Customers who use Groupon for free to grab vouchers for special daily deals know that once that deal is expired, it’s gone for good. But if you could pay a fee to have access to closed or sold out deals, and buy in to other deals sooner than everyone else, would you? That’s what Groupon is trying to figure out with a new trial VIP program.

The subscription-based loyalty program costs $29.99 a year after a three-month free trial, says the Chicago Tribune. Members can also get refunds on vouchers they weren’t able to use in time ‚Äö but that refund will be in the form of a Groupon credit.

Groupon is rolling out the program in a few markets to see how it does, and interestingly enough, one of those areas is not its home base in Chicago. The program is just one attempt to help customers personalize their experience, says the company.

Subscribers will be able to store multiple locations, such as their home and workplaces, for example. And deals will come up with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down feature so that a person tired of seeing Pilates deals can click thumbs-down to keep similar offers from popping up again or indicate a preference to receive additional, similar deals.

This is the first time Groupon has attempted to have a paid product, as its current e-mail service is free to customers.

Groupon testing VIP program [Chicago Tribune]

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