to think that Groupon is too good to be true

[GospelTruth]

Just booked a £29 haircut with colour normally over £90, is this too good to be true, first time I've used this website, anyone else had experience of this or is it a rip off?

It's absolutely brilliant, don't worry! I've used it a lot for haircuts, massages, power plate sessions, manicures. It is NOT a rip off, but you will become addicted to buying yourself lovely treats!

love it love it - check it every day! also living socials - have you tried them too?

v good. only the businesses lose out as they take 2% of the deal. or so I've been told.

That's nice to know. I've been tempted to buy a few coupons off them but was also convinced it was too good to be true.

go direct to the business - I think groupon takes a lot more than 2%

I've booked a holiday £665 value for £355 - a week's half board - and they upgraded me to a second week for an additional £60.

ramonaquimby: But if the business are charging £90 and you're getting it for £29 through groupon then why on earth would you go direct? Presumably the business isn't making a loss and are doing it because they aren't getting enough customers so would like to get in some people who wouldn't pay full price while their regulars don't necessarily find out about the discount rate so keep paying the normal price.

I think the whole idea is that you take a deal, try out the business and then if you like it , you go there again. The business probably puts it down as a marketing expense.

The offers on Groupon are often a con in my experience. Always check the company's website for the usual price. I got them in trouble with the ASA after they ignored my complaint about an inflated RRP. If you're happy with the offer price then go ahead but I am often suspicious about the quoted saving.

I've bought a couple of the deals and I know they are genuine reductions as I'd looked at the things previously but it's liek anything - you need to do your research before you buy.

Martin Lewis was talking about it on the radio recently and made the point that the deals are usually for things where there is little or no extra cost to the retailer for the deal so for example its better for a hairdresser to do a few cheaper haircuts as they have to pay the staff anyway so they get some money rather than none.

Even if groupon take a cut they are making sales they wouldnt have done otherwise - it will be interesting to see if it survives once the economy picks up.

I've used them for dinners in nice places, it's always for a mid week night but the deals are so good it's no problem. The most recent one was for a three course dinner with a half bottle of house wine at 30 euro instead of 70 - it was a place I know and the deal was genuine.

When I went to the company's website the RRP wasn't quite as high as Groupon quoted but it wasn't far off. Still think I got a real bargain: I went to this place about 8 years ago to a similar hotel and it cost far more then than I'm paying now.

My friend booked a manicure and pedicure through Groupon but when she phoned the girl doing it she went mad and said Groupon had sold far too many tokens and she wasn't taking anymore bookings and my friend would need to sort it out with them directly. Don't know what happened when she contacted Groupon

I've used it for quite a few treaty things and they've been great. Only problem is, if you buy a night away thingy, often there is such a big take up that you can't get the nights that you want.
I have recently bought a hair cut voucher and there are no available appointments until April!!

Queenstomba, but the companies are NEVER charging the quoted prices on Groupon! Don't be gullible! A friend went direct with an offer recently (think it was restaurant deal?) and they matched the groupOn price

My company has just been approached by Groupon to offer products. It really is as it seems, a MASSIVE discount! The supplier takes an initial very large financial hit, but the hope is that the customer then comes back repeatedly and/or tells their friends and pays full price if they have a good experience. Everyone's a winner.

And I can tell you that there is no way we would match the Groupon price. For our normal price of say £70, from Groupon we would receive £15, after they have taken their cut as well.

ramona - I think it may depend on the offer but I know the quoted prices on the ones I've bought are accurate.

They can be easily checked on the websites of the companies involved and they were for things I has previously priced so I know they weren't changes just for the offer period.

Its like anything - use your normal amount of shopping sense and you eally can pick up a bargain.

ariesgirl - do you give them a maximum no of vouchers they can sell as I have heard people say that they have trouble with actually bokking some things.

I don't know - I haven't decided whether to do it yet. From what I gather, you can't put a limit on the numbers you want sold. The offer is open for 24 hours. The man said he'd anticipate selling between 20 and 50 vouchers, which could be 100 people, as our product is sold for couples. This is a MASSIVE hit for us, so we are trying to decide whether the number of customers we would eventually gain is worth the hit. The way Groupon sell it to businesses is to try and tell them it's a ready made audience you wouldn't otherwise have reached, who will eventually come again and pay full price. I am a little at the moment, but am always willing to try something new.

PS and I would certainly restrict the time of year the Groupon customers could use their vouchers, because at high season we are at capacity with our existing customers.

Thats interesting ariesgirl - the things I've bought have been things I've wanted to do but haven't been able to afford to. So, it wouldn't make me buy at full price because I just wouldn't be able to but if I had a good experience I would certainly tell my friends about it.

I was delighted: when I rang to activate the voucher I got the engaged tone the first couple of times but got through on my 4th attempt. I wanted to go in July and was offered exactly the dates I wanted.

I've had a few vouchers from Groupon and always had a good experience. I like the fact it's relatively local.

We've had meals which were a bargain and I'm going on a chocolate making course which my DH bought me for my birthday on groupon.

As a business owner myself I can only assume they treat it as a marketing expense. Even if people don't book it's all advertising. A bit too much hair styling/beauty for my liking as I tend to stick to the same stylist so don't use those.

I do always check out the regular prices though

Exactly, sofaking, that's how they market it to you, as an advertising cost. What we are pondering about is whether it could actually cost us more ultimately, given that our season is relatively short and we can only take people who are having such a whopping discount during the low season. Would these people actually come back and pay full price, particularly in these straitened times? Apparently their typical subscribers are reasonably well off people in their twenties and thirties who have a bit of disposable income, but everyone will be tightening their belt this year. Very difficult decision, so if anyone has any relevant and helpful thoughts, please feel free! NB we are a very tiny microbusiness and profit margins are small.

I think when you are checking out a company's regular prices to compare, it's worth bearing in mind that the price you pay is then split 50/50 between the business and Groupon.