My Introduction To Groupon
Let’s start with my very first introduction to Groupon.
I was first introduced to Groupon when a friend sent a Facebook link to me about a deal she had bought for herself. When I first saw it, I didn’t quite get what it was. I thought that the deal was too good to be true. RM45 for a voucher to buy a service worth RM119? I wondered if it was some kind of Internet scam – who would offer such a whopping discount? But after I read their website content, I was more assured. And I don’t rely on the info from that source only – I always research by reading about them on neutral third party sources. Groupon seemed genuine enough, and anyway at only RM45, I figured if I ended up being cheated, it’s a very inexpensive lesson learnt.
So I signed up and bought the voucher. It is one of the most hassle-free online purchases I’ve ever made! Many websites, during “checkout”, always try to prompt you into buying other things by showing you a list of “items you might be interested in”. I don’t usually blame those websites… unlike physical stores, there are plenty of small items placed on purpose near the checkout counter to encourage you to make those last-minute tiny purchases. But in an e-store, there is no such possibility; hence they will come up with lots of prompts and recommendations to try to make you buy other things, so you end up spending another 2 minutes just to get past all that to pay for your items. So the good thing about these discount voucher websites (and this is not limited to Groupon only) is that you only buy what you want – and not prompted into buying more!
How to make payment? Well, like all e-commerce sites, Groupon accepts Visa and MasterCard. In addition, because it’s all about local deals, they accept online bank transfers via Maybank2U, which is operated by the largest bank in Malaysia. If you’re worried about security, fear not – the online credit card payment gateway is run by iPay88 which is a local online payment gateway. So far I have had no cases of fraud (but I could be one of the lucky ones). Anyway, it also largely depends on your credit card company to be able to prevent fraud cases from happening. I use Citibank, and Citibank usually stops the payment from going through if they suspect a fraudulent transaction; if this happens, a simple call to the bank usually sets it right.
So, the ease of genuine payment created another problem for me – the tendency to buy a lot of vouchers on Groupon…
Next story: Review of my first Groupon voucher experience!
Have you signed up for Groupon yet? If not, click on the following link to sign up:
http://www.groupsmore.com/r/zyen-hoo
If you sign up from this link, I’ll get a RM2 cashback token – and so will you!
October 10, 2011
Addicted to Groupon
Eversince I’ve been introduced to Groupon, I’ve been buying loads of vouchers for various services and adventures. It takes all my willpower to stop myself from clicking on almost every offer they have – the offers are really worth it!
What exactly is Groupon? Well, in a nutshell, Groupon is an online platform for businesses to sell specific services or products to the public at discounted prices. It is a win-win situation for both the business and the consumer – the businesses get to advertise themselves (sort of) and sell more, whereas the consumer gets to make purchases for said services or products at very much reduced prices. And mind you, some of the discounts are mind-blowingly low.
Groupon is of course not the only online platform around – there are several in the local market, and even more worldwide. So far I’ve only tried Groupon and Hahah, but so far my experiences with the Groupon vouchers were quite positive. I’ve read some of the complaints other people have made about other platforms, and it scared me so much so that I’m unwilling to try them. I’ll write more about those in another post.
You can find virtually anything on Groupon, ranging from food to beauty, hair and nail services to amazing adventures. But what’s for sale at that point in time depends on what companies are selling. All items have a deadline for purchase, and an expiry date of use (not the same dates). How does it work? Basically, you have to set up an account with Groupon. You can either sign up, or just login with your Facebook account (the wonders of Facebook!). If you see a voucher you’d like to buy, make the purchase (payment via bank transfer or credit card), and voila! The voucher will magically appear in your Groupon voucher list. The Groupon vouchers can only be used AFTER the deadline for purchase, and the expiry dates depend on the vouchers that were purchased.
Some of the things I’ve tried were very interesting, and well, since I have a blog patiently waiting for my keystrokes, I thought I’d start writing reviews as well as about my experiences.
OK, I’m aware I’m probably giving Groupon free advertising, but honestly, it really is very worth it!
Click on the following link to sign up:
http://www.groupsmore.com/r/zyen-hoo
If you sign up from this link, I’ll get a RM2 cashback token – and so will you!
Stories coming soon!