeking capital funding.

1SaleaDay – www.1saleaday.com