Why isn't Escape fla on groupon?
Recently during a really popular football game, we saw a commercial for Groupon. The commercial went on about how great Groupon is and how, you, can help support local businesses by buying a Groupon for them. Now for those of us who know, that commercial was laughable. Why you ask? Well, you see, Groupon doesn't support local businesses at all, in fact they actually destroy local businesses.
We occasionally get a call from someone interested in playing one of our escape rooms in Largo and they ask if we are on Groupon. We also occasionally get a call from someone who says they have purchased a Groupon and can't figure out how to use it to book a room on our website.
Now based on the title, it may seem like our response is short and sweet: "We're not on Groupon". We aren't and we won't be, that's not the whole answer though. The whole answer goes something like this: (it's a bit long but stick with me here)
Us:
"I'm sorry sir/ma'am Escape FLA is not on Groupon."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh, I thought you were."
Us:
"Unfortunately we are not and if you have a second, we'd love to tell you why we are not."
Nice lady or man:
"Uh, ok, I guess."
Us:
"You see, Groupon requires us to heavily discount our product. Usually around 40% off. I know everyone likes to save money but that's quite a discount. So now we've discounted our rate by 40%, well Groupon takes 50% of what's left. At Escape FLA we charge $28 per person +tax. That 40% discount takes us down to $16.80 pp +tax. Groupon takes 50% of that so now we're at $8.40 pp +tax."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh, that's terrible."
Us:
"We agree, but wait there's more. Groupon also charges an inflated credit card processing fee of 4% ($0.34) and we are required by the State of Florida to pay sales tax on the full, un-discounted rate of $28 ($1.96). All that gets us down to $6.10 per person."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh my gosh, how could you stay in business?"
Us:
"We couldn't, not for very long anyhow. If you are looking to play the best escape rooms in Largo, we'd be more than happy to help you book a room, we'll even give you a discount just for letting us tell you all about how Groupon really works. It's not going to be comparable in price to what your looking at on Groupon though. We do guarantee that you'll have the best experience possible at Escape FLA, the highest rated Escape Room in the area though."
They either book with us or go back to searching on Groupon, no hard feelings. Well kind of, see we are not only owners, we are escape room enthusiasts (aka, dorks) and we play a lot of escape rooms both here in Largo and all through out the state, even the country when we travel. There is one thing that most of the escape rooms on Groupon have in common, you get exactly what you pay for, which in this case of an escape room for $6.10, isn't much. Actually there is more than one commonality, most are understaffed, the games are not well designed, the props are beat up or just don't work as intended, etc. Now there are exceptions to every rule. I can think of a few escape rooms that have been on Groupon for a short period of time and they are pretty awesome. The "short period of time" is the key there. It doesn't take them long to realize that their Groupon sales rep basically swindled them and they are possibly loosing money every time someone buys a Groupon for them, as such they leave Groupon as soon as possible. Those who stay, well I can only imagine they have resigned themselves to providing poor customer service, poor escape room design and in general, a crummy experience. Again, there are exceptions. If you're heading to Groupon after reading this, we do hope you find one of the few exceptions!
Now there is one thing that Groupon is great at, marketing. They know how to rank high in search results, they do a good job of buying ads on search engines so they show up higher than good local businesses. They run commercials during the most watched football game played. Most people know that the commercials during that game are the most expensive commercials ever purchased. How was Groupon able to afford to air that commercial during that game? Easy, they make a ton of money by tricking small business owners into using their service.
Look, we get it, people like to save money, we do too. But you do get what you pay for, especially in the escape room industry.
If you want to play the best escape rooms in Largo, give us a call, we'll take great care of you. Mention that you hate Groupon and we may even give you a discount.
Think we're making this stuff up? Read what Forbes magazine has said about Groupon by clicking the link below:
An article from Forbes discussing Groupon and sales tax.
Feel free to google "Groupon bad for business".
We occasionally get a call from someone interested in playing one of our escape rooms in Largo and they ask if we are on Groupon. We also occasionally get a call from someone who says they have purchased a Groupon and can't figure out how to use it to book a room on our website.
Now based on the title, it may seem like our response is short and sweet: "We're not on Groupon". We aren't and we won't be, that's not the whole answer though. The whole answer goes something like this: (it's a bit long but stick with me here)
Us:
"I'm sorry sir/ma'am Escape FLA is not on Groupon."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh, I thought you were."
Us:
"Unfortunately we are not and if you have a second, we'd love to tell you why we are not."
Nice lady or man:
"Uh, ok, I guess."
Us:
"You see, Groupon requires us to heavily discount our product. Usually around 40% off. I know everyone likes to save money but that's quite a discount. So now we've discounted our rate by 40%, well Groupon takes 50% of what's left. At Escape FLA we charge $28 per person +tax. That 40% discount takes us down to $16.80 pp +tax. Groupon takes 50% of that so now we're at $8.40 pp +tax."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh, that's terrible."
Us:
"We agree, but wait there's more. Groupon also charges an inflated credit card processing fee of 4% ($0.34) and we are required by the State of Florida to pay sales tax on the full, un-discounted rate of $28 ($1.96). All that gets us down to $6.10 per person."
Nice lady or man:
"Oh my gosh, how could you stay in business?"
Us:
"We couldn't, not for very long anyhow. If you are looking to play the best escape rooms in Largo, we'd be more than happy to help you book a room, we'll even give you a discount just for letting us tell you all about how Groupon really works. It's not going to be comparable in price to what your looking at on Groupon though. We do guarantee that you'll have the best experience possible at Escape FLA, the highest rated Escape Room in the area though."
They either book with us or go back to searching on Groupon, no hard feelings. Well kind of, see we are not only owners, we are escape room enthusiasts (aka, dorks) and we play a lot of escape rooms both here in Largo and all through out the state, even the country when we travel. There is one thing that most of the escape rooms on Groupon have in common, you get exactly what you pay for, which in this case of an escape room for $6.10, isn't much. Actually there is more than one commonality, most are understaffed, the games are not well designed, the props are beat up or just don't work as intended, etc. Now there are exceptions to every rule. I can think of a few escape rooms that have been on Groupon for a short period of time and they are pretty awesome. The "short period of time" is the key there. It doesn't take them long to realize that their Groupon sales rep basically swindled them and they are possibly loosing money every time someone buys a Groupon for them, as such they leave Groupon as soon as possible. Those who stay, well I can only imagine they have resigned themselves to providing poor customer service, poor escape room design and in general, a crummy experience. Again, there are exceptions. If you're heading to Groupon after reading this, we do hope you find one of the few exceptions!
Now there is one thing that Groupon is great at, marketing. They know how to rank high in search results, they do a good job of buying ads on search engines so they show up higher than good local businesses. They run commercials during the most watched football game played. Most people know that the commercials during that game are the most expensive commercials ever purchased. How was Groupon able to afford to air that commercial during that game? Easy, they make a ton of money by tricking small business owners into using their service.
Look, we get it, people like to save money, we do too. But you do get what you pay for, especially in the escape room industry.
If you want to play the best escape rooms in Largo, give us a call, we'll take great care of you. Mention that you hate Groupon and we may even give you a discount.
Think we're making this stuff up? Read what Forbes magazine has said about Groupon by clicking the link below:
An article from Forbes discussing Groupon and sales tax.
Feel free to google "Groupon bad for business".