I’ve been watching from the sidelines as many of my friends and family talk about the latest deals on Groupon and Living Social. I haven’t jumped on board yet and really don’t see myself becoming a consumer of the sites.
My reluctance to join these sites stems from my belief that something is only a good deal if you actually need it, or REALLY want it. When I say, REALLY want it, I mean you’ve put effort in to figuring out that it’s something that’s important to you and it isn’t just a spur of the moment purchase.
Yesterday, I posted about the experience I had with my daughter at the store last weekend. I mentioned that I was proud that she was excited that she’d bought something that was on clearance. It wasn’t just because she bought it on clearance but also the the fact that I know she had wanted it for some time and acted on the sale mostly due to the fact that it was such a good deal on something that she’s been keeping her eye out for.
The daily deal sites feel too impulsive to me. It’s almost like it’s a new form of the Home Shopping Network. Instead of sitting in front of the TV and being overtaken by the impulse to buy something, you just get to sit at your desk, or look at your phone as the new deal comes in via email. In both cases, I’d estimate that the MAJORITY of the time these deals come in, it’s for something that you really don’t need or didn’t know you wanted, until it came along. Instead of intentionally spending your money, it feels like you are just waiting for a reason to spend it. Maybe I’m wrong, but it just doesn’t feel like a good way to direct the limited funds we all have. Sure, there will be the occasional deal that will save you a few bucks, but is the temptation the rest of the time, worth that once in a blue moon deal? Not for me.
I try to remind myself that daily deals are impulse buys: great deals on things that just a few minutes ago I hadn’t even known about nor thought I needed. Now all of a sudden it’s a must-buy just to get a great deal. Your post is a great reminder of how buying needs to be done with more forethought and homework, not on impulse.
I’m pretty good at avoiding impulse buys, so I have little issue with buying something that I wouldn’t buy anyways. We’ve bought a few of these deals on things that we would have bought anyways. We might not have gone to the particular restaurant that we bought the deal for, but we would have gone out to a restaurant anyways. Or something along those lines. Or, when they had one for Amazon, that was just a no brainer as we buy stuff from there every month at least.
In the simplest terms, yes they are, since you can’t just show up to anyplace and get 50% off of a product or service. In the context of responsible spending, that is all up to the individual. There is no way to lay a blanket label on them, as some everyone will have varying opinions based not just on their monetary beliefs, but also the area in which they live, and therefore the quality of such offers. Personally, there are so many different sites, that nothing makes this niche special any more as it has become very saturated very quickly to me.