Thanks to a couple of Oxford University students, the city's entrepreneurial light is shining as bright as ever. With a reputation for being thrifty, students like a bargain. True to form, when Kulveer Taggar needed an iron, he did not want to go out and buy a new one.

Instead, it made him think how many other second-hand goods Oxford students might need, or indeed, might want to get rid of.

Mr Taggar, 23, who graduated from St John's College last year, said: "I needed an iron, but thought to myself, I'm only going to use it once or twice so I really don't want to buy a new one.

"It seemed silly that every year thousands of freshers were buying things new, while thousands of graduates had no further use for those same items."

Realising that the college noticeboard was not good enough in this age of the Internet, Mr Taggar's idea came to fruition as Boso.com - a website which allows students to buy or sell their items free, taking no commission on sales.

Unlike its grown-up counterpart, eBay, Boso works within a small community allowing people to collect the items in person, and instantaneously.

Security is not much of an issue either, as everyone who registers must have a genuine student e-mail address, so this allows Boso to self-regulate.

Mr Taggar, with the help of his cousin Harjeet Taggar, also an Oxford graduate, developed the website which has now spread nationwide.

"After graduating last year I spent six months working for Deutsche Bank before deciding to go full-time with this," said Mr Taggar, who is now based in London.

Now, he and his cousin work on the website full-time, along with two web developers and the help of blogging pioneer Evan Williams.

"Since going full-time, we have more than 300,000 page views a month," he added.

And it is page views, not hits, Mr Taggar stresses, which are a true record of how many people visit a website.

With an angel investor behind it, interest in the website has certainly grown - it recently featured on Channel 4's Tricky Business.

"At the moment we are working on how to raise awareness and spread the word - it's not about making money."

For now Boso.com is exclusively for students, but Mr Taggar realises its potential.

He explained: "This model could work for any community really, we just want to focus on getting it right for the student population.

"There are similar sites in universities in the US, but no-one has done it on the same scale. In the future we may be able to extend it beyond the student population."

For an enterprise like this, it would surely be where the big money lies, but Mr Taggar realises the importance of perfecting the concept first.

Another Oxford student utilising the Internet to make student life easier is 21-year-old Claire Turner.

If you remember the days of scraping your pennies together to buy a few tins of tuna, then you will appreciate this entrepreneurial scheme.

Initially launched in Birmingham last year, Studentbeans.com allows students to print off special offers, free, from local bars, restaurants, or even gyms, and use them in the relevant venues.

A student at Somerville college, and a member of Oxford University entrepreneurial society, Miss Turner is currently promoting the Oxford thread, set up in September.

"The company really proved itself last year," said Miss Turner. "And as it hadn't yet been done in Oxford, I thought it would be good to get involved with something completely fresh."

Taking the old-fashioned approach to marketing, Miss Turner is door-knocking, putting out flyers and heading out to student venues to let them know about Studentbeans.

"It saved students in Birmingham more than £200,000 last year. By Christmas we hope to be at the same level here," she said.

It goes without saying that the idea goes down well with students, but how has local business taken to it?

Miss Turner said: "They have been very receptive, and we already have Oxford businesses such as the Picture House cinema, restaurants Smollensky's, Loch Fyne and the Big Bang and doughnut seller Krispy Kreme on board offering great discounts."

As with Boso.com, the money is made through advertising on the site.

"At the moment there are two account managers for the UK," explained Miss Turner.

"I go out to try and get the businesses on board for a special offer and put them in touch with the account managers, but there will be opportunities for us to get involved with this side of things in the future.

She added: "It's just me running the Oxford branch, but I've had fantastic support from the Birmingham team and everyone here is really interested in the concept."

Students take note - with the help of these two websites you will never have a hungry day again.

Contacts: www.boso.com, or www.studentbeans.com