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Find The Lowest Prices Online With Channel-Specific Discount Links (Huh?)

Posted by Sean | Posted under Coupons, Frugality | July 7, 2008

You know about online coupons. You play the drugstore game. You have signed up for free-lunch email lists. In short, you know almost everything about saving money online. But there is one trick you might not have not seen…

Channel-Specific Discount Links

Ignore my jargon-y headline. The concept is simple. There are discounts that will only appear if you are referred by certain websites. If you go to directly to the retailer, you will see their normal (higher) prices. Only by clicking a link from specific sites will you trigger the lower promotional prices.

Here is an example:


Google Shopping

This is the same site, same product… the only difference is the price.

In the above example, if you clicked on the product link from Google Shopping,
the retailer’s website is setup to trigger the special price, $186.74 vs. $199.00.

Q: Why do retailer use these types of discounts?
A: They want to stand out and get new customers. (see: loss leader)

Q: Where are you likely too see these type of discounts?
A: Advertising marketplaces that are hyper-competitive.

For a long time, a popular coupon company ran this type of discount on Google AdWords, where you would save $5 or get free shipping on their coupon book. But the savings can be more substantial. I just searched for an item that costs over $1000, and the discount via Google Shopping was nearly $50.

(I hesitate to name names, because these types of discounts might last longer if they are not getting hammered by everyone all at once, especially if the retailer is paying per click.)

Nevertheless, this is just one more reason to do online comparison shopping. Besides finding the lowest prices between retailers, sometimes you can find the lowest prices within retailers.

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3 Comments so far
  1. MoneyEnergy July 10, 2008 10:01 am

    Wow, I actually know very little about getting all these online discounts. I’ve never tried it. I guess I really need to get caught up! Are there any discounts on books?

  2. Sean July 10, 2008 10:41 am

    That’s a good question. I don’t think there is a clearinghouse for these types of discounts, like with coupon codes and more publicized methods… it is more hit-n-miss. I’ve seen it on computer components, only b/c I work with that industry. In other areas, if you have the product/retailer, you could check the most likely places they would run price-competitive advertising.

  3. Amateur Asset Allocator July 21, 2008 5:03 am

    Friday Link Love And Carnival Roundup…

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