How does it work? - Groupon

Groupon

Have you heard of Groupon?

It's the mac daddy of deal of the day sites - the one that started it all.

How does Groupon work?
Every day new deals are posted on the site.  They are posted by city - Atlanta, New York, Chicago, etc. However, you don't have to live in that cities to take advantage of the deal.  Some deals will be local to that city; so, obviously, if you don't live there, that deal won't be worthwhile for you to invest in.  But quite often there are deals that are for online merchants or deals that can be used at a national chain. 

Most deals posted on Groupon are 50-90% off the retail price.  The site can offer the great deals it does because it gets a large group of people to invest in that deal.  For each offer, a certain number of people must invest in it before the deal is on.  Your credit card will not be billed until enough the deal has enough customers and "is on".  When you visit the Groupon site for a deal, you'll see either a little scale telling you how many people still need to invest in the deal or a message saying "The deal is on." 

My Experience:
I've gotten several deals through Groupon: 
3 Redbox rentals for $1 (gotten that one twice)
$20 gift card to Barnes & Noble for $10
4 movie tickets for $20

The movie ticket deal actually fell through because the online merchant offering the deal through Groupon went out of business.  However, Groupon was very professional and refunded my money as well as sending an apology email.  I was impressed with the way they handled that situation.

So, go check out Groupon if you haven't yet.  Sign up for the emails related to the closest big cities to you.  And go get some great deals!!

Ever wondered how a certain website or business works?  Ask me in the comments and I'll try to explain it in a future post.