groupon or livingsocial

**woodie96** · 05-23-2011, 06:47 AM

DW uses groupon. Have had some great deals on restaurants, and massages for her.
HMMM when is my turn...LOL

**bjl584** · 05-23-2011, 07:12 AM

I've never used either.

**snshijuptr** · 05-23-2011, 07:19 AM

I've used both for the same date night! They all offer the exact same thing so I don't really distinguish them. Just make sure you are only buying things you would have otherwise purchased.

**disneysteve** · 05-23-2011, 08:21 AM

I checked out Groupon for a little while soon after I got my iPhone but I never saw a single offer that was of any use to us. I think this may be a service that does little more than encourage people to overspend on a "great" deal.

ETA: I just looked at today's deals in my area. There are 14 offers and not one that I care about. I guess if you were planning on doing one of those things anyway, it could save you a few dollars but I can't see it being that useful overall. Checking it every day seems like it would waste more time than it is worth.

**MonkeyMama** · 05-23-2011, 09:34 AM

I just bought my first groupon deal. I suppose I was on the mailing list but never signed up. They just e-mail me deals. I do not like the website, which is why I did not sign up. It kept timing out, etc., and just gave me a lot of troubles when I was trying to purchase a deal this morning. (& when I tried to look at it in the past).

As such, we use living social more. We have already bought several deals on living social, which ended up being free after sharing the link on facebook and savingadvice. If you get 3 other people to buy it, yours is free. I usually buy off my dh's link so it is easy to get one free and pay the discount price for a second deal. Usually something we use and would stock up on - like Amazon gift certificates, movie tickets, and restaurant G.C.s. Today I bought comedy club tickets off groupon. Was one we had been to before, and knew it was a great deal, even if we don't get it for free.

I never visit these sites - just get e-mails. About once a month there is some thing we find really worthwhile. Amazon G.C.s were the best deal so far. We were able to get $40 G.C.s for $10. Dh's $20 GC was free and I paid $10 for a second one.

**shanecurran** · 05-23-2011, 09:47 AM

I have never used either. Has anyone tried coolsavings.com?

**ESPwaterproducts** · 05-23-2011, 11:17 AM

I haven't used either, but I know some who use groupon and love it.

**My English Castle** · 05-23-2011, 11:19 AM

Barnes and Noble had a great groupon last spring. There are some good ones--I often use the one for the Italian place by my office.

**disneysteve** · 05-23-2011, 12:21 PM

Perhaps I need to check them out again. If I can sign up for e-mail notices, that would help a lot. I was using the iPhone app but I'd need to actually go in and check it every day and that just wasn't going to happen. If there is a way to have them e-mail me the offers each day, I'd be willing to scan them to see if something we can use ever pops up.

**MonkeyMama** · 05-23-2011, 03:00 PM

For groupon I just entered my e-mail on their site. I never registered before I took my first offer, which happened to be today.

Living Social - I had to register when I bought something a while ago. They both send me e-mails about every day. Other times, I just see their offers around the internet (Facebook, other blogs, etc.). People get excited about the really good deals - then you don't have to do the work.

**disneysteve** · 05-23-2011, 05:16 PM

I registered for the daily e-mails from Groupon. We'll see what pops up. As I said, the 14 offers posted today are of no interest. I'll report back if something comes along that is actually worthwhile to us.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 05-24-2011, 07:02 AM

I became interested in Living Social due to a blogger here on SavingAdvice.com. I signed up for the Amazon gift card ($20 for $10, I think it was). Shortly after, I bought a couple of half price gift cards to a used bookstore that I really like and shop at already. So far Those are the only offers I've been interested in.

**dfeucht** · 05-24-2011, 11:16 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

I registered for the daily e-mails from Groupon. We'll see what pops up. As I said, the 14 offers posted today are of no interest. I'll report back if something comes along that is actually worthwhile to us.

I get the daily emails as well - only one has interested me in 2 months. My guess is that is what you will find. It will be interesting to hear what others see in other markets around the country.

**Jenniferw** · 05-26-2011, 04:24 PM

I use both of them and many other group buy site whichever got better deal. The principal is never buy some voucher you are not sure you will use it or not. But consider I do not like cooking, it is nice to save some money and eat out. Check Local Deal, Coupon and Discount | Social Deal Map which aggregate all these group buy websites and put them on a map. Quite convenient for check what is available in your neighborhood or on the way of travel.

groupon or livingsocial