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§ Private Profile · Chicago, IL, USA
Buy and sell daily deals, gift cards, and coupons on this online marketplace for consumers. Secure peer-to-peer exchange.
Key people at CouponTrade.
CouponTrade was founded in 2010 by George Bousis (Founder).
Based in Chicago, Illinois, CouponTrade operated a secure peer-to-peer online marketplace that allowed consumers to buy and sell unused daily deals, gift cards, and retail coupons. The platform functioned as a secondary market for discounted inventory from major brands like Groupon and Whole Foods, generating revenue by taking a transaction fee based on the item's value. During its initial operational period, the startup scaled to approximately 22 employees and attracted 14,275 active users who processed 5,622 orders at an average value of $81. CouponTrade secured $2.5 million in seed funding from early investors including Listen LLC, which helped the platform generate roughly $500,000 in revenue within its first sixteen weeks. The business eventually evolved into the digital gift card spinoff company Raise.com after being originally founded in 2010 by George Bousis and Bradley Wasz.
Key people at CouponTrade.
CouponTrade was founded in 2010 by George Bousis (Founder).
CouponTrade is an online platform that operates as a marketplace for buying and selling gift cards, daily deals, and coupons, alongside serving as a database of hand-selected electronic and physical coupons redeemable at major retailers.[2][3][4][6] It targets bargain-conscious consumers seeking discounts on everyday purchases, solving the problem of unused gift cards and hard-to-find deals by enabling sellers to offload value and buyers to save money, much like StubHub for tickets.[4][7] With roots in Chicago, the company generated $5.4 million in revenue as a small consumer goods and manufacturing entity with 2-10 employees, focusing on guaranteed, vetted promotions.[1][3]
Originally launched around 2009-2010, CouponTrade evolved into a standalone coupons site while its gift card marketplace arm spun off into GCX (Give Yourself a Raise), which grew significantly.[2][3]
CouponTrade emerged in late 2009 or early 2010 from an apartment in Chicago, founded by George Bousis and Bradley (Brad) Wasz.[2][5] Bousis, building a loyalty platform for his family's business, envisioned a marketplace for gift cards and deals; he connected with Wasz, a designer with experience on McDonald's projects, through a family friend.[2][8] Starting with an iPhone for internet and a dining table as office, they built CouponTrade as a savings website for discount gift cards, coupons, and online deals.[2][5]
Early traction included securing funding from Listen, LLC, positioning it as a secure marketplace for daily deals and gift cards.[7] By 2013, the gift card focus launched as GCX, leaving CouponTrade as a dedicated free coupons platform.[2]
CouponTrade rode the early 2010s boom in daily deals (e.g., Groupon era) and secondary markets, capitalizing on consumer demand for liquidity in gift cards amid rising e-commerce.[2][5][7] Timing was ideal post-2008 recession, when savings platforms gained traction; market forces like unused gift card waste (estimated billions annually) favored its model.[4] It influenced Chicago's startup ecosystem by pioneering gift card marketplaces, spawning GCX's growth to 200+ employees, and normalizing deal-trading as a consumer habit.[2]
CouponTrade persists as a niche, low-overhead coupons hub generating steady revenue, likely sustained by evergreen demand for free discounts amid inflation pressures.[1][2] Next steps could involve tech upgrades like AI-driven personalization or mobile app enhancements to boost engagement, while trends in cashless payments and BNPL may expand its gift card trading relevance.[3][6] Its influence could evolve by partnering with larger retail ecosystems, reinforcing its role as a foundational player in consumer savings tech—much like its early vision to empower everyday shoppers with marketplace power.[5][7]
