On a daily basis, many consumers receive email alerts from companies like Groupon and LivingSocial offering huge discounts from local merchants. But according to a Business Insider article, the deals may not be as amazing as they seem.
Thumbtack.com, a national merchant directory, called 10 vendors — five from Groupon and five from LivingSocial offering daily deals — and found eight instances where prices offered over the phone were cheaper than the regular prices advertised by the discount sites.
For example, Thumbtack.com reported that last month that Groupon advertised two hours of home-cleaning services in Phoenix for $49, a 67 percent discount from the regular price of $150. But the nondiscounted price for the cleaning quoted to Thumbtack was $80 for two hours, $70 less than what Groupon advertised.
Granted, the findings in the report were from an extremely small sample size, but with 80 percent of those merchants inflating the listed regular price, it’s worth noting.