shouldiuse.io

New check

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use LivingSocial?

Deals up to 80% off: travel, events, dining, products - livingsocial.com

Skip. Only consider it for a cheap local deal you can redeem immediately and afford to lose if something goes wrong. Everyone else should book direct with merchants or use Groupon, which owns this brand and rates better.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~45 public sources: news coverage, security reports, G2/Trustpilot/ConsumerAffairs reviews, and Reddit threads. Review snippets were truncated, so user quotes come from post titles.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depthNo feature evidence in sources.
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not disclosed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

Best for

  • Cheap, redeem-immediately local deals
  • Risk-tolerant bargain hunters
  • Merchants testing discount promos

Not for

  • Anyone who can't afford a lost order
  • Big-ticket purchases like travel or furniture
  • Merchants wanting dependable deal support
  • Privacy-conscious shoppers

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Vouchers expire; merchants and Groupon posts tell buyers to redeem before expiration.

high

Some items are drop-shipped from overseas; buyers report multi-week delivery waits.

medium

Users recommend incognito mode, claiming prices increase after repeat visits.

medium

UK and Ireland complaints are handled through Wowcher, not LivingSocial directly.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Advertised deals up to 80% off travel, dining, and events.
  • Small businesses have run successful promotional campaigns on the platform.
  • Still operating under Groupon ownership.

Cons

  • 2013 hack exposed personal data of more than 50 million accounts.
  • ConsumerAffairs pages document fraud allegations and non-delivery complaints.
  • Reddit buyers report orders arriving weeks late or not at all.
  • G2 comparison reviewers rated Groupon more favorably.
  • Fell from $6B valuation to a Groupon-owned sub-brand.

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 12 sources - Major 2013 breach exposed 50M+ accounts; no newer incidents found in reviewed sources.

official x2review x4security x2news x4
  • 2013 data breach, Cyber attackers accessed customer data affecting more than 50 million accounts; all users were forced to reset passwords.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Big discounts, but fulfillment failures erase the value.
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Users advise incognito browsing to dodge price hikes.
  • Feature depth. No feature evidence in sources.
  • Support quality: 1/5. Complaints about unreachable support and unrefunded orders.
  • Security posture: 1/5. 50M-account breach; legacy platform.
  • Up to 80% off Advertised discounts Travel, events, dining, products
  • 50M+ accounts 2013 breach scale Largest daily-deals breach of its era
  • $6B Peak valuation $400M raise circa 2011
  • Groupon-owned Ownership Absorbed after a long decline

Pricing

Not disclosed

Security

Major 2013 breach exposed 50M+ accounts; no newer incidents found in reviewed sources.

  • 2013 data breachCyber attackers accessed customer data affecting more than 50 million accounts; all users were forced to reset passwords.²

What users say

User sentiment is strongly negative, centered on undelivered orders, voucher redemption problems, and questions about the site's legitimacy.

“If you're buying a coupon from LivingSocial, use Incognito”
Reddit, r/Frugal
“is this company living social real I'm put an order in 2 weeks ago today and ...”
Reddit, r/Dublin
“Is the website livingsocial.ie legitimate or a scam. Very low ...”
Reddit, r/ireland

Companies that use it

  • Fairfax Pilates Studios12
Full analysis

Based on ~45 public sources: news coverage, security reports, G2/Trustpilot/ConsumerAffairs reviews, and Reddit threads. Review snippets were truncated, so user quotes come from post titles.

Groupon-owned deals site: 50M-account breach history, widespread non-delivery complaints. Fine for small gambles; book direct instead.

Methodology

Based on ~45 public sources: news coverage, security reports, G2/Trustpilot/ConsumerAffairs reviews, and Reddit threads. Review snippets were truncated, so user quotes come from post titles.

Sources

  1. LivingSocial: Deals Up to 80% Offlivingsocial.com
    official
  2. LivingSocial Hacked, 50M Accounts Affectedpcmag.com
    security
  3. LivingSocial Data Breach Affects Millionscrn.com
    security
  4. LivingSocial Reviews & Complaintsconsumeraffairs.com
    review
  5. Living Social USA Reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  6. Groupon vs. LivingSocial Comparisong2.com
    review
  7. Need help: is this company LivingSocial realreddit.com
    review
  8. Groupon buys LivingSocialmashable.com
    news
  9. RIP LivingSocial: The fast rise and slow demise of a daily deals companywashingtonpost.com
    news
  10. Living Social Raising $400 Million at $6 Billion Valuationallenlatta.com
    news
  11. LivingSocial Complaints (UK & Ireland)help.wowcher.co.uk
    official
  12. Pilates Studio's Successful LivingSocial Campaignstreetfightmag.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.