London , England ( CNN ) -- Can we all get a better deal by making purchases together ? That 's the idea behind a new breed of `` group buying '' Web sites -- at least one of which may be valued at more than $ 1 billion . It 's hardly a stretch to predict that group buying will become one of the biggest Web trends of 2010 , and the market leader will be one of the most closely-watched sites of the year . Groupon , which traces its origins back to 2008 , has a simple premise : If enough people agree to buy something , they all get a big discount . Today 's deal for those in New York : Save 50 percent on a $ 20 purchase of cupcakes from `` ChikaLicious Dessert Club . '' If 450 people agree to the deal , everyone saves money . If that critical number is not reached , however , the deal is a dud . The site offers one deal per day in the cities it covers , and the number of cities in the network is growing fast . It 's a good idea for sure , but it might also be an incredibly valuable one . Web rumors this week suggest Groupon may be in the process of raising a new round of venture capital at a $ 1.2 billion valuation . The money follows a $ 30 million round that valued Groupon at $ 250 million . In layman 's terms : Investors think Groupon is set to be the Web 's next breakout hit . Groupon 's competitors are seeing big investment , too . Rival site LivingSocial recently raised $ 25 million . BuyWithMe has raised $ 5.5 million . How many group buying sites are there now ? Possibly dozens : SocialBuy , Groop Swoop and Scoop St. , to name a few . The dynamics of group buying mean that Groupon has a significant early advantage , however : The more users a site can gain , the more leverage it has to score big discounts from businesses . It 's a hot market we should have seen coming . The top Web trends at the start of the year included the `` real-time Web '' and `` location . '' With almost constant web connectivity provided by smartphones and free Wi-Fi at coffee shops , airports and bookstores -- not to mention the immediacy of Twitter and Facebook -- we 've come to expect instant gratification online . Group buying meets that need . Groupon is local , too , targeting deals to metropolitan areas . There 's a further trend Groupon capitalizes upon : Social networking brings us together to share opinions and experiences ... why not deals too ? Is Groupon worth a billion dollars ? Could the group buying market be worth multiple billions ? Investors seem prepared to make that bet . © 2013 MASHABLE.com . All rights reserved .
A new breed of ` ` ' premium '' Web sites increase flexibility by making mass deals . The market leader , Groupon , traces its origins back to 2008 . The site offers one deal per day in the cities it covers . The more users a site gains , the more leverage it has to score discounts .