A trend that has become very popular over the Internet this past decade has been rise of coupon sites. The boom of deal sites, which help you save an additional percentage off your purchase, have been around forever, but tighter consumer wallets have certainly helped fuel the popularity of checking a deal site before making a purchase. We have all also become accustomed to not ignoring the “Enter a Promo Code” section of the payment page. That’s why many people will get a coupon code before actually making a purchase at an online retailer. Some websites, no matter how hard you look, just don’t offer them. For example, I have searched for coupons on William Sonoma home furniture and always come up short.
How These Sites Work
The majority of websites that offer coupons are large aggregators of products and discounts that are sent from large central databases. Large affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and Linkshare have made it possible for programmers to take information from affiliate databases and prepost on their website – earning a nominal percentage on each purchase that originates from the publisher. Everything is tracked back through the affiliate network, where the website publisher also receives payment. They never actually deal directly with the online retailer, unless they are large enough to generate significant new business.
Not All Are Created Equal
I have shopped many of these sites and found that unless they have a decent staff, it’s very difficult to stay on top of the best deals.
When doing your Holiday shopping this year, checkout the below websites prior to purchasing from any website. You can typically save about 10% on your next purchase or at the very least receive free shipping, which is a must for any successful e-commerce retailer.
My Top 3 Coupon Sites
1. Retail Me Not – I particularly like this website because their first aim isn’t to profit off of a user. Believe me, they are highly successful as they sold for $90 Million dollars; however, they are similar in their approach to be useful first and to profit second. Their “success” metric actually works – while many similar sites post a similar metric, but it’s made up.
2. Deal Catcher – These guys have been around since day one on the Internet. They are one of the better aggregator’s of coupon offers if you are shopping by a particular store. For example, if you want to do your Christmas shopping at Kohl’s this year, you can see the latest deals with associated links in an easy to use web interface.
3. Savings.com – I like this site because they offer both online and off-line (printable) coupons with a section devoted just to grocery shopping.
The Google trick: Google makes for a great resource if you are shopping for a coupon from one store in particular. I just add “coupon code” to whatever store that I’m looking to make a purchase from and I typically find the best result is listed at the top.
Good luck on saving more this year!
- Featured in the Festival of Frugality
The Begging Line
A simple search for a coupon code can save you 10% on your next purchase.
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Can’t begin to tell you how much I save with online coupons each year. I rarely buy anything without finding a promo code and probably use TechBargains.com for all of my electronic purchases.