[yock]

The problem isn't Groupon or the shop in question. People were creating multiple Groupon accounts in order to get multiple copies of the offer from this shop. Dishonest consumers are the problem here, though this is a problem that Groupon could do more to curtail.

[marcusbooster]

But this is exactly what a small business is buying from Groupon. If the quality of their lot is worse than other advertising, then more the reason not to partner with them.

[pyre]

  > But this is exactly what a small business is buying from Groupon.

But this is not what Groupon is billing themselves as providing though...

[marcusbooster]

What's that saying? - If it's free, then you're the one being sold. They make their money by selling to small business.

From the website:

  Groupon for Businesses
  With an unparalleled ability to drive hundreds - even thousands - of
  customers through your door ...

[pyre]

  > Dishonest consumers are the problem here, though
  > this is a problem that Groupon could do more to curtail.

This is what I was talking about. Groupon is not billing their subscriber list as a group of cheap-o's that will only use the discount and never return to the business and try to use the discount multiple times -- which they obtained by registering for Groupon multiple times under different names/aliases -- while they are there for their single visit.

If Groupon were to describe their subscriber list as such, then I could see their business start to decline, no?

It would be interesting to see what the average conversion-rate from one-time to repeat customer is based on Groupon coupons.