Did Groupon destroy this detail business?

6

602rwtq

New member
This guy has sold over 560 full (yes, full) details for $69:

Pro Detail PDX Deal of the Day | Groupon Portland



His cut: $34.50 for a full, onsite detail.



The coupons expire in 1 year.



Therefore, this 1 man show (according to his website) has 365 days to complete over 560+ full onsite details.



In 2 days, hundreds of people will be contacting him to schedule details. Most will have to wait months. They will all get rush jobs.



I do predict that the company will fold after a few weeks...it's just not feasible what he has set up for himself here. Don't know what happens to the 560+ people who bought certificates.



Hopefully, the Groupon craze goes away soon. How have so many business owners been talked into selling their services @ 75% off?!
 
It depends on if he planned things out correctly. If he just jumped in without thinking things through or doing some research, it's not Groupon's fault if he folds. I agree it's very easy to get into one of these deals and get in way over your head, but if you plan correctly, have the man-power to do the work and are not losing money on the deal, it's something that can work very well.



That being said, I will be giving feedback about my experience on my Express Detail promotion that's supposed to be running this Friday - Sunday on livingsocial.com.
 
His cut of $34.50 is actually more like $17.25. Groupon has to make money on the deal too, and get half of the commission.





John
 
Actually his cut is the $34.50, or more if he negotiated a lower commission that Groupon will take. The deal is $69, he gets half, Groupon gets half.
 
He also agreed to service from Longview, WA to Salem, OR. That's a 95 miles from top to bottom. Takes 2 hours ONE way from one end of his service area to the next.



Maybe, just maybe, this could work at a fixed location if it were a wash/wax/windows/floormats/vac. and your cut were $34.50.



But onsite full detail is absurd. And the types of people who buy these deals? Dog hair, food stains, odor, mold, all exterior trim is full of moss, etc.
 
Yeah I would definitely not be doing my promotion if I was still mobile. Since I'm at a fixed location it will work well for me.



I'm just saying it's not Groupon's fault if he hasn't figured out if it will work for him or fold him.
 
I don't have plans on doing a Groupon(tho they tried to get me to) but the idea doesn't have to be one where you plan on doing it for making killer money as much as a way to get your name out there or upsell the services.



Think about it, if his company is brand new he will be booked and be making a name for himself instantly. It may be a name where he gives his services away haha but he will have one nonetheless.
 
I don't think it's quite as bad as it seems.

For one thing, it's not what I consider a full detail. From the description I see a basic wash, hand wax, basic interior plus spot treatment (not a full carpet shampoo). Plus, he was smart enough to charge more for larger vehicles. With a good helper and a good mobile setup, this could easily be done in 1.5-2.0 hours.

Now, there are definitely some things that could have made this a better deal for him. One, stipulating to a hand wax was a mistake in my opinion. Something like megs d151 or d301 can be applied and removed in 5-10 minutes by machine with the helper wiping off behind you. Two, stipulating only one vehicle per visit was a HUGE mistake. Doing multiple vehicles at one stop would have saved 10-20 minutes per customer, raising his profit margin.

Still his price should have been about 20 bucks higher, which would still be a good deal for customers,yet better for him financially. Remember this would net him about 6 months of work and $25-30k gross (with the $20 price increase)
 
Another thing to think about is about 20% of the people who buy these deals are impulse buyers and will never even cash in their voucher. That's just money in the pocket for no work done. I'm not sure about Groupon but LivingSocial pays you your full cut within 15 days after the promotion as long as no serious complaints arise. I've actually heard Groupon pays you in installments which is kind of shady imo.
 
*spray wax*



IC3DT3 said:
I don't think it's quite as bad as it seems.

For one thing, it's not what I consider a full detail. From the description I see a basic wash, hand wax, basic interior plus spot treatment (not a full carpet shampoo). Plus, he was smart enough to charge more for larger vehicles. With a good helper and a good mobile setup, this could easily be done in 1.5-2.0 hours.

Now, there are definitely some things that could have made this a better deal for him. One, stipulating to a hand wax was a mistake in my opinion. Something like megs d151 or d301 can be applied and removed in 5-10 minutes by machine with the helper wiping off behind you. Two, stipulating only one vehicle per visit was a HUGE mistake. Doing multiple vehicles at one stop would have saved 10-20 minutes per customer, raising his profit margin.

Still his price should have been about 20 bucks higher, which would still be a good deal for customers,yet better for him financially. Remember this would net him about 6 months of work and $25-30k gross (with the $20 price increase)
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ExplicitDetails said:
Also something you guys may be missing is the huge potential for upselling if you work the deal out right.
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For most mobile operators what we are missing out on is absolutely ruining our business and ending up out of the detailing game like the moron in SoCal who sold over 1000 through groupon, living social and tippr. He hasn't honored any of the coupons sold and since his website and business name are so similar to mine, I've been getting calls for 4 months now from pissed off people in SoCal who apparently can't read where it says "serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area" on my website.



Sorry, but I can't see how giving away your services for practically nothing to potentially several hundred to over 1000 people in a calender year is good business for any small fixed or mobile operator.
 
Scottwax said:
For most mobile operators what we are missing out on is absolutely ruining our business and ending up out of the detailing game like the moron in SoCal who sold over 1000 through groupon, living social and tippr. He hasn't honored any of the coupons sold and since his website and business name are so similar to mine, I've been getting calls for 4 months now from pissed off people in SoCal who apparently can't read where it says "serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area" on my website.



Sorry, but I can't see how giving away your services for practically nothing to potentially several hundred to over 1000 people in a calender year is good business for any small fixed or mobile operator.
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That guy is obviously an idiot and I'm sorry for the mess he created for you. I'm not saying this type of promotion will work for all detailers, but it will work for certain shops and maybe even some mobile guys if they are smart about it. You are smart enough to know it won't work for you, that's good. Too bad other people are not as smart such as the idiot in So-Cal and they give the whole thing a bad name. It will not work for a one man operation such as yourself but shops that have people who can handle the large volume and are aimed at doing high volume work can benefit from this type of promotion. My goal was to start another side of my business doing high volume and wholesale work as I've seen at least one more detailer on these forums doing. Originally that was a 2 year in the future plan. Running this promo will help me get that started much much sooner. I'm not doing it to make money, but to spread the word and jump start that side of my business. If I were still mobile or not planning to take on high volume work in the future I would not be running the promo because then it would hurt me. Just saying, don't knock it just because it won't work in your situation, it may work for others.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Groupon does not destroy businesses; stupid business owners destroy their businesses. Just that simple.
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Bingo!



I recently did one of these deals. I'll post up my experience soon.
 
Interested to hear how it went.



Still, for most established small mobile operators like myself, all I'd be doing it trading full priced jobs for discounted jobs. I can see where high volume business might benefit though.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Groupon does not destroy businesses; stupid business owners destroy their businesses. Just that simple.
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Amen! Groupon is simply a business out to make a profit. It's the biz owner's job to determine if it's a good fit for their biz.



Scottwax said:
Still, for most established small mobile operators like myself, all I'd be doing it trading full priced jobs for discounted jobs. I can see where high volume business might benefit though.
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Absolutely Scott. From what I know of your business, unless you just wanted to shake things up, you'd have no real business doing something like this. But there are a lot of detailers who haven't reached that level yet. IF and I stress if, they are smart, a deal like this can catapult them to success. But therein lies the problem. We have to many technician-minded people who think detailing is a stupid-easy business to get into and just jump in with no business training or research.
 
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