Barbara, not Barbie's Journal: It's about time skeptics weighed in against groupon-type sites.

But first, a hint for the math-impaired: Even letting the customer spin a wheel and getting a discount of either 25%, 50%, 75%, or FREE would let you keep more money ($33.33 on average per sale, as opposed to $25.00), and the customer gets a bigger saving on average (2/3 off instead of half).

42% of all small and medium businesses (SMBs) would not do another groupon deal.

Series of articles on real groupon disasters.

Did you see the movie Alien? Of course you did. Remember the scene?

Yes THE scene .

The one with the alien popping out of the chest of the guy while at dinner with everyone? The alien had used his body as a host and destroyed him.

The online discount sites,"deal-of-the day"Â blogs and their ilk are using your deal to build their lists.

The customer loyalty is going to their pages, their offers, their friends - not yours.

I think you're delusional if you've been thinking otherwise.

The money that could be making your shopping experience more competitive, keep your inventory fuller and letting you hire better is vanishing. And you're the magician.

Bottom line: Discounting your product by 50%, then giving 50% of what's left to groupon or another group buying site, is only a great idea if your goal is to destroy the perceived value of your product and burn money.

Groupon - for when you lack the imagination to come up anything else.