Given Groupon's published payment terms, this article is a little odd:
http://www.groupon.com/pages/merchant-terms-of-service-1 (see 4.3). It seems they're paying merchants only after coupons have been redeemed. So in reality, merchants get their cash later than for regular purchases.
Of course these default payment terms can be overridden in a custom agreement, but I wonder how often this really happens?
Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
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Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#12If you're using Groupon deals as a quick way to get some cash in order to float your business then you're doing it wrong. Considering the way Groupon's payment terms this whole premise of "using a groupon deal" to make payroll doesn't even make sense. I'm tempted to call bullshit on this whole article. There's a lot of hate out there for Groupon, some of it deserved, but this one is a bit of a stretch.
Anyone that uses a check cashing business or accepts a bad loan is probably doing it wrong too, but that doesn't stop millions of people from doing those things. Regulating that kind of thing is a good idea. To be fair though, I don't know enough about Groupon's terms to say whether the comparison is fair.
If you want to argue for consumer protection, that's one thing. But anyone who goes into business really needs to know better, and if they don't, you really can't protect them from themselves.
I mean, it would be another thing if Groupon was systematically defrauding smaller merchants, but I've not seen allegations to that effect.
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#13... so why is Womply any different?
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#14GroupOn pays merchants 90 days net.
The customers have long come and gone before GroupOn sends you a check.
The rest of this post is thus redundant.
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#15Under this bizarre classification scheme, I'm pretty sure anyone who sells anything with a payment plan rather than requiring full payment up-front is also an unauthorized check-cashing company.
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#16Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anyone that uses a check cashing business or accepts a bad loan is probably doing it wrong too, but that doesn't stop millions of people from doing those things. Regulating that kind of thing is a good idea. To be fair though, I don't know enough about Groupon's terms to say whether the comparison is fair.
If you want to argue for consumer protection, that's one thing. But anyone who goes into business really needs to know better, and if they don't, you really can't protect them from themselves. I mean, it would be another thing if Groupon was systematically defrauding smaller merchants, but I've not seen allegations to that effect.
[deleted]
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#18And...how is any of this a problem?
The "argument" seems to be:
- payday loan companies are a liberal bugaboo that prey on consumers with limited options available for securing the cash they need to feed their children
- zomg our competition is like them somehow, except the prey are...companies with lots of flexibility in how (and whether) they market at any particular time
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#19I'm calling BS (or at least poor research) on the story. I personally know 4 businesses that did groupon deals, and none of them got the money up-front. In fact one of them had the opposite problem, and it took several months to get the check (The account rep had apparently screwed up some paperwork, got fired, and it took a while to get straightened out).
Also, how would groupon even know what the check amount should be up front? I guess they have some history on how many deals they sell by type / geo at this point and could estimate, but it seems risky (on both sides).
Maybe groupon does advances for larger businesses or national brands, but I don't think they are the ones who would need to raise quick case.
Re: Groupon is an unregulated check cashing company
#20If you're using Groupon deals as a quick way to get some cash in order to float your business then you're doing it wrong. Considering the way Groupon's payment terms this whole premise of "using a groupon deal" to make payroll doesn't even make sense. I'm tempted to call bullshit on this whole article. There's a lot of hate out there for Groupon, some of it deserved, but this one is a bit of a stretch.
Anyone that uses a check cashing business or accepts a bad loan is probably doing it wrong too, but that doesn't stop millions of people from doing those things. Regulating that kind of thing is a good idea. To be fair though, I don't know enough about Groupon's terms to say whether the comparison is fair.
Maybe the fact that these services are popular should be a signal that they provide a value that you happen not to understand (or have a use for at this time).
Entrance into contracts by free individuals: legalize it.