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Comment by mikeryan | Hacker News Reader

If 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.

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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.

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.

If you've subscribed to Groupon long enough, you'll see some businesses re-appear on their rotation. While some businesses have been burnt by over-selling, it's hard to imagine completely suicidal business owners coming back to keep losing money.

> If 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.

So if Groupon stopped giving cash up front they shouldn't lose any customers they need, right?

> So if Groupon stopped giving cash up front they shouldn't lose any customers they need, right?

That's not strong supporting evidence. Cash up front is one of the incentives that Groupon uses to acquire customers. Dropping it would certainly lose at least a few customers. They have a shit-ton of customers, doing many things would lose them customers. But it's not the core value proposition of Groupon.

Now if Groupon stopped advertising your business and discount to their enormous email list and only gave you cash advance in exchange for future revenue and they don't lose much business, then it starts looking more like what the OP claims.

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