90% discount on a fake price

There are a lot of group buying websites that give you a 90% discount on certain products/services, and some of them get tipped if 2-3 people buy it. Do you believe that...freaking 90% discount is just too much, don't they wanna make money or even to that matter, break even.

If you think like that, then you are way too innocent. The discount is on a fake price, these guys don't sell that stuff anywhere else for the MRP (most of them, not all). I don't wanna undermine what these websites are doing, coz I believe in the group buying concept and it's fabulous. But it has one major drawback:

If I find a store giving me a ayurvedic massage for 500 bucks in the group buying website, where in I have to pay 400 bucks to the merchant and 100 bucks to the website. Then my cheap/smart mentality thinks - what if I call the store guys and ask for the same offer without having to register in the website, by that I save the 100 bucks I had to give to the group buying website.

Of course, I understand that there would be an understanding between the group buying website and the merchant, that this deal exists only for the customers directed from the website. But you see, just like piracy, corruption is damn easy in this case. Also, people in India usually don't sue each other that often like they do in the US, if you know what I mean :).