The Power of Collective Buying

Last fall a friend introduced me to the concept of collective buying through a website called Groupon. Every day Groupon lists one fabulous deal and waits for a specific number of people to sign up. If enough people sign up for the deal then everyone who signed up within the allotted time frame will get the listed discount.

Groupon is currently available in 50+ cities and all of the discounts I’ve seen in the Washington, DC area are for local, mom-and-pop type shops, restaurants and spas. Through Groupon you’ll find discounts for smaller, sometimes unknown places, in and around the city.

Since I signed up at Groupon I’ve seen a whole hodgepodge of deals including, Swedish massages, cooking classes, salon services, dental packages, museum admissions, fitness classes and baked goods. Most deals offer upward of 40% savings. A typical deal would be $15 for $30 worth of food at a local DC restaurant or $100 for $200 worth of services at a nearby spa.

While Groupon is still my favorite collective buying website, (I’ve purchased two deals from there since October), I also like BuyWithMe and Living Social. I recently purchased $145 worth of professional cleaning services at BuyWithMe for only $59! I’ve considered paying cleaners to come into our home for months, so this worked out perfectly for me.

If you’ve never signed up for Groupon before please use this referral link. If you sign up and make a purchase I’ll receive $10 worth of credit towards a future Groupon purchase.

If you’ve never signed up for Living Social before please use this referral link. You’ll get $5 towards your first purchase and I’ll earn $5 worth of credit towards a future purchase of my own.

2 thoughts on “The Power of Collective Buying”

  1. I used to subscribe to Groupon, but then I realized that it was making me want to spend money on things I didn't even realize I wanted. Things that I wouldn't have spent money on if I didn't see them on Groupon. So I stopped. It's only a good deal if it is something you would use anyway.

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  2. @me in millions – I sometimes have the same problem, so I only allow myself to buy something I already intended to purchase. For example, if I really want to visit the spa I'll keep my eye out on groupon and then wait for a spa discount. I've been thinking about cleaning the house for months, so when I saw the deal I jumped on it šŸ™‚

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