Have you ever done it?

I'm wondering about the benefits to my business...

AWhat are the terms? Generally these groupon-type deals are not worth it unless you are trying to reach cheap customers.

My kids restaurant did a groupon and it brought in TONS of new business. I know I won't try a new place without a deal, but if I like it I will go back.

i received an email, and i was hoping the commission price was in there, but it wasn't. :( I'm talking to the guy next week. I am just looking for innovative ways to get people talking about me. One thing I do know is that I can control how many I sell. 

Yes...Melanie sold 700. A lot of people never used them, so they didn't really lose a lot of money but they got tons of new occasional restaurants and a couple dozen regulars. Of course you won't get repeat customers unless you offer a great product.

APlease post the terms when you hear them! I did a groupon and I had to give a 50% discount and only got to keep 50% of that... Yeah, 25% of retail! I did raise my prices before I did it though, but it didn't really make it worth it. It just hurts me in my soul too much to give "free" product. Though, my groupon account manager is a repeat client, and I have a lot of business from one lady who didn't even buy the groupon. Her BF has a friend who ordered 6 $150 cakes in the past 7 months!

And there was a dude who got a cake for his "partner" and they recommended me to my most recent paid bride, who is getting an $800 cake.

The biggest problem though is getting them to stop with selling them already! I signed up for 50, and sold 116 before they would turn the darn thing off. I was pretty furious about it for a while.... Didn't do any good, though!

i would be very apprehensive personally because I have seen custom bakers get ripped to shreds on Yelp when a GroupOn is sold and then, because fulfillment has to be based on custom availability, the customer can't get the product when they want.  I saw reviews for one cake maker who looks to have done a Cupcake deal and was getting reamed for not answering the phone and having to leave a message,  and for not having cupcakes ready to go, and for not even having a store front (all things were terms spelled out, but small print isn't read by everyone).  If I had a store front and a stocked case, I'd maybe do a promotion, but I would hate for it to be oversold and for me to underperform. 

I personally think that there are better ways to achieve name recognition with less risk. 

Or you could bake a lot of cupcakes in advance and freeze for preparation. I had the groupon folks email me 2 days ago. I haven't even answered yet. I did not know Amazon did something similiar

Is living social the same as Amazon Local? I get emails from both and they seem to be running the same promotions so I think they're linked. No idea about either one. I got asked to do a "Sweet Jack" which promotes the discount on radio stations. It isn't as big as Groupon or Living Social but the damn jingle gets stuck in my head. 

AAmazon is a part owner of LivingSocial, so Amazon Local often distributes LivingSocial deals but they offer their own deals as well.

he's calling me on tuesday. i'll let you all know what i find out.

All the experiences I've read from bakers doing something like this or Groupon have never worked out to the baker's advantage.