Daily deal sites (like Groupon) usually have some amazing deals that can save you a lot of money. They usually work like this: there is a product or service (for the sake of our example, we’ll say the product is a “hair set”) that costs a certain amount of money (again for our example, will cost £100) if you buy it from the official company that sells it or from a retail store. The deal site (we’ll call it “TheBestDealSite”) strikes a deal with the business and sells you a coupon that will give you 50% off (just an example) so you can buy it for £50. The offer usually lasts only a number of hours/days and for a limited number of coupons.
Sounds like a great way to save money and it usually is. But there are a plethora of deal sites with thousands of daily deals both in the UK and around the world, so you have to be very careful where you’re shopping and what exactly you’re buying. You should do a little research before buying an offer, paying close attention to its details.
Always check the original price of the product before buying a discount coupon
TheBestDealSite claims to give you a massive 50% discount if you want to buy a “hair product set”, saving you £50 (the original price of the product was £100). The product is from a company called “GreatHairProducts” (again a fictional example).
It sounds like a good bargain, but before you make the purchase, you should go to the company’s website and check if the retail price for the specific product is really £100. Sometimes (thankfully not a common problem) you’ll find that the price of retail is lower and you don’t save the 50% you thought. But most of the time the deals site tells the truth and you will also find the same retail price on the company’s website.
You may also find that the specific “hair product set” is not for sale on the company’s website as a set, but only as individual items. If this is the case, you need to add up the prices of the individual products to find out their total price and see if the deal makes sense and if you get the best possible discount if you buy it on the deal site.
Check the expiration date of the voucher
The offer will not last forever. Be sure to check until you can redeem the coupon. If you’re unclear in the deal description, ask the deal site (or company) to clarify before you make a purchase. Be sure to save the emails you have sent and received to resolve any future disputes.
Check when you can redeem the bonus.
If the voucher is for a service (for example, a day at a spa) or for a product that you must be present to buy and use (for example, a dinner at a restaurant), in addition to its expiration date, you should check when you can redeem it too. Many times, these types of coupons can only be redeemed on specific days of the week and/or specific times. For example, you could buy movie tickets that can be used within 3 months from when you bought them, but only from Monday to Friday, so you need to make sure that this is suitable for you before buying the voucher.
How can you keep track of all available offers?
A great way to keep track of all the deals currently being offered by the deal sites in your country is to view them through a daily deals aggregator website. These types of websites collect the deals available from all (or most) of the deal sites in a country and present them to you. This will save you a great deal of time, since you won’t have to visit each deal site’s website to see their deals.