The GroupOn Phenomena

[backontrack]

I’m curious what the overall opinion of you money-conscious people is in regards to GroupOn and all of the many other sites that have popped up that let you buy gift certificates at reduced prices. I know that this is not totally new as Restaurant.com has been around for a long, long time. I have yet to buy any of these online “deals.” I was curious if other thought the same way I do.

First off, I frequent a very few restaurants and so far I haven’t seen deals for that handful of places. It’s not that I refuse to try new places, but with the toddler and preschooler we rarely eat out as a family (take-out is our friend) and eating out with just DH requires a babysitter and lots of planning. Secondly, there always seem to be so many restrictions! There’s a deal for a local restaurant that we’ve been to a few times, but of course you can’t use it towards their specials. And you can only use one certificate at a time, but you have to use the whole certificate at one time. And there is an expiration date, even though it’s a year off. For the Bath and Body works deal, I understand that it had to be used online and therefore you had to pay shipping which almost negated the savings.

Maybe I’m just a slacker at taking advantage of deals. I had a gift certificate I had to use by the end of January that I had sunk money into and we used it the last day before it expired. Similarly I had a promotional credit that I had to use with Amazon that I used the night before it expired.

I was just curious how others felt about “taking advantage” of these type of deals.

[Deleted]

My wife is a groupon freak. She loves buying those things.

i am anti groupon.

[Deleted]

I use them for massages, because I am still trying to find a good masseuse. I also bought the amazon $20 gift card for $10 because I know we buy a lot from them. I also bought a rental for a motorcycle for our honeymoon in Hawaii. Cheaper then a car and my fiance rides so it worked for us. You will find a ton that don't work but one or two that do. Just buy the one you KNOW work with your lifestyle.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I've used Groupon twice so far. Once to get a half-price gift certificate to a restaurant we like (we had our rehearsal dinner there, actually), and once to get a photo I'd taken on mounted, stretched canvas ~ sort of a fun thing I'd wanted to do, but not at full price. The other deals? Not really my cup of tea and not things I would otherwise buy ... but some of them were TEMPTING.

And that's the danger of Groupon (for me) ... getting tempted to buy something because it's a "really good deal" when I wouldn't have otherwise spent the money. Now, if it's money I have to spend, I suppose that's OK ... but I already get tempted enough as it is by stores and catalogs!

[franticwoman]

I'm hooked on groupon. I buy too many probably but the deals have been good.
My fave thing about them - the services offered are varied, really all over the place.
This week bought a $120 groupon half price for a place I buy my "grownup and I have bad feet" shoes (they run over $120 usually). Today I bought $100 worth of salon services for $50 - that is a steal for me.

I like how I am introduced to businesses I'm not aware of, such as a used bookstore here I never heard of. It is a $10 one only I got for $5 but I'm grateful to learn of someplace new.

As long as the groupons are good for a long time I snatch them up, although I am cutting down. I find them the most useful for expensive salon services (including massage). I dont like restaurant.com much because it doesnt have the ease to use like groupon does (for me personaly).

I also can get rewards back with groupon through a few sites.

[oreo]

My husband is very anit-Groupon. It really bothers him that he is considering buying something he didn't even know he needed (and really didn't need) and he only has 1 day to decide if he wants it. He resists every time I want to buy one.

I'm pretty selective. I've only bought a few of these and they have almost all been things for my son. I bought 1 go to ice skating, I bought one for a local indoor play area for kids (he LOVES this place and had already been there so I knew it was a winner), and for a toddler gym (with art classes which I wanted him to have exposure to). I also bought myself on eye exam with glasses (something I needed) and I've been looking for a reasonably priced dentist visit with xrays and cleaning (NO whitening--all of the ones I see are mainly touting whitening) which I haven't found yet. I have also bought a few for food which I haven't used yet. Overall, I think I make good decisions and don't spend a ton more than I would normally spend just to get a "good deal".

[Apple]

I would possibly try it if I were in an area that offered anything. The closest place I've seen anything for is 90 miles away so I haven't bothered.

[rubyslippers]

I bought one for a restaurant in a city where we were going for a girls weekend. It got used for all of us and it was a great deal. I only bought it because I knew we were going there and would have to eat out somewhere, and this fit the bill.

[Frugal Nurse]

I love the half-price offers they run! In the past month I've gotten a $20 amazon.com gift cert for $10, $20 to Barnes & Noble for $10, $30 worth of flowers for $15, and $35 worth of sports tickets for $15. I don't look at it as being tempted to buy something I wouldn't normally, I just buy them when they would save me money. I shop on amazon a lot for gifts (used the $20 to get my MIL's b'day gift), I send my mom flowers every year on her b'day, we shop at Barnes and Noble a ton (DH turned that $10 we spent on the gift cert into 4 hard cover books from the clearance section that were originally priced at a total of $100), and the sports tickets cert. will be spent on a cubs/reds game (we try to see the Cubs at least once/year anyway).

[gsbrq]

I don't do the restaurant deals, because I can get better ones elsewhere. A friend found a great one for eye exam & glasses, and I've done one for gourmet popcorn (gave it as a christmas gift) and one for Amazon, because I use them a lot. I get a daily email from them, but most of the time I won't even look at the deal unless it's something I was already planning to buy.

In general , I think Groupon is likely to convince you to spend money on stuff you don't need...just like most deal sites.

[blackcard]

<<I think Groupon is likely to convince you to spend money on stuff you don't need...>>
Just like those old coupon books they used to sell.

Karma 4 U gsbrq

[Frugal Nurse]

Feb 22, 2011 19:38:03 GMT -5 @gsbrq said:

In general , I think Groupon is likely to convince you to spend money on stuff you don't need...just like most deal sites.

Well, sure, any kind of advertising is meant to get you to spend money on stuff you might not normally buy. the smart shopper takes advantage of these types of deals when it is for something they would be spending money on anyway.

[kadee]

Feb 22, 2011 15:29:01 GMT -5 Apple said:

I would possibly try it if I were in an area that offered anything. The closest place I've seen anything for is 90 miles away so I haven't bothered.

I find the same thing!

[cael]

I've gotten great deals with groupon and related sites, mostly on stuff I already did or used or things I needed or wanted already. Example: I've wanted to take rock climbing lessons for a while, and the intro class at the local rock gym is $60. A groupon a few months back for the place was $30 for the class, so that was great. I've gotten some others too - but I don't impulse buy them just because they're good deals.

[Frugal Nurse]

Feb 23, 2011 9:20:04 GMT -5 @kadee said:

Feb 22, 2011 15:29:01 GMT -5 Apple said:

I would possibly try it if I were in an area that offered anything. The closest place I've seen anything for is 90 miles away so I haven't bothered.

I find the same thing!

They offer national ones, which you use at online retailers or national retailers. The recent $20 Barnes & Noble for $10, there was one a few months ago for Soap.com, things like that. just because it isn't listed in your city, doesn't mean you can't buy them. I got hung up on thinking there weren't many local ones too, until I realized that you can buy them from any city.

[Deleted]

I just got one for $10 for $25 worth of dry cleaning, I am going to call and see if they can hem swede and if so the price. If the $10 is cheaper I'll go for it.

[keepinthefaith]

I signed up for Groupon last week. I haven't bought any of them yet but I'm curious: when you get them, do you get an instant coupon to print or do they mail something to you or does it vary by retailer? If they mail it, is it usually quick or does it take a while?

[Frugal Nurse]

Feb 24, 2011 11:48:00 GMT -5 keepinthefaith said:

I signed up for Groupon last week. I haven't bought any of them yet but I'm curious: when you get them, do you get an instant coupon to print or do they mail something to you or does it vary by retailer? If they mail it, is it usually quick or does it take a while?

they send you a link to print it, usually 24 hours after you purchase the Groupon.

[janenyc]

Although many of the deals on groupon are well worth it and tempting, I avoid them unless I was planning an outing anyway. If not even if it is 50% off, it is still more then the $0 I had in my budget to spend. Also I hate having to keep track of coupons that I have already invested in. I mean coupons are fine, and if I misplace one no sweat, but if I paid for it already... wahhhh

[sunflower64]

I've signed up, but haven't bought one yet. Haven't really been tempted so far.

[MittenKitten]

I have used a number of them. I only buy things for places I go anyways. All were bought for half the price listed:
$10 GC to a coffee shop I occassionally frequent
$10 GC for Papa Murphys (okay I bought one and one under my Sig other's name)
$10 GC CVS
$20 Amazon ( Two of these also LOVE Amazon)
$20 soap.com plus free shipping

The only one I am not sure worked out to my best advantage was soap.com but whatever.

Also I was mailed GCs for all but soap.com and amazon.

[MittenKitten]

Oh and I have a deal website I go to daily that lists all the deals for shops in MN and will list the good Groupons etc that come available. Lets me ignore all the ones that aren't so good.

[texaspn]

I've used a few but I'm very careful what I select. So far have gotten Amazon and Barnes and Nobles coupons and half price tickets to a museum I've been wanting to visit.