What makes a "hot deal" hot?

June 15th, 2008

Ever since we officially launched the contests earlier this month you, the community, have done a terrific job looking for hot shopping deals and sharing them with everyone. There are some days when we are really having a hard time picking the best deals. On June 13 we awarded 4 members just because you have done such a great job bargain hunting. Although we love giving away many prizes, practically we can’t always afford to do that. Buxr is a small startup with a limited budget. We don’t have investors and all of the expenses come out of our pockets. So inevitably the question will always remain, what shopping deal is better, and who should be awarded today.

We don’t pick winners in a completely arbitrary fashion. Very often your votes give us a very strong signal which deals are popular within the community. For example awarding niteprey2 for this Walgreen’s coupon was a no-brainer. In those cases when we don’t have such a strong expression of public opinion, we have to make a decision ourselves, and this is where the set of quality criteria comes in handy, which we want to share with all of you so you can see our way of thinking when we selected the winners.

So, what makes a deal hot?

• The deal is available nationwide. Deals from small retailers available in a few states usually have little value since only a small percentage of our members can appreciate the benefits.
• The deal comes from a well known reputable merchant. If the merchant name doesn’t ring a bell then it is very likely that you will not shop with them, and hence the deal value is questionable.
• The deal is not openly available. The value of a deal is somewhat questionable if you can go to the merchant website home page and see the promotion right there. The best deals are those that require use of special discount codes and/or other tricks like filler items.
• The price is the lowest compared to other offers. If this is a product, we always check the product price against other offers using PriceGrabber. The best deal is the one with the lowest price compared to offers from competing merchants.
• The product is popular. If you were to discover a “secret” discount code on Apple iPhone and posted it on Buxr, it would surely resulted in a best deal award.
• The discount is big percentage wise. This is especially true for coupons. Simply put, 20% off is always better than 10% off.
• The deal is rare. If the discount is something the merchant regularly offers then the deal value is questionable. A good example is 20% to Bed Bath and Beyond that everyone seems to receive in the mail.

There are other things to consider

Shipping charges should be included into the deal price calculations. A mail in rebate is usually not a good thing, especially one of large amount. It is always good if a deal comes in a context of certain holidays (gifts for Dads anyone?). If special steps are needed to claim the deal, the instructions should be clear and detailed enough for everyone to be able to understand. Overall, the deal description is often the key factor so it is very important that you put enough effort into formulating why this particular deal is good. We have seen many times when a personal recommendation was the deal maker.

We hope the list above makes sense and you will find it useful for scoring great deals and winning prizes. In the next blog post we will try to tell you some tips on where and how you can find these hot deals. Until then, happy bargain hunting everyone!

Entry Filed under: Shopping