I have been a big fan of Personalization Mall since discovering them a few months ago.

I must be a late bloomer because even though I heard of this company before, I never tried visiting them until I was really out of ideas for Christmas gifts. Now it’s my go-to place for gifts for everybody on my list and for every occasion.

I love how it takes Personalization Mall just 1-2 days to make my orders. All is done, shipped, and received within a week or less. So while it’s not a last minute kind of gift, it doesn’t take weeks of planning either. For example, it’s still plenty of time to order Valentine’s Day gifts for at least another week. You are welcome!

Everything I have ever ordered from Personalization Mall comes nicely packed and never damaged. I love the quality and the craftsmanship of every single item. So far I have got metal water bottles for kids, mugs for kids, a canvas pencil case, and a metal book mark – all personalized and amazing.

Since I have Valentine’s Day gifts taken care of already, I wanted to give myself something nice. I didn’t have to think very hard – I can always use another scented candle in my life. I had quite a few bought for Christmas and they are all almost over, so it was time to get something spring scented and personalized this time.

If you care about savings, you are probably thinking of different ways to get what you need and not spend too much. Groupon might seem like a good answer. After all, it’s so popular and so many people use it, so it’s got to work, or so we hope.

I like Groupon and believe that huge savings are possible on services and entertainment. For example, if you want to try a new facial procedure, a massage at a fancy salon that you’ve never been to yet, Groupon can offer spectacular deals. You can also get cheap tickets and nice discounts to places like SkyZone or indoor skydiving. But when it comes to products, the deals you get are not always worth the hassle.

I love personalized gifts and that is not a secret. I spend quite a bit of money at Personalization Mall and similar establishments. While I use coupons and shop Sales section, I always wish to find more ways to save. Groupon is a natural place to try, and so I did.

There were two things I really needed – personalized backpack for my son and personalized wooden postcard for both of my kids.

The backpack costs $36.99 at Personalization Mall and $17.99 on Groupon. That is quite a difference – $19. If you decide to go through Groupon, you will purchase a voucher and then go to Personalization Mall website, enter it after selecting the personalization you want, and proceed with your checkout. Here you will see that shipping is not free. It costs $6.99 for economy shipping, which is ridiculously slow (3-4 days for shipping and extra 5-8 for delivery) or $9.99 for standard shipping (1-2 days to ship + 3-4 days for delivery).

I think every sane person would choose the latter. In that case $19 savings go down to $10. Keep in mind that your time is also valuable, which you will be spending going through two websites instead of just working with Personalization Mall. Even if shipping is free after $49, your order through Groupon is pretty small, so you would have to add quite a big item to reach that threshold. If you just go through Personalization Mall, you would have to get a small item for free shipping.

Wooden Postcard was $18.95 at Personalization Mall and $6.99 on Groupon. Again, significant savings, but the story with shipping is the same, so take your time into consideration and think what makes sense for you. For just a little bit more you can get 2-3 items and not pay for shipping all while visiting just one site instead of browsing two. You can also add another item or two even with Groupon voucher, but you will then end up needing more items and more money.

In both of those cases, there are some savings with Groupon, but in my opinion they are not significant enough to invest lots of time. If shipping was free, I would insist on ordering through Groupon every single time, but shipping is not free.

About a month ago I wanted to get a candle with my kids’ picture and found it on Groupon for $11. Since it was my first time ordering a personalized item from Groupon, I wasn’t sure how it works and spend a good 20 minutes chatting with Groupon customer service just to figure out when and where the personalization of that candle will take place. Then I went to Personalization Mall, found the candle for $24, entered the voucher, saved about $13 and then paid $9.99 for shipping. So at the end, after an hour of work just to order it, I ended saving very little.

Each time I order through Groupon I feel like doing good and saving, but then there is always a lingering feeling that my time should count too and if you factor that in, the savings are really not worth, not to me anyway.

See More Groupon Discount Codes:

• Get up to 25% OFF select Deals with code SAVE
• Extra 25% OFF Local Deals With Groupon Select

Were the savings worth all that hassle? No! I could invest an hour of my time in work and make money, but instead I spent it ordering a candle through Groupon. It literally takes maybe 10 minutes to do that through Personalization Mall website.

Often times there are coupons displayed right on the website of Personalization Mall that could help you save more money than Groupon, minus the hassle. For example, free shipping on all orders would’ve done the same thing instead of me spending time and money on two websites for the same discount. Free shipping is a frequent coupon on Personalization Mall, in addition to many other special deals and sales.

See More Personalization Mall Coupons:

• 20% OFF Any Order with code MILES20
• $20 Off Orders Over $85 with code SHOP20
• $5 OFF Your Purchase of $25 or More with coupon code PMDEAL525

At the end of the day, hunting for savings and time investment is valued very differently by different people. What doesn’t work or make sense for me might be perfectly acceptable for others. My recommendation is to check out what does Groupon offer before shopping somewhere else, but do some quick math in your mind to see if you want to go that route.