My Guide to Social Buying (ie Groupon)
One of the newest trends to hit online shopping is the concept of "social buying" or "group buying". Because I post a lot of these deals, I wanted to give you a basic overview of what it actually is and how you can use it to save money.
Group buying is basically this: local vendors, stores, and businesses agree to offer their services- whether it be a hair cut, a massage, a meal, or a certain amount of goods- at a large discount. In return, they are promised a certain number of buyers (thus the "group buying"). Once they hit that certain number of buyers, the deal is good to go and available to anyone who lives in that area. If that target number is not reached (which doesn't happen often), no one is charged for the deal. Many of these deals are over 50% off, and some are even greater- which means that you can score deep discounts on splurges, neccessities, gifts, groceries, meals and more.
Most of the sites and certificates have different terms and conditions, but here are a few things you need to know:
- each deal is offered for only a certain amount of time, and some have a cap on how many people can actually get the deal.
- the deals are different depending on the city where you live.
- The deals have expiration dates- which means that once you purchase your voucher, you have x amount of time to redeem it at the location/website it is for. This also means that you don't have to use it right away- you can save it for a special occasion, or for when a specific business is having a sale!
- Deals for businesses around you can be printed out. Online deals have a code that you will use on the vendor page's checkout page under Promotion Code. Because of this, it is often not possible to stack promotional codes.
-Shipping (for online vendors) is often not included in your certificate- but sometimes it is.
-Any deal that can be redeemed online can be purchased and used by anyone, regardless of area where you live and area where the deal is.
-Most of these sites have referral programs, meaning that if you share the deal with your friends and your friends make a purchase, you get a referral credit to use (anywhere from $5 to $10) on your next purchase! This is another reason why this is such a great way to buy!
Here are my favorite sites for group buying. Signing up will allow you to get emails targeted towards your city for the deal of the day, which helps you to never miss a great local deal!
Groupon: Has probably the most cities and choices. $10 referral credit if your friends make a purchase. Also gives you your money back if you aren't satisfied with your purchase!
Plum District: One of the most mom-and-kid friendly sites, featuring great deals on clothes, toys, baby products, spas and more. They also have an Everywhere deal as well as local deals. You get $10 for every friend that signs up, and- even better- if you make a purchase within 7 days of signing up, you get a $5 credit to use on your purchase!
Mamapedia: A great sites for moms already, with forums, advice and helpful articles, they have added Sweet Deals! Each day there is a new sweet deal available for your area that you can purchase. You can share these deals and earn $10 credit for everyone who signs up and makes a purchase. They have had Starbucks giftcards for 50% off on this site! Another great thing about this site is that you can select a school to receive 5% of your purchase in a donation!
Living Social: Created by the makers of the LivingSocial app on Facebook, Living Social features a ton of cities. You get $5 credit for signing up and $5 for every friend who signs up!
Tippr: One of the newest, Tippr offers you $5 towards your first purchase, and $5 for each friend who purchases a deal ( and each of your friends will also get a $5 credit when they buy THEIR first deal!)
Group buying is basically this: local vendors, stores, and businesses agree to offer their services- whether it be a hair cut, a massage, a meal, or a certain amount of goods- at a large discount. In return, they are promised a certain number of buyers (thus the "group buying"). Once they hit that certain number of buyers, the deal is good to go and available to anyone who lives in that area. If that target number is not reached (which doesn't happen often), no one is charged for the deal. Many of these deals are over 50% off, and some are even greater- which means that you can score deep discounts on splurges, neccessities, gifts, groceries, meals and more.
Most of the sites and certificates have different terms and conditions, but here are a few things you need to know:
- each deal is offered for only a certain amount of time, and some have a cap on how many people can actually get the deal.
- the deals are different depending on the city where you live.
- The deals have expiration dates- which means that once you purchase your voucher, you have x amount of time to redeem it at the location/website it is for. This also means that you don't have to use it right away- you can save it for a special occasion, or for when a specific business is having a sale!
- Deals for businesses around you can be printed out. Online deals have a code that you will use on the vendor page's checkout page under Promotion Code. Because of this, it is often not possible to stack promotional codes.
-Shipping (for online vendors) is often not included in your certificate- but sometimes it is.
-Any deal that can be redeemed online can be purchased and used by anyone, regardless of area where you live and area where the deal is.
-Most of these sites have referral programs, meaning that if you share the deal with your friends and your friends make a purchase, you get a referral credit to use (anywhere from $5 to $10) on your next purchase! This is another reason why this is such a great way to buy!
Here are my favorite sites for group buying. Signing up will allow you to get emails targeted towards your city for the deal of the day, which helps you to never miss a great local deal!
Groupon: Has probably the most cities and choices. $10 referral credit if your friends make a purchase. Also gives you your money back if you aren't satisfied with your purchase!
Plum District: One of the most mom-and-kid friendly sites, featuring great deals on clothes, toys, baby products, spas and more. They also have an Everywhere deal as well as local deals. You get $10 for every friend that signs up, and- even better- if you make a purchase within 7 days of signing up, you get a $5 credit to use on your purchase!
Mamapedia: A great sites for moms already, with forums, advice and helpful articles, they have added Sweet Deals! Each day there is a new sweet deal available for your area that you can purchase. You can share these deals and earn $10 credit for everyone who signs up and makes a purchase. They have had Starbucks giftcards for 50% off on this site! Another great thing about this site is that you can select a school to receive 5% of your purchase in a donation!
Living Social: Created by the makers of the LivingSocial app on Facebook, Living Social features a ton of cities. You get $5 credit for signing up and $5 for every friend who signs up!
Tippr: One of the newest, Tippr offers you $5 towards your first purchase, and $5 for each friend who purchases a deal ( and each of your friends will also get a $5 credit when they buy THEIR first deal!)
