The Deal with Deals—A New Movement?

By Gilmarie Brioso on July 13, 2012

Recently a deal on Groupon.com promised lucky buyers a unique name for their child upon birth. The site stated, “Groupon will relieve you of the burden of naming your baby by bestowing a specially selected, custom first name upon your infant son or daughter.” Over seven people have purchased the deal.

Sometimes, all it takes is the bright, bold “SAVE” to drive us into buying outrageous bargains. But I wonder, does Groupon actually help its customers save money? What about for us poor New York City college students?

Groupon.com guarantees a daily deal on what to see, do or eat in American cities. The idea grew as the solution for the dilemma of city folk: there’s so much to do, but not everyone is aware of their options. The range of choices can be overwhelming. With such variety, the easiest thing to do is go for the familiar. I know that I go to the same coffee shop, Think Coffee on Mercer Street, religiously. As a result, New Yorkers miss out on the fun things the city has to offer.

CollegeBudget.com is another site that offers great deals. However, this site caters specifically to college students. They “[seek] to revolutionize student discounts.” Driven by the idea of genuinely changing the costs associated with being a student, College Budget focuses on purchases such as textbooks and loans, saving students much money. College Budget also provides discounts on clothes, food and electronics.

The Formula

  1. Students check their email, Facebook or Twitter feeds for daily discounts from local businesses.
  2. Customers are urged to “Share It,” by passing along deals, broadcasting them throughout their social networks.
  3. Students print the voucher/deal code or bring it up on a mobile device, present it at the business and obtain their rewards.

 

Although for everyone, these sites support college students in certain ways.

Students are asked to disclose their interests along with information such as zip code, gender and age, which will make sure relevant deals are seen. Such a deal would be an online foreign language course for only $20. Originally valued at $100, this deal saves students $80, perfect for the business student obtaining a minor in Chinese to earn him/her international acclaim.

 

College students are assisted in three other ways: with food, fashion and fun.

Food

$25 worth of seafood and drinks at Grilled Fish or $20 worth of food at Asian Station 82nd will satisfy a NYC college student’s insatiable appetite.

Fashion

$75 toward a session at Tribeca Spa of Tranquility or $35 for $130 worth of hair styling tools from NuMe maintains New Yorker college students’ stylish looks.

Fun

55% off bowling for five in Flushing will keep NYC college students entertained.

 

These sites do not only give students the opportunity to explore their city. Students are given a chance to empower the idea of the student discount. With the continual rise in tuition cost, the continual decrease of federal and state aid and the multiple expenses from schoolbooks, supplies and housing, a student can drown in fees and charges. When students shop together through these sites, they reinforce the need for student discounts.

CollegeBudget.com even claims, “With enough support, we aim to even collectively drive down the costs of tuition!” A daring goal for sure, but this sounds like the start a revolution. With accomplishments such as Occupy Wall Street, movements are not new to NYC students. I’m sure the deal with deals will catch on.

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