If by “end user,” you mean the individuals who use Groupon to get deals, there is no reason why they should care. If they receive the deal that they expected, then it’s of no real interest to them whether their participation makes money or loses money for the business concerned.
Maybe you’d be good enough to show me where i said that end users should care about Groupon’s business model? This thread was started specifically about the business model itself, and i have merely offered evidence about that model, both from Groupon’s and the participating business’ perspective.
Again, i never suggested otherwise. In fact, by offering three examples of businesses that lost money with their Groupon deals, i was simply pointing out that some businesses use the service without adequately thinking through the possible consequences.
Who is saying that? No-one in this thread. As far as i can tell, you are responding to an argument that no-one had made. The notion that “Groupon is bad or something” is just a straw man that you’re setting up so you can knock it down again.
In case you failed to read my post, or in case you read it and failed to grasp my argument, let me summarize for you my main points about Groupon:
[ol]
[li] Some businesses, largely due to their own miscalculations, have lost significant amounts of money using Groupon.[/li]
[li] Businesses that use Groupon need to take into consideration what type of goods or services they are offering, as well as the likelihood that their Groupon participation will net them extra business in the short or long term.[/li]
[li] Some businesses might be happy to take a short-term loss on their Groupon deal if it means gaining long-term clients or expanding their market.[/li]
[li] Many businesses, and especially service businesses, are likely to find Groupon most useful in a down economy, when business is slow and the marginal cost of providing the service is low compared to fix costs like rent, wages, etc, giving the business incentive to fill the empty seats for a reduced price.[/li]
[li] Because of #4, Groupon might begin to struggle in a good economy, as service businesses no longer need its help to fill empty spaces. This was the argument of the Wharton School professor.[/li]
[li] Some Groupon businesses, and some customers of those businesses, will try to game the system, demonstrating that people can be assholes.[/li][/ol]
There is nothing in all of that about Groupon being “bad or something.”
I was also addressing the claims made by denquixote, who believes finds it “hard to believe” that businesses can lose money by using Groupon. I have given three examples where this happened, and those only made the news because the amounts involved were so large. I’m willing to bet that literally hundreds or thousands of other businesses have lost money (maybe just small amounts of money) on the service, and i’m equally sure that hundreds or thousands of businesses have done well using Groupon.
None of this is a value judgment about Groupon. I do not consider Groupon either good or bad. I am simply trying to understand it based on evidence, rather than on mere feeling or supposition.