Home Feature Story A Chat With Ben Federman of 1SaleADay.com

A Chat With Ben Federman of 1SaleADay.com

By
Daniel Goh
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1372
17

So you’d think that the online daily deals space is way too overcrowded – and you’re probably right. So how does a site like New York-based 1SaleADay.com compete with the rest? We check in with Ben Federman, CEO of 1SaleADay.com.

First, some background. 27-year old Milwaukee native Ben Federman launched the company from a tiny apartment with just one employee – today 1SaleADay.com is a 30-person operation with a 10,000 square foot warehouse. 1SaleADay.com offers discounts on a variety of merchandise with a new deal posted every day at 12 midnight EDT in five different categories, such as jewelry and watches, for a period of 24 hours or until the products sell out.

Tell us about yourself, Ben.

A. I am a Milwaukee native with no more than a high school equivalency degree that joined the military as soon as I turned 18.  The discipline gained during my combat experience fueled my entrepreneurial spirit, and shortly thereafter, I launched 1SaleADay.com from my living room, with no financial backing beyond a handful of credit cards.  Now, at 27 years old, I also own five other successful websites, with over 40 employees and a revenue stream that last year allowed the company to donate over 50-percent of its profits to charity.

What is the inspiration behind 1SaleaDay.com? What’s different about it compared to other daily deals sites?

I’ve always loved new products, gadgets and electronics.  Growing up, I didn’t always have the money to buy the items that I wanted, so I became really adept at hunting for, and making deals.  In 2006 at the age of 23 I incorporated 1SaleADay.com, because I believed I could offer the items consumers want at a price they can afford, by selling a very high volume of only one item a day, at very low markups. I figured that with this model, I could beat the prices of Amazon and other similar sites that carry hundreds of thousands of items, with my high turnover of only one item a day, and its associated low overhead.

1SaleADay.com differs from other group buying sites because our deals are available nationwide, and, I’m proud to say, because our growth came uniquely from our customers virally spreading the word about our great deals, not from advertising.

What kind of users or customers are you targeting or trying to attract, and what is your business model?

1SaleADay.com leverages incredible buying power to offer customers the steepest discounts available anywhere, attracting over a hundred and fifty million visits a year and allowing the company generate revenue based on volume rather than markup. While other online retailers carry hundreds of SKUs and a 50 to 100-percent markup, 1SaleaDay carries just 5 products each day, at a single-digit markup. No deal makes an appearance on the site unless it is hands-down 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.

What have your achievements been so far? What have been the key challenges?

Under my leadership, I have grown 1SaleADay.com exponentially since its launch in 2007. The company has experienced a 23,000% increase in revenue since its first year, with a projected doubling of revenue in 2011.

1SaleADay.com attracts and retains customers through consistently offering the products people want, at prices lower than they’ve ever been offered before.   We also constantly excite our customers with innovative promotions including offering free products. The company also offers a “chunk of junk” promotion, which provides a surprise box of merchandise (often including TV’s and computers) for US$5 cost and US$5 shipping, building customer appreciation and instant word of mouth promotion.  My appreciation to our customers is boundless, and I constantly pass up on opportunities to increase the markup on our merchandise, in order to give customers the best possible deal.

As the company recently reached its status as a top 1,000 website traffic-wise, the opportunity arose to earn substantial revenue through third-party advertising. I decided to forego this revenue potential and instead focused on posting links to my other deal businesses. These businesses include jewelry-focused Shadora, Ben’s Outlet for electronics, and Dynamite Time for watches. This move towards internal promotion maintains my investment in my customers by offering Black Friday deals every day, instead of spending money on advertising.  Launching during the recessions proved to be fortuitous as many retailers were stuck with excess inventory and were looking to unload those extra items, while consumers were, and still are, looking for ways do stretch their dollar.

How much have you pumped into the company?

I launched the company with US$200,000 in savings, credit cards, and family member loans.

Tell us a little about your views on entrepreneurship and why you have chosen this path.

I embrace a low-key yet hands on management approach.  I’m constantly encouraging our employees and suppliers alike to stay innovative to enable us to keep offering our products at the lowest price available online.  I also make sure to provide our employees with a freethinking and comfortable atmosphere that allows our employees the space and freedom to be creative.

My appreciation for our customers is the reason I run the company the way that I do.  I’ve learnt that when we push our limits to bring an item that our customer’s love, to market at a price they can afford, they let us know by telling their friends and family about us, and grow our business exponentially that way, every day.  I love our customers, and always prefer to spend our marketing dollars, by offering them even steeper discounts and letting them organically spread the word, as opposed to traditional marketing.

What are you most proud of?

I also attribute my entrepreneurial spirit, and success, to my focus on donating at least 50-percent of the net earnings of 1SaleADay.com to charity. I primarily donate to charities supporting educational, outreach programs, homeless shelters, children with special needs, multicultural community events and military affiliated charities. Being that I have only limited needs, giving charity helps to give me focus on my business by expanding my focus and driving me to push the company to achieve more success in order to donate more.

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17 COMMENTS

  1. 305-423-1514 This is a phone number where you can reach a body! After hours and hours of being on hold, I finally spoke to Miriam. We will see if I get my money back for the broken item they sent me… 90 day warranty posted, until it breaks at 23 days. Then all of a sudden is turns into a 21 day return policy… BUYER BEWARE

  2. (800) 419-0100 is the customer service number where someone will answer, but still nothing resolved.

  3. PLEASE
    EVERYONE DO NOT BUY FROM 1SALEADAY.COM. I PURCHASED A 1/2 CARAT RING FROM THEM.
    FIRST OF ALL THE SHIPMENT TOOK LONGER AND WHEN I DID RECEIVE MY RING IT WAS
    CHEAP AND YELLOW. IN ORDER FOR ME TO GET SOMEONE, IT HAS TO GO THROUGH EMAIL
    AND IT TAKES DAYS BEFORE ANYONE ANSWERS BACK. I RETURNED THE RING LIKE THEY ASK
    ME TOO AND GET THIS, WHEN USPS TRIED TO DELIVER MY PACKAGE. THEY REFUSED IT. NO
    REALLY, I’M SERIOUS. NOW IT’S SITTING AT THE POST OFFICE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO
    COME GET IT. REALLY? THEY HAVE NO LIVE PERSON AT ALL. I’VE SENT THEM NUMEROUIS
    OF EMAILS OVER AND OVER AND NOT A RESPONSE.

  4. i strongly encourage consumers to reconsider purchasing through 1sale.com. i realize the comments are over 2 years ago but the same problems STILL exist with this company.

    i placed my order over two weeks ago but have yet to receive confirmation of shipping when order states a 1-2 week shipping time.

    i’ve reached out to their support@ email FOUR times in the past two weeks. no answer. i’ve called their customer service line several times only to be greeted with a message “our lines are too full” bs.

    consider other dealsaver sites rather than 1saleaday. this is terrible and frustrating.

  5. Mr Ben. I orderd an item on Nov-12-2013 where it mentioned that item will be shipped in 1-2 Weeks. Till now I didn’t received the item.. Beware of 1sale.com

  6. My order was placed Wednesday,
    March 20, 2013. I received my Craig 10 inch tablet Wednesday, April 3, 2013.
    The first thing I noticed was that my shipping package seemed to have been
    opened. My address label was placed over the flaps of the package. It was cut
    down the center of the joined flaps and resealed.

    After opening the shipping
    package the tablet’s box seemed to have been opened. One side had a genuine
    Craig’s clear seal tape with Craig’s name printed on the tape and the other end
    had ordinary scotch tape sealing it. All of these were warning signs to what
    happened next.

    After the instructed 10 hours
    of charge time. It stayed on for about 50 minutes before the battery indicator
    showed 40% battery life. So, I was not showing any concern and plugged it back
    up to recharge. Furthermore, after charging for about 2 hours I placed a 8gb micro
    SD card in it. I attempted to use it again and download some games from Google
    Play Store. It showed installed but there was no game app showing.

    Nevertheless, I went on to
    check my email. The battery was at 30% and the screen went dark. So, I placed
    it back on charge with my email opened. It never came back on.

    The reason why I am not returning
    the Craig’s tablet and I am willing to take the loss is because my email was
    opened before it blanked out and my micro SD card was swallowed inside of the
    tablet. Basically my personal info is on it and in it.

    Sincerely,

    Travis Smith

  7. What goes around come’s right back around! god don’t like ugly and trust when he least expect it god will make his rounds

  8. The site has so many complaints only a fool will use it. I purchased an lcd a month ago and still product. The shipment status continues to say “processing”. Sure the site wont be up longer.

  9. 2/29/12 – I also would like to have a chat with Mr. Federman. I placed an order today for a Toshiba Thrive for $259.00, $264.98 after shipping and handling. The order form gives you an option of billing or shipping address. I gave my shipping address which got kicked back to me since it “wasn’t the correct billing address information”. No kidding, thanks Mr. Federman for telling me that. Then to add insult to injury, 1saleaday.com CHARGED me and took $264.98 out of my bank account. Well, ok, Im thinking, no problem! I’ll just call customer service and ….oh? theres NO PHONE NUMBER for customer service? How is that possibly called customer service. So, I send three emails ALL of which got kicked back by an automated system. Must be a nice way to make a living there Ben, so which college did you attend which taught you the fine elements of picking peoples pockets? I’d love to go there and get a degree. How about it? Want to chat? I’d love to hear your excuses for steaing my money. celticslunatic@hotmail.com. Let’s see what a fabulous businessman you really are.

  10. It’s a real shame that he isn’t treating me right the way he says he treats his fellow man.  No wonder he can donate 50% of the company’s profits to charity – the  have STOLEN  $600 of my money. 
    I wish I could have chosen the charity MY MONEY will go to.  I might as well dump the Toshiba laptop that I took out of the box and could not boot up because of hardware faults, into the garbage can. 

    Ben Federman is laughing all the way to the bank!   Looks like he’s treating everyone like this. 

  12. My experience has not been so great, I’d love to have a chat with Ben.  Customer service in none existent when defective products are received.  So if anyone is ready this and knows Ben please have him look me up.  I’ll even publish my email address so we can start this ball rolling.  His customer service reps wont respond. nkelley2004@yahoo.com 

  13. I am traveling to Florida next week (November 1st)  and it might be my pleasure to meet Mr. Federman in person, as he is a new friend of my brother.  It would be a great honor to meet this young man.
    Susan Hopkins 

  14. 1SaleADay is a great site when everything goes well.  But as a consumer, if there is a problem with the transaction, watch out!!  They have no customer service once the sale has gone through.  They do not respond to emails and if you seek help via facebook, which seems to be the only way to communicate with them, they just delete your questions rather than respond like any decent business should.  Buyer beware!

Comments are closed.