I tried to call Groupon in Chicago and of course they weren't open yet. 20 minutes later there were over 100 sold. I woke up at 7am and the deal had already tipped at over 50, making it active. Plus it is the time of year I need the most cash flow since all the bills are due Sept 1. One thing I didn't think about was timing- July and August are my busiest times of year. We thought maybe, if we were lucky, we'd sell 150.

It seemed like a good deal, I had to do virtually nothing and they would send me a check, plus I would get my name out to tons of people. I liked using it as a customer but I put it off for months.įinally I decided to make the call. An employee came to me and said we should talk to Groupon. So, in 2010 I was in transition, making changes to cut out all the loss I had in 2009. It was my first full year in business after buying the store in 2008 from an owner who had it for 28 years and was letting the store go out of business.

'First off, let me say that 2009 was a bad year for me.

I met Kim at a conference and she joined my Facebook Fan page awhile ago. Meet Kim, Owner of a parent teacher store. It's a killer alright, a profit-killer.Īnd while I'll give you my opinions afterwards, here is an actual Groupon merchant story not glowing with anything but red ink. Just because millions of merchants have fallen under the spell of Groupon, a PR juggernaut, and their like, it doesn't mean you should.

Groupon merchant services