The Real Deal on Deal Sites

How often do you get your Groupon on? Or, how often do you browse through Living Social, Google Offers (GOOG), Amazon Local (AMZN), Gilt City or any of the other numerous deal sites that have popped up in the past few years? You feel so great buying a product or service at a 65% or greater discount. It is such a deal! You can’t believe that you are so lucky to score such a deal and you immediately jump to purchase the deal before the time runs out.

But wait…..would you have bought that photolight facial at all if you had never seen that deal offer? That is the big question. It is easy to get sucked into the thrill of the deal and to quickly purchase deals that you do not necessarily need. Within a matter of minutes, you can easily spending $100 on “deals.” I know because I have been there.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you use deal sites wisely:

1. Is this a product that I would have purchased if I had not seen the deal offer? In otherwords, had you been planning to buy this product or service already?
2. Does this purchase fit within my budget? I guess the first question would be, do you know what your overall budget is? That is a topic for another day though.
3. What is the time frame for me to use the deal that I am purchasing? Is it realistic that I will be able to redeem the deal offer within that time frame?
4. Where is this business located and is it reasonable for me to think that I can easily get there to redeem the offer. Or, if it is not close by, is it is worth the drive to redeem the offer?
5. How big, and established, is the company and is it possible that the company will be so inundated with people redeeming the deal offers that they may not be able to accommodate me in a way that is convenient for me?

Remember, Groupon and other deal sites are a way for businesses to promote their business. It is essentially advertising. And, there is a time frame within which to purchase the deal to create urgency. They also show you the number of people who purchased the deal to entice you to jump on the bandwagon quickly.

That being said, Groupon and other deal sites are great sites, when used wisely. If you do use the deal sites to search for products and services that you need (emphasis on the “need” part), then you can score some really great deals. But, you need to browse the deals with caution and try not to get sucked into purchasing that photolight facial or that body-composition scale. Because, did you really need that…..?!

Happy Smart Shopping!