thedailywhat:

Going Out Of Business Sale of the Day: A woman who runs a bakery in Reading, Berkshire, lost every last cent she made this year after she offered a significant discount to customers through Groupon and couldn’t put her cupcakes were her mouth is.

Rachel Brown, owner and proprietor of the Need a Cake bakery, says she anticipated a few hundred orders when she offered a 75% discount on a dozen cupcakes through the deal-of-the-day website.

Instead, Brown received upwards of 8,500 orders, requiring her to bake over 100,000 cupcakes. “[W]ithout doubt, the worst ever business decision I have made,” she told the Telegraph.

Brown not only lost ~$4 per batch, but she was forced to spend nearly $20,000 out-of-pocket to pay for extra hands to help her meet the orders. “My poor staff were having to slog away at all hours,” Brown said. “[O]ne of them even came in at 3am because she couldn’t sleep for worry.”

Despite its ability to bring 25-year-old bakeries to their knees, Groupon itself is not doing so well. The company’s stock dropped 14 percent yesterday, nearly returning to its IPO price of $20. According to The Globe & Mail, Groupon was “the third-largest decliner on the Nasdaq.”

[telegraph / g&m / photo: dailymail.]

Groupon should pay this woman back for her losses, not cool people, not cool