Bring on the Last Minute Discounts with DealOn

Looking for local, last minute discounts? DealOn can save you up to 85% on restaurants, spas, sporting events and other products and services in your city. That’s a big savings and it’s sure worth checking out. DealOn, a social buying site, currently offers daily discounts in 11 cities nationwide. Sign up and take advantage of DealOn’s last minute discounts if you live in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco or Washington, DC.

Kat and I often refer to Groupon, a similar site that provides daily deals in many more cities, including the NYC borough of Brooklyn where we live. Back in October, after discovering Groupon, Kat blogged enthusiastically about saving money on spa treatments. Actually, we’ve used Groupon for discounted activities that are a little less superficial, such as last month’s Go Green Expo. We recommend Groupon very highly, but if it’s not available in your area, try DealOn.

In fact, if you can, sign up for both social buying sites. Get your Groupon; get your DealOn. There’s no such thing as too many last minute discounts.

The two programs are comparable, but appear to have a fundamental difference — set price vs. target price. With Groupon, the discounted price is set. A good number of buyers ensures Groupon’s success (and better, cheaper deals down the road) but doesn’t affect the price of that day’s deal. DealOn, however, gives a starting price and a target price. The more buyers who join in on the last minute deal, the lower the price goes. If the target hasn’t been reached by midnight, the lowest price reached is what everyone pays.

The two sites are also alike because social networking plays a role. Both DealOn and Groupon are social buying sites. They’re promoted on Twitter and Facebook. Both offer rewards for referring a friend. It would seem, though, that there’s more pressure to spread the word about DealOn deals to get the price lower. Is this a better marketing strategy than Groupon? Perhaps. (FYI, Groupon is now worth a billion dollars, so it’s difficult to say they’re doing anything wrong!)

All I know is that Kat and I love social buying sites and collective bargaining power. Groupon is awesome, so we’re going to try our luck with DealOn. Why not? It’s a great concept. Of course, we’ll give our feedback later and we welcome your comments, especially if you’re a DealOn user. If you’re familiar with other social buying sites, let us know about those, as well. In the meantime, bring on the last minute discounts!