Groupon
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Fine for cheap, low-stakes local deals if you verify the merchant directly first.
New check
Comparison
Groupon vs LivingSocial
Groupon lands on Depends, and LivingSocial lands on Skip.
LivingSocial
Skip
Confidence: Medium
Only consider it for a cheap local deal you can redeem immediately and afford to lose if something goes wrong.
| Compare | Groupon | LivingSocial |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Skip |
| Best for | Discount hunters for local services | Cheap, redeem-immediately local deals |
| Who it's not for | Time-sensitive bookings: travel, events, appointments | Anyone who can't afford a lost order |
| Privacy | Mixed: 2016 account-takeover fraud and an old merchant-app CVE; Groupon claims industry-standard safeguards.⁵ | Major 2013 breach exposed 50M+ accounts; no newer incidents found in reviewed sources.12 |
| Support quality | Pervasive refund and customer-service complaints | Complaints about unreachable support and unrefunded orders. |
| Public sentiment | Sentiment is sharply split: G2 reviewers like the deals while complaint sites and Reddit are full of refund failures and scam accusations.¹ | User sentiment is strongly negative, centered on undelivered orders, voucher redemption problems, and questions about the site's legitimacy.14 |
| Biggest gotcha | Merchants report unexpected charges and inflated pre-discount prices⁷ | Vouchers expire; merchants and Groupon posts tell buyers to redeem before expiration. |
Pick Groupon when
- Discount hunters for local services
- Low-stakes purchases (classes, massages, dining)
- Trying new local businesses cheaply
When Groupon is not a fit
- Time-sensitive bookings: travel, events, appointments
- Big-ticket purchases where a failed voucher hurts
- Merchants expecting profitable, loyal customers
- Anyone who may need responsive customer support
Pick LivingSocial when
- Cheap, redeem-immediately local deals
- Risk-tolerant bargain hunters
- Merchants testing discount promos
When LivingSocial is not a fit
- Anyone who can't afford a lost order
- Big-ticket purchases like travel or furniture
- Merchants wanting dependable deal support
- Privacy-conscious shoppers
Sources
- 29.1K Groupon Reviews - PissedConsumergroupon.pissedconsumer.comreview
- Groupon Reviews & Complaints - ConsumerAffairsconsumeraffairs.comreview
- Groupon Reviews - G2g2.comreview
review
- CVE-2012-5809 Detail - NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity
- Reused passwords facilitate Groupon fraud - Bitdefenderbitdefender.comsecurity
- Groupon Official Sitegroupon.comofficial
news
- Groupon Case Study - FCM Travelfcmtravel.comnews
- LivingSocial: Deals Up to 80% Offlivingsocial.comofficial
security
security
- LivingSocial Reviews & Complaintsconsumeraffairs.comreview
- Living Social USA Reviewstrustpilot.comreview
review