Whiter Teeth? Kosher Groceries? Let’s Make a Deal

Can I interest you in a good deal? The likelihood of you saying yes — and getting all your Jewish friends and family members in on it as well — is the driving force behind two new coupon sites geared toward the Jewish consumer.

Based on the popular Groupon.com model (which recently turned down a $6 billion offer from Google) Jewpon.com, and Jdeal.com, which both launched in November, are taking aim at the thrifty reputation of the Jewish community by offering group deals: get enough people to sign up for a meal at a restaurant, order from a website or purchase from a store, and you’ll lock in great price.

Jewpon is based in South Florida, and offers deals in Miami and New York, with plans to launch in Chicago, Baltimore and a handful of other cities.

“Right now we have about 6,000 subscribers [to the site],” said Ezzy Duchman of Jewpon. “Probably about 4,000 in New York and 1,000 in South Florida.” Recent deals at Jewpon have included $15 for $24 worth of food from BenZ’s Gourmet in Brooklyn or $10 for $24 of merchandise at KosherKeepers.com. It posts offers when they come in — not on a strictly daily basis.

Jdeal is the brainchild of Jodi Samuels and Allen Ganz, who are also behind the parenting site MetroImma.com. The site is based in New York, and currently only offers deals here, five days a week, but with plans to expand to several other cities in North America.

Past deals have included $50 for $100 worth of groceries at kosher.com, $175 for teeth whitening (that retails for $400) and even 13 trees planted in Israel by JNF at over 50 percent off.

“We try to have 60 percent of deals specifically Jewish focused, and the rest are just general deals,” said Samuels. The site has about 5,000 subscribers according to Samuels, who said that their food deals have been the most popular, some selling out in a couple of hours.

For the deals to take place, they must “tip” — meaning enough people sign up to hit a predetermined number. The sites rely on their subscribers promoting the deals on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter — since they have a stake in the deal hitting its target. (If enough people don’t sign up, the deal is canceled.)

All of the listings at Jdeal have tipped, said Samuels, while Duchman said that all of Jewpon’s New York deals have tipped, but there have been some in Miami that did not.

Jewpon also offers both Jewish and regular discounts, including a deal with the Gap clothing chain.

“We want to stick to kosher types of things,” he said, “but at the same time we have to meet the needs of our subscribers, and our needs are not just kosher restaurants.”

But, said Duchman, “we’re never going to feature something that’s not kosher or not family or Jewish community-friendly.”