Do you use Groupon? Dependable? Quality of goods/services? Alternative "Daily Deals"?

donee said:
as it happens i got an email from groupon asking me to promote my business with them yesterday. in it they say that they only offer deals at 60-90% discounts but that they have over 900,000 subscribers in dublin and 20,000 new subscribers weekly providing imense traffick to my website. would it be worth it for that alone. mine is a service business btw
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I would take those figures with a pinch of salt. I wouldnt even say they have 900,000 subscribers in Ireland.

Also, some of their discounts are 50% or less, so for them to say that they only offer deals between 60-90% is a lie.

You will need to find out several things from them before doing a deal with them. How much of a cut do they take? Some people have said that they keep 50% of the deal price, leaving you with very little. You will also need to know when do you receive payment? Is it within a week of the deal offer ending, or is it only when the deal has been used by a member.
 
donee said:
as it happens i got an email from groupon asking me to promote my business with them yesterday. in it they say that they only offer deals at 60-90% discounts but that they have over 900,000 subscribers in dublin and 20,000 new subscribers weekly providing imense traffick to my website. would it be worth it for that alone. mine is a service business btw
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You need to do your homework and be very careful about terms and conditions and exactly how much it is going to cost you. Here is one link to a post for a cafe that didn't and ended up having a terrible experience (read the comments too for ideas on some of the things you should do before deciding to go for it).
[broken link removed]
 
:confused: It opened for me just now.

ps Perhaps something funny going on with links here. The page linked by is accessible at [broken link removed] if you follow the Blog link at the top of the page and scroll a bit down the following page.
 
Also, some of their discounts are 50% or less, so for them to say that they only offer deals between 60-90% is a lie.

there hardly going to print 'a lie' in a promotional email. if i knew how to reproduce the email here i would, i did'nt name the person who sent the email but if someone wants it ill PM it to them. oh and im not trying to promote them btw
 
[broken link removed] just read that blog and its made up my mind . Cheers
 
ajapale said:
Whats pb?
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As mentioned in my post, There was a deal a while ago for a week's worth of groceries. I got the deal and was supposed to email the company with details on when i would like delivery, taking into account that you would have to wait a minimum of 10 days. No pb. I emailed and emailed the company: no reply at all. We eventually received an email from Groupon apologising as there was a problem withe supplier. Even groupon did not seem able to get in touch with that supplier!
A few weeks later, i received a refund from Groupon. I think too many deals were sold ( over 3000) which is a big number for any deals and i believe the supplier could not cope with the demand!
 
Sue Ellen said:
I was just wondering what is the difference between City Deals and Groupon when I saw that you mentioned both in the one post.

I had signed up for City Deals a long time ago but unsubscribed after a while.

Then out of the blue I started to receive e-mails from Groupon which annoyed me. I didn't sign up for anything with them so I unsubscribed which took two attempts.

Are the two connected?
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Groupon owns Citydeal
 
donee said:
[broken link removed] just read that blog and its made up my mind . Cheers
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I wouldn't take that version as wholly indicative of how it would work here. There are various voucher operators. And I have definitely seen limits on the number of vouchers offered, as some I've wanted have sold out - this is the key thing to negotiate and you'll see over on boards many discussions of deals not being honoured - there was a particularly stupid decision by an off-license to offer €20 worth of booze for a tenner, needless to say thousands were bought, the owner realised how much of a hole they were in and cancelled the deal leaving a bad taste everywhere.

I know, for example, recently I went to L'Ecrivain using a voucher which I wouldn't normally have done. I ended up spending more than the discount on wine and other items so L'Ecrivain gets an extra customer who may well go back, gets money on wine which is really where they make their money and I get a fantastic meal.

Another voucher was for an Indian takeaway nearby that I hadn't heard of before, I've been back 3 times since.

They can and do work, you just have to be clever and think it through.
 
http://www.mydealpage.ie/ for all the deals on one website. I have used livingsocial, citydeal and pigsback, but to be honest, whilst I bought lots of deals at the beginning, I hardly ever check the page now.

I think livingsocial take a smaller cut from the business than the others, and also pay the business upfront.
 
Used groupon for the first time on Monday to get a beanbag, paid the 59 euro knowing that i would have to pay 14.95 when redeeming the voucher that Groupon issue to the manufacturer for postage. Received voucher, deal ended and voucher could be used from the 8th, tried several times but get error saying voucher not valid or has already being used.

Therefore 1st impressions not good as credit card has been debited the 59 euro and awaiting a response from their support team!!!
 
Also www.geodeals.ie offers short term (often same day) local deals

ajapale said:
List of [broken link removed].
from lastminutedealsireland.com

  1. Groupon
  2. Living Social
  3. [broken link removed]
  4. [broken link removed]
  5. [broken link removed]
  6. Vava Vouch
  7. Grab One
  8. [broken link removed]
  9. Promo Zebra
  10. Deal Rush
  12. Online Shopping Ireland
  14. [broken link removed]
  15. Sinirgy
  16. [broken link removed]
  17. [broken link removed]
  18. On Offer
  19. [broken link removed]
  20. Dub Dealer
  21. Crazy Deals
  22. Gruupy
  23. [broken link removed]
  24. Mad4Deals
  25. BiteABargin
It looks like "daily deals" is a crowed space.
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Deal websites typically take 50% of the actual deal cost so it's hard to see how companies can do it. They generally pay the deal providers in stages so as to protect against that company going bust. I suppose this is reasonable providing they don't hold the money too long.
 
I have bought two deals so far... The problem is how the supplier/service provider manages the increase in business. The restaurant we went too - had a queue out the door with voucher holders using up their deal at the last minute. Thankfully I had rang and booked table day before.

2nd Deal - delivery of printed calenders - I am in the process of trying to cancel this order with Groupon - as the supplier is unreachable - no responses to my emails - long waits listening to "your call is important to us - so much so that you will be waiting 53 minutes before we will be able to take your call". I looked up the companys facebook page to be disheartened to see more complaints listed and issues from unhappy customers 8-(

This may not be the case with these suppliers all the time, but this was my experience.
 
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