Reporter Wants to Write Article on Ultimate OzBargainers + Epic Memorable Deals throughout The Years. Suggestions?

Update: Here is the article: SMH:From birdseed loaf to pulled pork rort, site swaps tips on the cheap, cheap, cheap


A reporter for a major newspaper in Australia wants to run a piece about the OzBargain community and is looking to talk to some members. They want to talk to some people who live the bargain lifestyle (don't we all) and have some interesting bargain stories. The caveat? You must be willing to identify yourself in the article with your full name but you don't need to mention username.

The reporter is an OzBargainer himself and he gets how the community works. So looking for suggestions of users or if you are willing to do it, let me know in the comments here or PM me.

Also epic bargains over the 10 years. We've come up with the following:

McFlurry Hack
Kogan $5 Lens Mug as he mentioned it in his talks
2012 Dick Smith Gaming Sale
Dick Smith Enters in Liquidation, Closure of Stores / Closing Down, Sales
Free $5 Paypal Credit
First Ever 15% off eBay Sale
$40 Rebel Gift Card
$2 Hungry Jack's Whopper and Fries from Scoopon
Dell $9 Printer
COTD Sale 2009

My personal favourite:

Zacardy stuck in airport

Got any more?


EDIT:

Epic bargains from the comments:

OzBargain's "Tablet Headache" deal makes the Herald Sun, Gerry Harvey calls us professionals
HP TouchPad @ Harvey Norman 16GB - $98 32GB - $148 from 2PM
Bonus Mystery Flight & Overnight Stay When You Buy 6 Bottles of Jacobs Creek Cool Harvest
Everyday The First 10 Samsung Galaxy S II Will Be Sold for Only $2.00
Earning 1m FF Points by Making 7000 x 1c Transactions on Citilink
guy who did the sums on how to get a free wine fridge by hitting up various bottle-os around Canberra

Related Stores

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Comments

  • +1

    JV.

  • +3

    Almost forgot another - FREE BEER!

    In particular, the free 6-pack of Pacific Radler from LiquorLand earlier this year.

    • Still have a 6 pack from this deal lol

  • Dicksmith Eneloop Sales

  • 24 can boxes of coke for like $4 was pretty sweet. Nabbed myself 12 of them

  • +1

    Best so far i recall and i went head first into it was the google/ kitkat promo when and roid kitkat was released.
    The amount of money spent on kitkat i made in google play credits which was a win and my wife had shitload of kitkats to eat so another win.

  • I think we forgot the accumulation of Qff points via first year free credit cards!

  • +1

    Posted this in another thread but for me its a mix up between:

    That's for this year, the only other memorable deal that I can recall since it was mentioned here is the $40 Rebel Gift card with the newspaper subscription.

  • +2

    This takes the cake: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/54666

    A little over 5 years ago, I was one of the first 10 people to score the latest Samsung Galaxy S2 unlocked for $2. I left work around 11am, froze overnight, and returned the next day in the same work shirt.

    http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/samsung-ambushes-โ€ฆ

    The OzBargain I'm most appreciative of: My Sunbeam EM7000 coffee machine, professionally obtained from Harvey Norman half price ($399) due to the obsolete white sides

  • Could you please highlight how ebay deals are always dodgy due to retailers marking up their goods before the sale and how this behaviour has become the "norm" despite ACCC warning retailers not todo this. Only a handful of companies play by the rules (Good Guys, Peter's of Kensington), the worst offenders are Kogan. Should be named and shamed.

    • +2

      Time and place… not the time

  • +3

    +1 for the Jacobs Creek cool harvest deal. It was accessible to everyone. Used it as cheap Christmas presents.

    This one is another favourite of mine: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/146669

    Box of 6 packets of baby wipes for $2.25 from Woolworths or less than 40c a packet of baby wipes. I'm still going through them two years and a whole child later.

    I got free delivery after buying 32 boxes. You should have seen the delivery drivers face after he took 4 trips bringing the wipes in from the truck!

  • The Logitech 100% cashback was pretty fun :)

  • +1

    Borders $20 Vouchers with no strings attached upon membership signup: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/34003

    They went into administration a months later: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/39740

  • When QANTAS changed their fare calculations and due to a timezone bug, flights were available to the california for $440 USD return.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/200992

  • +1

    best deal by far was https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/67702

    Logitech G27 wheel for $20 from DSE. Pricing error but they still honoured it. Go 2 wheels from this deal.

  • My first and one of the best deal I've ever gotten from here;$10 for 3 Months of Unlimited Call&Text+5GB Data! That's about $3.33 each month…

  • +5

    This article will be embarrassing.

  • +2

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/187874
    88% off Coke/Sprite/Fanta/Lift 3x24x375ml $9.65 ($0.13/Can) @ Woolworths [EDR Req'd]
    My favorite deal of all time!

    • +1

      loved this one. WW have finaly caught up with me constantly creating new accounts for free delivery, theyve suspended all 50 or so of my accounts!!

      • Classic!

  • $500 Macbook Air 11" does it for me :)

  • +1

    Just remembered this one- Big W selling Wii U for $198

    • I was one of those lucky duckies who got 2. Sold one for $$$

  • +1

    I've had some bonus luck through OzBargain apart from the deals. Here's one instance.

    I bought a Canon MG7160 multifunction centre for $160+ … I find out on OzBargain, a few months later, it's retailing for just under $100.
    I also find out about a Canon cash back lucky dip that I can participate in.

    Thanks to the OzBargain community, I win $300 cash back for having bought a $160 multifunction centre. Very happy with that one :)

  • Only crashed servers need apply. My favourite was the carbon fibre bike with a missing zero and people were buying two in the frenzy. The forum topc by the guywho kept buying and returning whitegoods for credit card points, to the point of being banned from stores, was fun readng.

  • My best purchase was Seinhauser Momentum on Ear headphones from officeworks when they were clearing their stock for $60!!

  • +1

    When 10400 Mh batteries were new to the market, JB Hi-Fi accidentally listed Sony ones for $29 instead of $129. Almost all users jumped up and down about how they would cancel them and how unethical it was to bait and switch. JB Hi-fi honored one per customer. They must have lost a tonne on that one, but it's won me as a shopper since.

    Also when Gerry Harvey gave the "Professionals" rant. That was a good one too.

    • I still use mine! And I only started using it like after a year of buying it.

      • I am still using mine too. I remember some doofus' getting annoyed that they ordered ten and JB would only give them one. Still can't believe how light it is compared to the competition.

    • +1

      I recall that.

      No longer have it with me, but I think it still works although not very well.

      Having used other power banks though, I think there are others that are better in the market. However, that might just be due to technological advancement now.

  • +1

    I can't recall any specific bargains that haven't already been mentioned, but can you please make TIGHTARSE one of the users that they interview? ;)

    • +7

      can you please make TIGHTARSE one of the users that they interview

      They need real names. Mr. Tight Arse is probably not going to cut it.

  • Free domino's pizza! We crashed the site, then they brought it back up and it still worked.

  • Don't forget to mention the great find me a bargain forum section

    Excellent part of the website imo

    Btw I'm not volunteering to give my full name to anyone that would not be thee ozbargain way

    I will give you my 46th extra email ozbargain account

    [email protected]

    Btw I am not actually born in 94 zomgosh! Scandalous!

    Ladies and fellas feel free to hmu ;)

  • I remember a few years ago there were flights to Thailand return for $400 or so (thai airways). some kind of glitch where they didn't charge taxes. Bought two and both got honoured. :)

    • Same thing happened to virgin/Singapore air 2 weeks ago and it was much cheaper, $600+ returns to Europe was unreal

  • +5

    I remember the time I got a free US$10.00 credit to my Amazon account just by logging in on my phone, it took about 2 minutes.
    It was sfc10 first post too!!

    • +1

      Gonna hit 1000 greens soon lol

      • 1089 and expired! Pity, thought it was gonna break the record

  • +1

    Who is this reporter that lives amongst us? Lol

    • Possibly competition for OzB…

  • The thread where Tightarse got ousted as a gearbest shill was pretty epic

  • +2

    My all time favourite was the Coke Rewards + Ticketek vouchers.

    I ended up getting ~$400 worth of ticketek vouchers for about ~$50 worth of coke (or something like that). I then used those vouchers to buy a Platinum ticket to Roger Waters' The Wall.

  • The mario Kart Wiiu bundle.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/151016

    • I walked for three hours for that one and got nothing..no wii u, no cheap 2ds. Does deserve urban legend status as there were two other people…every store was calling every other store.

  • $85 brand new 500GB xbox 360
    $20 maglite 3D led torch
    countless eneloops
    countless $2 led torches from banggood/tmart etc

    there is more but cant remember

  • +8

    Has anyone mentioned Tom and his Webers?

    That was my favourite deal on ozbargain. The anticipation, the intrique, the panic over stock and paypal freezing his account and ultimately he came through.

    Edit: here it is https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/159221

    50% off BBQs on ebay

  • +3
    • $30 Telstra sims that gave you Google Play credit as well, as low as $1 each
    • Thousands of Free Kindle books and Udemy courses
    • Canon 70D for $399 at Dick Smith
  • +1

    The Telstra Buzz+ Monster Headphones with Freedom Plus Sim (+ credit for Google play)+ cash back+ bonus Telsta 5gb= $53.00 delivered
    …Also the bonds undies, when they kicked off again in Australia. Basically the game was to hunt down the discounted undies in Target, the undies were discounted in store and had a further manufacturers discount which you had to send off to reclaim the funds . The average price for undies was around $0.75 a piece

  • +1

    One of my favorites (or one I recall anyway) was the 100% cash back for selected Logitech products.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/38616

  • Ehhh…. OzBargain could get OzBargained….

    • After article is published, we can expect deals to get sold out much sooner (?)

  • 51" Soniq Plasma for $350 (Refurbed)
    12 Months of Amaysim 7GB unlimited for $240

  • +2

    It's not a deal but damn, the coca cola colouryoursummer competition was crazy! I still don't know what i'm meant to do with these extra watches! But at least i'm mostly out of earphones now, they did the job fine haha.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/173889

    • I never got a watch :(

  • Not one that's really ever been posted, but I've often used the trick of ordering a medium/large meal at McDonald's then downsizing the drink for a small saving… Or better yet, when there's free medium upgrade (from small), I downsize the drink for mega savings… Then combine with $2 off coupon on rewards app, small chips from survey and medium drink from student deal… Total 1 small + 1 medium drink and fries, 1 burger… All for something like 2.85.

    (Note the $2 off is meant to have a $5 minimum, but this is calculated BEFORE the free meal upgrade refund of I believe $0.80, so the amount it sees is $5.65)

    Other than that, main thing you want to note is things like 5.5% off Woolworths gift cards - easily adds up to a few hundred a year when you use the gift cards for fuel, groceries and alcohol… More if you sneak a few gift cards for other stores on them (becomes 5.5% off supercheap gift cards, etc)

  • So many bargains, where to to start.

    The $600 return flights to Europe a few weeks ago were pretty good.

    Other than that there were the $200 Kinect bundles from Big W, the $270 return business class tickets to Bali and the $50 Vodafone starter packs for $1.

    I think the best deals were definitely those from DSE though, there were stories of people snagging 60' TVs for $65.

  • While not strictly relates to ozb, but definately on the lifestyle bit - ive got a few "woolies trophies" , discounted meat/milk/bakery photos. These are like $50-100 off lol, the local manager once revealed they were "on to me" :-) felt significantly proud of that achievement.. i stock and run 3 freezers at home and have hosted many, many bbqs!

  • No one remembers the Webber Sale on eBay? Profit was in the ten of thousands for that one.

    Edit: Paulb5 did

  • Free Nespresso machine with AMEX Express…3 years ago or something, couldn't find the link
    Still using that coffee machine till now

  • What about the BBQ Mini Q, on a 30% off ebay rebate. How many BBQ's did that guy sell?

    Found it, this one.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/159221

  • My own winner was https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/55817?page=3#comment Price matched 32gb 3G OW midland $189.50 when some one accidentally discounted 50 % off instead of 5%

  • The virgin velocity frequent flyer hack. You could convert to velocity points then family pool them.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/185172

  • +8

    I guess I'd hope that the article really shows that we're saving on real life expenses that majority of ppl don't. Yes we get awesome deals on holidays and gadgets etc but i think where we really win is being smart about the unavoidable expenses. Things like:
    -cashrewards
    -discounted gift cards
    -discounting opal/transport
    -knowing baseline cost of groceries /products so we recognise real deals
    -bulk buying necessities when there's an epic sale (50% off feminine products = buying 6 month supply lol)
    -making money from credit cards
    Etc

    I guess the other thing is explaining we're not cheap. My OB ways is a running joke with me and my friends but I have to keep explaining that I'm not actually cheap. I probably spend more than most ppl..because i do more. I just make sure that I'm buying the best product/experience for the cheapest possible price. I get to do things/buy things i otherwise wouldn't.

    Eg this weekend taking 2 ppl on helicopter ride over sydney harbour and nice lunch at darling harbour. Gross cost of $600 but my net cost is $300. That's a combination of WW egift cards to buy discounted Adrenaline cards + scoopon deal for $200 credit for lunch + $15 scoopon discount + $15 amex discount. (Missing CR cashback for other reasons).

    ^that's what OB is about. It's not about being stingy!

    • +1

      I was starting to imagine how that would go down, but then I remembered someone did it for me haha
      50% off feminine products = buying 6 month supply lol

      • Llmmmaaaaoooo!!! Sheldin is me to my gfs :,) IT DOESN'T EXPIRE. IT'S NOT LIKE WE CAN EVER HAVE TOO MUCH :,)

        • Nice going Angelica he was right, you will never be satisfied.

  • You need to go to an ozbargainers house to take a photo of the shelves (they ozbargained) full of unopened shit they won't use or need (eneloops for the battery array they like to think they'll build). Articles without pictures are shit. I'd do it but you have to let me hold my jenkem bottle

  • My original microserver deal. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/44381
    Thats the one where megabuy mega-bought all the stock and tried to profit ahead of actual customers. Remember that megabuy guy posted a photo of himself in a room full of their microserver boxes.

    There's also the Samsung galaxy note 1 saga, where WE MAKE NO LOSS ON ANY ORDER.

    There was also the ubank one where they gave us really good return for a 10k 3 month term deposit.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/6927

    Oh an no ozbargain article would be complete without mention of broden.

  • Dodgily obtained well over $1k of free flights.. - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139632
    $10 Melbourne to Perth flights.. - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/100170
    I remember stacking a bunch of woolworths coupons to get $60 worth of groceries for $20.
    6 months of free Presto - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/252132

    I could go on and on about smaller things that I constantly get cheaper as a result of Ozbargain. Sitting on my couch I see..

    • a TV that I got on special because of Ozbargain, also used a voucher that I got for free because of a previous pricing error by JB-HIFI.
    • Macbook Air 13" got either 15-20% off that from ebay
    • Oneplus One - got 10% off ebay buying it.
    • TV cabinet - 10% off ebay

    Everything else was either from gumtree, kmart or IKEA.

  • That Zacardy thread was pure gold

    • I actually saved a nights accommodation plus fares by spending the night at Maccas in kuala lumpa airport waiting for a transfer.
      I never knew you could do that before the Zacardy event.

  • My 2 faves were small ones:

    1) $15 for MS Office 2013 Pro (including Disk)
    2) StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty for $10 from DSE Midland, WA

    And one 'for profit' that I got on OzB 8 YEARS AGO!!:

    3) 3 x HP 8710p 17" computers which were sufficiently cheap that I was able to resell immediately for approx $200-$500 profit each. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/5803

  • +2

    How about when The Good Guys cut the price of Acer Iconia tablets in half?
    I phoned officeworks to pricebeat a $249 16GB Wifi model (making it $236) and keep it aside for me.
    Showed up, and they accidentally sold it in the frenzy. Escalated to manager, who said he will get one.
    He phones, saying they ran out of 16GB ones, and if we mind having a 32GB one instead without paying more. When we pick it up, turns out they gave us a 32GB 3G version instead, with an RRP of $749 (we paid $236).

    I also got a 54" Panasonic Plasma from The Good Guys based on a pricebeat of this deal. The guy needed managerial approval to sell it to me because it was below cost. He had personally bought the 50" model for the same price a week ago (that was with staff discount). Came with free Wii+games by redemption.

    Of course I got the $9 Dell printer. Well, technically not that one. It sold out, so they gave away the next model up, and when that sold out they gave me the next model above that one, so I got a WiFi scanner/printer/fax for $9 :)

  • +1

    90% off Quilton at Woolies from stacking 3 promo codes and seeing everyone's toilet paper stashes :)

  • +3

    My most memorable was the $1 Slazenger clothes and socks from Sportsdirect last year

    • +2

      I still have some of their T-shirts unopened. Nice quality.

  • +1

    OPTUS Cracker competition, not a deal more of a competition though. Literally you can make hundreds if not thousands staying up all night !!

  • There really should be a sub forum where we keep the best deals/threads.

  • +1

    It seems everyone is forgetting about the quilton toilet paper from woolies. We made castles with them

  • Article gonna be rubbish

  • I totally agree that the "Bonus Mystery Flight & Overnight Stay When You Buy 6 Bottles of Jacobs Creek Cool Harvest" was my favourite deal ever.

    We live in Perth and used it for the cheapest honeymoon ever! Was the most epic timing :)

  • I liked the Myer $20 off voucher where you had to spend $30 or more. This was a few years ago around Xmas time, I remember going into Myer late afternoon Christmas Eve and they had just started putting out all the boxing day sale prices, so I reused the $20 off voucher many times in all different departments, spending just over $30 each time. Bought some great gifts that year.

  • I also vaguely remember something about a big groupon scam where everybody bought 1tb harddrives and they were out of stock, and there was this ridiculously complicated refund policy that had everyone fuming.

    • so glad I skipped that. I saw it and thought 'at that price? no wayy'

  • Ah yes, the Dick Smith gaming sale. Memories.

  • Gotta mention the legendary EB Games/JB HiFi trade-in loophole which paid over $100 in store credit for games in the first week of release which was then flipped to buy more cheap games to rinse JB's 'Trade 2 get 1 free' deal. It eventually became a game of cat and mouse to beat the exclusion list updates while hitting every EB and JB within driving distance…totally worth it while it lasted.

  • That was pretty impressive how Gerd (was he general manager?) of UBank would come on here to promote UBank.

    Those deals we saw and shared, where Virgin Mobile offered free upgrades for existing customers were really good too.

    Seeing how the community feels about different issues, like Vodaphone's early issues, was enlightening.

  • +1

    My fav and funniest ozbargin deal was the Ikea free cot for babies born nine months from valentines day. Although i didn't manage to get a free cot, i got heaps of laughs. It was nice to see some members benefit including two who scored two free cots with twins.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/123117.

  • I believe Topic Starter shall pay lots of attention to those who travel using BArgains!
    Like those tickets for 280 AUD return to South Korea on SIngapore Air. (Booked on Virgin Web site ) -recent deal! WAS EPIC!

    I myself will be flying to Phuket for 420 Return from Brisbane on Singapore Airlines with amazing 55 min connections.

    Readers wanna know about experiences not about bying cheap TVs etc,

    Experience and travel makes us richer!
    not money and material things ,

  • https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/201010

    I was able to book my honeymoon with the missus for $1100 to the Maldives with Emirates! My personal favorite deal.

  • +1

    The hack where you could tell if the TimeOut bar was a winner was the first memorable one I remember.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/32316

  • Telstra $5 (& $10) sims that we used for mobile phone plan, but mainly for the $30 Google Play credit
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/225894

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