What happened to GrabOne, and what to use in 2026

Is GrabOne still operating?

Yes. GrabOne relaunched on 3 March 2026 after being offline for about four and a half months. The new owner is Paradigm Group, a Wellington-based holding company, which says it acquired the brand in January 2026. Some of the original team came back, including the former head of GrabOne, and the relaunch started with Wellington businesses before adding other regions. Auckland deals were listed again when we checked the site on 14 October 2026.

The model is the same as before. You pay upfront for a voucher to a specific business, then redeem it with that business.

Why did GrabOne shut down?

The company that ran GrabOne, Global Marketplace New Zealand Limited, was placed into liquidation on 16 October 2025. The liquidators, from Calibre Partners, said the business had stopped trading because of funding constraints. Global Marketplace had bought GrabOne from NZME, the publisher of the New Zealand Herald, in 2021, and its Australian parent ran the Click Frenzy sales events.

NBR reported that the company owed creditors about $16.6 million. Unsecured creditors, which included ordinary customers holding vouchers, were told to expect little or nothing.

What happened to vouchers bought before the liquidation?

They were not refunded by the company. The liquidators said GrabOne could not refund unredeemed vouchers, and told customers to contact the merchant on the voucher directly to ask whether they would honour it anyway. Some businesses did, as a goodwill gesture, because the customer had paid in good faith. Many could not, because GrabOne had never passed the money on to them.

The new owners have said they cannot honour vouchers, account credit or store purchases from the previous company, because they bought the brand and the platform, not its debts. So if you are still holding one, the merchant is the first route, and it is their call.

The other route is a chargeback through your bank. Most banks have a time limit of around 120 days from the purchase or the expected delivery date, so for most 2025 purchases that window has passed. GrabOne’s own help page says some banks will still consider a claim for goods or services not received, so it is worth a phone call before you write it off.

Is the new GrabOne safe to use?

It is a different company with the same name, which is the key thing to understand. The liquidation was of the previous operator. Paradigm Group bought the brand and the platform out of that liquidation and is running it as a new business.

The structural risk of any voucher site is the same as it always was: you pay the platform upfront, and the platform pays the business later. If the platform fails in between, you are an unsecured creditor. That is exactly what happened in 2025. It is not a comment on the new owners, who have said they are starting small and keeping offers curated. It is just how prepaid vouchers work, and it is worth knowing before you buy one from anyone.

What are the alternatives to GrabOne in NZ?

There are more options than most people realise, and they work in quite different ways. None of these are affiliate links. We have not been paid by anyone on this list.

Bookme. Activities, tours and attractions, plus some dining. You pay per voucher, and the discount is usually biggest for off-peak times. Strong outside Auckland, especially Queenstown and Rotorua. If you want a bungy, a boat or a day out, this is the one.

First Table. You book the first sitting of the night at a restaurant, pay a small booking fee, and get half off the food bill. Dinner only, early only, and you need to plan ahead. If you are flexible about eating at six, it is very good value.

Restaurant Hub. A free app from NZME with off-peak restaurant deals and bookings, partnered with the Restaurant Association. No membership. Worth having for the occasional dinner out.

Entertainment membership. The old Entertainment Book, now an app. An annual membership with two-for-one and percentage offers across NZ, Australia and Bali, with part of the fee going to a charity or school. Good if you travel and will use it enough across a year to cover the fee.

Cheapies. A community forum where people post deals they have found, from supermarket specials to error prices. Free, chaotic, and often the first place a genuine bargain shows up.

Oynk. This is us. A weekly or monthly membership for Auckland. You show your phone at the counter at real Auckland cafes, restaurants, gyms and other local businesses, and the discount comes off the bill. There are no vouchers to buy and nothing to redeem later, so there is nothing for you to lose if a platform fails. The trade-off is that it only makes sense if you actually go out, because it is a membership rather than a one-off purchase. The current price and the free trial are on our pricing page.

Which one should you use?

It depends on what you were using GrabOne for.

• Something you would use every week in Auckland, like coffee, lunch or the gym: a membership makes more sense than a voucher. That is what Oynk is built for.
• A big day out or a trip: Bookme.
• Dinner out when you can eat early: First Table, or Restaurant Hub if you want it free.
• Hunting one-off bargains on products: Cheapies, and the new GrabOne for local experiences.

The honest answer for most people is two of these, not one. A voucher site for occasional things, and something you use every week for the everyday stuff.