Fashion & Style
Is Homesav the Groupon for home decor?
Homesav is the latest in a boom of new deal-a-day websites. But this time, their offerings are exclusively product-based, offering deep discounts (up to 70% off) on home décor, furniture and accessories. The Toronto-based company entered the market with some good bargains, modern designs and a few growing pains. Does it have staying power? I took it for a test drive and I have my doubts.
It seems like every time I log in to Facebook, the banners ads persuade me to sign up for yet another daily email coupon. I cave every time. Each morning I am greeted with messages from Living Social, Wagjag and Groupon - irresistible markdowns on teeth whitening appointments and zipline adventures and buffet dinners. On one hand, the savings - up to 90% off in some cases - are hard to turn down, but I remind myself that I wouldn't have spent the money in the first case, so I'm not actually saving. So far my credit card hasn't left my wallet. Now, for the purposes of this post (I swear) I am also a member of Homesav.
On my initial attempt to join, I was met with an error message. Twice. Forgiven - the site just launched and glitches are expected. Third time's a charm. Navigating through the site, I find the process and information to be, for the most part, straightforward and user-friendly. The product selection is beautiful, as well. Many of the daily deals are available for 72 hours (rather than the usual 24), which is a good thing - a $1,000 sofa isn't exactly an impulse item.
The site has its issues, however. I am skeptical about some of the suggested retail prices (the supposed pre-discount costs). One particular couch - a Konstead Living Austin Lounger is listed as $870 at regular price and $435 at the "Homesav price". As I type, I am sitting on this identical couch. I purchased it two years ago for $500 (not on sale) at an independent futon shop in the Annex.
Today's deal is a selection of Paddywax brand candles and diffusers. A set of two Eco Pomegranate & Currant soy candles is offered at a discounted price of $25. A Google search netted a few similar deals. On Amazon.com, I could score the very same candles at $12 apiece and with comparable shipping.
Another Kongsted couch is available at a huge discount - it's down 50% from its original $1600 price tag. It's gorgeous, and this time it seems like a steal. However the item is not pictured in the correct fabric. The images show a white leather version, plus a tiny swatch of the grey wool (the upholstery that I would actually be purchasing). Would someone really buy a non-refundable couch on the internet without even seeing an accurate photo? I can't imagine.
While I love that shipping times and costs are transparent at the check-out step, several attempts to add and remove items from the cart resulted in wonky shipping calculations. Yesterday, a couch cost $11.95 to ship, and today the same couch carries a $27.80 ship cost (the third time, it was $62.20). A message on the cart page tells me shipping within Canada is a flat $11.95 for the first item, and $4.95 for additional (excluding furniture). I don't think the shipping is exorbitant, but it depends on the purchase. $12 to ship four cloth napkins, for example, is a tad steep. Whereas, $28 to ship a couch is amazing. Back to the drawing board on the shipping structure, please.
Can Homesav survive in an IKEA world? I don't know. If I can already buy moderately-priced housewares online without making split decisions (sometimes I need more than 72 hours of hemming and hawing), I don't know if I see the value of Homesav. And, I am not entirely convinced that the offers are remarkable enough to compete (are they any better than Homesense?). But, it's a new company and it's Canadian, so I am open to keeping my subscription active for just a little while. I think there may be great deals to be had. My advice for now? Do a bit of Google homework before you buy.
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As someone who had their credit card compromised because I bought the GAP voucher during the few minute window when SSL was somehow disabled, I'm not thrilled with Groupon.
This site is much more similar to Gilt Group than Groupon. Groupon is a Daily Deal site (although the term is becoming ever so flexible lately http://goo.gl/4wAyL).
The key here is for Homesav to offer wicked deals, if they limit it to 1 deal a day then they can offer better deals because the focus is solely on that 1 vendor. Don't become an online HomeSense.
Its really interesting to see these niche group buying site pop up. We have one for web designers (might buy), one for moms, and even one for the toronto path (path deals). I'm really interested in seeing how well they pan out - the path deals one doesn't seem to be doing too hot.
This site seems to be a good idea, however it was way too buggy for my liking. Come on at least slap on a "Beta" under the logo or something, if you're not willing to run full QA in the thing. And what's with the splash page/roadblock type of homepage with absolutely no deals on it? Why would I sign up if you don't even offer a deal on the main page? Again good idea, but the site need ALOT of work!
If they were smart the current deals would be splashed on the home page inviting users to sign up for more information.
This is Alex, Aliza and Allan, the founding members of Homesav, and we wanted to take a minute to address your write up.
First off, sorry for any technical issues you may have come across. We would have been happy to help you, had you contacted us. We have a team of technical professionals available for just these types of questions and feedback. As the site is brand new, we rely on our members to communicate with us. It is very important to us.
Re: shipping- you’ll notice the following note sitting to the left of your purchase subtotals:
“Buy more items and save on shipping: $11.95 shipping fee for first item and $4.95 for each additional item, all across Canada (furniture and tapestry do not apply)”.
As with all other retailers, shipping is subject to weight. Although we have been unable to replicate the shipping rates you’ve written in your article, we are certain that our calculations are consistent throughout from this point forward.
(continued below…)
Re: Kongsted Living- we maintain that our prices are honestly quoted and true. The Austin Lounger is in fact $870 (in stores), regardless of its $500 price tag two years ago. We are still proud to offer this piece at $435.
Before we sign off, we have one last point we'd like to address: Homesav has been compared to Living Social, Wag Jag and Groupon in your article. As Eric Bernhard (owner of dailyread.com and www.dealknot.com) appropriately comments, Homesav is fundamentally different from these sites. Homesav’s products are neither hindered nor benefited by the number of purchases made, and we do not have purchase minimums that must be met. Our prices are exactly as they are seen on the website, whether 50 people or 500 people end up buying.
Thank you for bringing these issues to our attention, and for letting people know about our site.
-The Homesav team
I just saw your review so i joined homesav.com... And am in love.
This sites is super easy
... I just actually bought a paddywax set and i can't wait for it to arrive
In response to the founders of Homesav regarding shipping, do you have a general idea of how much something like a couch would cost to ship? Do you have an average pricer per unit of weight? I saw the couches today I was extremely interested but wasn't sure how much the shipping would end up being.
Thanks
Neil
To answer your question: it really depends on 1) your location and 2) the weight of the item.
Assuming you are located in Toronto, the average cost for shipping will work out to around $0.60 per pound. The couches on our most on our most recent sale ranged from $55 - $70 for shipping to GTA addresses.
To get a precise quote you can head over to Homesav, and put a couch into your cart-- the purchase tally (taxes and shipping) will show up there.
Thanks,
Alex
Aggregator of sites like groupon, wag jag, etc. You can choose your city and view offers without the pesky e-mails.
As mentioned above, we took a good look into our shipping calculator, tugged on some wires, and despite us not being able to find any problems that would have caused the arbitrary values in your cart, there should be no such problem going forward. I can’t emphasize more that if you do come across this kind of problem again, you should contact us. The trial and error of a start-up website is unavoidable and we could not be more grateful to any patron who has taken the few minutes to alert us of any website issues as they occur.
As far as Paddywax is concerned: Indeed Indigo/Chapters sells a selection (limited albeit) of Paddywax products. But comparing the prices is like comparing apples and oranges as the products Homesav had available are very different than the products that Indigo is selling on their website. Indigo/Chapters’ offerings range from 3 ounces to 5.5 ounces and they have only one 9 ounce candle, whereas the fragrance sets on Homesav included both a 9 ounce candles and diffuser bottle or two 14 ounce candles. In all cases Homesav offered 2 products and Indigo/Chapters offers one much smaller product.
We are grateful for your comments and suggestions, but we’re sorry it didn’t meet your expectations. Hopefully our selection will impress upon you more favorably in the future, and you will be as happy with our service as our other subscribers have been. Thank you again for your post and comments!
-Alex
In addition, we did some price comparisons and recently found that items on Homesav are way overpriced compared to other online shopping sites, such as Beyond the rack. For example, my aunt purchased carpets on Homesav for $44 and the same size and quality carpet later appeared on Beyond the rack for $23-$25.
In short, we are not impressed. In light of the poor service and missing items, we recommend staying away from this site. Our impression is that it will go out of business soon and take your money with it.
Homesav the Groupon for home decor?”. I may end up coming
back to ur web-site eventually. With thanks ,Desiree
YOU PEOPLE ARE RIDICULOUS!!!!!!