This post should be called “How I Got Paid 80 Cents to Take a Free $20 Restaurant Gift Certificate.” Let me explain.
I am new to Groupon. Until last week I had never purchased one of their ‘deal of the day’ offers. But I did follow them on Facebook and recently one of their offers interested me enough that I actually took the step of creating an account. I didn’t purchase that particular offer, but not too long after a Groupon email showed up in my email inbox for $10 off a Groupon deal if I purchased it in the next two weeks.
Tip #1: Sign up for a free Groupon account, even if you’re not planning on purchasing anything at the moment. I don’t know for sure, but I assume the simple act of signing up for the account is what triggered the $10 off offer.
As luck would have it, the same day I got the Groupon email, they were offering $10 for $20 worth of food at Granite City, a chain restaurant near our house that we eat at regularly. By using my Groupon offer code, I would be able to get it for free. A $20 gift certificate for free is almost always a no-brainer, but this was my favorite kind of deal: a way to save money on something I would be doing anyway. In this case, eating at Granite City.
Tip #2: Pay special attention to Groupon for deals at businesses or for services that you already use. This will help reduce your budget instead of busting it.
The $10 offer was a one-time deal, but there is a way you can save an additional 8% on every Groupon purchase you make: use Mr. Rebates to make your purchase. I’ve written about Mr. Rebates a lot on this blog, but basically it’s a site that allows you to earn cash back on your internet shopping at thousands of retailers, including Groupon.
Here’s what you do:
- Create your free Mr. Rebates account (takes about 30 seconds).
- Click through to Groupon from Mr. Rebates.
- Make your purchase as usual.
And just for clicking through to Groupon from Mr. Rebates, you’re paid an 8% rebate on your Groupon purchase. (There are other cash back sites that also give rebates for Groupon, but Mr. Rebates offers 8%, which is the highest percentage I’ve seen.)
Tip #3: Always go through Mr. Rebates to make your Groupon purchases and you’ll save an additional 8%.
And here’s where my story gets a little ridiculous. I went through Mr. Rebates when I made my Granite City Groupon purchase, even though I assumed there wouldn’t be any cash back since I wasn’t paying anything. But Mr. Rebates did actually credit me with 80 cents back on the $10 I would have paid without the Groupon special email offer. So Mr. Rebates and Groupon paid me 80 cents cash back on a $20 gift certificate I didn’t pay anything for. That works for me.
Do you Groupon? What kind of deals have you been able to score?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I have not pulled the trigger on a groupon offer yet, but I have been signed up for a couple months and during that time seen many deals on services I already use. Now I will definitely look into using Mr. Rebates as well because I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. Thanks for the great info!
Dave, Let me know what you think of Mr. Rebates and if you have any questions. Thanks for commenting!
Julie
Not ridiculous at all! I use Ebates before buying Groupons. Whatever you can do to pay less, right?
Exactly, TSQ. By the way, Ebates only pays 3% cash back on Groupon vs. 8% at Mr. Rebates. Just something you might want to consider. Thanks for stopping by!
Julie
Last time I bought one, it was a special and I got 10% back. I will definitely check Mr. Rebates for the next one! Have you used Shop At Home? It's another one I check to see whose got the best deal.
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