Deep Discounts, If You Have a Big Enough Group

A Web site that offers two burgers for the price of one one day and more than 50 percent off a facial the next has come to Connecticut and it’s expanding.

Groupon.com has been around in Hartford since August and already had 65,000 subscribers in less than two months. It just came to Fairfield County in October and 8,000 people have already signed up.

"The response has been kind of overwhelming in Hartford. It's been exciting though," Groupon.com's marketing manager, Julie Mossler, said. "Groupon is a daily deal website that offers the best things to do in your neighborhood. The whole idea is that you work together with a group to get a great discount."

So here's how it works:

Go to www.groupon.com and select Hartford or Fairfield County, depending on where you live.

Enter your email address and sign up for the daily deal -- an email that features a special coupon offer from a local business.

"We've had everything from skydiving to really great spa packages that are 80 percent off, foreign language classes, dance classes, pretty much anything that gets you to go out and do something you wouldn't normally do," Mossler said.

But there's a reason the website is called Groupon.com. Even if you want a deal, you won't get it unless a big enough group signs on too. You're encouraged to forward the e-mail to your friends so they sign up, and you can get your Groupon!

The burger restaurant Plan B was the first business featured on Groupon.com when the site came to Connecticut.

"The response was great," Lena DiGenti, of Plan B, said.

The deal was $16 worth of food and drink for $8. To get it, 25 people had to sign up.

The response was more than 50 times that, with more than 1,400 Groupons sold.

"To be able to utilize that to bring people in who might not be able to go out to eat as often in this economy was a wonderful experience for us," DiGenti said.

Plan B server Natalie Gandres is now a Groupon groupie.

"I have it on my phone, so every day I go on in the morning, because sometimes when it's the end of the day, when it's a really good deal, it's all sold out already, so I try to check in the morning to see if I could get it," Gandres said.

With every deal you buy, you get Groupon bucks.

"You are rewarded for the more that you buy and the way that you interact with the site," said Mossler.

Refer people from your group and you're a step closer to another Groupon.

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