Saving Glossary

Affiliates: A very large percentage of websites that sell something online (the “merchants,” as we’ve been calling them) have affiliate programs. These merchants offer to pay other companies or individuals (i.e., “third-party publishers of content”) to drive traffic to the merchant’s website with the idea that some of this traffic should result in additional sales for the merchant. These third-party publishers of web content can be bloggers, vloggers, reviews websites, how-to websites, information websites, etc. They apply to become an affiliate of the merchant, and if approved, the new affiliate is given a specific link(s) by the merchant to put on their (the affiliate’s) own website(s).

These links identify the affiliate responsible for any subsequent web traffic directed to the merchant’s website. When buyers click on these links on the affiliates’ websites, the buyers are redirected to the merchant’s website. If the buyer ends up buying something from the merchant (or performs some other desired action), then the affiliate is rewarded in some manner, usually through a monetary payment.

Typically, this payment takes one of two forms: 1) a pay-per-sale model, where the affiliate is paid a percentage of what the buyer purchases on the merchant’s website (this is similar to a sales commission), or 2) a cost-per-action (CPA) model, where the affiliate is paid some fixed amount for a buyer’s action, for example: clicking through to the merchant’s website, applying for something on the merchant’s website, registering for something on the merchant’s website, etc. There are other compensation models out there, but since they are less frequently used than the two above, we won’t go into them here.

Finally, if the affiliate is a rebate company, it then pays part of its sales commission or other monetary reward back to the buyer in the form of a rebate.

Aggregator: A website that takes products, services, or other information being offered on a number of different websites and places them on its own website, many times with links to the original content. With all of the information in one place, it makes it easier for customers to compare the products, services, or other information.

Brick-and-Mortar Store: A physical store location, as opposed to an e-commerce website. Walmart has “brick-and-mortar” stores across the country that many customers regularly visit to buy products, as well as an e-commerce website from which their customers can also buy the company’s products online.

Buyer: See Customer.

Catalina: This is the company and the name used for the type of coupons that are printed and given to customers along with their receipt at the checkout counter in certain stores, particularly grocery and drug stores. They are not the coupons printed on the back of the receipt itself, but rather they are the coupons printed separately and handed to the customer with the receipt. The coupons are typically generated because of something that the customer purchased (that was scanned during the checkout process).

Consumer: See Customer.

Customer: A person buying a product or service from a merchant or a service provider. You!

Coupon: The right conferred to a potential customer that entitles them to save money in some way, typically by discounting the cost of a product or service by a fixed amount or by a percentage off the regular price. It may also provide savings in the form of free goods (for instance, “buy one, get one free”). Traditionally, coupons are small paper documents sometimes referred to as a voucher, but they may be in an electronic image formatted file, an alphanumeric code (i.e., a coupon code), or some other electronic format.

Coupon Deal: A Coupon Deal is a type of saving method/business model whereby websites typically sell coupons/vouchers that can be used to later purchase the actual product or service, and they offer these coupons/vouchers at a discounted price or discounted percentage off of the full price, either for a limited amount of time or a limited quantity. Some deals in the past also required a minimum quantity of coupons/vouchers to be sold before the sale/deal was actually honored and finalized, though this requirement isn’t used much anymore. Coupon Deals websites typically sell other companies’ products or services and not their own. Also called Local Deals. See also Deals.

Daily Deals: See Deals.

Deal a Day: See Deals.

Deal of the Day: See Deals.

Deals: Deals, Daily Deals, Deals of the Day, Deal a Day, One Deal a Day, Flash Sales, Coupon Deals, Local Deals, etc. are all terms that describe similar sales transactions. To some extent, they are used interchangeably to describe a number of different business models, but from a practical standpoint and in very general terms (with exceptions), there are basically two different types of business models under which most of these businesses can be classified:

1. Coupon Deals websites: those that sell coupons or vouchers that allow the customer to later purchase a product or service at a discount from the actual merchant supplying that product or service.
2. Flash Sales websites: those that primarily sell products—but also some services like travel and lodging—at a discount, where the customer purchases the actual product or service at the time of purchase from the merchant actually selling the product or service.

Both types of business models typically limit sales by either the amount of time they are offered or by the quantity available for sale. For example, one sale could be limited to twenty-four hours, while another sale could be limited to 500 units sold.

We chose these two terms since we feel they more accurately define the two different types of transactions involved. Deals, Daily Deals, Deal of the Day, and other similar terms are all used interchangeably on the web to describe both types of transactions, so it’s difficult to know the type of business model that the website may be offering when customers see these terms used.

Local Deals is a term that is much closer to Coupon Deals than Flash Sales, but not all of these deals are “local” (though a very high percentage are), so we passed on using that term.

These two terms are not mutually exclusive for all websites that use these business models, and there is much overlap. Many websites that specialize in these business models offer both types of sales (good example: Groupon).

See also Coupon Deal and Flash Sale.

Discount Store: A store that sells merchandise at prices that are lower than the normal, current market prices for the products, which are also typically lower than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (in other words, at a discount to what they’re normally sold for). The merchandise is usually name-brand merchandise.

Drop-Ship: A shipping model where the merchant you’re buying the product from immediately purchases that item from its supplier and that supplier ships the product directly to you. The supplier doesn’t ship the item to the merchant, who would then ship it to you. This is different from the merchant having a third-party shipping company, also called a “fulfillment company,” ship the product to you for them. Under the drop-ship scenario, the merchant doesn’t own or stock the inventory it sold you. Under the third-party shipper/fulfillment company, the merchant does own and stock the inventory, but it has hired another company to perform its inventory storage and shipping to its customers.

First-Quality: Merchandise in its original factory-sealed packaging that has not previously been opened and has not been damaged in any way.

Flash Sale: A Flash Sale is a type of business model/marketing method whereby websites typically sell a limited number of products and/or services, and they offer these products and/or services at a discounted price, either for a limited amount of time or with a limited quantity available only until the product sells out. Flash Sale websites may sell their own products, but they may also contract with other companies to ship on a drop-ship basis, provide a Flash Sales marketplace that allows other unrelated companies to sell on their website, or be an aggregator website with links to Flash Sales being sold on other websites. Also called Daily Deals, Deal a Day, or Local Deals. See also Deals.

Fulfillment Service: A shipping model where a company stores inventory and ships products for the company that actually sells the product. This is different from a “drop-ship” scenario in that the fulfillment center doesn’t actually own the inventory; it merely provides the receiving, storing, packing, and shipping services.

Gift Card: A gift card and a gift certificate are prepaid forms of payment represented physically by a paper certificate, a credit-card-like card, or even electronically through the use of an alphanumeric code. These cards can be of a type that is limited in their use to only a specific merchant, or can be of a type that can be used anywhere credit/debit cards can be used, as in the case of an American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa, or similar gift cards. Initially, a gift card or gift certificate is purchased for a specific amount or value from the issuing merchant.

Gift Certificate: See Gift Card.

Local Deals: See Deals.

Loyalty/Rewards Program: A program offered by certain merchants that is meant to encourage loyalty from its customers primarily by providing them with additional savings/discounts. During checkout, either at the merchant’s brick-and-mortar store or on its e-commerce website, the customer provides applicable loyalty program account information. This can be done by either scanning the program card issued to the customer, entering an account number, or even by providing a phone number or an email address. The savings from these programs can come in different ways.

One way involves a certain percentage of savings that is automatically deducted from the customer’s total as soon as the customer’s loyalty account information is entered into the merchant’s checkout system.

Another method is in the form of points earned for each dollar spent; the points earned vary from merchant to merchant. The redemption of those points results in a payout to the customer, typically in the form of the merchant’s gift cards.

Still another way is through special savings offers or discounts (i.e., coupons or promo codes) communicated to the customer, either by email or by snail mail, and redeemed during the checkout process.

Some merchants have their loyalty\rewards programs linked to their credit card accounts, in which case any savings/discounts/points are usually posted directly to the participating customer’s credit card account at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, etc.).

The above saving methods vary by merchant, so check with the merchant to see how their program works. Merchants usually have this information on their website.

Marketplace: A website that allows other individuals’ or merchants’ merchandise or services to be sold on the website. For instance, Amazon.com allows non-Amazon merchants to sell on its e-commerce platform through its Amazon Marketplace.

Merchandise: The physical product that is actually being sold by a merchant. It usually represents something tangible that you can physically touch or hold in your hands, as opposed to services, which are typically intangible.

Merchant: An individual or company that is selling a product or a service.

One Deal a Day: See Deals.

Open-Box: Merchandise where the factory-sealed packaging has previously been opened by someone. The packaging could have been opened by the merchant for a display sample, by a previous buyer who subsequently returned the item, or for some other unknown reason. The product may or may not have been removed from the packaging and may or may not have been used, slightly or otherwise, before being returned to the merchant. All of the accessories/components and product documentation/literature may or may not be included with the product.

Outlet Store: A store—either a brick-and-mortar store or an e-commerce website—where a manufacturer sells its products directly to the public, usually at a discount from its normal market price or suggested retail price. Since the middleman is cut out (i.e., the manufacturer’s normal retailers), merchants are able to offer discounted prices.

Product: The merchandise or service being sold by a merchant.

Promo Code: A code that, when active and valid, allows the user to enter it into the promotion/coupon code box on a merchant’s website during the checkout process, resulting in some type of savings for the buyer. Typically, this is a discounted price on the order or a reduction in the shipping costs. See also Coupons.

Rebate: The refunding or the return of a portion of the purchase price to the buyer after the purchase has been completed (as opposed to a discount, which is given to the buyer before the sale is completed). The rebate can take the form of a check, a credit to the buyer’s credit or debit card account, or a gift card.

Refurbished Merchandise: Merchandise that has been previously used, either lightly or extensively, and then cleaned up, repaired, and/or tested before being offered for sale as refurbished merchandise. Beware! Make sure you know what you’re getting—it’s used! See also Refurbished Merchandise Grades.

Refurbished Merchandise Grades: Examples of grades include:

• A, B, and C (“A” being the best condition);
• “tested, not working”;
• “tested, not working (salvage)”;
• “tested, not working (scrap)”; and
• “untested.”

Some refurbished merchandise is categorized according to the quality of the product—cosmetic, functional, or otherwise. It helps set the buyer’s expectation of the appearance and functionality of the product being sold.

Typically, the higher the letter, the better the quality. The “tested, not working” items are just as described: they are products that do not work! Unless the customer wants to repair those types of items, they should stay away! The same can be said of the “untested” items: It is probably best to stay away from these unless the customer really wants to try and repair them.

Merchants offering certified refurbished items, especially if they are the original manufacturers’ (or a certified refurbisher of the manufacturer or another reputable refurbisher), are probably the best types of merchants to buy from for this type of merchandise.

See also Refurbished Merchandise.

Retailer: See Merchant.

Returns: Merchandise that has been returned by the buyer to the merchant for any reason.

Rewards (Loyalty/Rewards Programs): See Loyalty/Rewards Program.

Scratch and Dent: A broad category of product quality that can include open-box, returned merchandise, display models, or a product that may have been damaged in some way before it is sold at retail. If you see this term used by a seller, make sure you find out what exactly it means. It can mean anything other than first-quality, sealed in their original factory containers. Seeing the damage in person, or at least through photos, is helpful.

Service: Something being sold that is not a physical product/merchandise (e.g., tickets to a concert or movie, insurance, house cleaning services, a taxi ride, air travel, brokerage services, etc.). In this book, we also treat restaurants as service establishments.

Service Provider: A company or individual providing a service.

Stacking: When you use more than one saving method or technique on an individual sale. For instance, you can use multiple coupons/promo codes, while also utilizing a rebate company, while also paying for your purchase with a discounted gift card.

Used Merchandise: Exactly what it sounds like: The merchandise is “used.” Also called “previously owned.”

Voucher: Something that allows the holder to use it to get some type of discount on a product or service at a later date. See also Coupon.