Andre Yoskowitz
22 Nov 2011 17:12
Rachel Brown of London has posted her horror story with daily deal giant Groupon.
Brown signed up her 'Need a Cake Bakery' to the site, selling a dozen cupcakes for $10, 75 percent off its usual $40 price tag.
Because the company did not allow her to set a limit to vouchers, 8500 people purchased Groupons - meaning Brown had to create over 100,000 cupcakes.
The baker was forced to hire extra workers and work overtime, overall losing about $20,000 in weeks.
Says Brown (via CNBC):
Without doubt, it was my worst ever business decision. We had thousands of orders pouring in that really we hadn't expected to have. A much larger company would have difficulty coping.
My poor staff were having to slog away at all hours ? one of them even came in at 3 a.m. because she couldn't sleep for worry. We are still working to make up the lost money and will not be doing this again.