Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Groupons + Facebook = Jackpot ... or How I Just Got $120 Worth of Meals for $20
Posted by Jack Silverman on Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 11:47 AM
First off, she never met me. (So humble, I know!) And second, she never experienced the fabulous windfall that can occur when the wacky, wonderful worlds of Facebook and Groupons converge.
Personally, I've never been a coupon guy, and I'm always late to the table when the Nashville Originals have their discount certificate sales. But the Groupon emails arrive in my inbox once a day like clockwork, and after my recent Groupon experiences, I pay attention. For those of you who haven't jumped on the bandwagon, Groupon sends out a daily deal from a restaurant, store or service, almost always for half-price.
What's really made this such a bargain for me is that every time I've bought a Groupon, I've posted it to my facebook page. And for every person who clicks on the link on my page and goes to the Groupon site and buys her or his first Groupon, I get a $10 credit toward my next Groupon purchase.
And that synergy has led me to get $120 worth of meals for $20 in the last couple of weeks. Here's how:
- There is a potential downside to buying too many Groupons.
• I wound up with a $10 credit for a Facebook referral, and a couple weeks later bought a membership for two to the Belcourt ($75 value) for half-price... minus $10. It cost me $27.
• I wound up with two more $10 credits for referrals. Next up, I bought two $30 Family Wash certificates for $15 each ... minus the $20 credit. So it cost me $10! Sixty dollars of meals at a place I love for a sawbuck.
• Then I got two more $10 facebook referral credits. And last week I bought three $20 Sky Blue Cafe certificates for $10 each ... minus the $20 credit. So another $60 worth of meals for $10!
There are a few factors to remember here when it comes to, as Pacman Jones might say, making it rain food certificates:
• First, I have 531 friends and counting. The more friends, obviously, the greater the likelihood of getting a referral credit.
•Â Second, most of these certificates expire within a year. A lot of folks buy these and never use them, so it's money down the drain. That's how operations like Groupons make a lot of their money. If you're the type who forgets to spend gift cards, etc., this may not be for you.
• And finally, when it comes to getting Facebook referral credits, the law of diminishing returns will catch up to you. The credits only apply to people buying a Groupon for the first time, so eventually, the gravy train will pull out of town. Regardless, Groupons are still a great deal, assuming it's a place that you'd frequent anyway.
And one last note. When you begin the process of buying your Groupon, there will be some sort of prompt to allow Groupon to access your facebook settings. You DO NOT have to allow that access to get this benefit. Even if you deny Groupon access, when you're done with your purchase, you have the option of posting it to your wall. That's all you've got to do.
I'm not on Twitter, but if you are, the same referral credits apply there.
So start becoming Facebook friends with people you hated in high school, creepy strangers, your aunts and uncles, everyone! (But only if they live in Nashville.) Heck, you can always delete 'em later!
Comments (4)
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Technically even your friends from other cities can help as well - a lot of the groupons are for items that can be redeemed online. I always check a few random other cities each day to find out if they are offering something irrestible online (such as Memphis offering $10 for $35 of gourmet fortune cookies from an online company yesterday).
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The sharp-eyed Mrs. Pink grabbed one for Brio Bistro Italiano in Bellevue, and it was a great deal — a $70 dinner for two for roughly 35 bucks, as I recall. I remember being more impressed by the appetizers than the entrees, but only because the apps were so good — the meaty kalamari sticks were vastly more appealing than the breaded faucet washers I'm used to getting.
Mrs. Pink also snagged my Belcourt membership off Groupon. From what I heard, the theater's membership expanded by hundreds in one day. (I've already saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 off movie tickets — even more on Thursday when I become the last person in Nashville to see EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP.)
Quite a feat Silverman. Confirms my theory that Groupons are the new Frequent Flier miles. Endless cocktail conversations anticipated.
