Coupons have come back with a vengeance, thanks in large part to the Internet, which has made it easier than ever to search, find, and amass a great many deals all from the comfort of your computer and helped in no small part the tough economic times of the last couple of years.
Sites like coupons.com, eversave.com, retailmenot.com and couponmom.com, all of which are among the top 10 most popular coupon sites on the Web, command between 1.5 million and 11.6 million unique visitors a month, according to Web analytics site compete.com. Each of them offer a variety of ways for visitors to save, ranging from printable coupons to coupon codes you can enter for instant discounts online.
The relatively new site Groupon.com, which we told you about in October, uses collective buying power to drive prices down for users. Each day, the site posts a deal on a service or product at a deep discount, provided a certain critical mass is reached (thus the name, which means “group coupon.”) A recent deal offered a two-week membership and three personal training sessions at any New York Sports Club for $29 (a $99 value.) For the deal to be valid, 200 people had to opt in by a given time. According to Groupon, 2,081 people availed themselves before it expired, meaning lots of new business for the gym and a great deal for thousands of bargain hunters.
In fact, Groupon is so confident that “nearly all human survival needs” are covered by their coupon offers, that they recently launched a contest to “Live Off Groupon!” for a year. Candidates were asked to submit an application by Feb. 24 for the chance to win $100,000 if they can survive for one year with nothing but a laptop, cellphone, and an unlimited supply of Groupons.
“It’s unfortunate: right now there are so many [creative professionals] who are so talented and experienced, but they’ve lost their jobs because of the recession,” said Groupon Public Relations director Julie Anne Mossler in an interview with Shoe String. “If the person is resourceful and friendly and good at this, it could really change their life.”
The winning candidate will give up all their worldly possessions, including their toothbrush and the clothes off their back to spend a year video blogging about their experience. This brings new meaning to the expression “desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Now for those of you in search of good deal, but not quite willing to sacrifice your daily comfort for one, here’s a coupon offer, courtesy of MomsNeedToKnow, a website dedicated to helping parents save money so they can “have more fun.” As of today, March 1st, anyone who signs up to be a fan of the Nabisco fan page on Facebook (facebook.com/NabiscoCookies), can print out a coupon for a free package of Nabisco cookies with the purchase of a gallon of milk.
Photo courtesy facebook.com/NabiscoCookies.