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Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

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Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#251

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

davnicwil wrote: post #181
sirtastic wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience has been different. I used a Cheesecake Factory Groupon once and was given a special meal that reflected the "value" of my Groupon. It felt like a complete rip-off on top of a restaurant that was already overpriced. $30 for Cheese, bread, and a few grapes and strawberries? I stopped using Groupon after that. It reminds me of Massdrop. You expect to get a deal by purchasing something in "mass" with other…

Off topic, but this reminds me very much of being put up in a hotel by the airline Avianca when they oversold a flight I was checking in for, meaning I had to take a different flight the next morning. We were told that dinner would be provided, and given a coupon for the hotel's restaurant. Upon presenting said coupon prior to being seated, we were greeted with a look that I can only describe as 'oh, I see' - promptl…

I had a similar experience in Stockholm, and the restaurant wouldn't even serve us a standard beer, only low-alcohol beer. I'd rather had paid the difference for the real stuff, but they didn't even give us the option.

Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#252

Post by somberi »

A good article to read and reflect on - From 5 years ago.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/12/20/groupon-clippin...

Some points that caught my attention (edited by me)

...Groupon’s got a healthy business. Almost forty million people, in more than a hundred and fifty cities around the world, have signed up for its e-mails,...Groupon isn’t going away. Unlike many Web companies, it’s been profitable from the start. (It takes fifty per cent of the revenue in every deal.) This year, it had half a billion dollars in sales, and estimates are that, before long, it could have as much as two billion dollars in revenue." End of my edits.

India, where groupon is hugely popular, has behaved like a spin-off. It recently independently raised 20MM from Sequoia.

Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#253

Post by puredemo »

Pyxl101 wrote: post #237
bigtunacan wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a huge assumption. It's something I also have never heard of until reading this post. I'm personally bothered by the entire tipping culture in the US. Once used to acknowledge that someone has gone above and beyond, now it is just used by businesses as a means to pay below minimum wage (which is too low already). The fact that it is also percentage based this means a person working at a restaurant with higher…

I've never heard of the idea that you should tip full amount. That sounds like one person's opinion rather than custom. I should provide the disclaimer that I haven't used a coupon when eating a meal, so I may not have had the opportunity to come across it.

It's basically just common sense. The server does the same amount of work whether the meal is priced at $100 or $50.

Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#254

Post by pauloday »

antsar wrote: post #154
kentt wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we're a bit off topic, but I look at Massdrop as a curated list of competitively priced items. I agree they're pricing isn't rock bottom, though they imply it, however, I still think it's a great service because it's always a good price and generally a good product.

How does this set it aside from Amazon, aside from "generally a good product"? Massdrop marketing seems to be all about the pricing when in reality its just a curated list of (ostensibly) good products.

Well for one thing there's often stuff on Massdrop that you can't get from Amazon. If the item is on Amazon it's generally about the same price, but I've definitely picked up things from Massrdrop that aren't on Amazon for a much better price than I found anywhere else. But yeah, I see it as a curated list of good products with the occasional deal.

Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#255

Post by bigtunacan »

puredemo wrote: post #253
Pyxl101 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard of the idea that you should tip full amount. That sounds like one person's opinion rather than custom. I should provide the disclaimer that I haven't used a coupon when eating a meal, so I may not have had the opportunity to come across it.

It's basically just common sense. The server does the same amount of work whether the meal is priced at $100 or $50.

That goes back to the gratuity pricing being a percentage of cost is a problem in itself. If I go to an Applebees or a private "upscale" restaurant the pricing will be significantly different, but the effort required by the server will typically be similar.

Re: Groupon Is Laying Off 1,100, Shutters Operations in 7 Countries

#256

Post by homulilly »

bigtunacan wrote: post #255
puredemo wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's basically just common sense. The server does the same amount of work whether the meal is priced at $100 or $50.

That goes back to the gratuity pricing being a percentage of cost is a problem in itself. If I go to an Applebees or a private "upscale" restaurant the pricing will be significantly different, but the effort required by the server will typically be similar.

That even applies to the same restaurant. If I order a $10 plate of noodles or a $25 steak the server is still carrying one plate out either way.
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