Groupon

[Don Draper]

I recently read this article in Vanity Fair about the founder of Groupon, Andrew Mason. I frankly found him and his entire attitude creepy. He is definitely anti-corporate and yet is being swallowed up by the Capitalist Machine as the company gears up for its IPO.
Then today this article on Groupon's "non-standard" accounting practices as it relates to its filing paperwork for the IPO. Groupon is not in our area yet, so we've never had to decide up or down on participating, although based on what I've read and just my gut feeling, I don't think I'd want to get into bed with these guys. BUT, the Groupon Now thing sounds like it would work better for B&B's with last-minute rooms to fill (that part is in the Vanity Fair article). Just wanted to share.

 

[Generic]

The Motley Fool had an interesting article at www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2011/08/10/3-reasons-to-steer-clear-of-groupon.aspx which interestingly points out that only 20% of the people on Groupon's mailing list actually buy. And the average of what they are spending is going down. Revenue per subscriber is down from $21 to $18.
We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals.

 

[Don Draper]

The Motley Fool had an interesting article at www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2011/08/10/3-reasons-to-steer-clear-of-groupon.aspx which interestingly points out that only 20% of the people on Groupon's mailing list actually buy. And the average of what they are spending is going down. Revenue per subscriber is down from $21 to $18.
We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals..

In the Vanity Fair article it also points out that per a study done by Rice University, only 4% of Groupon buyers become repeat customers. Interesting because this is the point that Groupon seems to sell as the biggest "plus" to the merchant.

 

[Copperhead]

The Motley Fool had an interesting article at www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2011/08/10/3-reasons-to-steer-clear-of-groupon.aspx which interestingly points out that only 20% of the people on Groupon's mailing list actually buy. And the average of what they are spending is going down. Revenue per subscriber is down from $21 to $18.
We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals..

We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals.

There are a few sites I have seen that show you all the deals in your area.
Quality restaruants? Just saw one today that was for a extremely well known Chef, at his 5 star restaurant. I was shocked. But I just may purchase that one

 

[Generic]

The Motley Fool had an interesting article at www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2011/08/10/3-reasons-to-steer-clear-of-groupon.aspx which interestingly points out that only 20% of the people on Groupon's mailing list actually buy. And the average of what they are spending is going down. Revenue per subscriber is down from $21 to $18.
We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals..

We have so many of these damn sites that we need sites to organize these sites. We often see the same places advertised in many of these sites. And it usually isn't the top quality places that are advertising on these sites. One restaruant we have seen on at least three of these sites lately and the reviews are bottom shelf.
We have bought a few coupons. We make sure to tip the staff well. But some of these places just seemed as if they priced themselves high so that they could do this deal. Or the deal is very small and they know that you will spend much more. All in all, very few really GOOD deals.

There are a few sites I have seen that show you all the deals in your area.
Quality restaruants? Just saw one today that was for a extremely well known Chef, at his 5 star restaurant. I was shocked. But I just may purchase that one

.

...Quality restaruants? Just saw one today that was for a extremely well known Chef, at his 5 star restaurant. I was shocked. But I just may purchase that one

We found one, we bought. We loved it. We send guests there. He listed with another site, we bought. But we have also gone and paid full price as well. He has trouble filling during the week. So, we discussed it with him and gave him some pointers. We also have a deal with him that if we book the table for the guests, they will get 10% off, no coupon needed. And some of my guests have reviewed him on TA and he's in the top 20 or 30 now.
But we have bought others where clearly they didn't understand how to work the deal. We went once and realized that we would never go again because without the deal, the place is a giant rip off. Get everything right and use these sites to get me there and I come back. But if you try to game these sites with high prices, I won't come back because your price is wrong and it's not worth it without the coupon.