Daily Group Buying Deal Websites, Are They Worth It?

You probably have noticed that group buying websites with exclusive deals have been popping up all over the internet. They are sites like Groupon.com, Ruelala.com and Guilt.com; just to name a few. There are deal sites geared to local cities and particular segments of the population like a Mommy deal site. You do not need to have a group of person to buy the deal, but the site acquires a group through the various people buying which enables them to offer a deal. With all of these new deal websites popping up, you are probably wondering if you can score a good deal. I will go over some of the basics of these daily deal websites to let you know if they are right for you!

One of the things that are constant across all of these group discount websites is that in order to see the deals, you must register. Many of them require you to become a member or login to even see what is being offered. The memberships are free, but you will begin to get a daily deal emailed to your inbox. If you are trying to avoid junk mail, you will not like this aspect. I have found that I am much more likely to make an impulse purchase if my email offers a must see deal! I am sure these group sites know this too, and that is why they require you to do this. If you sign up for these sites, be aware that your email will bring you a new deal each day.

If you are curious about the deals offered on group buying sites, you should know they are numerous. In doing research for this article, I made a few sample purchases. On a mommy designer discount site Ruelala, I was able to purchase my son Roobez brand soft soled baby shoes for fewer than five dollars shipped. I received the shoes and the box and packaging was perfect looking and the shoes were the real brand name. Another purchase I made was through www.groupon.com. They offered a special deal to build a bear Workshop. I was able to get a $20 certificate to Build a Bear for only $10.00. I then took my daughter to Build a Bear. We built the bear, went to checkout and we encountered opposition from the cashier about my Groupon voucher. They kept telling me they only take Build a Bear coupons and not coupons from any other site. I was persistent and they called the number on the Groupon voucher. Within minutes they were apologizing and had learned the coupon was valid. If you feel funny using one of these vouchers, you should know that Groupon has excellent customer service to back them up. I made sure to research the group buying websites before I bought from them. If you buy a voucher, be sure there is a number to call on your voucher in case you run into issues at the retail store.

The bottom line is you can get some great bargains on these daily deal websites, but you can also get pulled in purchasing needless items because they are a "deal." If you choose to sign up, be aware of those daily emails and have fun getting bargains!