Learning to be Careful when Recycling Groupon Coupons (Recycle – Once is not Enough)

Reportedly, a large part of the sales that Groupon and all the other daily deal websites make, are bought by people who don’t think their purchase through. One out of five people who buy a daily deal coupon end up wasting their purchase. That’s millions of Groupon coupons wasted.

These days though, they can take advantage of one of several websites that offer unhappy coupon holders a marketplace for unused coupons. Anyone interested in buying just has to sign up to Lifesta, CouponsGoRound, CoupRecoup or anywhere else and try their luck. If you’re tempted to buy a coupon on the cheap at one of these websites, here’s what you need to know.

The thing about Groupon coupons is, when you pay for them and your purchase arrives in the mail, you have no way of knowing that it’s for real. If it was a coupon that came directly from Groupon or a clone website, you know that you trust them. You know that those coupons are good.

How do you know when you buy a secondhand coupon that the person advertising it isn’t just making something up, printing it out on his home printer and sending it to you? You won’t know until you actually go down and try to redeem it. And by then, the seller and your money will have eloped long since.

Well, many major coupon recycling businesses offer to refund you your money if this should happen. But not everyone does that. Make sure that you ask before you deal.

Almost always, Groupon coupons (and other ones as well), are only sold for the immediate local area that a buyer is in. You actually could make the actual exchange in person. That should give you a bit of reassurance that your seller is for real.

Some people wonder if this is even legal. Is it actually allowed, buying and selling daily deal coupons like this? Well, actually, it depends on the daily deal website you’re working with.

Groupon allows gifting vouchers. So they are transferable. Basically, you could say that the law doesn’t have anything much to say about this.

Before you actually commit and buy a voucher, make sure that the voucher doesn’t come with any silly rules attached that limit you in how you can use it. For instance, if you’re going with your family to a restaurant and you buy a Groupon coupon that gives you 25% off, you might land up at the restaurant with your family and find out that they don’t honor those coupons on Friday evenings. You need to be aware of that kind of spoilsport rule before you buy.

Make sure finally, that if there is a voucher dealer who wants to deal in private without going through your favorite voucher brokering website (to avoid paying a commission to them), that you don’t go along with it. You want the guarantee that they give you.

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