Groupon Review

I've bought two different deals now from Groupon.  The first was a "national" deal offered in a different city for Soap.com - $10 for $20 worth of product plus free shipping.  This was in my first few days of checking out the Groupons and before I really looked at Soap.com, I jumped on the deal.  Honestly, their prices are kinda high, so I really feel like I only got about $10 worth of product for that $10.  Sometimes the deals work that way... that's why I can't stress enough doing your homework and checking out a deal before you buy, rather than just getting caught up in "getting a deal" as I did.

The second deal we bought was one of the first deals (if not the first) that was made available in my city (like, last week).  It was for 2 tickets to a show at one of our local theaters for just $24.  Both shows were Christmas themed shows; The 3 Redneck Tenors Christmas Spec-Tac-U-Lare or the It's a Wonderful Life radio show.  We had considered going to see the 3 Redneck Tenors show but were unwilling to pay full price ($32/each) for the show since we had no idea what to expect (it could be either really bad or really good).  But at over 60% off, we couldn't pass it up. 

As soon as my Groupon was confirmed I tried to call the theater to get our seats and was told that I had to wait till the next day (after the Groupon closed) to call for our seats.  At this point I was already looking at their seating chart and was getting a little worried as there weren't a whole lot of seats available for any of the shows, and there was only one of the four shows that we knew we could get to.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that we wouldn't end up wasting $24.  When I called the next day I was pleasantly surprised when the girl asked me about our seating preference rather than just giving me whatever popped up first.  I told her we really didn't have one but would like center section if they had any.  They did.  As it turned out our seats were quite good, as was the show.

The show itself was great, as has been everything we've seen at this theater, and would have been well worth paying full price for, had we done so.  But, thanks to Groupon, we didn't have to.  We got to see a great show for less than half the price of what most of those around us paid!

So why am I telling you all this? Because I can totally understand why you'd be a little skeptical about daily deal sites, I know I am.  But, there's no reason to be skeptical about what you will get from Groupon.com.  Sure you have to do some homework and make sure the deal is actually worth the price you are paying, but you don't have to worry about Groupon not carrying out their end of the deal.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of gifting a Groupon.  There's been a lot of discussion about this idea among those of us who like to save money (who doesn't like to save money?).  As I think about it more and more I'm thinking this would be a great gift for someone you weren't going to see in person.  I'm not so sure about gifting something like this in person.  To me, it's kind of like giving someone a picture of the item you ordered for them but it hasn't arrived yet.  Here's your gift, you just have to go here and claim it... or something like that.  What are your thoughts? How would you feel about getting something like this as a gift? Would it bother you to know they didn't pay "retail"?  Would you feel comfortable giving something like this as a gift?