What is SteemDeals?
It's an idea that came to me while doing Christmas shopping - it would operate similar to the website slickdeals.net. SteemDeals has the potential to be a complementary application on the Steem Blockchain that offers value to SteemDeals' owners, posters, commenters, and voters.
What is Slickdeals?
Slickdeals.net is tangential to Reddit or Steemit in that anyone can post, those posts get voted on, and the best move to the top. Slickdeals is different, however, because it's strictly dedicated to finding great deals on products and services.
How would SteemDeals work?
Jane finds a great deal and shares it with the community in a post, for instance:
- A Chipotle B1G1 coupon she got in her email
- An awesome sale at gap.com
- A great price on a computer monitor from Newegg
- An unbeatable price on an ipad at Staples.
If other users agree that Jane shared valuable information, they upvote her post. Just like on Steemit, she gets paid for the upvotes.
John comes along and offers an additional suggestion. He can leave a comments like:
- "Check your AMEX offers, I was able to get an additional $25 statement credit with a $75 purchase."
- "Go through ebates to get an additional 12% cashback."
- "Apply this coupon I found for another $10 off."
If John provided helpful info, users upvote his comment and he earns STEEM.
The deals with the most upvotes become the most visible and SteemDeals' owners earn revenue from the companies offering the product.
- SteemDeals moderators come in and add SteemDeals' affiliate links to the most popular posts. Now, when users buy the products by clicking through these affiliate links, SteemDeals earns a commission on each purchase.
Let's recap - How does everyone involved benefit?
Owners/Investors
They can assign moderators to put affiliate links in the most popular posts.
For example: SteemDeals would sign up as a Groupon affiliate, and Groupon would give them affiliate links. When someone makes a purchase through one of these links, Groupon pays SteemDeals a percentage of the purchase.
Posters
They get upvotes when posting great deals. Just like on Steemit, when they get upvotes, they earn STEEM.
Voters
SteemDeals voters get the benefits of incredible prices on products and services they've been wanting. Want a cheap flight from Hong Kong to London? 
Commenters
Just like posters, commenters can earn Steem by providing helpful, witty, or otherwise value-adding comments.
Let's see a real life example
A user finds a great deal on an iPad at Staples:
Another user adds a comment showing how people can turn it into an even better deal:
Someone else asks for clarification:
Yet another user answers that question:
And another user offers up an additional way to save money:
As you can see, all these comments are adding value to the conversation. Everyone involved in this conversation could be earning STEEM while getting an awesome deal on the iPad they've been wanting.
Call it SteemDeals, SteemyDeals, or something else altogether. If developed, I believe this would provide significant value to the Steem ecosystem. Unlike many other projects, this has a highly viable revenue model for the owners an investors. They won't have to rely on blog posts or witness votes to earn a profit from their Steem endeavour.