Groupon Deal Costs Photographer a Year's Free Work

Andy Smith writes "One professional photographer in Somerset, UK, thought he was drumming up lots of extra business with a special deal on the Groupon group-buying site. Sadly he has ended up committing himself to nearly a year of unpaid work, plus he has to give out over 3,300 free prints." This analysis seems to be based only on the author's observations (rather than the photographer's experience), but the numbers are interesting. It can't work against everyone, though, or I bet there'd be fewer repeat advertisers on the daily-coupon sites.

Re:Clueless author

[hedwards]

Indeed, this has been a known problem for a while. Groupon typically recommends that businesses set some sort of a limit on the number of coupons available, at least during the first try to see what the response is and to verify that you can handle the extra business. While I do have sympathy for business owners that fail to heed the recommendation, it's hardly Groupon's fault if you don't set any sort of limit on the number of coupons being sold.

Now, had this been a glitch on Groupon's side, that would be completely different.

Re:Clueless author

[chmod a+x mojo]

"It's possible that it's a group, though with copyright assignment only going to Tim Jones I tend to doubt it."

That is not uncommon. It makes it much easier than assigning copyrights to each photographer@group if you ever have to go to court. Court isn't only for people who try to reprint / copy / claim the work as their own, it is actually more common to have to take someone to court over non-payment for services rendered. I should know, I have a photography business I do as a side job. 9/10 clients are great, they pay on time, don't bitch about every tiny thing and don't try do weasel out of paying for services in any way they can. The last 1/10 is what the courts are for, at least as a last resort.

Re:Making a profit

[NFN_NLN]

you have to make a profit for each sale including the coupon.

That's rather difficult, considering that Groupon expects you to slash your price by at least 50%, and then they typically take 50% of the remainder as their commission.

So unless you can turn a profit while charging <=25% of your normal rates/prices, it's best to think of Groupon as an advertising expense—not a business method.

That's why Groupon, at least in my city, has been steadily going down hill. It use to have offers from worthwhile companies. Now it's limited to high margin service sector companies. Groupon is slowly killing itself. I don't even bother checking anymore, and here's why:

- Laser hair removal
- Pet grooming
- Body waxing x3
- Hair electrolysis (hair removal using electricity instead of lasers)
- Sun tanning
- 50% off wine magazines
- Lipolaser fat removal
- Window and Eavestrough cleaning

So Groupon is really targeted at fat, hairy, pasty white people with dirty windows.

A Similar Story

[Big Sean O]

"Cupcake Gallary" (a small Chicago bakery) got stung because Groupon essentially gave them an ultimatum. They declined and Groupon cancelled all the previous Groupons.

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2011/05/groupon-cancellation-cupcake-gallery.html [uptownupdate.com]

I think Groupon is a great idea, but this type of bullying douchbaggery to their "partners" is making me rethink ever using them.