How many of you use Groupon, LivingSocial, or some other social shopping site?
These social shopping sites get local businesses to offer significant discounts and sells the product or service in bulk to anyone who signs up that day. LivingSocial has an additional element in that the more people that purchase, the lower the price drops. If you sign up at 8am when the price is $20 and by the end of the day it’s at $10, you’re only charged $10.
Do you find that getting 50% off is just too good of a deal to pass up?
Then you should probably stop using those sites. The prices are great, but if you’re buying simply because the prices are low, you’re buying for the wrong reason.
However, if you’re buying because you were interested in whatever was being offered that day anyway and now you can get it for cheap, then knock yourself out!
For example, there were two offers recently that I was interested in. The first was paintball for two people for $50. I have no plans to go paintballing, but the price was really good and I wanted to jump on it before the offer expired. I almost did it, but held off because I knew it wasn’t something important, just something that sounds awesome (who doesn’t like getting hit with tiny balls of pain that hurt like hell when they hit you?)
The other deal was $20 for a $40 tab at a bar down the street. I don’t go there too often, but being able to go and buy a few rounds with friends for half price seems pretty good. I’ll be able to impress my friends, have a good time, and save money at the same time.
Do you see the difference? Do you think you can hold off on purchases even if they look really good?
On the flipside, a friend of mine has started a new social buying site, Just My Lux, which ofers luzury items around Washington, D.C. Local businesses offering huge discounts? Sounds pretty awesome. Who knows, maybe there’s something you’re interested that will can be have for less. Looking for a cheaper round of golf that will impress a colleague? Want to go on a nice date but are afraid to spend all that money? As opposed to Groupon and LivingSocial, this has the opportunity to save you a significant amount of money. Head over and sign up and in a few weeks we’ll see some cool products.
Do you Groupon? Why or why not?
I’ve been subscribing to the GroupOn emails since before they exploded into the mainstream. To date, I’ve bought exactly zero. However, I have forwarded them along to people that I know shop / dine at certain places and have appreciated the savings. So far, some have come close to being enticing for me, but I’ve always backed away because the place is either a little too far or I think that it might be a little too much of a stretch to spend the money I would need to there.
@Money Beagle, Ha, I also see a few that look really good, but have stayed away each time. And I’ve never gone to a store and felt bad about not having taken advantage of a deal!
My husband is the coupon king and he just checked out Groupon.com. It’s a very interesting idea, however we didn’t really find anything we could use. So, like you said, it’s great if you are already on the hunt for something!
@Little House, Yah, there definitely isn’t always gold there. But if you check every day, eventually you’ll find something good. If you like what they have every day, it will definitely be too enticing!
I’ve been a Groupon member for 3 weeks so far but haven’t seen anything that has enticed me yet. We’ll see…
Hi Daniel,
I’ve never used Groupon before, mainly because I haven’t seen any necessities (for me anyway) listed yet, but I must say that the prices are generally good for what they offer. I have a pretty good amount of restraint so I’m not usually drawn in by prices unless it is something that I need. There are things that could tempt me though :). I like to check up on it from time to time just in case. Nice write up!
Thanks,
Timothy
I’m going to be a different as I’ve bought 1/2 dozen Groupons over the past year. The ones I select are always something we would do anyway but maybe not as often.
@Bucksome Boomer, Sounds like a good way to have a cheap good time!
Hope no one gets the smart idea of combining Groupon with FourSquare. Imagine the peer pressure!
@Arohan, Haha, I used foursquare for about an hour, thought it was kind of weird, and got out of there. But if all my friends were going to go paintballing, I’d definitely use the groupon. If they were all buying groupons for $40 worth of a bar tab though, I would definitely just go and hope they paid for it all!
Deals site are definitely enticing. I think that’s one of the goal to attract consumers and purchase the offers. Unfortunately, not all consumers are happy with what they’ve bought.