Daily Deal Sites Spreading like Wildfire- Groupon, Living Social, AtCost, Yipit & GoodNews

Okay I have officially been living under a rock.  Obviously a very very large rock.

Just a few days ago, I signed up for Groupon… after hearing my friends talk about Groupon, my coworkers talk about Groupon, seeing Groupon ads on facebook…I had to get in on the action.  I’M the one who usually is on top of all the latest deals and ways to save money.. so I had to find out what it was all about.

If you haven’t heard of Groupon (don’t feel bad, I didn’t know what it was either), it is a daily deals website.  All you do is give them your email address, let them know which city you’re in, and they will email you a daily deal every day.  A daily deal can be something fun to do, someplace to eat at, or some place to see for an unbeatable price. About 50-90% off regular price, provided that enough people who have Groupon sign up for it.  You pay for it online with a credit card or Groupon bucks (you can accrue Groupon bucks by referring friends to sign up for Groupon).  Then they’ll send you a voucher (like a gift certificate) for your purchase.

If you refer one friend to Groupon (they’ll give you this specific code unique to you, apparently), and they sign up within 72 hours after clicking the link you email them, AND they make their first purchase on Groupon, then you get $10 credited to your account.

So far the emails that I’ve been getting in my inbox have been interesting, some fun things like one of the Vancouver double decker bus tours (always wanted to do that but didn’t want to pay $35 for a hop on hop off bus tour) for $15.  I haven’t bought anything yet, but I have only been getting their deals for a few days or so.

There have been a plethora of other daily deal sites that have been catching on.  Seems like the number of daily deal sites have been growing exponentially.  I like how these daily deal sites help out the local businesses.  These daily deal sites are like the new Facebook or something (by the way, the Facebook IPO is coming out…but the date is TBA. Who’s in?).

They get you by making you buy in groups AND encouraging you to impulse buy AND making it easy for you to buy (just put in your credit card info and voila, you’ve bought it!).  *ACCKKK* They know my weakness. My kryptonite.  Impulse buying on deep discounts- this is why I try my best to stay far far away from warehouse sales.

Here are some of the other Daily Deals Sites (all giving you 50-90% off):

Daily Deal Sites offered in the United States:

• Living Social- It’s just like Groupon, but no Groupon bucks.  If you refer three other friends to buy the same deal that you just bought, and they buy it, then your deal is free. Here are the cities that Living Social is offered in.  The only Canadian cities are Toronto and Vancouver.
• Tippr- How Tippr claims to work is, again, similar to Groupon, but instead of ONE deal a day, you get THREE.  Also, the more people that buys that deal, the bigger the discount is for that deal- they call this their Accelerated Deals.  Tippr is available in select US cities only: Atlanta, Boston, Honolulu, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Fransisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.
• Home Run- again, same concept as Groupon.  They have extra goodies that make them unique from other sites, like Raffles, Cash-Back, Bonus-Savings, and Real Money Prizes.  Home Run also say they track your loyalty and reward you with Home Run points.  You also get rewarded with home run points when you refer a friend, visit the site, and share your deals.  You can get special deals with these points, extra savings, and special events.  Home Run also has something similar to the Groupon bucks.  Every new friend you refer, you get $10 to spend.  Home Run seems to be in a lot of major cities in the US, especially in the Mid West, where it isn’t offered for the other daily deal sites.
• Yipit- is recommended by the New York Times, Wired, and TechCrunch.  Yipit is like the kayak for flights, but for the daily deal sites.  It aggregates all the daily deal sites (about 90+) to find you the best one that day for you based on your preferences.   The cities Yipit works in include London (maybe they have a deal for high tea with the Queen, perhaps?), and select US cities: Las Vegas, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
• At Cost- One of the first pioneers of the daily deals sites and group buying initiative.  In over 56 US cities.  AND in the UK and Australia. AND Canada.  Seems like this one has the longest reaching tentacles.  AtCost also aggregates from Living Social and Groupon.  Their deals are held for longer than 24 hours, and as the time ticks, the deal gets even cheaper.  If you share your deal with others via facebook or twitter, you get an even bigger discount (and more marketing reach for them!)… it’s a win win situation.

Daily Deal Sites offered in Canada:

• Groupon- see above
• Living Social (Vancouver and Toronto)-see above
• WagJag- Uniquely Canadian.  Some of the deals that they offer seem a bit more pricey- like $90 for a fitness package that normally costs $240.  They don’t seem to get the “big names” of local places that people want to see and do.  It also doesn’t seem that many people buy, probably for the same reasons I have mentioned.
• Steal The Deal- Uniquely Canadian as well.  The deals they offer seem fun, like $125 for a weekend rafting trip when it would normally cost $200.
• AtCost-see above
• TeamBuy- uniquely Canadian too, but only in six Canadian cities.  Has some pretty good offers on places that I have actually heard of or might be interested in (and other Canadians seem interested too, because on average the number of people buying each deal is about 60).  I just (as I finish writing this post…see above about my weakness for impulse buying on deep discounts) bought a $12 all day doggy day care for my dog when it is regularly $25 (don’t worry, my dog’s never been to doggy day care because I would not spend that kind of money regularly, but thought he might like some time hanging out with other dogs!).
• Good News- is uniquely Canadian and from Vancouver.  I think it’s offered in only one city so far- Vancouver.  The spin on this site is that you can DO GOOD while you impulse buy (so you’ll feel less guilty from splurging on yourself, because you’ll be helping a good cause too!).  They will donate 10% of every purchase to a local charity AND donate $1 for every sign up with Good News.  So go ahead and hang that halo around your head while you save money too! =)

I like how each daily deal site tries to differentiate itself from the rest.  I also like how it encourages us to get off our lazy butts (yes that means off that couch with the indentation of your butt cheeks from watching episodes of Lost one too many times) to go outside and enjoy our city.  I like how it encourages you to invite your friends to enjoy the activity together.  Pretty innovative stuff.

I am pretty certain I have missed another great daily deal site- any daily deal site that you are a big fan of I might have missed?  Have you tried using these daily deal sites? What do you think of them? Yay or Nay?

Tags: atcost, daily deal sites, good news, groupon, living social, teambuy, tippr, yipit

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