LivingSocial
Skip
Confidence: Medium
Only consider it for a cheap local deal you can redeem immediately and afford to lose if something goes wrong.
New check
Comparison
LivingSocial vs Groupon
LivingSocial lands on Skip, and Groupon lands on Depends.
Groupon
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Fine for cheap, low-stakes local deals if you verify the merchant directly first.
| Compare | LivingSocial | Groupon |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Skip | Depends |
| Best for | Cheap, redeem-immediately local deals | Discount hunters for local services |
| Who it's not for | Anyone who can't afford a lost order | Time-sensitive bookings: travel, events, appointments |
| Privacy | Major 2013 breach exposed 50M+ accounts; no newer incidents found in reviewed sources.² | Mixed: 2016 account-takeover fraud and an old merchant-app CVE; Groupon claims industry-standard safeguards. |
| Support quality | Complaints about unreachable support and unrefunded orders. | Pervasive refund and customer-service complaints |
| Public sentiment | User sentiment is strongly negative, centered on undelivered orders, voucher redemption problems, and questions about the site's legitimacy.⁴ | Sentiment is sharply split: G2 reviewers like the deals while complaint sites and Reddit are full of refund failures and scam accusations.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | Vouchers expire; merchants and Groupon posts tell buyers to redeem before expiration. | Merchants report unexpected charges and inflated pre-discount prices |
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
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
Sources
- LivingSocial: Deals Up to 80% Offlivingsocial.comofficial
security
security
- LivingSocial Reviews & Complaintsconsumeraffairs.comreview
- Living Social USA Reviewstrustpilot.comreview
review
review
- Groupon buys LivingSocialmashable.comnews
- RIP LivingSocial: The fast rise and slow demise of a daily deals companywashingtonpost.comnews
news
- LivingSocial Complaints (UK & Ireland)help.wowcher.co.ukofficial
- Pilates Studio's Successful LivingSocial Campaignstreetfightmag.comnews
- 29.1K Groupon Reviews - PissedConsumergroupon.pissedconsumer.comreview
- Groupon Reviews & Complaints - ConsumerAffairsconsumeraffairs.comreview
- Groupon Reviews - G2g2.comreview