save smart

Forget Groupon: Daily deal sites worth keeping In your inbox

Scoutmob's map
Morgan's Deals

Every morning I wake up to 50 emails in my inbox. I cross my fingers that one of those emails is from the New York Times telling me how sexy they think I am, or from Jeff Goldblum. They never are. It's always the same exact 50 emails — all daily deal notifications.

Some of them I signed up for, some of them I have no idea how I got on their mailing list. Needless to say, daily deal emails can really crowd up your inbox. If you're just about to write off the whole industry — wait. Here are a few must check out sites that are worth getting emails from.

Scoutmob

If you haven't downloaded this app yet, do it now! You'll be wondering why you haven't done it sooner. Scoutmob features 50 percent off deals to some of your favorite businesses for free. Yes, you heard right: No $5 to get $10 off garbage. What makes Scoutmob especially cool is that they curate their offers by selecting some of Austin's creme de la creme of businesses. Check out current deals from Bird's Barbershop, Papi Tino's, Frank and Angie's and Opal Divine's. If you're not into apps, you can get Scoutmob's deals the traditional way by subscribing to their emails.

Localiter

Localiter offers traditional local daily deals that are honored once a certain number are sold (which is most of the time). Founded in Austin, Texas, this daily deal site offers the extra bonus of a local Q+A interview with the business they're featuring. That's why, instead of some copywriter from another city Googling a business in Austin they've never even heard of, you have a real insider's view of your deals at Localiter.

Google Offers

Yes, it often feels like Google is becoming Big Brother, but at least they offer some really awesome daily deals. Recent and past deals include Frank, Alamo Drafthouse and Spiderhouse. Google Offers prides itself on snagging some of Austin's hottest businesses. Similar to Groupon, Google Offers has a wide range of deals from food, automative, beauty and recreational, with a dozen or more deals available at one time.

Morgan's Deals

In the same vein as Localiter, Morgan's Deals is an Austin-based, family-owned and operated daily deal site that aims to "provide excellent deals that benefit both customer and merchant alike." Morgan's Deals offers a diverse selection of deals all hand-picked by the founders' daughter, Morgan! Nothing like keeping it local and in the fam.

unspecified

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.

save smart

Forget Groupon: Daily deal sites worth keeping In your inbox

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

These 9 Austin restaurants will be open for Christmas Eve or Day 2024

Ring in 2025 at these 13 top Austin-area New Year's Eve events

Vespaio-trained chef serves venison from trailer at Austin's Sign Bar