What's Shakin'?

It's been a while since we posted to the blog, but everyone here at Price Protectr is hard at work trying to save you money!

A few weeks ago we announced the launch of Price Protectr Business Solutions and debuted it at the Shop.org conference in Las Vegas. As a consumer, that means you'll begin seeing the ability to set price alerts directly from retailer sites, powered by Price Protectr -- the name you know and trust.

As a retailer, it means you'll be able to increase conversions by re-engaging with price sensitive customers who might have gone somewhere else to make a purchase. If you have an online store and would like to learn more about how Price Protectr Business Solutions can help your business, shoot us an email at b2b@priceprotectr.com!

On another note, we're giving our emails a facelift! We've been hard at work redesigning our emails to bring more information and improved functionality. If you're interested in helping beta test them and provide feedback, let us know!

Labels: announcements, business solutions, new features

The blog's been quiet for a while, but we're still here working hard to save you money.

It's busy around here as always. You may have noticed we launched a new an improved login and sign up process recently. We moved a bunch of the signup details to the beginning of the process to make it easier to get it out of the way when creating a new account. If you're a new user, let us know how you found the signup.

We haven't been doing Two-Fer Tuesdays for a while, but we're coming on strong tonight with 6 new retailers:

• Abe's of Maine
• Express
• French Connection
• Guess
  
• Liz Claiborne
• Tommy Hilfiger

As always, keep the suggestions coming in -- and thanks for using Price Protectr!

Labels: new features, retailers

Don't tell anyone I told you this, but we just added a secret little deals feed over here. Every hour, we pick the best deal we find on the internet and give you the inside scoop. So add it to your favorite feed reader and get all the great deals before your friends.

This blog post will self destruct in 5 seconds.



(not really, but it's the last you'll hear about the deal feed... from us)

Labels: new features

For about a year and a half, Price Protectr has been providing shoppers with free price protection notification. We've protected almost $22 million in purchases and notified our users to over $1.2 million in price drops. That's not too shabby, especially considering how stoked we were to hit $10,000 in savings back in the day.

Earlier this month we launched deal alerts which allow shoppers to sign up for keyword-based alerts on the best deals we come across on the web. We've already sent out hundreds of deal alerts, and our users are snatching up some pretty sweet deals.

Today we're happy to announce the next evolution of Price Protectr as your shopping companion: price targeting and price watching.


Price Targeting allows you to set a price on an item you're looking to buy, and we'll notify you when the price drops below your target price.

Price Watching lets you add an item you're interested in, and we notify you when the price changes.

Price watching and price targeting -- just two more tools in your shopping arsenal to help you get the best price before you buy.

There are also 2 new sections in your My Stuff account to help manage all your watched and targeted items. And, when you actually decide to buy one of them, adding them for price protection is as simple as clicking the "Move to Price Protection" link!

As always, Price Protectr is completely free to use. So go nuts! And let us know if you have any comments or suggestions, we're always happy to hear from our users.

Labels: announcements, new features

We added a cool new feature this weekend called deal alerts! Tired of looking through Sunday circulars and comparison shopping? Let all the great deals come to you! Head on over to our deals page, tell us what you're looking for, and sit back and relax. We'll email you when we find great coupons and price drops! And, of course, all your deal alerts are super easy to manage from your My Stuff account.

Labels: new features

We know what a pain it can be to find old receipts when you need them for things like price adjustments or warranty claims. Is it on the table? In your wallet? The circular filing cabinet?

With our new receipt upload feature, finding that receipt is just one click away! Head on into your MyStuff account and click the "Upload Receipt" link next to the item you'd like to attach a receipt to. If you bought your item online, simply save your confirmation page and upload that or, if you bought it in the store, dust off that scanner you never use and scan it in! Either way, we're happy to save it, and you'll know where it is when you need it.

Questions? Feedback? Comments? Let us know!

Labels: new features

Tonight we're happy to announce the launch of our Price Protectr Toolbar for Firefox! I've been playing around with it for the past few weeks and I don't know how I ever lived without it. Here are some of the great features:

• One-click protection. When you visit a supported retailer, a "Protect" button is enabled which will open a new tab at Price Protectr and automatically fill in your URL.
  
  
• Never forget to protect a purchase. The toolbar will stay up to date with all our supported retailers, so you never have to wonder whether or not a site is supported.
  
  
• Retailer ratings. When you visit a supported retailer, their price protection rating will show up letting you know how accurate out users have found the price protection policy.
  
  
• Save some dough with coupons. When you visit a supported retailer, we'll automatically show you any coupons we currently have available.
  
  
• Much more. The toolbar also provides easy access to the deals search, price protectr pages, full retailer profiles, and more!

Here's an example of what the toolbar looks like for Amazon.com:


Give it a try, install the toolbar today! And send us any feedback you might have.

P.S. - We're working on a version for IE.

Labels: new features

Today we launched item profiles, which allows you to see historic price information for all the products we link to. On the deals page and in your My Stuff account, you'll see a "more details" link for every item. Clicking on that will bring you to an item profile page like this.

As you can see, we display price trends, highs & lows, and all the price drops we've seen for that item. Just another weapon for your shopping arsenal.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know!

Labels: new features

I almost forgot! Early December last year, Price Protectr went live for the very first time and started saving people money. A year ago yesterday, I posted a story on Digg.

Reception was mixed; We made some people happy:

Nice! This is an excellent piece of my online shopping arsenal, especially as after christmas discounts are right around the corner.

Man, I must have price protected about 6 items over the Holidays. I think I saved over $700 in total. Having a service like this just makes it all the easier.

And others were skeptical:

God, I am sick of these flickr imitating names and domains.

smells like spam, and i didn't even read the article yet

Lack of the final vowel is the first requirement on web2.0! Do not underestimate the power of getting your audience to fully understand your hipness and lack of concern for English as a language!

Now, a year later, I'd like to think we've proven the critics wrong. We've protected over 15.5 million dollars in purchases and saved our users a whopping 650 thousand dollars. All for free!

And, we've been steadily adding retailers (I think we originally launched with 6) and new features like accounts, the ability to view your protection history, retailer ratings and reviews, this blog, deals and coupons, a complete site redesign, and too many small improvements to mention.

We've been featured in countless blogs, newspapers, and magazines: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the San Jose Mercury News, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, PC Magazine, PC World, CBS evening news, ABS evening news, Technorati, the Consumerist, MSN Money, and many, many more.

To commemorate this occasion, I've added a bookmarking widget to all the blog posts so that we may more esaily dugg up, dugg down, shared, lauded, and critiqued for years to come.

It's been a great year and there are lots of new exciting things in store for the coming year. Stay tuned, and thanks for using Price Protectr.

Labels: new features

Tonight's Two-Fer adds a couple user favorites: Macy's and Walmart.

We've been getting a lot of positive feedback about the deals search. Well, tonight it got even better -- when you search deals we'll show you all the matching products' prices as well as recent price drops. Check out this search for iPod Nano!

Labels: new features, retailers

Have you checked out the deals page lately? We're starting to list some of the latest price drops we've seen for each retailer. It can still use a little polish, but it's pretty cool and it's updated in real-time.

Wondering what the biggest price drop was Tuesday? $1,100.99 on the Samsung LNT4671 HDTV from Fry's Electronics.

Labels: deals, new features, price drops

First things first, this week's two-fer adds popular requests Lowes and White House Black Market to the list of supported retailers. Keep the retailer requests coming! Maybe yours will make it next week.

Next, we added a bunch of great new deals over the weekend. Offers that last through the holidays for Altrec, offers ending this week for money off purchases at Best Buy, and a bunch of new free shipping coupon codes for Cooking.com.

You might also noticed the blog has changed. We're now powered by Blogger which lets us tag new posts and lets you leave comments and trackbacks. So welcome to the new-and-improved blog and speak up! We're interested in hearing what you have to say.

Labels: announcements, new features, retailers

Notice that new tab up top? We're happy to bring a new feature to the site, Price Protectr Deals! We've teamed up with a few of our supported retailers to offer you some cool deals you might not find elsewhere. Free shipping, money off, coupon codes... it's all there.

We're going to be adding more retailers and deals every week, so check back often. And if you know of a deal we don't have listed, let us know!

So next time you're shopping, remember to come to Price Protectr before and after your purchase. We'll help you save some money every time you visit!

Labels: new features

Notice anything new today? Probably not, it's well hidden. Head on into your My Stuff page and click the little down arrow next to one of your items. Viola -- a graph of your item's price over the price protection period. Now that's graphy!

Labels: new features

At long last, our "Name the Owl" contest is finally open! What's the prize you ask? Oh, not much... just a little $400 shopping spree to your favorite supported retailer. We also have a couple cool prizes for 2 runners up -- so make sure you tell your friends. They can show you their sweet 2nd place prize while you're filling your shopping cart with $400 worth of goodies.

What's that? You have a favorite retailer we don't support yet? Well there's never been a better time to ask. We'll be adding a bunch more between now and when the contest ends.

There's a tiny catch. Well it's not so much a catch as it is an opportunity. There's a short survey included with your contest entry -- we're looking for your help in deciding the future of Price Protectr. We've been providing this service for free and ad-free for almost a year, and we need to start thinking about making money so we can continue to provide the service for years to come.

Log into your My Stuff page and click the blue contest link to name the owl. We're expecting some great stuff!

As always, thanks for using Price Protectr and tell your friends to come name the owl too!

Labels: new features

You're looking to buy an iPhone or a new laptop for school... but you just know the price is going to drop in a couple days. Ever wonder who has the best price protection policy? Or how easy it is to collect refunds from different retailers and how well the enforce their policies? Never fear! Tonight we're happy to announce the launch of Price Protectr retailer ratings and reviews.

Now, whenever an item you're protecting drops in price, you have the ability to leave retailer feedback in your My Stuff page. Rate the overall experience between 1 and 5 stars and leave a more detailed review if you'd like. The more feedback you give, the better the reviews become. Then, next time you're looking to make a purchase, head over to the retailers page and read what other users have to say before you buy.

We also sent out the very first Price Protectr newsletter this evening to our members. It's short and sweet and hopefully at least a little interesting. If you didn't receive the newsletter and feel left out, feel free to check out our online version.

Labels: new features

We've been getting a ton of requests for new retailers recently... so many that adding one a week just isn't enough. So today we're happy to announce the start of Two-Fer Tuesday. From now on we'll be adding two new retailers every Tuesday unless we run out of retailers or go on vacation :-)

Today's two-fer includes J.Crew and Rooms to Go. Happy shopping!

Labels: new features, retailers

Tonight we added a couple new notification options for members.

One option signs you up for special Price Protectr announcements such as contests and new retailer announcements. (Speaking of special announcements, we're still looking for a Price Protectr user in the Eastern Mass, NH, or VT area to do a TV interview)

The other option signs you up for exclusive, Price Protetcr members-only offers from your favorite retailers. To be honest, we don't even have any special offers lined up at the moment so you won't get any of these emails for a while. We just figured it would be good to have in case something comes along. And, in case a lot of them come along, we promise not to send more than one email a week.

Finally, good news if you bought a HDTV from Best Buy recently. From June 3rd to September 29th, they're offering 60 days of price protection. If you submitted a qualifying TV, we've automatically updated your protection information. And, of course, any HDTVs submitted from now until September 29th will be protected for 60 days!

Labels: new features, tips

We've been using this blog as a general source for announcements and answering questions, but it's not really an easy place to go to find specific information. So, we're happy to bring your Price Protectr's official FAQ page. If you have any questions that aren't answered there, feel free to drop us a line!

Labels: new features

We just launched our new website and see that cute little owl? Well, he/she's our new mascot. The only problem is it doesn't have a name. We've been super busy adding new retailers and talking with all the great bloggers out there so we haven't really had a chance to sit down and come up with a good name... and that's where you come in.

Contest Details
We're asking you for help coming up with a great name for our mascot, and maybe even a little bit about the owl's history. It's hometown, favorite sports team, or why it loves watching prices so darn much.

The Prize
It wouldn't be a contest without a prize. It might be cash, a lot of cash. It might be cool merchandise. We haven't really figured it all out yet, but we wanted to give you the heads up.

How to Enter: Price Protectr Members
Once the contest opens, you'll be able to enter from your account page. If you've already signed up, you're all set -- we'll send you an email once the contest begins!

How to Enter: Non-Members
Visit our contest details page and enter your email address so we can let you know when the contest starts!

Labels: new features

Welcome back, and watch out for the wet paint; the new website has launched! In addition to our adorable new mascot and a fresh color scheme, we've added the retailers page with information about all the retailers we support and detailed instructions on how to get your money back.

Have comments or suggestions about the new site? We'd love to hear them. And there's more exciting stuff coming, so stay tuned...

Labels: new features

Get your taxes done yet? Well, don't fret, you still have one day left. Word on the street is that price drops are tax deductible. Although you should probably double check that with your accountant...

Today, there's even more reason to sign up for a My Stuff account! Beyond being able to monitor your price protection history, now you can control your notification settings as well! There's even an option to receive a reminder email a day before your item goes off price protection. Now you can wait till the very last minute to collect that refund... kind of like your taxes.

We've also added an offical privacy policy and terms of use. So claim those last deductions, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and read it out loud to your dependents. Nothing puts you to sleep faster than a well written terms of use. And send them my apologies for the lack of pictures.

Labels: new features, tips

Forget to protect that cool new gadget the same day you bought it? Don't worry! Now when you submit an item for protection, just click the buy it a different day? link and change the date. It's so easy your dog could do it.

Labels: new features, tips

There are a bunch of cool updates tonight.

You now have the option to change your purchase price before you submit your item for protection. Just click the pay a different price? link. Enter your actual purchase price, click protect and viola! Price Protectr will notify you when it drops below what you paid for it rather than what was on the website.

If you couldn't use Price Protectr because your email address started with a digit, you can now. So get protectin.

And, last but not least, Price Protectr now supports American Musical Supply. Rock on.

Labels: new features, retailers

Did you notice the new tab across the top? Today I'm excited to bring you the new My Stuff page which collects a lot of great information, including your item protection history, when your items go off price protection, their current prices, and more. Sounds cool, right? Here's a screenshot.

As always, we maintain our strict privacy standards. Creating an account for My Stuff doesn't sign you up for any mailing lists or otherwise unwanted emails. And it uses https so you know your personal information is safe.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Labels: new features

Now when you add an item to Price Protectr, you can expect a cheery confirmation email in your inbox. I hate automated email as much as the next guy, which is why I've been avoided confirmation emails for this long. However, some people have been confused as to whether anything actually happens when you press that 'start protecting' button -- so now you know. Plus it allows people to see whether their spam blocker will stop that $200 price drop email. It's a small price to pay, really.

Plus, tonight 6th Avenue Electronics has been added to the ever-growing list of supported retailers.

Labels: new features, retailers

By popular request, the Price Protectr Blog is now available via RSS feed. Now all you Price Protectr junkies never need to miss a post again.

I also did some work on improving foreign currency support, which should make it easier to add more non-US sites in the future.

And, last but not least, Price Protectr now supports Staples. Don't worry, Staples.ca is coming soon!

Labels: new features, retailers