<p>Ok, so actually one of my fellow CC’ers who lives in my town introduced me to this website and it’s great offers. Have you been introduced to groupon.com ??? </p>
<p>Once you sign up (easy) you get daily deals for your city (or you can click on other cities near you or that you have family members or that you may be visiting) and get GREAT deals on all kinds of things! The fine print is usually spelled out simply and groupons are usually good for at least 6 months. Take a few minutes to explore the site - you can see “recent deals” for your city and get a flavor for stuff they offer. There is a “deal of the day” daily (duh) and it must be “tipped” in order for the deal to be a “go”. “Tipped” means that the business has determined a minimum of deals that must be sold before they will validate the offer - so for instance, a bagel place might say “20 people have to agree to buy the groupon before we will honor it” - once 20 people have, the deal has been “tipped” and is good for those 20 and LOTS more after the tipping! (I have only seen one offer so far that had a limit on how many can be sold - many have had hundreds of purchases) - deals start at midnight.</p>
<p>Some recent offers in our town:
6 gourmet cupcakes for $7 (value $12)
Picaboo (photo books) $100 gift certificate for $25
Local popular bagel shop : $10 gift certificate for $4
Today; 2 hours maid service for $55 - $110 value
Local popular bar and grill: $25 gift certificate for $10!</p>
<p>Often one of the stipulations is that you have to use the whole certificate at one visit - not always though, Picaboo could be for as many visits as you like.</p>
<p>You have a record online of all your purchases and if you have redeemed them yet. You can print out your “certificates” or there is actually an app that can be used in some places to redeem. You can purchase groupons as gifts for others - I believe you can either print out the certificate for them or email to the recipient (the person who receives the gift will know the amount of the gift certificate, but will not see how much you paid for it)</p>
<p>I’m addicted to checking the “deal of the day” everyday! Has anyone else tried this??</p>
<p>I do subscribe after being told about it by my son. He got a meal at a comedy club for a very good price. I bought laser hair removal. One area, six visits for $99. That is an unbeleivable price. Have already used one of the visits and am very pleased.</p>
<p>I just joined Groupon last week and already have made several purchases.</p>
<p>I was getting my hair cut and was talking with the stylist about the difficulty I was having coming up with a gift idea for S for my kids’ 18th birthday. She made a suggestion about a ride-along at a race track which I thought sounded interesting. She walked away for a few minutes, I checked my email on my iPhone, and my mother had sent me a half-off Groupon invite for the very same thing, thinking it would be of interest! </p>
<p>It seems to be good for things that fall under “hmmm … I’d really like to do that … but I’m not sure about the price.” I’ve also gotten half off Segway tours and then tickets to a Tall Ships event here in Chicago. </p>
<p>BTW, a friend of mine with 2 daughters in college subscribes to Groupon not just for our area (Chicago) but for the other cities where her daughters are at … and that way it keeps her abreast of things that are going on in those cities that she might want to buy for / surprise her daughters with. I thought that was a great idea. </p>
<p>Trivia: The guy who founded Groupon was a music major at Northwestern.</p>
<p>I think it was living social that I just bought a deal through for a billiards hall that we regularly frequent- even though it is alittle on the high end.
But 50% off is nice.
:)</p>
<p>I just bought $40 worth of Fairytale Brownies for $20 on my Groupon. I use it all the time! I buy D1 Groupons for Atlanta. I’ve had one bad experience with a Groupon restaurant. But otherwise, I check it everyday and use my Groupons!</p>
<p>lovelovelove groupons and living social!!! I sign up for cities within driving distance and for cities where we might find ourselves for vacation or whatever. It’s awesome.</p>
<p>Yep… also a member through the Chicago area and wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for D1 who lives in Boston. That’s a good idea for me to sign up for the one in Boston, too.</p>
<p>Groupon is great. I make purchases only about once a month, but it has always been worth it for things like retail merchants, restaurants, spa services and activities (like a skydiving gift certificate). Plus, I think their reviews are hilarious to read.</p>
<p>It was a gourmet cookie place - I think it was 2 dozen cookies sent via mail for something like $22.</p>
<p>Bad me, I bought today again! A nice local restaurant that features good food and live entertainment - $30 certificate for $15 - it will be a good place to enjoy a night out this fall or I might pass it on to my S who was looking for a place to take his GF (6 month anniversary!!) to.</p>
<p>There is a Groupon today for Fairytale Brownies under the city, Lincoln. I am thinking about trying this. I have never bought from Fairytale Brownies, and have never purchased a Groupon.</p>
<p>Yep - Groupon subscriber here and have had interesting experiences with it. We have tried a couple of restaurants we never would have without it, and have had some great meals at our local favorites at half price. I did have one snafu recently; signed up for a hotel overnight - great looking deal - but realized the dates were too limited JUST as I hit the buy button. Called the hotel who (understandably) wouldn’t extend the available dates, and had to call customer service at Groupon to try to work out a refund. No refund available, only credit. As the young customer service agent said to me (can’t you tell youth from the slightly SoCal Valley accent they seem to morph language into these days), “It was clear in the fine print.” So moral of the story, read the fine print. Pay attention to the dates and use the coupons in a timely fashion!</p>
<p>I check it everyday…for my work city, for my parents’ city, for both kid’s college cities, and also a couple of random cities. The last because I’ve found some pretty nice internet deals that way. I already have two Christmas presents purchased through Groupon and was able to send my mom a cool little gift of organic produce. Lately there have been good deals on NBA tickets for a couple of close teams.</p>
<p>Here in So Cal I have taken advantage of three museum memberships offered at 50% off. With the memberships I can take advantage of free entry, free concerts, gallery openings and discounts at the museum stores. Love it!</p>
<p>Yes, you register by city and you can do multiple cities.</p>
<p>You can also check out LivingSocial.com and Tippr.com, I wish I was closer to a big city as there are random ones I would use if I were closer than an hour away!</p>
<p>So then, I wonder if the Groupon that they just sent to me will work!! I don’t live in Lincoln, but I did buy the Fairytale Brownies and they did send the Groupon to me! I am registered, as far as I know, where I live.</p>
<p>I am glad that you posted this because I was thinking of also buying the current Groupon listed in Columbus for Dormzy. It sounds like a great deal to get a few things to a kid at college! Now, I am too nervous to buy it. I don’t know if this stuff will go through unless I register for different cities! </p>
<p>Does anyone know for sure if you can buy a Groupon listed in another city, and if they Email that Groupon to you and charge your charge card, is it going to work if you had not registered in that city?</p>
<p>Okay, I quickly called them to make sure that the Groupon will be valid without registering for the specific city the deal in is in. They said that they do not care. The only concern is whether the business can get the product to you. So if you live and NY and the deal is in Chicago, as long as it is a business that can get the product to you in NY, your fine without registering for the city the deal is in. If you do register for more than one city, they will send the email notification for the offer in that city.</p>
<p>I am registered in the cities near me as well as where my kids are and where my in laws are, as I travel there. They don’t care, you can buy the coupon and use it where it is offered.</p>