Socks from Switzerland

In a sign that the group shopping craze continues to spread, and is now rapidly approaching the ridiculous "we're giving away free money, to get you to sign up with us" stage of things, two recent examples.

The Living Social "get $20 on Amazon for $10" deal.

And, a deal from Black Socks.com that wound up with me getting a pair of cashmere socks, shipped from Switzerland, for essentially $7.

Nice as a consumer, but clearly getting to be tougher to build a business moving forward, if that's the kind of promos you need.