Groupon, Living Social and more

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Gonna Run 2 U

New Yorker
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
Messages
3,056
Location
New Jersey
Anyone else sick of these sites yet and the hipsters who use them?

If i were a business i would NOT feature myself on here. I would not want to down grade my product 50 percent and then split that 50 percent with Groupon or whoever. People are getting free shit and they DONT come back. Businesses also feel pressured to dive in and feature themselves on these sites cus its trendy, not to mention they telemarket all day and half the time it seems like "ok, ill do one stop fucking calling me"

Groupon, Living Social are making millions because they have a huge email list and spend a shit ton on advertising. Modern day crooks in my opinion taking a shit on the bad economy and making it worse.
 
how do you know people don't continue going to businesses they visit because of a groupon?

i'm sorry you don't like these sites but i fail to see how these guys are crooks or are making the economy worse. people don't have a lot of extra spending money these days and a groupon for a local restaurant can mean the difference between actually going out somewhere and getting mcdonald's.
 
My friend was going to use a Social Living special that they had for a gun range. A gun range!? I don't know what her interest was other than it was a deal--very liberal, social justice, violence is gross type. When she invited me, I explained that while the cheaper rental price may seem like a deal, it didn't include the ammo. Some ranges charge $1 per bullet for ammo because they know that suckers come in and want to try a gun.

I'm not a fan of these things anyway, and I'm sure there are people taking advantage on both sides. Nevermind the real opportunists are the people selling themselves as "Social Media Specialists" right now. Businesses are desperate, and many of these people are talking them into shit they don't need or need to be doing.

:twocents:
 
What's the big deal? It shows things that you may have never tried before and you keep going back to see what other specials they have. For Groupon, I got a free sample of General Mills stuff. And it wasn't small. It was actually a big box filled with regular sized items!
 
I love Groupon, Crowd Cut, and Living Social. I receive emails daily from all three but have only purchased from Groupon. I have gotten into the art museum for free and also meals and drinks for free or close to it at restaurants that I've always wanted to try. I work in the food industry and all of the local businesses in what I do use these sites. It brings in tons of new customers and future business opportunities. Sure maybe we lost a little money the first time the customer was in but they liked our product so much they came back and decided to order a $300 cake from us. They actually DO come back or they leave with the Groupon item plus additional items they were able to get because they saved on something else. :shrug: Don't really see what the issue would be as a consumer to try to get the best deal, especially when you live on a limited budget, or as a business owner trying to reach out to new customers. I think it's a win/win situation on both ends.
 
I'm not a "hipster". All I've ever bought from Groupon is a dry cleaning coupon. Most of what they have is in the city and it's too far for me to go. Don't know anything about Living Social or any others.
 
I should clarify, I'm not a fan, but if it works for business owners and consumers, great.

I have seen a few small businesses caught up in the whole e-mail marketing/social media wave and feel like they've been taken. There are a number of people selling themselves as "specialists" and taking advantage of small biz owners who are clueless about online marketing stuff. $300 to attend a social media "boot camp" to learn what you could have with 15 minutes worth of online research? Lame.

And, at least originally, didn't Groupon things expire? A couple of friends were caught off-guard by that, too. Also, lame.

That's all.

If it works for you, have at it. But, beware of scammers.
 
.... they're a hipster thing?

My parents are the biggest hipsters EVAR!!1!!!

I see no difference in these sites as any other form of coupon or discount. The intention is to bring in more business. Cutting 50% off the top of something really isn't an issue, as probably 95% of companies on earth sell every product they have with at least a 50% margin, if not far more.
 
And, at least originally, didn't Groupon things expire? A couple of friends were caught off-guard by that, too. Also, lame.
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Since you and I live in a state where it's a law that gift cards do not expire, it has to be honored because money was spent to buy it. It's in the fine print, at least in Minnesota, but unfortunately not a lot of people realize that and just consider it wasted money. Not sure about the rules anywhere else. If the business chooses not to accept it from the customer (which to be honest is stupid because then for sure you're not going to get them to come back), then Groupon (and the like) has to refund your money back to you, again I'm just referring to Minnesota.
 
i know living social is good with that, at least. last year i bought a coupon for something in memphis thinking i'd be visiting before it expired. i didn't, so i gave it to my mom. she proceeded to forget about it until the day it expired, but it's just as well as it seems the place closed. even though she contacted them after the expiry date, i still got a refund. granted the fact that the business closed probably helped, but yeah.
 
Calling people hipsters has really lost all meaning, hasn't it?


Since you and I live in a state where it's a law that gift cards do not expire, it has to be honored because money was spent to buy it. It's in the fine print, at least in Minnesota, but unfortunately not a lot of people realize that and just consider it wasted money. Not sure about the rules anywhere else. If the business chooses not to accept it from the customer (which to be honest is stupid because then for sure you're not going to get them to come back), then Groupon (and the like) has to refund your money back to you, again I'm just referring to Minnesota.

I don't know if it's the same where some others live, but we have the same laws regarding gift cards as you guys do, but the groupon things still expire. They're considered promotions/coupons and not gift cards. Lames McPlains
 
I love all the sites and have purchased a few here and there. As a consumer, this gives me the opportunity to try different businesses that I wouldn't normally try, thus giving them my business and also save some $$ on services that I typically would use. I dont see anything wrong with this.
 
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