Not only has the website been profitable since June, but Groupon—which announces specially discounted daily offers on everything from massages to bike tours in certain U.S. cities—has raised $30 million and wants to expand its bulk-buying collective to 50 more cities next year.
So reports CNET. When I checked in with Groupon founder Andrew Mason over the summer, the site featured deals in about ten cities, so rolling out to 50 more metropolitan areas (including ones in Canada) is a huge expansion.
The deal with Groupon’s deals is this: Membership is free, and a certain number of members has to agree to pay for the day’s coupon or special offer, which might be a restaurant discount, cheap tickets to a pro baseball game, spa treatments, almost anything. If not enough people sign on, there’s no sale whatsoever. You’re not charged anything, but then again, you also don’t get the item in question either.