Video:Compare Online Coupon Sites

Transcript:Compare Online Coupon Sites

Hi I'm Omar Saad here for About.com and today we're going to take a look at and compare some of the Internet's best coupon companies.

Whether you're looking for a nice affordable night out, a vacation getaway or anything in between, it's never been easier to search out and find the deal you're looking for. Best of all, you can do it in a matter of minutes right from your computer.

Top Online Coupon Sites: Coupons.com

Sites offering printable coupons and coupon codes have existed on the Internet for a number of years. Coupons.com, for example, has long offered visitors the ability to search out and print coupons of their choosing ranging on everything from food shopping to office supplies. Visitors enter their zip code to find coupons in their geographic area.

Another benefit is that you don't need to sign up for a membership to have access to the coupons offered. While Coupons.com offers a quick and convenient way to save money, many of the coupons offered are readily available in mail circulars or from your Sunday paper.

Top Online Coupon Sites: Groupon

While traditional coupon sites are nice, the most exciting and unique deals tend to be found on the newer breed on online coupon companies, sites such as Groupon and Living Social. Groupon, which launched back in 2008, introduced a new way to find deals on the internet. It offers daily deals across a range of goods and services that are focused on a given users local area.

Now it's important to note that the way Groupon works is as unique as the deals they offer. For example if you live in Los Angeles you may login and find that a lounge in your area is having a 50% off special on dinner and drinks. For $40 you could get $80 worth of food and drink. You'll notice that each deal screen has some important information to examine. You'll see the value of the deal, the discount, and what you'll actually pay.

Also listed is the time left to purchase and most importantly, whether or not the deal is on. This is something else that sets Groupon apart from other coupon sites. The deals that Groupon negotiates with local businesses are contingent upon a certain volume of sales. In this case, we can see that there still 10 sales needed for this deal to go live. Whereas in this case, the deal is already on. Obviously if you purchase a deal that does not end up going live, you are not charged for the transaction.

Groupon is easy to sign up for. Simply enter some basic information, confirm your email address, set your geographic location, and your all set.

Top Online Coupon Sites: Living Social

Utilizing a similar concept to that of Groupon, Living Social is another coupon site that offers unique deals across a range of goods and services. You'll notice that as on Groupon, Living Social features a deal of the day along with other deal specific to your geographic location. The deal info screen is also very similar to that of Groupon's, highlighting savings, time left to purchase and the number of deals purchased. One unique feature offered by Living Social focuses on the fact that if you refer and get 3 of your friends to purchase the same deal the you purchased, then your deal is free!

While Groupon does offer local hotel getway deals from time to time, Living Social takes it a step further by offering a number to vacation getaway deals to areas all over the world. Signing up for Living Social is much like doing so for Groupon. Simply provide some basic information and your geographic location and you are all set.

While both Groupon and Living Social offer an ever-changing set of unique and fantastic deals one of the major drawbacks is that there are a limited number of cities that are serviced by the sites. If you happen to live in a geographic area not serviced by either site, you'll be mostly left out in the cold as far as deals go.

Despite some minor drawbacks, the good news is that if you're persistent you should be able to find a way to save money on some of your purchases by using Internet coupon sites.

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