Groupon, have you tried it, what are your thoughts & opinions please?
- Thread starter glitz and glam
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KGB has been a nightmare for us in the salon. We ran a deal for a hair offer. 3 times the date got changed. First time it was the rep who was coming in for an appointment with me and she told us it was getting changed, this was 2 days before it was meant to be going on. The reason for the delay was "theres another deal that has came up thats more important to go on asap". We were not ammused. Second wasnt given a reason just told the deal wasnt going on the day it was meant to it would be the following week. Third told same again. Then it went on and nobody told us, first we knew is when we got a call that morning from someone who had bought it and wanted to book in!
I had also arranged a deal the same time the rep came in, but never said a date I wanted just said I would contact them nearer the time I wanted the deal on.
Get an email one day few weeks later to say this is a copy of your deal going on tomorrow- I called them straight away to say I didnt say when I wanted it on!
Not very professional at all!
We wont be using kgb again! Nor will we be using kgb. There is another local site to us we have used twice now and love it! Great response from it, the rep is fantastic and is now a regular client of mine and she sends her friends to me also!
I had also arranged a deal the same time the rep came in, but never said a date I wanted just said I would contact them nearer the time I wanted the deal on.
Get an email one day few weeks later to say this is a copy of your deal going on tomorrow- I called them straight away to say I didnt say when I wanted it on!
Not very professional at all!
We wont be using kgb again! Nor will we be using kgb. There is another local site to us we have used twice now and love it! Great response from it, the rep is fantastic and is now a regular client of mine and she sends her friends to me also!
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thought i'd post on here instead of starting a knew groupon thread. My friend introduced me to groupon because she uses it all the time, i went on and they had a set of semi permanent eyelashes for £25 instead of £125, i've been interested in doing a course on them for ages but all my clients who have had them said they weren't happy with the result, they fell out quickly, and just in general wouldnt bother again, so i thought great! i can pay £25 to have my lashes done to test them out and see if its worth doing the course, also they offer a 20% off the training course if you buy the voucher... quids in... or not! i bought the voucher back in april so fair enough left it a little long to have them done but had my eyes lasered and wasnt aloud to have them in, but the vouchers valid till 30th july anyway, so i phoned today and asked if i could book an appointment, i'm self employed and my diary is quite quiet at the moment for july so i said... just give me any appointment, i'm not bothered what date, day or time... 'well we've stopped taking groupon bookings because we're fully booked' hes going to phone me back tomorrow and tell me what days hes actually got available but hes warned me i'm most likely not going to be able to book in. Now i understand salons loose out on alot of money but tough, if you take part in groupon then thats what you risk. yes maybe my fault for waiting so long to book but didnt expect to have complications with my eyes. i've already paid groupon my £25, do you think i have anyway of getting it back?
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thought i'd post on here instead of starting a knew groupon thread. My friend introduced me to groupon because she uses it all the time, i went on and they had a set of semi permanent eyelashes for £25 instead of £125, i've been interested in doing a course on them for ages but all my clients who have had them said they weren't happy with the result, they fell out quickly, and just in general wouldnt bother again, so i thought great! i can pay £25 to have my lashes done to test them out and see if its worth doing the course, also they offer a 20% off the training course if you buy the voucher... quids in... or not! i bought the voucher back in april so fair enough left it a little long to have them done but had my eyes lasered and wasnt aloud to have them in, but the vouchers valid till 30th july anyway, so i phoned today and asked if i could book an appointment, i'm self employed and my diary is quite quiet at the moment for july so i said... just give me any appointment, i'm not bothered what date, day or time... 'well we've stopped taking groupon bookings because we're fully booked' hes going to phone me back tomorrow and tell me what days hes actually got available but hes warned me i'm most likely not going to be able to book in. Now i understand salons loose out on alot of money but tough, if you take part in groupon then thats what you risk. yes maybe my fault for waiting so long to book but didnt expect to have complications with my eyes. i've already paid groupon my £25, do you think i have anyway of getting it back?
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fozzyo
Well-Known Member
Take it up directly with Groupon.
The issue is that salons don't limit the number of vouchers sold so they get over run. And of course Groupon don't really tell them this - they want their money!
Mat
The issue is that salons don't limit the number of vouchers sold so they get over run. And of course Groupon don't really tell them this - they want their money!
Mat
perfect, thanks, i'm going to wait till tomorrow and see what this salon phone me back and say, and then i'm going straight to groupon! x
Ammej85
Well-Known Member
This happened with someone I know, they had a hair app booked and the salon rang them as they had 2 staff members quit or something.
Basically Groupon ended up giving her a credit to her Groupon account to spend on something else.
If you kick up enough of a stink though im sure you should be able to get it back on your card.
But HOPEFULLY they can book you in
And let us know what the lashes are like, or even better pop a photo up! x
This happened with someone I know, they had a hair app booked and the salon rang them as they had 2 staff members quit or something.
Basically Groupon ended up giving her a credit to her Groupon account to spend on something else.
If you kick up enough of a stink though im sure you should be able to get it back on your card.
But HOPEFULLY they can book you in
And let us know what the lashes are like, or even better pop a photo up! x
thanks hun, although its a pain its reasuring knowing it happened to your friend and she got it sorted, i'm hoping they can book me in because i really want them done as a trial! i will def pop a pic up if i manage to get them done, fingers crossed!
Blue Rose
Well-Known Member
I purchased a voucher last night for a Hot Stone Massage. £22 instead of £58. Will report back when I've had it done...
Slightly off track but apart from Groupon, Living Social & KGB, what other deal sites are there?
Am quite interested in doing my own offer and want to compare as many sites as possible.
Slightly off track but apart from Groupon, Living Social & KGB, what other deal sites are there?
Am quite interested in doing my own offer and want to compare as many sites as possible.
TracyS
Well-Known Member
I got a call from goodypass.com today. Supposedly supported by Kate Garraway and "other celebrities". Terms on the face of it seemed better than KGB/Groupon etc but didn't delve into too much detail as of yet.
Might investigate further, just for research purposes (and being nosey!)
Might investigate further, just for research purposes (and being nosey!)
rock'n roller
Active Member
Hi all.. Just adding my thots to this thread. I was completely against these deals at the beginning as I Thot if other professions ie lawyers, private doctors etc dont discount their work then why should I. After all I trained just about as long as them and as a professional I think my expertise are worth the money I charge! However.... My salon has now been opened 2 yrs and although the hair salon is busy I feel that the beauty salon needed put on the map, so to speak. My deal with KGB went live last Monday and when It closed on sun nite I had sold 423 spray tans. now don't get me wrong it stuck in my throat dropping the price from 20 to 6 and then they take there 35% from it but it was a far better deal than groupon. After some Thot I put the deal on our Facebook page as I reckon 1- our regular clients deserve the deal too and 2- I would get the whole 6 pounds for it.
When the clients call for app we offer them 20% off any other beauty service on the day and when they leave we give them a voucher to get there Nxt tan for £10. Last wk was a fantastic week and this week is looking the same. The expiry for the KGB tan is 3 months from the deal ending and our follow up tan is til the end of that month.
I am more than delighted with how it has gone so far but am unsure Hiw it would work with the logistics of mobile work.
Also I have learned that the % commission is negotiable so make sure u do that because I will be next time
When the clients call for app we offer them 20% off any other beauty service on the day and when they leave we give them a voucher to get there Nxt tan for £10. Last wk was a fantastic week and this week is looking the same. The expiry for the KGB tan is 3 months from the deal ending and our follow up tan is til the end of that month.
I am more than delighted with how it has gone so far but am unsure Hiw it would work with the logistics of mobile work.
Also I have learned that the % commission is negotiable so make sure u do that because I will be next time
Bluerinse
Well-Known Member
I'm not keen on groupon maybe because the salon I'm in is using it to gain money not clientele and we have to use select few colours for everyone to reduce the outgoing cost!!!! I hate it, hate having to compromise my work but my job at the end of re day keeps a roof over my head
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Suzanne1118
Well-Known Member
I done grouponand found it great. Bare inmind,I had only opened a few months prior so waslooking for any advertising! I think keep it small and not time consuming and you'llbe fine. I usually charge 15 for eyebrow wax and I done it for 5, then on the day the clients use their voucher they get 20% discount off further waxing.If they rebook before leaving the salon for 4-6weeks after, they get 10% discount off all waxing (I do this anyway to encourage clientsto get waxed regularly). By the time they've come those few times, they get comfortable with you and want to stay! I kept a lot of my clients this way but your always going to get the bargin hunters! I sold 450 vouchers altogether
One thing I willsay is I wont be going back with them because they take more than ther others. 50% and then VAT. Most others will take 30%.
The other thing is the vouchers that arnt used, groupon keepsthe full profit, most of the others give them to you.
I think its great for anyone starting up business or to make quite times busy! (If you aint busy you have all the time in the world!) :hug:
One thing I willsay is I wont be going back with them because they take more than ther others. 50% and then VAT. Most others will take 30%.
The other thing is the vouchers that arnt used, groupon keepsthe full profit, most of the others give them to you.
I think its great for anyone starting up business or to make quite times busy! (If you aint busy you have all the time in the world!) :hug:
Hidden Mandy
Well-Known Member
I'm a newly opened salon and the diary is a bit quiet so I was thinking of doing a Groupon, or Living Social, just to get people in the door and money in the bank. I'm going to contact others such as Wahanda, Wowcher, KGB, and Key 103 Deals (this is a local radio station) so once I've got info from them I'll post on here to see how they compare to Groupon / Living Social.
Tracy_dane
Well-Known Member
I think after reading the threads it must be a great way to advertise locally but as a small business it just wouldnt work for me. No way could I pay my overheads with such a low hourly rate coming in, although that said Im sure if I had a large salon with lots of staff that were standing around with not many clients it would be great extra revenue to pay their wages and keep the salon busy with new clients even if they are non returners. Great thread though ..I have enjoyed reading it
Hi Guys
This is a really interesting thread. I just had a call from Groupon last night. They wanted me to do a promo for my spray tanning. I lowered my price at the beginning of the year as my winter was so bad, and now am going to put the price back up due to VAT and product increase. Even with such a small increase, I told him I couldn't see how I would cover my costs! He said he was going to speak to his boss and come back to me with a better deal. This site is so fantastic for knowledge and advice thanks!!! Having written down some hints and other sites I may be able to get a better deal! I did pull him over the hot coals poor love! I think offering our existing clients the same deal is a really good idea too. Just not sure if its worth doing, but as I am home based its maybe worth a try to see? The exposure would be phenomenal though. Did anyone do a deal who offered spray tanning? What was the repeat business like?Did you end up covering your costs?
Sarah
This is a really interesting thread. I just had a call from Groupon last night. They wanted me to do a promo for my spray tanning. I lowered my price at the beginning of the year as my winter was so bad, and now am going to put the price back up due to VAT and product increase. Even with such a small increase, I told him I couldn't see how I would cover my costs! He said he was going to speak to his boss and come back to me with a better deal. This site is so fantastic for knowledge and advice thanks!!! Having written down some hints and other sites I may be able to get a better deal! I did pull him over the hot coals poor love! I think offering our existing clients the same deal is a really good idea too. Just not sure if its worth doing, but as I am home based its maybe worth a try to see? The exposure would be phenomenal though. Did anyone do a deal who offered spray tanning? What was the repeat business like?Did you end up covering your costs?
Sarah
rock'n roller
Active Member
Hi Sarah! It was a spray tan deal that I did but please beware of groupon. This is the 1st deal I have done and I did a bit of research and eventually went with KGB instead. I'll give u the reasons below
1: groupon take 50% commission whereas KGB were 35%
2: with groupon u have to collect the vouchers and send them back before u get paid. KGB pay 50% of what u are due 14 days after the deal ends and the other 50% after 30 days. If the clients buy the deal but dont use it u don't have the voucher to send back and groupon keep the money where as with KGB and possibly others if it's sold u get paid for it.
When the clients came in with the voucher I give them another voucher to get there next tan 1/2 price (which is still a better cost for us than the deal) I also offer 20% of any other beauty service on the day. After they bring back the 2nd voucher (only valid for 3 months) I will give them another voucher for 20% off beauty/hair services and hope that we can keep at least some of them ad clients. I hope this helps with ur decision x
1: groupon take 50% commission whereas KGB were 35%
2: with groupon u have to collect the vouchers and send them back before u get paid. KGB pay 50% of what u are due 14 days after the deal ends and the other 50% after 30 days. If the clients buy the deal but dont use it u don't have the voucher to send back and groupon keep the money where as with KGB and possibly others if it's sold u get paid for it.
When the clients came in with the voucher I give them another voucher to get there next tan 1/2 price (which is still a better cost for us than the deal) I also offer 20% of any other beauty service on the day. After they bring back the 2nd voucher (only valid for 3 months) I will give them another voucher for 20% off beauty/hair services and hope that we can keep at least some of them ad clients. I hope this helps with ur decision x
