So, another article in Inquirer out today. If you’re here because of that, thank you! I’m posting the original one (which is slightly a little more.. jokey) than the final edited version here. Go buy pork shoulders and have your fill of porky goodness now!
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My credit card is currently on hiatus. If I could encase it in block of ice the way that Becky Bloomwood did in Confessions of a Shopaholic, I would—but we don’t have space in the freezer.
The thing is, I’m normally a debt-wary person who avoids impulse shopping. Trips to sales are usually planned in advance, with a set budget (okay, maybe I’ve deviated a little) often supplemented by gift certificates. But one text message a few months ago made me discover a whole new world of consumer spending: Groupon sites.
‘Groupon’ actually refers to a brand, locally represented by Beeconomic.com. But people generally use the term to refer to sites such as DealGrocer.com, CashCashPinoy.com, Ensogo.com, and the like. A modern-day version of clip-out coupons, the sites offer discounts or freebies when you purchase a voucher.
But back to the text message that changed my spending habits. Cyrille Soenen, chef of Restaurant Ciçou, sent me a message promoting their tie-up with CashCashPinoy about a foie gras degustation meal with two glasses of wine. It was almost ridiculously priced at P999, a 71-percent markdown from the original price of P3,500. The menu made me weak at the knees: Marbled Terrine de Foie Gras and Unagi, Duck Liver Ravioli in Cream of Mushroom and Truffle Cappuccino, Mini Duck Liver Hamburger, and Chantilly of Duck Liver, Chocolate, and Coffee Pistachio.
After a moment’s hesitation (it takes me ages to decide on buying anything online, even a measly $5 20-gig Gmail account storage extension), I went for it. The meal was satisfactory, although the ala carte steak my brother had was more satisfying than the degustation meal. Still, I was hooked on Groupons.
Anything and everything
I began checking different coupon sites for deals. Hotel rooms, gadgets, tickets, trips around the country, restaurants, spas, clothing stores—everything could be had for a discount. At the start, most of the deals showcased familiar places that I wouldn’t normally visit unless there was a special occasion (Sofitel’s Spiral buffet was marked down at P1,392 from P2,520), then they started raising the stakes. Resorts such as Bellarocca, The Farm, and Discovery Shores offered sizeable discounts, which hundreds of people snapped up almost as soon as they were posted.
It got crazy around Valentine’s; a friend’s husband purchased a scenic helicopter ride to Tagaytay for P15,600 (securing him a spot on the ‘Gee, Thanks For Making Us Look Bad’ list of boyfriends/husbands everywhere), while another took his girlfriend to dinner on a private yacht—with fireworks, no less.
Suddenly, coupons became cool. No longer a clip-and-save activity reserved for soccer moms and grandparents (“Look! 15 percent off on pork shoulders! Let’s head to the nearest grocery superclub and stuff our freezers with piggy goodness.”), it suddenly became common to share deals with friends (“Hey, I got a really great deal on Pilates classes. Thanks to those coupons, I now have abs of steel.”)
Of course, people also began experiencing Groupon fatigue when the number of sites increased, and the deals got boring. There were more discounts for unknown salons and spas, and less of good restaurants and resorts.
Buyer’s remorse
Time.com recently featured an article on “Groupon remorse,” which discusses the quick rise-and-fall sensation that people get when their “What a deal!” high is replaced with “Why did I buy that?” They revealed that a good percentage of coupons aren’t redeemed, and some buyers don’t read the fine print before purchasing something online. “Mind you, it’s in the interests of both the deal sites and the businesses featured for redemption rates to be as low as possible,” writer Brad Tuttle says. “That’s money earned for no services rendered whatsoever.”
Online coupon sites operate on the same excitement-generating marketing scheme as budget flight sales and limited edition products. It’s the inner competitiveness of people—squirming to get ahead of others for the best buys—that drive them to purchase discounts for items that they or may not need (or even want) just because they’re getting a good deal.
The last purchase that I made on a coupon site was for a buffet dinner for two at a high-end restaurant, only to later realize that its validity was limited to the whole of Lent—coincidentally, just when I decided to give up meat, sweets, and alcohol. I’ll probably pass them on to my meat-loving brother and boyfriend, and chalk it up to experience lest I start depleting my graduate school fund on more expensive meals. Unless, of course, they start putting grad school tuition on discount. Then I’ll be the first to line up, credit card at the ready.
