One of the best parts of being a techie and frugal is having an in-depth understanding of the technology available to online retailers and how this information can be used to their advantage. By now, we all know that if we shop online, 9 times out of 10, we will get a better price than if we were to shop at a brick and mortar (B&M) store. What the average shopper does not know though is that online retailers have an advantage not available to B&M. The advantage I am talking about is access to cookies and browsing history.

Through the use of cookies and browsing history, retailers are capable of tracking our digital foot print throughout the internet. They can be used to identify you and determine what your interests are based on prior shopping habits. Believe it or not, some retailers are using cookies and history information to charge certain shoppers, specifically loyal and returning customers, more for items purchased on their site. DO NOT be alarmed. Cookies and history information are not used exclusively for this purpose. Cookies and browsing history information are also used for simplifying your shopping experience. The trick is to know how to use them such that you simplify your shopping experience while also getting the best price. This is my goal for writing this month’s blog installment. I will show you how some retailers are using cookies and browsing history to increase revenues and show you how you can increase the probability of getting the best price from your preferred retailer.

Consider this:  you are window shopping at the mall. You see an item you really want to buy, but you are not sure if you should, and decide not to purchase it that day. However, you continue to return to the mall for the next few days always asking the retailer more questions about the item. In this scenario, the retailer knows you are interested and can almost tell that you will buy the item. Many of us may not realize it, but we do the same thing when shopping online. We revisit a site over and over as a method of performing due diligence before making major purchases. Unlike the B&M retailer, some online retailers armed with this information raise the price slightly the next time you visit because they now know that you are very interested in that item. The same thing happens to loyal customers. The prices are raised on them also because the retailer knows that they are returning shoppers. While both see the higher price, other online shoppers, specifically the ones visiting for the first time, still see the lower price.

How do you increase your probability of  getting the best prices when shopping with your favorite retailer?  You have to make the online retailer’s website think you are visiting for the first time also. How do you do that? Prior to shopping, clear your Browser History and use Private Browsing feature.

Private Browsing is a relatively new feature in popular browsers. Each browser has a different definition of private browsing but in general, what this feature does is open a fresh browsing window that has no knowledge of currently stored cookies or other personal information about you. When you are finished browsing all cookies and personal information associated with that browse window is discarded. With this in mind, here’s how you can get the best prices using three of the most popular browsers.

In Firefox 3.5+:

1. Clear your browser History by choosing Tools>Clear Recent History
   
2. Use the privacy browsing option in your browser by choosing Tools>Start Private Browsing.



3. In the browser window that pops up begin shopping and DO NOT login before you are ready to pay if possible.
4. Close the Private Browsing window when you have finished shopping.

In Internet Explorer 8+

1. Clear your Browser History by choosing Tools>Clear Recent History. In the window that opens, click the delete button in the Browsing History section.
2. Begin Private Browsing by choosing Safety>InPrivate Browsing.



3. In the browser window that pops up begin shopping and DO NOT login before you are ready to pay if possible.
4. Close the InPrivate Browsing window when you have finished shopping.

In Safari 2+

1. Select Clear History from the History menu.
2. Select Safari>Private Browsing from the menu.

Click Ok.

Doing this will make the online retailer’s website think that this is the first time that you are shopping on their site. This often guarantees you the best price, if this retailer does behavioral pricing. Understanding this can keep your shopping experience simple, while guaranteeing you the best price that retailer has for general customers.

For more tips on retailer tricks and shopping tips to make sure you get the best price comeback next month for our monthly blog.

References: Private Browsing in Firefox , In-Private Browsing in Internet Explorer, Private Browsing in Safari

If you are a regular reader of our website, then you are aware that some savings we post can be found Facebook. More often than not, the offers require that you become a Fan of the page, company, or product. Unfortunately, many (not all) times becoming a Fan requires that you install a Facebook application, and these applications need your profile information. Before you install these applications, Facebook notifies you that allowing access will let the application pull your profile information, photos, your friends’ information, and other content that it requires to work. If you are the average Facebook user, there is most likely information in your account that you don’t want anyone outside your Facebook friends to see. So how do you get around this, protect your information, and still get the offer?

For a few months, we have been trying to figure out how to deal with this issue, or more specifically, how our readers can obtain the deals and protect their personal information. The best solution we came up with is to create another account used specifically for obtaining offers. This account should not contain any personal information and should not have any Facebook friends added to it. We also suggest that the email account for this Facebook account be an email account where you do not receive personal or financial emails. If necessary, you may need to create a separate email account for this account and other promotions to be directed to.

Taking these steps should help you protect your information and help you continue to get great deals. Stay tuned to this blog for future Facebook application security protection updates.

On February 22, 2010 the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (CARD), aka Credit Card Bill of Rights, went into effect to protect consumers from what congress agreed to be unfair business practices by the credit card and banking industry.  The bill was due to years of consumer complaints of business practices, such as:

• Restriction on dormancy and service fees for unused cards
• Sudden shifts in card agreements.
• Marketing to college students
• No over the credit limit allowance without the consumer’s approval

Unfortunately for consumers, although the legislation was signed into law on May 22, 2009 by President Obama, the law did not go into full effect until February 22, of this year (2010). This allowed credit card companies to adjust their business practices to accommodate for the loss of income. These changes included increasing interest rates, increasing late fees, imposing international transaction fees, imposing annual fees, and other changes on even their most financially responsible customers. More than ever before, consumers need to understand how they maybe used and mislead into enriching the big banks and credit cards.

As a loyal follower of this website, you are aware that we have been working diligently to find our viewers the hidden discounts in their wallets, and many times the ones we find are related to credit cards. Some of you may or may not have noticed that we do not post all the discounts that you may find on many of the credit card websites.  This is intentional. After months of investigation we have noticed, “Not all deals are created equal”.  In fact, many times:

• The deals are not really deals
• Deals are disguised as exclusive deals but they are not exclusive
• Consumers are lead to believe they must use a specific credit card to get a specific deal
• Consumers are told they must pay to be part of an exclusive club to get deals that are available to the general public
• Consumers are encouraged to use debit cards which are not protected by the Credit Card Bill of Rights

Here are some examples we recorded during the busiest shopping season of the year, Black Friday – New Years Day. We have distorted the names of the credit card companies. In addition, we would like to state that the companies whose products and/or services are shown below are only shown for comparative purposes and in no way implies that these companies were involved in any misrepresentation of a deal.

Example 1 from a credit card website:

• Retailer: Restaurant.com
• Offer:  40-60% off Restaurant.com gift certificates
• Additional: Site implies that the customer must use their credit card.

This 40% off deal is not a deal. Restaurant.com has deals on their gift certificate ranging from 60-90% just about every day of the year. We are an affiliate of Restaurant.com and have seen a total of 2 days thus far where there was not a code that allows customers to get their gift certificates at 60% or more off. Here is one of the deals we had running on our site at the same time.

Example 2 from a credit card website:

• Retailer: ESPN Shop
• Offer: Save 20% on orders over $75 or more
• Code: LKSP9DN2
• Offer Expires: 01/02/2010
• Access: Login required and only available to customers with debit cards bearing the cards logo. This gives the consumer the illusion exclusivity.
• Additional: Customer is encouraged to use the credit card of the website.

Click image to enlarge.

There is nothing exclusive about this deal.  This was a very popular coupon that could be found on many affiliate websites including ours and no login was required.

Example 3 from a credit card website: – This offer was found on two different websites

• Retailer: Sears
• Offer:  Save an Extra $5 Off Orders of $50 or More
• Code: SEARS5OFF50
• Offer Expires: Website1 – 12/31/09. Website2 – 01/02/2010.
• Access: Website 1- Login required and only available to customers with debit cards bearing the cards logo. This gives the consumer the illusion exclusivity. Website -2 No login required.
• Additional: Website 1-Customer is encouraged to use the credit card of the website. Website 2-Implies that the customer must use their credit card.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Again there is nothing exclusive about this deal and even worse you do not need to use a specific credit card to get this deal.  This again was a very popular offer and this was distributed to all affiliates including us.

Example 4 from a credit card website: – This is probably the worst one we found.

• Retailer: Nike Store
• Offer: Get Free Shipping on Any purchase
• Offer Expires: 12/22/2009
• Access: Login Required and only available to customers with debit cards bearing the cards logo. This gives the consumer the illusion exclusivity.

Click image to enlarge.

• Additional: Only customers that subscribe to the Savings Plus Program can get this offer. The Savings Plus Program cost $29.95.

Click image to enlarge.

In this case, you are paying $29.95 to get something you could get for free elsewhere. Affiliates of the Nike Store also had the same offer by simply entering the code “GIFT” on their site for free as you can see at this link.

So what are the credit card companies up to? It’s really all about revenues.  They are encouraging you to use their coupon code portal so they can:

• Make money from the retailer in merchant account fees,
• Make money on from you on interest generated by unpaid balances,
• Make money from retailers for being their affiliates,
• And, in some cases, make money from the fees you pay to get access to savings they are already making money on.

So what does this mean for you?  As a consumer, you must understand that banks and credit card companies are in business to make money. They are protecting their best interest and you should do the same. When online shopping:

• Search multiple sites for coupon codes, including our site.
• Compare the savings.
• Don’t be fooled into thinking a specific credit card must be used to get a deal because most times that is not true.  If you need to verify the connection between savings and a credit card, see our site.
• Use payment methods that work best for you.
• Pay your credit card balance in full at the end of every month if possible.
• If you are taking advantage of any of these types of deals by using your debit card with a credit card logo on it, understand that you are not protected by the new credit card laws and thus any violation of card rules may trigger larger fees.

If you follow these tips, the credit card companies will not use you to raise their bottom line.