Why does groupon have a minimum

Groupon, the group buying site offering daily deals, has proven to be wildly popular with consumers. Great discounts are given for restaurants, retail stores, spas, theaters and much more. People love discounts, especially during hard times when money is tight. Investors also are enamored with Groupon. Now all eyes are on the Chicago-based firm to file for an initial public offering before the year ends.

A Groupon IPO will likely generate a fortune for early investors, according to market analysts. Launched in , Groupon is a fast growing company, having transformed the world of online shopping.

It has boosted the number of markets where it operates to and has 70 million subscribers. It has a staff of 1, working at locations in cities throughout the U. Who's not loving Groupon? It appears to be merchants. A study by Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business surveyed small to midsize businesses in 19 cities spanning 13 product categories.

Findings revealed 66 percent of the merchants said the Groupon promotions were profitable while 32 percent said they were not. More than 40 percent of the companies wouldn't run a Groupon offer again. Restaurants fared the worst among service businesses with Groupon deals, while spas and salons were the most successful.

The real deal is that any business looking to use Groupon, or one of its competitors like LivingSocial, must have a much broader perspective. You don't want to devote a lot of your budget to these daily deal sites. Such a promotion has to be part of your overall marketing plan along with how you are using Facebook, Twitter, Google Adwords, and so on.

You can make a deal as long as it's the right one for your line of business. The problem is that businesses often go into a promotion without a good understanding of what they want to accomplish. The Rice study found that the ability of employees to handle the surge of business from bargain shoppers, for example, was critical to the success of that company's particular promotion. The way it works is that Groupon offers different deals each day for a local good, service or event in a city where it operates.

Certain resale premiums and restrictions may apply. Tickets and Admission Vouchers obtained from unauthorized sources may be lost, stolen, or counterfeit, and if so are void. Venues and Events. Opening acts, as well as individual performers, are subject to change or cancellation at any time without notice or recourse by you.

Venues may search you as a condition of admission and ban or restrict certain items from being brought to the event and impose other rules on ticket-holders. You agree to all such rules and conditions and waive any related claims that may arise in conjunction with their imposition or execution.

You voluntarily assume all risks and danger incidental to any event for which any Tickets and Admission Vouchers are issued, whether occurring before, during or after the event, and you waive any claims for personal injury or death against Groupon, the venue, the issuer of the Tickets and Admission Vouchers, and all of their respective affiliates, agents, officers, directors, owners, and employees on behalf of yourself and any accompanying minor. You agree not to record or transmit or aid in recording or transmitting, any description, account, picture or reproduction of any event for which you purchase Tickets and Admission Vouchers.

You agree that any event for which you purchase Tickets and Admission Vouchers is a public event, that your appearance and actions inside and outside the venue where the event occurs are public in nature and that you have no expectation of privacy with regard to your actions or conduct at the event.

Trade-In Program The following terms and conditions apply to our trade-in program. For a Voucher to be eligible for trade-in: Groupon, in its sole discretion, must designate the Voucher as eligible. The code on the Voucher must have not been viewed or the Voucher must have not been redeemed.

The trade-in must occur either a between purchase and the two 2 weeks after the promotional value expiration date, or b only during the two 2 weeks after the promotional value expiration date, or c the time period otherwise designated by Groupon.

Unless otherwise specified, a Getaways Flash Deal is non-transferrable. A Getaways Flash Deal may not be sold, auctioned, or bartered. Cancellations to Getaways Flash Deals may only be made through Groupon until the deadline specified in connection with the Getaways Flash Deal. Groupon strongly encourages all travelers to obtain independent travel insurance.

The promotional value cannot be combined with other offers. Travel must be booked by the book-by-date by directly contacting the Merchant, and all travel must be completed by the travel by date specified on the Getaways Voucher.

After the promotional value has expired, the Merchant is responsible for permitting you to redeem the Getaways Voucher for at least the amount paid towards the advertised experience of the Getaways Flash Deal. Getaways Vouchers are not valid for existing reservations or for group bookings.

Getaways Vouchers are not reloadable. Getaways Vouchers are fully transferable. Unless otherwise specified, Getaways Vouchers exclude all taxes and any other traveler costs including, without limitation, travel insurance, incidentals, service charges, gratuities or expenses due to special requests or add-ons.

Getaways Bookings have no value once the check-in date has passed. Amounts displayed in the "Taxes and Fees" line include tax that Groupon collects as an agent on behalf of the Merchant.

Such taxes are transferred to the Merchant for payment to the appropriate taxing authority. In addition, the "Taxes and Fees" line may include a fee we charge and retain in exchange for the services we provide in facilitating your transaction with the Merchant. Our service fees vary based on the amount and type of Getaways Bookings.

Groupon will apply tax to the service fee, where applicable. Unless otherwise specified, Getaways Bookings expressly exclude any other traveler costs including, without limitation, travel insurance, incidentals, service charges, gratuities or expenses due to special requests or add-ons. Getaways Market Pick hotels. Getaways Market Pick hotels are non-transferrable, may not be sold, auctioned, or bartered, and have no value once the check-in date has passed.

Unless otherwise specified, Getaways Market Pick hotels include tax recovery charges and service fees and expressly exclude any other traveler costs including, without limitation, travel insurance, incidentals, service charges, gratuities or expenses due to special requests or add-ons.

The tax recovery charge is assessed to recover the amount we pay to the merchant in connection with your reservation for sales and use, occupancy room tax, excise tax, value added and other similar taxes, and the balance of the additional amount is a service fee we charge in connection with handling your reservation.

Cancellations to Getaways Market Pick hotels may only be made through Groupon until the deadline specified in connection with the Getaways Market Pick hotel. Cancellations to any Getaways Market Pick hotel after the cancellation deadline are at the discretion of the Merchant and not Groupon.

You agree to abide by any additional rules and restrictions that the Merchant may require, and violation of such additional rules and restrictions may result in additional charges and the cancellation of your Getaways Market Pick hotel. When you purchase a Product, an item sold by Groupon Goods, Inc. Your purchase is not complete until we email you to confirm the transaction. We reserve the right to reject your offer and not conclude a contract with you.

Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. The company connects customers with local commerce, primarily by selling vouchers and coupons for discounts to brick-and-mortar businesses.

In this sense, Groupon generates revenue by using one of the oldest business models around: being the middleman. The company generates both product and service revenue in three categories: Local, Goods, and Travel. Groupon was launched in Nov. The company went through an IPO in , but since that time revenues have frequently been in decline as a result of increased competition and the struggle to maintain popularity with consumers. More recently, Groupon has shifted its business model away from a voucher-based approach toward a card-linking one, wherein a customer receives cash back after using a specified linked credit card to complete a purchase of a product advertised on the Groupon platform.

In its financial statements, Groupon identifies two types of income: gross billings and revenue. The gross billings number is the total income from the sale of goods and services, excluding taxes and refunds.

Revenue represents the sum of transactions where Groupon acted as a marketplace minus the portion of the service or product provider. The company also receives direct revenue from sales of merchandise inventory via its online marketplaces. For the year ending Dec. The company reported an active customer base of Groupon sells a variety of products at deep discounts, including fashion and beauty items, vacation packages, spa services, and gift certificates to bars and restaurants.

Though consumers can quite easily purchase the same products directly from the businesses offering them, Groupon often offers prices far below retail. Essentially, Groupon serves as a powerful advertising engine, generating sales and stronger brand recognition for the business in exchange for a fee. Though businesses receive less for goods and services than they would normally charge, Groupon serves as an advertiser with enormous reach, and merchants also benefit by not having to pay for the advertisement upfront.

Every Groupon deal has two expiration dates. The first expiration date restricts how long the deal is available for purchase. Deals remain "live" on the Groupon Web site for a limited number of days the Groupon Web site provides a countdown clock. Once the deal is purchased, there is a second deadline by which the deal must be redeemed. After that date, an unredeemed Groupon is just a useless piece of paper or barcode.

To redeem the Groupon, Bob either prints out a Groupon redemption code from his e-mail or uses the Groupon app to upload the barcode to the screen of his smartphone. At this point, the Groupon is just like a regular coupon.

Groupon etiquette dictates that Bob should tip for the full amount of the bill, not the discounted price, but that's only a suggestion.