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The daily-deals sites that offer limited-time discounts at retailers, restaurants and other businesses can save you a lot of money, some more than others.
Sites such as Groupon.com and Eversave.com offer daily bargains at a variety of businesses and on a variety of items, including groceries, restaurant meals, museum memberships, books, toys, high-end apparel and jewelry — even piano and karate lessons.
But as with any type of deal, if you don't pay close attention, you can actually lose money.
Here's how these sites work. Consumers sign up to a specific site, such as LivingSocial.com, by providing an email address. They receive emails daily, sometimes even more frequently, with limited-time offers that can be purchased with a credit card.
Once a consumer makes a purchase, they'll receive a gift certificate that's good at a specific business, either in-store or online.
Daily-deals sites have grown in recent years as businesses have tried to find new ways to get recession-weary consumers to open their pocketbooks.
Craig Elston, a senior vice president at the marketing and research company Integer Group, says the sites and their limited-time offers are examples of "psychological pricing." They give a "sense of exclusivity and urgency to get the deal, or otherwise you'll miss out."
Because these deals have expiration dates, you are out of the money if you don't use them in time. I purchased a certificate to a local coffee shop from a daily deals site several months ago and neglected to use it before it expired. I lost the $5 that I paid for the certificate, which was worth $10 in food and drink at the shop.
Other things to keep in mind:
Use your offer sooner than later because ... • In addition to the expiration issue, some businesses featured on daily deals sites have gone out of business. If this happens, the site that sold the gift certificate may or may not refund your money.
Don't store your credit card information • Most sites allow you to keep that information on file for future purchases, but given all the security breaches these days, I wouldn't do it.
Don't jump on every deal • Know that daily deals sites are designed to make you want to spend your money. Take time to research whether the deal is worth your time.
Read the fine print • Some offers for online merchants don't allow you to apply the certificate amount to shipping or taxes. At service-oriented establishments, gratuity is not included. And in many cases, you won't be able to combine your certificate with any discounts or other offers.
"A lot of people don't realize there's often a one-per-table rule" at restaurants, said Emily Hill, a fan of daily-deals sites who blogs at http://www.isthisREALLYmylife.com. In other words, most restaurants allow you to use only one coupon or other offer per table, even if you request separate checks. "Most restaurants will stick to that rule."
Read reviews before you buy • "If it's a place I haven't heard of, I will read reviews first," Hill said. "There are some [offers] I haven't purchased because the reviews weren't so great." She goes to sites such as Yelp.com and UrbanSpoon.com, and even does Web searches for reviews of restaurants before buying.
Although these sites are cool, don't abandon old-fashioned coupons altogether. Companies release a variety of coupons on their Web pages, in the newspaper, through direct mail and other avenues. Some of these offers can rival or even beat those found on daily-deals sites. And you won't have to pay for the offer up front.
Lesley Mitchell writes One Cheap Chick in daily blog form at blogs.sltrib.com/cheap
USA TODAY contributed to this story.
Twitter: @cheapchick
Facebook.com/onecheapchick Websites galore for daily deals
O Sign up for bargains at Utah restaurants, entertainment venues and other businesses at any of the following and you'll be notified of offers on a day-to-day basis:
Groupon.com/salt-lake-city• Features daily offers for Salt Lake-area businesses. There's also Groupon.com/Ogden for deals in the Weber County area.
Godealgo.com • This site has offers for Davis and Weber counties residents.
Eversave.com/salt-lake-city • Although a local page, the offers are only for online merchants on some days.
Deals.mamapedia.com/salt-lake-city • Doesn't have a lot of local deals, but it often has some good online offers.
Halfpriceutah.com • This new Utah-focused site features discount offers for a variety of merchants.
SLCDailyDeal.com • The Daily Deal has Utah-specific offers.
LivingSocial.com • This site has a Salt Lake City presence. Deals vary.
Nomorerack.com • More high-end in flavor than the other sites, it features several deals daily.
Screamindailydeals.com • Has regular offers for different areas of the state.
Ruelala.com • Features high-end offers.
CityDeals.com • Purchase certificates good at local restaurants and other businesses at a discount. Instead of one or a few daily deals, CityDeals.com lists dozens of offers that are good while supplies last. Site has "flash sales," typically for only several hours at a time, that provide extra savings.