Skip to main content

Living Social Challenging Groupon

Living Social Challenging Groupon - LivingSocial, the second-biggest website for daily deals, is planning to use a $183 million investment from Amazon.com to overtake market leader Groupon Inc. At almost the same time, Groupon turned down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google.

LivingSocial and Amazon are apparently preparing to combine their websites in significant ways. But one reason why Amazon has not bought the smaller company outright is the matter of state sales tax. As things stand, Amazon collects no sales tax for most of the states in the U.S. Vendors are required by law to collect sales tax only for states where they have a physical presence. Theoretically, when a customer orders from Amazon, the customer should report and turn the sales tax in himself, but that rarely if ever happens.

Living Social Challenging Groupon

But LivingSocial’s type of business depends on an enormous sales team, physically located in every market in which it operates. If Amazon bought LivingSocial, that sales force would become Amazon employees, Amazon would gain a physical presence across the nation, and become liable for sales tax in all those additional states.

Living Social and Groupon both offer their members coupons for their local businesses via daily emails, which they buy online. These coupons offer big savings, at times up to 75% off. Local businesses who have participated in group-coupons have discovered that, if the merchant provides a good product and good service, he may win a customer who keeps coming back, long after the special deal is over. Some estimates of success with coupon sites are as high as 95%

Living Social Challenging Groupon
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contactless Debit Cards

Contactless Debit Cards - Contactless debit cards will make their formal debut in Canada next year with the launch of Interac Flash from Acxsys Corp.’s Interac Association, Canada’s national debit network. Interac’s first two Flash issuers are Scotiabank and RBC Royal Bank, which will roll out their first contactless cards next summer. The first acquirer is TD Merchant Services, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank. More issuers and acquirers are on the way, an Interac spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News, though no announcements have been made yet. Interac and the banks tested Flash this summer at some high-volume, small-ticket merchants in downtown Toronto. The spokesperson expects national merchants will be making formal announcements about acceptance. “There’s a lot of excitement in the merchant community,” she says. “Merchants are looking for that faster throughput.” In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada endorsed the new card. “Interac Flash is a welcome and needed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Homes Losing Value Fastest

Homes Losing Value Fastest - Homeowners with Citigroup loans in foreclosure-rich Virginia Beach, Va., and Orlando, Fla., are in luck. The mortgage giant announced today that it will impose a moratorium on most foreclosures and modify $20 billion in mortgages to enable homeowners who are not behind on their loans, but in danger of falling behind, to avoid foreclosure. Those that don't fall under the plan? They're in hot water. Well, underwater. Virginia Beach homeowners who bought homes this year possess a paltry 5.2% of home equity, and 34.5% owe more on their property than it's worth, according to Zillow.com, a real estate research group. That's the worst rate in the country. Even in Orlando and Miami, two cities hammered by bad loans and home-equity dips, only 30% and 29% of homeowners are underwater, respectively. It's a similar story in El Centro, Calif., Bakersfield, Calif., and Cumberland, Md. What's certain to follow? Foreclosures. "Negative...
1 comment
Read more

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M - "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" fans listen up! A home from the iconic '80's film is on the market for $1.65 million, reports the Huffington Post. Starring as the modern digs of character Cameron Frye in the movie, the glassy house is located in Highland Park, Illinois and has been on the market for a little over a year. More photos reveal the glass-wrapped home features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a spacious tree-filled lot, according to the listing on Realtor.com. 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 5,300 square feet of living space, the home served as the setting for the oddball hijinks in the 1986 film. Architects A. James Speyer and David Haid designed the house, built in 1953, with a specialty glass-enclosed garage to store Ben Rose's collection of vintage cars, reported Luxist.com when the home or...
Post a Comment
Read more