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Can I rate it ZERO stars? This is my third review of Groupon (first being in 2011) and I still strongly advise everyone - businesses and customers alike - to run away from it as fast as you can. Their business model is ridiculous. They should have collapsed years ago with their modus operandi, and only survived to this day because they got financing from floating their shares on stock exchange. If you read my review from 2019, you may have wondered - "wtf he's talking about? I googled GRPN stock and it's $50 today?!" Duh! After 1:20 reverse split in 2020... so it's about $2.5 in "old value" now. Nothing speaks louder about the quality of the business than money. Groupon is a very clear case. You've heard me: RUN!
My original review was way before Groupon went public. They had their IPO in 2011. Their laughable $26 initial price is now $3. They own thousands to Quebec businesses, delaying payments months and months. They take (nearly) half of the coupon prices they sell, yet, they were bleeding deep red 9 out of 11 years since their IPO. There is no improvement in sight.
Any merchant who is approached by Groupon should run from them.
Anyone who considers buying Groupon coupons must be prepared to receive no product/service in return.
There is no such thing as a free lunch!
Groupon, like other group discount sites, are pushing businesses to feature money-loosing deals, taking 50% of what you pay from business and convincing business-owners that people once visited the business will continue to do so over and over again paying full price. Life shows the opposite.
If you bought an incredible deal from Groupon, you must know that the business, you about to visit, looses money on that deal. To recuperate, the business will use all kind of strategies - from up-selling at higher-than-usual prices to cheating or closing the doors on you. So, be prepared. If you think you are strong enough to not submit to sales pressure, you also must be prepared to receive low-quality service in return (you know, when business will realize you cannot be milked, they get rid of you by giving you $#*!ty service).
My advice is instead of buying coupons from Groupon, call the company they advertise and tell them you want the deal but like to pay directly. You will need to pay, may be 1 cent more, (in order for business not to violate Groupon agreement), but you're guaranteed a happier experience.
I am amazed how few reviews this reputable digital camera site has! It's totally unfair! Dpreview is a fantastic site that is a must to visit if you are looking for a new camera. It has most of the cameras on the market reviewed and those reviews are well organized for both novice and expert user. I love this site and always go for information there if I need an opinion on a camera.
I am glad so many merchants with past bad experience are raising their votes against Dealfind and other sites like them (Groupon, LivingSocial).
I am a merchant myself, running a medical spa. I am receiving daily deals from many group-buy sites, but Dealfind deals are most shocking. When I see unlimited hair removal on (small area) deal for one year for $45 I feel pity for the merchant, as I know that the merchant will get only $21, plus a demanding customer who will visit their spa 8-10 times next year. That customer will take at least 2 hours of work time, so the spa will have a choice of paying their staff $10 per hour, or subsidizing that deal.
What's worse - that demanding customer will ask for a royal treatment, will refuse to pay full price for extra services and most likely will never return. Oh, yes, that customer surely will do one thing - he or she will go to Yelp or Google or whatever to give that business 1-star review.
The business model of Dealfind, and all others group-buy sites are straight-up Ponzi schema (just Google it!). I openly advocate for all merchants to stay away from this marketing method, as by doing opposite we devalue our industries and make our future profitability questionable.
Cheers!
Welcome to the world of Cyber-Racketeering!
As a business owner I have been approached by many group-buy sales reps, including one from LivingSocial. They are very convincing in what they say, but when I learned they take 50% or 40% of revenue generated by the sold coupons, the perspective turned sour.
I was trying to do reverse math from my "minimum-break-even" prices up to the price of the deal to feature on their site. It was consistently coming to x1.5 to x2 times higher than the similar deals they already featured somewhere (at 80% off). When asked if I can feature my price, they, predictably, said "no", explaining that no one (or very few) will buy. Well, it makes sense for them, as they need hundreds of buyers to get palpable dollar amount, but I am the one who will be left with little cash and hundreds of customers.
It became apparent that if I go with their deal I would loose money. So, I asked how do they think I can be profitable, to what they suggested up-selling and a vague perspective of having returning customers (apparently paying full price).
The biggest turn down was that they have no clue about my business, but they sure feel comfortable giving me price guidelines and putting 50% price tag on top. That when word "racketeer" popped up in my head, as association was quite clear.
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