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I don't understand how the owner was not able to see this coming, you are offering $12 of product for a gross of $3 to you. Groupon lets you set maximum amounts of coupons sold... did she assume many people would not use these?

Recently a supermarket offered a Groupon for $40 for $20 and it sold out at $1,000. This promotion essentially cost them $20k... surely there is a better way to get customers for $20k?

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In the post they say each voucher cost them $8. So it costs them $11 to serve up a coffee and cookie they sell for $13. At $2 profit per sale they are going to need each and every voucher holder to make four additional purchases just to break even.

Seems like this was doomed from the start. I think the real problem here is that the small business owner thought Groupon was working for them. They didn't realise that they're the ones being sold the product.

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