err.. aren't you also proving that Groupon isn't a scaleable business, since it requires an army of salespeople to negotiate deals with retailers, and massage the pricing beforehand.

I've read blogs (Techcrunch & the FDA groupon fail) that say groupon ask retailers to raise prices a month before, so when they offer deals, it appears as though you're getting 50% off, but you're really getting 50% of a product/service that has been marked up 30% a month beforehand. Price msassaging requires direct sales contact, and it'd be hard to automate, since you need sales personnel to follow up.

I'd like to know how EBITDA profitable Groupon is. None of this revenue b.s. It's a meaningless data point, without the context of EBITDA.