Groupon/LivingSocial

[DVCLiz]

Anybody else addicted to these sites? I have bought several things on them and yesterday I went to use some coupons.

Do you know how hard it is for one person to spend $20 on lunch at Quizno's?

I bought a sandwich and chips, then two bowls of chili and 7 more bags of chips to get to the $20 mark. And I still have another coupon to use!!! I think I'll give it to my daughter and let her treat her friends to lunch one day.

I had no trouble using the "12 cupcakes of your choice" one, though. And I've already had two for breakfast...looking forward to some chili for lunch!! And some chips!!

 

[SueInBoston]

LOL..just this morning, i bought 3 $10 for $5 for our local bakery. This is a bakery we frequent and I've never walk out of there for less than $15 anyway!!

I still have 3 restaurants to try...

Do you know if you can see if you used a groupon or not? I bought 3 to a local restaurant (quick meal type) and I forgot how many I used...(another place I frequent even without the groupon deal...

TIA

 

[DVCLiz]

LOL..just this morning, i bought 3 $10 for $5 for our local bakery. This is a bakery we frequent and I've never walk out of there for less than $15 anyway!!

I still have 3 restaurants to try...

Do you know if you can see if you used a groupon or not? I bought 3 to a local restaurant (quick meal type) and I forgot how many I used...(another place I frequent even without the groupon deal...

TIA

I don't really know. Do you have a smart phone? I do mine on my iPhone and I have an app for it. It keeps all of them in one place and as I use them I just swipe "Used It" and it goes into a separate folder. Otherwise I would be printing them out and I would know because I gave the printout to the clerk.

 

[RitaE]

We need to go see The Lincoln Lawyer ($6 tickets) and I need to pick out about 150 pictures to send to ScanDigital ($100 of scanning for $40).

Oh, and I have a 12 pack of wine due to show up at my door this week. ($75 store credit for $25) party!!!!!!

 

[Imzadi]

Yes, I am addicted to Groupon. I have mostly been getting ones for services, not food. I get half off haircuts.

 

[DVCLiz]

That's good to know, Imzadi.

I have several food ones but a few service ones as well. And I got $20 to both Barnes & Noble and Amazon a while back. I applied the Amazon one to my account and I've used half of it buying a Kindle book. I still need to spend the B&N one.

I have some framing to do ($100 worth for $40), some gift shop/type ones, and a lot of bakery/yogurt places to hit!!

 

[Imzadi]

That's good to know, Imzadi.

I have several food ones but a few service ones as well. And I got $20 to both Barnes & Noble and Amazon a while back. I applied the Amazon one to my account and I've used half of it buying a Kindle book. I still need to spend the B&N one.

I have some framing to do ($100 worth for $40), some gift shop/type ones, and a lot of bakery/yogurt places to hit!!

Me, too. I just got a reminder today to use it up.

If you get ones for services, make sure you read the fine print and ALL the comments. I've found it has made a real difference in whether I do a deal or not. Sometimes they clarify a deal a bit more and it turns out NOT to be something I want after all.


BTW, did you get your cookies & javascripting issues fixed? I posted a fix on your thread to do a System Restore. The directions were for Win XP, so they may be slightly different for Vista.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

I love Groupon! I also use Half Off Depot and Living Social. Love them all!

I just bought a groupon for 6 dollars for 2 buffets and CiCis lol. Not a huge deal but I'll take any discounts I can get!

I've also used them for Ihop discounts, tickets to the rodeo, and 15 dollars in gift certificates to Pollo Tropical! Some of the groupons are a little too expensive for me, but it's worth waiting through those to get to the right one

I actually have the apps on my phone, so I can keep up on them so much easier.

 

[DVCLiz]

Me, too. I just got a reminder today to use it up.

If you get ones for services, make sure you read the fine print and ALL the comments. I've found it has made a real difference in whether I do a deal or not. Sometimes they clarify a deal a bit more and it turns out NOT to be something I want after all.


BTW, did you get your cookies & javascripting issues fixed? I posted a fix on your thread to do a System Restore. The directions were for Win XP, so they may be slightly different for Vista.

Yes, I ran into that with a local business - they offered a great coupon but it was for new customers only and I am existing. They refunded my money and sent me another coupon to use the next time I have that service at my house. Nice of them!!

No, I haven't gotten my computer issue fixed. Honestly, I am going to buy a new computer soon anyway, so if I can't get it fixed easily I may just live with it for a week or two and then replace it. That was the plan before this irritating issue happened. I saw where I could do a System Restore but I have had this issue for a while now (at least weeks) and I can't remember how far back.

 

[Meriweather]

I have a purse full of food groupons to use......I need to get going on it.

Haven't tried LivingSocial yet, just signed up for them.

 

[Imzadi]

I love Groupon! I also use Half Off Depot and Living Social. Love them all!

I have never heard of Half Off Depot . . . does my wallet want me to?

There was one site that had listed an expired deal for an authentic English high tea service, complete with tea sandwiches, fresh scones, homemade jams, dessert & cookies and of course lots of tea. I've been wanting to do one of these for the longest time. I ended up making reservations even without a coupon. I would never had known that place existed if it weren't for the site. So their advertising for these businesses is definitely working.


Oh, BTW: If any of you do Swagbucks, too, many of the deals for Groupon & Social Living are listed there under Earn --> Special Offers, so you can get extra Swagbucks points for doing deals you would be doing anyway. Just make sure you do computer screenshots of the Swagbucks deal before you click through, and then a screenshot of the confirmation for the deal. For some reason, my browser or PC settings do not register with Swagbucks that I have done the deals. I have to email the screenshots as proof, and then they manually add the points to my account.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Anybody else addicted to these sites? I have bought several things on them and yesterday I went to use some coupons.

Do you know how hard it is for one person to spend $20 on lunch at Quizno's?

I bought a sandwich and chips, then two bowls of chili and 7 more bags of chips to get to the $20 mark. And I still have another coupon to use!!! I think I'll give it to my daughter and let her treat her friends to lunch one day.

I had no trouble using the "12 cupcakes of your choice" one, though. And I've already had two for breakfast...looking forward to some chili for lunch!! And some chips!!

But if SAVING is the thing, then aren't you defeating that purpose with your "trying to buy more"??? What am I missing?
I have used livingsocial for movie tix and such, great deals, I agree. But I only get what I really want/need/can use.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I have to admit I'm pretty slow with getting on board with Groupon. How exactly does it work? Is there a Groupon site you register with to get the savings?

 

[Rora]

Groupon is quickly becoming my addiction. LOVE IT.

 

[DVCLiz]

But if SAVING is the thing, then aren't you defeating that purpose with your "trying to buy more"??? What am I missing?
I have used livingsocial for movie tix and such, great deals, I agree. But I only get what I really want/need/can use.

Well, I suppose I'm not really doing it to save on what I already use every time as much as taking advantage of a great bargain on something I could use just as easily. I never go to Quizno's but the bottom line is I got $20 worth of their product at full retail for $10 cash. I had lunch yesterday and today, plus I have several bags of chips for next week. And I might have lunch tomorrow, too, depending on how much chili I eat right now (or whether I eat a bag of chips instead!)

So three days of lunch for $10 seems a reasonable deal to me, even if I had to go a little out of my way. Probably next time I'll skip that deal. It's not enough money for it to be the end of the world or anything!!

 

[DVCLiz]

I have to admit I'm pretty slow with getting on board with Groupon. How exactly does it work? Is there a Groupon site you register with to get the savings?

Yes, you register at Groupon.com, I believe. The deal of the day is at least a 50% discount. Usually there is a minimum number of people needed to buy the deal before it is "on." I've never seen one not have the minimum so I dont' know what happens in that case - I gues they just stop the offer.

You have a credit card assigned to your account and when you buy the deal your card is charged. You can either print out a paper receipt from your email or use a smartphone app to keep track of your groupons. When you use one you either turn in a paper coupon or they copy down the number from your iphone and then you swipe it "Used".

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

I have never heard of Half Off Depot . . . does my wallet want me to?

It's just like Groupon!

http://halfoffdepot.com/

And there's quite a few deals, at least here in Orlando that they do all the time. You don't have to wait specifically for it.

 

[Imzadi]

But if SAVING is the thing, then aren't you defeating that purpose with your "trying to buy more"??? What am I missing?
I have used livingsocial for movie tix and such, great deals, I agree. But I only get what I really want/need/can use.

It isn't always about saving more, but GETTING more for your value.

Liz & her DD have to eat lunch anyway. They may have had to spend $10 on lunch anyway. To get a coupon in which they get $20 worth of products, means they have twice as much food.

Depending on the fine print of the Groupon, she could have bought a third or fourth sandwich instead of all the chili & chips, and then had FREE lunch the next day, or later in the day.

I have a Groupon for the Mood fabric store, where the contestants in Project Runway, used to shop when it was based in NYC. I've been needing to get new curtain material from a fabric store. Store bought curtains are either too sheer or too thick to allow in sunlight.

I will probably be spending $15 in a fabric store anyway. With the Groupon, for that same $15, I now have $30 worth of supplies I can get. I can either get better quality material, more material, for matching pillows, or other assorted supplies.

 

[Imzadi]

I have to admit I'm pretty slow with getting on board with Groupon. How exactly does it work? Is there a Groupon site you register with to get the savings?

Yes, Groupon is a national website. Forbes listed it as one of the hottest, largest growing Internet based, social media-type companies in the U.S., especially during this downturned economy. You register at Groupon, then pick the closest largest city near you. If you are too far away from a city that you'd travel to, Groupon probably won't work for you much.

You get ONE email-a-day alert as to what the deal is offered for that day. No extra spam - not even from the businesses you bought a Groupon for. Each major city has their own LOCAL deals according to what Groupon can arrange with the various businesses. A business that can't afford to do the deal unless enough people get in on the deal to actually make a profit off the deal, advertises their one day deal through Groupon. If not enough people sign up for the deal, NEITHER the business or the people signing up lose anything. The deal doesn't happen, period. It's still a win for the business as it got free advertising by one mass email for the day.

When the deal does go through, there is a counter on the webpage to show how many people got in on the deal, so you know when the deal is on, the business does really well. Sometimes they could get 200 - 800 more people than if they didn't offer a Groupon. That amount is guaranteed to the business, once the deal goes through. That is a LOT, especially in this economy where people aren't spending.

The coupons are usually good for 6 months to a year, (ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT for details and any Groupon comments and check out the business website!) so everybody does not have to run in at once to use up the offer.

 

[DVCLiz]

It isn't always about saving more, but GETTING more for your value.

Liz & her DD have to eat lunch anyway. They may have had to spend $10 on lunch anyway. To get a coupon in which they get $20 worth of products, means they have twice as much food.

Depending on the fine print of the Groupon, she could have bought a third or fourth sandwich instead of all the chili & chips, and then had FREE lunch the next day, or later in the day.

I have a Groupon for the Mood fabric store, where the contestants in Project Runway, used to shop when it was based in NYC. I've been needing to get new curtain material from a fabric store. Store bought curtains are either too sheer or too thick to allow in sunlight.

I will probably be spending $15 in a fabric store anyway. With the Groupon, for that same $15, I now have $30 worth of supplies I can get. I can either get better quality material, more material, for matching pillows, or other assorted supplies.

There were no restrictions so I could have bought more sandwiches. I chose the chili because I knew it would keep well in the refrigerator for the next day or so. I think if DD17 had been with me we might have gotten closer to the total - I didn't buy a drink because I already had one in the car. I could have bought bottled drinks as well - but they were a Pepsi store and I am a (Diet) Coke gal.

The bottom line was 50% off retail for products I could use, so I bought them. I don't do Groupon because of budget reasons, but because of value for actual cash outlay.