GROUP BUYING: I'M NOT AN ADDICT.. THAT'S A LIE

     Ok.. first off, before I start sounding defensive, as food blogger, you need to understand that I'm not earning a single cent from this my site, therefore everything you see before you is the work of pure passion. That being said, I'm also not exactly Mr. Moneybags like Warren Buffet either, (although I have to admit, that is an awesome last name). Don't get me wrong.. I do make a decent living, especially since we try to live within our means. I don't have very many fancy gadgets and all that. I never had a PSP, my cell phone is two years old (and i found out if I sell it in greenbelt, I can get a measly P3,500 for it), and I drive Rina's old (but still servicable) 1994 Lancer. The only jewelry you'll find on me is my wedding ring, which is fine because I really have a strong dislike for wearing watches and necklaces. 




       It's a good thing eating out once a week has been part of our budget for quite sometime now, but with a baby on the way and a house to maintain, I won't lie to you, It's not always easy. But here's the thing.. My blog makes me happy.. it's my therapy.. my escape from the stress of the Real World, so I'm not giving it up, no matter what. If I need to start blogging about BBQ stands in my village streets, I'd probably do that (but I hope it will never come to that) Sure, I may slowed down a bit with the posts to stretch it out, and post perhaps once a week to keep up, but to me, that's fine. (I used to post thrice a week, then I changed it to twice a week, and no I'm down to once a week, but that's more because of time constraints and sheer laziness than anything else)


      For a few years now, I set at least one day of the weekend for what I call a "Rina Day" (I take Rina out on a date).And since my beautiful wife loves to chronicle our food adventures, "Rina day" is actually one of the factors that helped me get started with my blog in the first place. 


    Some time in October, Rina's friend, Zee (A fellow foodie that has given Rina and I numerous suggestions for places to go check out.. and they've all so far been awesome), alerted Rina about the website Cash Cash Pinoy (www.cashcashpinoy.com). Cash Cash Pinoy is a "Group Buying" site, that has become popular here and in the States. I actually first heard about it on "The Today Show", and was pleased to see that there was one here as well. 

    Rina saw they had a deal for the legendary Spiral Buffet at Sofitel, and she 

really couldn't resist. With a deal like "Pay only P1,160 instead of P2,320 (50% discount), I couldn't really blame her. I bought a couple of those vouchers, and we eventually used them for our "Mr. Myfoodtrip" celebration. 

    After that, I was hooked. 

    After that, I've bought a couple of more deals from Cash Cash Pinoy, including a voucher for Wingman, and one more for an upcoming post. (For "suspense" purposes, I want to refrain from naming the restaurants I'll be going to, but if your curiousity is getting the better of you, there's a pic of the vouchers on the top)  Ever since then, I've been on the lookout for group buying sites, and I've purchased quite a few vouchers from them, making my food adventures a little easier on the wallet. 


     But Group Buying sites aren't just about food either. From Spa Packages, Travel tours, to gadgets, and even Pole Dancing classes (The arrow of my mouse hovered above the "buy now" option before I came to my senses) are not spared from these sites. I'm very particular to sites that use Paypal, just for safety reasons. There are a lot of weirdos on the net, and you can never be too sure. 


Here are some of the sites I watch out for:




   

www.cashcashpinoy.com

     I've purchased Three vouchers from them and I've used two, and I never had any problems with their site. I do find their new layout a bit more cluttered than their old one, but since they've been expanding their "products", I think they just revamped in order to give their other deals more exposure. Personally, Cash Cash Pinoy is really one of the group buying sites that I constantly keep a watch for, because their deals are usually along my lines, "taste wise". Even my officemate Chi purchased a travel package and had no problems, even with her bookings. Vouchers were emailed within an hour of purchase. The fact that they accept JCB is a nice touch as well!


Payment Methods:  

                            
            1) Paypal


            2) Credit Cards: Mastercard, Visa, American Express,  


            3) Over The Counter: BPI, BDO, Metro Bank, Megalink, LBC, G-Cash

http://www.beeconomic.com.ph/

       Though Cash Cash Pinoy may have been the first group buying site I was introduced to, I've bought the most vouchers from Be Economic Groupon. I like how their site has just one major deal featured in the front page, and all other deals on the side bar. Their very active facebook page features a lot of interaction from their moderators, and they some times have "Happy Hour games" about the members of their staff in the afternoon. Questions range from, "What's our account executive wearing around his neck?".. or "What's the height of our finance manager" or something like that. The winner gets a surprise from them. Vouchers take a little bit longer than Cash Cash Pinoy to process, but you DO get them after a couple of hours or so.


        Considering I've bought Seven Vouchers from them already, I think it's safe to say that, like Cash Cash Pinoy, they got my tasted in food pegged. 

Payment Methods:  

                            

            1) Paypal

            2) Credit Cards: Mastercard, Visa

            3) Over The Counter: Bancnet, G-Cash

www.ensogo.com.ph

    I have purchased one voucher from Ensogo already, but have yet to use it. After purchasing my voucher, I received an email confirming my order, yet the voucher wasn't attached to the email. I wrote them regarding my concern, and they got back to me right away on what bonehead me was doing wrong (I'm supposed to download the voucher from my "Ensogo Account".. whoops). What I like about Ensogo is that, their deals seem to go on longer than the other sites. Right now, the countdown to one of their deals is at 133 hours.. the others usually give two or three days max (I actually get pressured with that darn countdown). Perhaps my only minor comment about their site would be, they should use crisper photos, because often, the pictures they use (especially in the front page) don't really look all the visually appealing. 


     I haven't used it yet, but its nice to know that when I do, and should I run into any problems, I can always call my friend Abby (who works there) to complain. 


    Oh and in case you're wondering, "Ensogo" stands for "Entertain, Socialize, Go" (Unless Abby was joking me)

Payment Methods:  

                            

            1) Paypal

            2) Credit Cards: Mastercard, Visa, American Express,  

            3) Bancnet Online debit: PesoPay (First time I've heard of that)

            4) Pay at Ensogo Office

           5) Bank Transfer: BPI, BDO, Metro Bank

            

www.twangoo.com

    Like Ensogo, I've only purchased one voucher from Twangoo. But unlike Ensogo, the choices of Twangoo are rather limited. In fact, as of this writing, the only deals you can get from Twangoo is for overnight accommodations for a  resort hotel in Batangas, and a Teeth Cleaning "Side deal". I had no problems receiving or using the voucher. 

Payment Methods:  

                            

            1) Paypal

            2) Credit Cards: Mastercard, Visa, American Express

https://www.dealgrocer.com/

        I've only purchased one voucher from Deal Grocer and have yet to use it. To me, they have the classiest looking webpage among all the other group buying sites. They offer deals a little bit more expensive than the others, and they don't have that many food choices. However, deal grocer will always have a special place in my heart because they were the first group buying site I saw that used a review of mine for their site for their Mochiko deal! 

       The sister of my friend, the lovely Karen, was the one that pointed it out to her, who in turn told me. It was a pleasant surprise, but I do wish they had told me in advance, (for no other reason than, so I could have bragged about it sooner hehe). I was actually really touched that they found me credible enough to use my review (if only they knew.. hehe). 


     Another minor draw back of Deal Grocer though, like some other sites I've seen, is that you have to register before you can actually SEE the deals. Most sites allow you to view the deals, but you need to sign up to purchase, which makes perfect sense. 


Payment Methods:  

            1) Paypal

            2) Credit Cards: Mastercard, Visa, American Express

            3) Bank Deposit: BPI, BDO

www.pakyaw.com.ph

           I've signed up already for Pakyaw.com.ph but i haven't bought anything from them yet. I was thisclose to buying vouchers for their Lolo Dad's and Momo deal, but as of this writing, they only offer "PayEasy". I've been exchanging facebook msgs with  Doreen, their Online Marketing Manager, and she told me that they'll be utilizing PayPal very soon, so i'm watching out for that. Jel, A dear friend of mine works here as well, so i'm sure this place is legit! As of this writing, they don't have any food deals, but I hope they can offer the Momo deal again!


Payment Methods (Updated):  


          1) PayEasy


          2) Credit Cards: Visa, Mastercard, Amex and JBC 


          3) Over The Counter: Chinabank, Metrobank, Unionbank, BDO, BPI, PNB, 
                                        UCPB and Landbank.
                                        
         4) Also accepting: Megalink debit cards, Gcash, Western Union,   
                                   Cebuana and LBC.




          5) Coming Soon: Paypal* (waiting for that!)




     Other sites that I've heard of but have yet to purchase any deals from them, are Metro Deal, Buyanihan, and Deal Dozen. 


      Actually I found another blog that has done a rather extensive study on Group Buying Sites. I'm not comfy ripping off the info that he undoubtedly researched himself and posting it here, so if you want a more comprehensive listing, it would be best to visit his blog: 


http://fitzvillafuerte.com/list-of-group-buying-websites-in-the-philippines.html






****************UPDATE*************


       
            My Buddy Eric (fellow foodie and group buying addict) gave me a heads up on another site that compiles current deals so you get to see everything available, all in one page!


Check out:            http://ph-deals.com/


Thanks dude!!


***************** UPDATE OF THE UPDATE*************


          Thank you to the lovely Lynne of www.lynne-enroute.com for the heads up on another group buying compilation site: http://frugalpanda.ph/ !

        If you find any deals, feel free to let me know!

            Happy Buying!