>> The actual Groupon business model was a loss for merchants from day one, but they were sold on potential benefits (new customers or regular customers increas

>> The actual Groupon business model was a loss for merchants from day one, but they were sold on potential benefits (new customers or regular customers increasing their spend). > That's an oversimplification I think. Groupon was a method of advertising that merchants paid for with their goods. Is there really a difference or did you just word it differently ? Or maybe do you think merchants paid with their goods to be advertised on groupon websites ? Because that seems far-fetched to me (and quite an expensive ad) but it makes sense.