Out of curiosity, would it be legal to resell a groupon voucher to my friend?

[Habitsus]

Hi,

I want to sell a groupon voucher to my friend but would this be legal?

Thanks,

H

 

[obscure]

What do the Groupon contract/terms and conditions say about resale?

 

[The Resolver]

"5.8 Restrictions: (i) Reproduction, sale, resale or trade of a Voucher is prohibited. Any attempt to carry out any of these will potentially void the Voucher at our discretion...."

In addition they say the vouchers are subject to the trader's terms. Of course the trader may honour even if not in right name - after all they are promotional aids often for new services so why turn any business away? It doesn't matter to their income who was the original buyer. You could sell on subject to a stated condition that you will reimburse if not accepted by the trader and the original voucher is returned to you for reuse by you.

Remember in the UK it is not criminally illegal to resell tickets at any price (even if inflated) so long as not for a football match (hence why it is so bl***y tough trying to buy a big name concert ticket on the phone lines- too many resellers paying teams to hit the phones - when will the arenas use the Olympic model of a ballot).

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Legal Yes but against their T's & C's. You're not going to go to jail for doing it!

 

[Spongebob]

From the Groupon website FAQ's;

Can I buy a Groupon deal as a gift for someone else?
Yes. We communicate with all the businesses that we work with that coupons can be gifted, and unless the fine print specifically states otherwise, gift away!



So they are transferable. So you can sell it.

 

[The Resolver]

Well spotted Spongebob. I have just logged in and notice that there is in fact a 'buy it for a friend' link which when you click states 'all Groupon vouchers are transferable'. Strictly that does not conflict with, and thus invalidate, the t&c which prohibits 'resale' not gifting. But as Spongebob also says:-

"I've used a few Groupon vouchers recently. The buyer's name does not appear on them, and the retailer (or whatever) is not supplied with any personal details.

So they have no idea who bought the deal anyway. "

so there seems to be no practical barrier unless they find out in some other way that the 'giftee' paid a price to you for it. But the retailer will still honour it and only risk is you lose your Groupon account. (they strictly could sue if could prove they sold less vouchers than would otherwise have sold - assuming deal is they get a % - but the'd have to be crazy to waste time and £s on such a claim so only mentioning for completeness of my reply)

Just noticed that the quote for Spongebob above appears in my email from UKBF alerting me to the posting but it does not appear in the Forum message which ends with the Groupon quote. Is this a bug, OWG?

 

[Spongebob]

Just noticed that the quote for Spongebob above appears in my email from UKBF alerting me to the posting but it does not appear in the Forum message which ends with the Groupon quote. Is this a bug, OWG?

That's because I edited my post - clearly you got to see the earlier version.

It struck me after posting my message that I wasn't actually sure whether or not the purchaser's name appears on the Groupon voucher. I've used them in the past but haven't kept any copies to check this out.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't however, and that to all intents and purposes they are fully transferable, in the same way that train tickets always used to be transferable in practice even though they had 'Non Transferable' printed on them.

I haven't taken a train since the British Rail days so have no idea what the situation is currently!

 

[Habitsus]

I'd like to let you know about a great new website in the UK called SellTheDeal.com. Sell The Deal is a daily deal marketplace where people can resell unused deal vouchers and buy vouchers being resold. It's quick to list or buy deals and a great way to say money for both sellers and buyers.