Coupons can be great -- Groupon combines coupons with group discounts. Image: Flickr/barganbri

Combine the best parts of a social network and couponing, and you’ve got Groupon. Part social network, part deal-of-the-day website, Groupon is a way to save some money. Groupon currently serves 40 U.S. cities, with a sister site in Europe. Groupon isn’t the only way to save money with a group, though.

How Groupon works

A “groupon” deal is, in essence, a bulk discount. If a certain number of people sign up for the deal of the day, then everyone gets the discount. If not enough people sign up, then nobody gets the discount. Retailers can treat these like group discounts, and there isn’t much risk. Groupon works because everyone agrees to buy whatever product or service is being offered for that day.

Where you can find a Groupon

There are 40 U.S. “markets” that currently have working Groupon deals. In Europe, MyCityDeal is the “sister” deal to Groupon that works the exact same. Over the next few years, MyCityDeal is going to be entirely merged with Groupon.

Not in a Groupon city?

Groupon is a great service that can help you find a lot of great deals. If you are not lucky enough to be in one of the 40 major citites where Groupon operates, though, you can still get good deals. There are websites similar to Groupon that operate in other cities. If you do not live in a major urban center, deals from Groupon or other websites don’t prove very useful. Try typing “group coupon” with your city in a search engine. Or check with your friends; they may already be set up.

Create your own Groupon

If you want to create your own Groupon situation, then it can be done. Groupon operates on a simple principle — group discounts. If you have something you’d love to get a group discount on, then call the vendor. Find out how many people they’d need to offer a group discount, then go to work. Use your social networks and friends to find out who else might be interested. Once you’ve hit the threshold, buy away!

It appears investors are starting to get hip to the fact that the money nowadays is in saving people money. Groupon, an online service that sends coupons and alerts on discounts to its users, has raised $30 million to expand its business.

Groupon is part coupon service and part social networking site. People can sign  up to receive alerts about deals in their cities and coupons for all types of different businesses. Coupons and discounts are great ways to save money and avoid needing no faxing payday loans.

Who is investing in Groupon?

The Chicago Tribune reports that venture capital firm Accel Partners led the effort to raise the money to invest Groupon. Accel Partners also found investors for Facebook. New Enterprise Associates, which has invested in Groupon before, also helped raise the $30 million.

It’s a good sign in an economy like this for a business to be getting repeat investors. Helping people save money is certainly a very marketable service right now, so businesses that can actually capitalize on the bad economy have got it made. Other businesses and services that help people control debt, refinance mortgages and save money in other ways are also doing well as families all over the U.S. focus on being frugal and getting out of debt.

More about Groupon

Groupon is able to find and connect people with great deals and coupons by getting enough people to sign up for a group discount. Group discounts have been around for ages, but it used to be that people had to rally their friends, family and acquaintances in order to take advantage of them.

Groupon harnessed the Internet’s ability to connect strangers, and that’s how the service was born. In many cases Groupon sends out offers to all the people signed up for the service in a certain city, and if enough people sign up to take advantage of a deal, the whole group can have access to the discount or coupon being offered.