Pricegrabber Purchased for $485M

w98 writes "GUS PLC, the parent company of Experian Interactive, recently announced the acquisition of PriceGrabber.com for $485M plus expenses. Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer of Experian, commented: 'As a trusted and preferred comparison shopping destination, PriceGrabber.com has a leading position in a fast-growing market. When combined with the complementary skills, expertise and scale of Experian, in both Interactive and Marketing, we are very excited about the future growth prospects for PriceGrabber.com.'"

Comments

Translation

[Ixne]

"we're very excited about pumping paying stores' ads right to the top of search results, with no regard to actual accuracy or trustworthiness of the vendors, while simultaneously trying to give the impression of validity."

Re:Translation

[brontus3927]

Sadly, that's probably what will happen. Does pricegrabber currently have any policy regarding the accuracy of the reviews and any losses incurred from buying based on an inccorrect review? If not the parent co could be open to lawsuit if they persue revenue over reliability.

Re:Translation

[el americano]

As with libel, it is the reviewer who assumes this resposibility. Pricegrabber takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by you or any third party.

If they start deleting negative reviews, then they might need to say, "Do not rely on reviews as your sole source of information when making purchasing decisions." That's it! Quietly, but efficiently delete reviews... and profit!

That being said, it's a good site for now. Just be sure to check Amazon or pricewatch afterward, when appropriate.

what about pricewatch

[Douglas Simmons]

Is there really something better and more important to write about than pricewatch? Speaking of which, how the hell do they make money?

Re:what about pricewatch

[dwayner79]

Although I use Pricewatch all the time, I am not sure why it does not have the popularity that pricegrabber got. Perhaps it is the annoying ads that pricegrabber gives. People need to think they are on a flash exciting page. Besides up till a few years ago, pricewatch was lacking in the eyecandy realm. It was pretty ugly.

Re:what about pricewatch

[Anonymous Coward]

How does your site in your sig make money?

Re:what about pricewatch

[fishybell]

Although not flashy and exciting, everything you see on Pricewatch is an advertisement. To get your company's wares listed on Pricewatch you need to sign up (link found at bottom under the news listings).

This is how Pricewatch differentiates itself from Froogle. Froogle gets its ads from everyone and everywhere, with little or no restrictions on who lists what. Pricewatch has a pretty stringent set of rules:

(from the link)

• be at least 1 year in business
• accept phone orders
• offer phone tech support
• have established website with prices posted
• accept major credit cards
• No Auction firms or related business models such as "pooling". Fixed retail pricing please
• No Dealers that charge membership fees please

We've heard about Pricewatch et al trying to stop unscupulous camera dealers, but what has Froogle done? Nothing. That's because it really has no defined way to block out the baddies.

I started using Pricewatch several years ago. I enjoyed a short stint with Froogle because of its better search capabilities, but I'm back to be a Pricewatch junkie for life. Long live Pricewatch!

Re:what about pricewatch

[thebdj]

Pricewatch started out specializing in computer equipment and did a poor job of picking up the consumer side, something that pricegrabber has done fairly well. The interface over at pricewatch also does not lend much to the credence of the site. While it is a bad policy, many regular internet users judge the "site by its cover" and pricegrabber just looks "prettier" then pricewatch.

There are also the sorting functionality with PG over PW. Some of the breakdowns on PW leave a lot to be desired and can make finding items really hard. Not to mention a few sites have figured out how to regularly screw up the PW listing for their items. I am not sure how long they have had the rating system for at PW for stores; however, I do not remember it always being there and that is something else your normal consumer is going to want.

Basically, I really avoid both sites all together anymore. More times then not Newegg or ZZF (ZipZoomFly) have the cheapest prices or close enough to it that I am not going to start ordering my computer parts from every little corner of the web. With most consumer items, I usually research stuff through other online sites and then wind up purchasing from a place I regularly shop at so if and when I have to call CS, it looks better then the schmuck who orders once from a site and never again.

I also think that many of these sites begin to lose some of their early patrons for the reason I no longer use them much. People begin to notice the same three or four stores constantly having the lowest prices and they just proceed to go to those stores and cut out the middle man. Along the same vein, people order things a few times from the store they once never heard of and before you know it they trust the store (especially if they have never had a problem) so they continue to go back there instead of using PW or PG.

In the end I basically search a few sites each time I am going to order something. If it is books or DVDs, I will check Amazon, DeepDiscountDVD, Buy.com, Wal-Mart, Costco (because I have a card), and Overstock. Computer stuff is pretty much Newegg and ZZF, but sometimes I will take a trip to Microcenter if I want something now.

Re:what about pricewatch

[nmb3000]

Although I use Pricewatch all the time, I am not sure why it does not have the popularity that pricegrabber got.

It's because Pricewatch sucks. Their menu sucks, their search sucks, their display sucks, their categorization sucks, and their filtering sucks.

Have you ever tried Pricegrabber? It has a very intuitive interface and search as well as a good layout for finding either an exact product, or browsing a category trying to decide what you want.

Let's compare a search, something common and easy like 'WRT54G'. Pricewatch vs. Pricegrabber.

Both display a list of matches, but with the model I'm looking for at the top in PG and not in PW. Not a big deal. The real nice part of PG is the way you can do a filter based on a search or category. That sidebar on the left lets you do a ton of filtering to get exactly what you want. Don't see much like that on PW.

PW gives each seller an individual entry in the results. Talk about a pain in the butt. With PG it's sorted by product so I can click a product and see all the sellers for it, as well as their prices before and after shipping. There are user and commercial reviews and ratings as well as detailed specs, more features missing on PW.

There's other issues, but I don't want to write a book. The fact of the matter is that Pricegrabber is significantly better resource than Pricewatch. This acquisition may change that, but until it does I will continue to use Pricegrabber because it is simply superior. Don't take my word for it, go look for yourself.

Re:what about pricewatch

[brontus3927]

Ever since NewEgg built a warehouse in my state and I have to pay sales tax or submit my ST-4 (which NewEgg really doesn't have any good mechenism to do so) for resale purchases, I've started using eWiz.com Their selection isn't as wide as NewEgg and they tend to push SuperTalent products, but every side by side comparison I've done, eWiz had a lower price. Very professionally packaged with lots of packing in the needed places, and for "cheap" memory, SuperTalent seems quite solid, and each stick has a heat spreader.

Re:what about pricewatch

[TheLongshot]

Isn't that what Reseller Ratings is for? To judge whether or not a vendor is legit?

I do think Froogle is useful for some things, and has some better search capabilities than PriceWatch. I personally use both.

Re:what about pricewatch

[el americano]

If your normal consumer wants reviews, then Newegg is a terrible example of a site to use. Some of the things that can cause them to remove reviews:

The price you paid
Replies to existing customer reviews. (No corrections please)
Comparisons to competing (i.e. better) products
References to aftermarket procedures/mods
Criticism of Newegg.com's service
Comments on a product that was broken on delivery (also, see preceeding restriction)

So their reviews suck. Stick to reputable independent forums, or even Amazon. Newegg's prices are generally good, even though they're usually missing several models or manufacturers. I buy there sometimes, if they're still cheaper after tax. Their product photos are the best - too bad they have to stamp their giant logo on them now to keep other sites from stealin 'em. They're delivery is usually very fast.

One last thing - NEVER buy a LCD monitor there. 7 dead pixels are too many! Don't expect to hear from the victims of this policy in one of their reviews.

Re:what about pricewatch

[kahrytan]

Pricewatch makes it money from the advertisers (the stores).

But I rarely use Pricewatch now because I don't know if I can 'trust' the stores listed on it.

Re:what about pricewatch

[F_Scentura]

So what places *do* have good dead pixel policies, for reference?

Re:what about pricewatch

[ClamIAm]

I would suggest not buying a monitor if you haven't physically inspected the actual monitor you're purchasing. I bought an LCD from Newegg, and while it is OK, it's not that great (it was a good price, though). And mine has only one dead pixel.

Re:what about pricewatch

[galebovitz]

Actually, I think the problem is worse than placement by ad dollars paid. All the these sites, including pricegrabber give you incorrect information because the stores play games with what they post as their shipping versus handling costs. Recently I went to pricegrabber and found the lowest price based on price and shipping only to find that the store added a hefty handling fee not advertise on pricegrabber. Fortunately, I noticed the discrepancy and pulled my order before it was too late. I liken this kind of price comparison to bait and switch which in my book is the same as lying. I experienced the same form CNET shopping.

Re:what about pricewatch

[el americano]

TigerDirect has a zero-tolerance policy on dead pixels, but pretty much anyone who won't charge you shipping AND %15 restocking for a defective screen. (You may want to check with your reputable online dealer first.) Naturally, most brick and mortar stores have a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

To further elaborate, Newegg doesn't count stuck pixels as dead pixels, so your screen could be seriously messed up beyond 8 dead pixels. (Otherwise, NE is all right.)

I hope I was able improve your holiday shopping experience ;-)

Re:what about pricewatch

[superpulpsicle]

I don't know why so many people like New Egg? Must people really buy everything from the same source?

I find myself picking out the very best parts for my computer from a wide variety of online stores with Pricewatch as the central hub. Yes I have bought from eWiz too, but rarely do I buy more than 3 items from the same place. No single store sells the best of everything.

Re:what about pricewatch

[Cylix]

A fair assessment on all sides.

The pricewatch addition was fairly recent, within the last few years really. A stronger merchant rating system would be nice, but that is fairly difficult when you can't really verify who bought and who didn't.

I used to shop with ZZZ, but often newegg was beating most of all their prices. (even with the increased shipping cost over newegg)

That said, I primarily shop with newegg now. Despite the claims of filtering reviews it would seem they really do not censor that badly. In several reviews I found "Do not buy this product and reason XXX which could sometimes be a real problem not solvable by RMA." Sometimes, I have even found very technical recommendations for other products. To their discredit some just seem too unbelievable to be real five stars. Anyhow, I just look at the cons in the end and popularity. It can be tiresome to sift through reviews and documentation, but the results tend to speak for themselves.

Now, the final nail in the coffin, support and RMA. I have had stores treat me like a villian, cheat me if I didnt have every piece of documentation or come up with goofy schemes to use their warranty service. (no we can't look up your warranty information, we need your warranty card info because it was sold through a third party. So it's ok if I find someone elses? )

Anyhow, the point is pretty much how to be a success story and why certain things become outdated. Make the competitor obsolete.

Now, completely on topic, why on earth pricegrabber actually went for kaboodles of money. It's horrible and it's usually a bunch of links to eBay. I hate getting google-sucked into that hole. (sorry, you would be a bit angry after doing price comparisons all day and getting google-blaster into that hole)

Re:what about pricewatch

[thebdj]

There are methods that are somewhat effective at fixing stuck pixels. The method is similar to removing image persistence in an LCD by running a series of colors across the spectrum to clear the problem. Some people have wrongly stated the need to use "bright" colors. The idea is actually to use a series of colors that effectively use all the sub-pixels to a varying degree so as to "exercise" the sub-pixels. I had to do something like this with a screensaver on my Dell Laptop to remove a persistant image.

This method is not 100% effective on stuck pixels, but I am not sure how many people using videos have done so with a truly effective video. The screensaver I used transistioned from a sort of purple type color to a yellow and on to a more redish color (or maybe it was bluish). It made the transition smoothly and over a periods of a few seconds allowing the pixel to actually receive a variety of colors between each of the "set" colors.

Re:what about pricewatch

[lowrydr310]

At my last job I used two Dell 1905FP displays, and at my current job I use two more of the exact same display. When I can find one of these monitors for less than $300 (it happens every once in a while) I'm going to buy it, even if I can't see it beforehand. Of the four Dell 1905FPs I've used (and countless others that belong to coworkers), I have never seen a stuck or dead pixel!

I don't know of Dell's policy regarding dead pixels if I was to encounter one.

Re:what about pricewatch

[ncc74656]

I don't know why so many people like New Egg? Must people really buy everything from the same source?

I find myself picking out the very best parts for my computer from a wide variety of online stores with Pricewatch as the central hub.

You probably end up losing to extra shipping charges more than you're saving by ordering every component from a different source.

Most of the Pricewatch bottom-feeders also insist on shipping only to your billing address, which is a pain in the ass when you have a job that keeps you away from home when the brown truck pulls up. Newegg doesn't give me any grief when I want an order shipped to my office instead (whether it's for work or for personal use).

Idiots

[jvance]

They could have bought it for 20% less if they'd shopped around.

Re:Idiots

[Sangbin]

Even cheaper if it's from PriceRitePhoto.com!

Re:Idiots

[mustafap]

Damm thats funny!

Re:Idiots

[JoeBar]

Is that price before or after rebate?

Re:Idiots

[jcr]

They could have bought it for 20% less if they'd shopped around.

...or 95% if they'd waited six months for Google to blow them out of the water.

-jcr

Sometimes I kick msyelf

[teutonic_leech]

I see this too often - some obscure or mediocre website selling for a fortune, and then I realize that I need to start spending more time on my own project - LOL...

$485M??

[coronaride]

they should've froogled it, first...

Re:$485M??

[Mind Socket]

It's only $4M after rebates. Oh, and they get a free iPod.

What payment plan are they going for?

[deaddrunk]

$485 mil at once, $49 mil over 10 weeks or $5 mil over 100 weeks?

First Prime Factorization Post

[2*2*3*75011]

$485M = $2*2*2*2*2*2*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*97

PriceGrabber.com has a leading position in highly factorizable prices.

At first I read it as Banana Grabber

[nihilistcanada]

and I was sorely disappointed when I clicked the link. Hopefully someone will Save The Gob.

Re:At first I read it as Banana Grabber

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you think they had to give up animation rights?

Stupid move.

[signine]

Oh yay! Another corporate monolith! Too bad they spent $485mm on something that is sure to be made obselete by google within two years. Yeah, that was a smart move.

Not a bad move for them

[Bullfish]

While we who eat and breathe web stuff are not as likely to be taken in by the tactics pricegrabber and their ilk use to pump their paying customers and favourites products, this is apt to help them in terms of dealing with not so savvy folk cruising the net for their shopping. It's been shown that many people can't tell the difference between "real" reviews of products and bogus articles that are really nothing more than the web equivalent of infomercials. The reality is now the web is crowded with many people who have no concept of what they are doing out there and who literally believe much of what is written. This plays perfectly to that crowd. There's a reason spam goes on, and that is there is an awful lot of people out there who really seem to believe you can get a new Honda for forwarding e-mail. You go figure it out.

Re:Not a bad move for them

[sonofgeorge]

But you can... I agree with you.

Re:Not a bad move for them

[Lord Ender]

A honda? I wouldn't believe that for a second. Now, a hundai, perhaps...

Comparison Shopping Sites

[x0dus]

Personally I find the general purpose comparison shopping sites like Pricegrabber and Froogle very poor at getting relevant results for most products. They are usually not able to differentiate different products and either group unrelated products together or don't group related products together. Luckily there are lots of sites where you can comparison shop for very specific products, like Compare Cartridges for printer ink cartridges, AddAll for books, DVD Price Search for movie, Cheap-Subscription for magazines, etc.

Experian?

[Yurka]

Talk about synergy! "Please wait for the custom price individually selected just for you, while we run up a quick check of your credit history..."

Never heard of them!

[grqb]

Maybe it's just me but I've never been to PriceGrabber.com before...never even heard of them. And it's not like I'm a recluse on the net either. I'm sure 90% of the people I know haven't heard of PriceGrabber.com before.

Re:Never heard of them!

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent is either feigning ignorance or hasn't actually ever read the sidebar on slashdot. PriceGrabber has been listed as a service for quite a while; thus, most slashdot users are aware of it and many of us use it on a regular basis. Hint: When you enter the text as you write your comment, the word PriceGrabber is vertically aligned.

Anyway, I agree that that pricegrabber isn't worth $485 million. Its quality has been going down steadily for the past 3-4 years that I've been using it. It already has too many paid product placements. I can't imagine how bad it might be after they get done "improving" it after this acquisition.

Re:Never heard of them!

[Phroggy]

Nope, not feigning ignorance, I haven't heard of them either. Now that you say this, I do see the site listed on Slashdot's left sidebar, under "Services", but I had never noticed this before (and take a look at my UID to get an idea how long I've been around). I guess they're a Slashdot sponsor, then?

It's possible I may have seen the name at some point, but not knowing anything about them, it didn't stick. I've never been to their web site, and I don't believe I've ever heard anyone talk about them.

Re:Never heard of them!

[grqb]

Heh...look at that. Never noticed it before. I guess it just goes to show how much that "Services" box is a little useless.

Re:Never heard of them!

[Pollardito]

i was thinking the same thing about Experian

Re:Never heard of them!

[balloonpup]

Well, if it's the same Experian that I'm thinking of -- while you may not know who they are, they know who you are. Bwahahahaha!

Seriously, though -- if they are, they're one of the big three credit reporting agencies...as joked about above...

Wow.

[parasonic]

Forget holding up the world for $100M ransom. I think that I'd take the frickin' website!

Do folks actually use these sites?

[rAiNsT0rm]

Obviously they are if there is $400+ million dollars in interest by the purchaser... but I know that these sites poll only a select few online stores and the prices are rarely all that great.

Occasionally I will check out what pricegrabber or mysimon has to say, but most likely it will point me to Amazon.com and a moderate price as my best bet. These types of sites really just seem like the *worst* possible place to compare prices due to their discretion of the included stores, this system just seems to ooze opportunities for corruption. Constantly pit two big sites against sites they know have higher prices and collect a nice kickback from the big sites.

A trustworthy and all-inclusive (or at least as close as possible) price comparison site would be very welcomed though. Maybe this will be it... heh, who am I kidding, if they are shelling out $485 mil they plan on raping folks for everything they got in any way they can.

Re:Do folks actually use these sites?

[bleppie]

I use pricegrabber all the time. Over the last 5 years or so I've found them better than froogle (which is awful to navigate and doesn't aggregate items well), mysimon (which usually leads only to big name websites) and the other no-name price comparison sights out there. It seems able to aggregate items better than the competitors and the pricing based on zip-code is a huge bonus.

I don't work for them or have any other interest in their success.

Re:Do folks actually use these sites?

[Yhippa]

I actually use this quite a bit and have saved quite a bit over retail. I used to use Pricewatch but like the ability of this site to calculate the bottom line price in most cases as well as a decent comparison. Of course, you have to take the selection of stores and reviews with a grain of salt

The bottom line for me: I have saved money using this free service.

Enter Your Zip Code

[mythosaz]

Enter your ZIP CODE to see the final cost Pricegrabber from top rated online merchants.

Re:Enter Your Zip Code

[SeaFox]

Uh, because the final price includes shipping? Therefore they have to know whereabouts you live to know how much shipping will be.

No results for linux PCs

[patcito]

the "PC - Linux" section doesn't return any result, search for "linux PC" on google and you'll get plenty of results. How accurate...

$485 million is too expensive

[this great guy]

considering I am selling a mirror of PriceGrabber.com for ONLY $300 million ! Anyone interested ?

wowzer

[mulcher]

shopzilla sold in June for a little more than that.. expect major consolidation in this area...

These are the guys who love PriceRitePhoto?

[FFFish]

IIRC, PriceGrabber was all about showing PriceRitePhoto -- the Brooklyn scamsters who would refund money stolen from customers only if they posted a good review -- as one of the better, trustworthy, lowest-price photo shops around.

Yup.

I'm gonna trust PriceGrabber. Fersure.

Oh yay! Another techie pseudo-businessman!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure with your computer hacking skills you're able to throughly value a company, let alone give M&A advice.

Hell, I bet GS/ML/CSFB is beating a path to your front door!

Any company that can throw half a BILLION dollars around (even if it's equity), might just know a thing or two more than you. Ever think of that?

You know, the old saying goes, "Wall Street is the only place on earth where a man in a Rolls Royce takes advice from a man who rides the subway". However, in this case, it doesn't ring true...

Better get back to work, a computer crashed somewhere...

Re:Oh yay! Another techie pseudo-businessman!

[signine]

Actually yeah, I did think of that, and it's still a stupid decision. You don't have to have an MBA from Harvard to know a stupid decision from a good one. Froogle is out there and will probably achieve market dominance in a couple of years. Pricegrabber already has market dominance in its sector, but in the long term it probably won't maintain it. Essentially this decision is centered around short-term gain, not long-term profitability. That's not a decision a company that is planning on staying around for awhile would make, unless they're planning on taking on Google, or being acquired by someone else.

Think of it this way. You've decided you're going to bet your house on a car race that's going to happen in two years. You have enough money to buy a really nice car that's almost as fast as your opponents car. Then again, your opponent is an expert mechanic and a great driver whereas you're just a great driver. It is likely that in the next two years, the car you bought will be aging and slower than it was when you bought it, and your opponents car is going to be much faster than it is now.

Re:Oh yay! Another techie pseudo-businessman!

[eater01]

Yes Google will take over this space !! Then after that they will take over the world:)....Froogle is trying to do something that has been done for quite sometime and has no efficiency in doing so...there committment to this arena is limited and Google will only be a corporate Giant for so long...just like any other market !!

Re:Oh yay! Another techie pseudo-businessman!

[signine]

...and there was a time when people thought Netscape would rule forever.

Re:Oh yay! Another techie pseudo-businessman!

[rtb61]

You are forgetting the management bonuses for the supposed revenue increase when another company is bought out and their revenue is added to existing revenue. There is also the added increase in marketing revenue as they abuse the previously built up reputation and start tilting everything towards maximum revenue and minimum customer satisfaction.

This will last a few years, then the majority of management will drift off to other companies with their bonuses, just before the company self destructs and sells what it has bought for one tenth what it paid for it.

Buying up internet companies makes no sence at all, as the internet provides easy oppurtunity for any company to start up and grow as long as they have the expertise and they serve their customers to the best of their abbilities. The profit comes when they sell out to a company with money (or at least easy access to large loans) and leave their company to be mismanaged in a quest for the profits that would have justified the purchase price but where never there.

Better Translation

[DogDude]

"And while we're at it, we're pepetuating the myth that NOTHING trumps price when buying a product. Screw customer service, reputation, shipping time, return policies, reliability, selection, etc., it's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY."

And to be quite honest, Slashdot has more price whores reading and posting than I've ever seen in one place. It's all a race to the absolute bottom, isn't it?

Our business doesn't bother with Amazon, Pricegrabber, and all of the others because they do -zero- for brand recognition, and they encourage competition on pure price, which is bad for businesses, and ultimately (think long term, people), bad for consumers. Many of the businesses that advertise through these services are here today, gone tomorrow because in the race to the bottom, other minor things like making a profit are often overlooked. My business has good prices, but if somebody is interested in buying elsewhere (online or a big box store) because of a $0.25 price difference, quite honestly, we don't want their business, and we'll gladly give them directions to our competition. And, unless they're living in a cardboard box, we get most of those customers back once they realize that saving that nickel isn't worth all of the other headache involved.

Re:Better Translation

[oldwolf13]

>> ... because of a $0.25 price difference ...
>> ... once they realize that saving that nickel isn't worth ...

uhm that's a quarter.

Hope you're not the accountant :)

Re:Better Translation

[mjensen]

As a former purchaser (and IT person) for a company, I can say that when given the choice, businesses will choose the cheaper solution.
"Spend the bare minimum to get it done" was the constant mantra from management.

Re:Better Translation

[16K Ram Pack]

I can think of a couple of UK companies that come up good on price comparison. One company that deals by email only, meaning that what might have taken 10 minutes to discuss a return issue can take a few days.

My rule of thumb now is to deal with small suppliers that have served me well. Suppliers who when I email a technical pre-sales question, give me a comprehensive answer, not a hyperlink to a FAQ page on the manufacturer's website. Suppliers for whom a 5 minute waiting time for a call almost never happens (on average, I'm "next in queue" and talking to someone within 2 minutes).

I know that the small guy I deal with costs a little more, and that I'm paying for that service. But that's what I want, because to me, time is money, and spending half an hour on the phone talking to poorly trained staff about a fault (followed by numerous escalations) means I'm not getting on with my work.

Re:Better Translation

[Anonymous Coward]

You sell commodity products. Whether I get it from you or the guy down the street, what do I care? I don't need a service contract on my dog food, I don't need to return it, and I don't need your "advice" (certainly whatever has the best margin) about what food I should feed my dog since I ask a professional, my vet, about that. You need to fulfill one simple task, deliver what I order. If you do, great, if you don't then I contact my credit card company and you get nailed with a chargeback.

I know your business is all about "branding" since it looks like you're trying to position yourself as a "pet boutique", but there's no real difference. Rather than the "race to the bottom" you sneer at you're just about elitism and "baffle them with bullshit". You sucker people who don't know any better that your "brand" has some mystical value when all you're doing is reselling someone else's brand and offering very little value add.

Re:Better Translation

[PIBM]

I believe those site show an "average experience" from previous users, where they can vote so you know if it's a good, not so good, or bad shop. You can also read what they said about it, so if they experienced long delivery time, or anything bad, you can chose another one..

I don't really mind the price difference, and I mostly buy from canadian stores, even if the prices after currency exchange & duties would be lower than the one I have to pay, since there's no hassle for me and it's easier to rely on them. Warranties support is another thing that could change which shop is chosen.

While the ordering of the shops from pricegrabber is solely the price, it does give much more to those who are really looking =)

Any honest sites like this?

[Tetravus]

Back in the day, like '00, I used to use Pricewatch to cruise for cheap parts once I'd decided what I wanted to buy. They seemed honest then, though I haven't used the service in years as the local Fry's is only 10 minutes away and convenience will trump a $5 savings any day.

I'm wondering if there are any reputable review/comparison sites out there any more? I know that every single site I've seen that's just an accumulation of 'user' submitted reviews is total BS. But maybe there's room for some honesty supported by AdWords and referrer IDs?

Anybody? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

Re:Any honest sites like this?

[fallore]

You'd probably be best off looking around for a site devoted specifically to what your looking for.

Jeebus, editors! Do you even glance at this stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

w98 reports, does it? And it does it in quotes, no less!

Are you sure that w98 wasn't quoting Forbes? Perhaps it would be more correct to say, "Forbes reports..."? You think?

C'mon! Just give it a quick look before you post, even!

Sheesh.

I predict unethical business practices

[Bryansix]

Experian is one of those companies you know will do everything to screw over the consumer while making big money on their side. This is evidenced in how difficult it is to talk to a person when you call them to report fraud on your credit report.

Either Experian is going to run the site into the ground (because google and pricewatch will still be better), or Experian will figure out some way of making money off of it while screwing the consumer at the same time all while the consumer is looking the other way.

Re:I predict unethical business practices

[zardo]

Yeah I was going to post something about how much I hate Experian. They are the worst of the three credit agencies. I had 6 credit cards a couple months back, I closed 2 of them because I thought I had too many, not knowing that this can lower your credit score (closing accounts). One of my other credit cards, Bank One, was recently bought out by chase, another unethical corporation, and I already had a chase continental airlines card. They sent me a new terms of service around august for both cards, I didn't bother to read it. In november they jacked up my APR to 27.9% and 30% respectively, I didn't even know it was legal to bring it so high. I called them to find out why, they said its because THEY GOT A MESSAGE FROM EXPERIAN (note that they did not pull my credit), Experian says my credit had been checked too many times in the past few months, and because of the closed accounts. I don't have a high debt to income ratio, I've never made a late payment for anything, and my accounts aren't maxed out. God, I am sure glad Experian is keeping an eye on my credit score! None of the other cards have raised my interest rate.

I went to my bank and got a loan to pay off the chase cards. I'm just waiting for the next thing they do to screw me, because now I know better than to close the @#$@#'n accounts!!! I think credit agencies need an overhaul. Credit reports aught to say more about how much you're worth, and whether or not you can make payments on time, and less about how many times your credit has been pulled, or how many accounts you've closed in the last few months. Can anyone explain that to me? Why closing an account is a good indicator of someone's financial stability? It seems it's only in the interest of the credit reporting entity to keep accounts open.

Re:I predict unethical business practices

[w98]

If you have 6 credit cards, all with $1000 limits, and you have three cards with $500 balances, then you're using $1500 worth of $6000 total access to credit money, for a 25% ratio of debt to total credit availability. Say you close two accounts that are totally paid off, you still have $1500 debt on now $4000 worth of credit money, which is a 37.5% ratio. The higher that ratio goes, the lower your credit score goes. And if you have more than 50% of your credit limit used up on any one account, that can drop your score too, depending on the type of account (mortages and car loans don't count, generally).

I recently had a card from Providian who was bought by Washington Mutual and as a 'welcome to WaMu' bonus, they cranked my APR to 29.09%. Do I still use the card? Yes, for one purchase a month, for something I would otherwise have had on autopayment on my debit card - so when the charge shows up, I do a transfer the next day, and boom, perfect payment history, and I never get slammed with interest.

And if you read the fine print that comes with your credit cards, you'll see that by using the card you agree to their terms and conditions which typically specify that any negative or potentially negative information reported by the credit bureaus can signal that you're suddenly a credit risk, so they up your APR to 'protect' themselves.

As for the legality ... check where your credit cards come from - they all come from Delaware and South Dakota - the only two states that have NO usary law on how high interest rates can go. They could declare a 500% APR and the Feds won't have much to say about it. Check out the podcast of averagejoemoneyshow.com - they covered the whole history of this a month or so ago.

they're decent

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe this anonymous coward has been had many times, but I most often find the best results, especially for computer components, on pricegrabber. It lists sponsored items, but they are clearly marked, and switching to prioritize by price takes care of that. Although sometimes listing unrelated items, I find the results to be more inline with what I'm looking for than froogle by far, when using the categories to find items. It has customized descriptions/specifications for most item types, instead of just printing a paragraph from the merchant. For instance, for a projector it lists bulb life, resolution, mounting options...etc..
Anyways.. I hope this acquisition doesn't decrease the quality (sans advertisements) of this site.

Could have been cheaper.

[BigZaphod]

They should have gone to priceline.com and named their own price. I bet they'd have been able to get a far better deal - and perhaps got to meet William Shatner!

Metamoderate the reviews?

[dada21]

With all the concern over fake/unjust ratings and reviews, I wonder if Google might release a contextual review/rating averaging engine.

By contextually searching blogs, review sites and news reports, one could have the most aggressive aggregate information available.

Combined with AdSense, it's incredible power.

Trading consumers as a commodity

[Eternal Vigilance]

To me, a name like PriceGrabber implies a focus on the needs of the shopper (saving money), rather than on their true goal of the needs of the seller (maximizing expenditures).

"WalletGrabber" would probably spook the herd, though.

Eventually we'll just be traded as consumers futures on the CME.


"10,000 auto buyers with >750 credit rating for January delivery"

"raping folks?"

[ScentCone]

who am I kidding, if they are shelling out $485 mil they plan on raping folks for everything they got in any way they can.

It's free. It has substantial (and probably overwhelming in the long term, Google-wise) competition. Companies can choose to have their items not listed there, and can pay money to sweeten things. Visitors can simply go away. How is this rape? Why does any merger/acquisition instantly turn into something Eeeeevil from the slashdot group-think perspective? I'm genuinely curious. This is a lot more benign than the "new product" news in pretty much every techie print magazine (almost universally regurgitated press releases, and in no way objective). Someone who's out there trying to find a thumbdrive for $0.05 cheaper than the next web site is already hoping for a too-good-to-be-true "find" on the web. Lack of critical thinking on the part of lazy consumers doesn't equate to rape of anybody.

Re:"raping folks?"

[rAiNsT0rm]

Well it is "free" to use but not totally. To believe any company would pay $485 million dollars to GIVE AWAY anything for free is just silly. There is profit to be had, and that profit comes from the sellers. Now if the business model is based solely on income from the sites queried then that means the site is not centered around getting YOU the best deal, but getting the most money from the listed seller sites. So this means that they are going to posture those higher paying sites to seem like they have the best deal when in reality there are others lower. And if the company becomes desperate to boost profits, that means YOU get raped... maybe not directly, and you may not even know it happened, but with this business model the consumer is NOT #1.

Re:"raping folks?"

[ScentCone]

No, in this case, the retailers with things to sell ARE the consumers. They are consuming the service that PG is offering, just like they consume print ads in local papers, TV ads, and the services of their employees.

To the extent that a retailer can't succeed in the long term without, themselves, dealing honestly with their customers, they won't do a lot of business with a service that somehow pollutes that environment. There will always be exceptions - just like there are now with Google ads, or print ads, or a jillion other promotional channels. PG (and PW) are just sales vehicles. They are not some non-profit consumer advocacy groups, or some neo-socialist entities trying to spare plasma TV purchasers from having to see the manufacturers and retailers of the products the end users are frantically shopping for make a profit and stay in business. There are people who still fall for the "we've got some extra electronics in the back of our delivery van" scam, too, so if the PG venue becomes obviously tawdry, it won't be obvious to some people, but it will be to most. So the retailers using it (consuming it) will either ask for changes, force change by taking their business elsewhere, or it will just fade away.

Fixing the Problems of Price Grabber?

[Artie Dent]

Any idea if this new parent company is going to try and fix any of the glaring issues with disreputable vendors that have been discussed here in recent weeks?

Re:Fixing the Problems of Price Grabber?

[Anonymous Coward]

Which disreputable merchant(s) are still active there?

I know for sure that priceritephoto.com is gone at PG.

Re:Fixing the Problems of Price Grabber?

[Artie Dent]

It just seems to me that if priceritephoto was allowed to remain active for so long, and there are so many merchants on the site, that there must be more examples. The internet is full of direputable users, and it was more of a general statement that there need to be better safegaurds againts merchants like priceritephoto.

I'm going to puke...

[Anonymous Coward]

we are very excited about the future growth prospects

If I E*V*E*R hear someone say this baloney phrase ever again where someone says this crap, I'm going to hurl.

No. Really. I am. I'll throw up. You watch.

What.
The.
Eff.

Why in God's name can't people just be sincere about things for once? For once?

I just want to hear someone say,

"You know what? This is a great purchase! They've got a terrific site; we've got resources.

Together we're going to be able to bring X,Y, and Z services out now because of this, and from the looks of things we're going to make wicked mad piles of cash. It might be so much we have to use dollar bills as toilet paper because we can't think of anything else to do with all this money!"

Instead we get someone wasting air saying NOTHING.

Worse still, they're not just saying NOTHING, they're actually adding to the amount of information crap we all have to sift through to get to actual information.

Danger - Marketroids

[Anne Thwacks]

I sense an "Ongoing bullshit senario" here. Years on the farm has taught me that anything with this much synergy in it just has to be agricultural grade fertiliser.

485 Million?

[Anonymous Coward]

GUS/Experian overpayed. I looked up on Newegg and they were offering Pricegrabber.com for only 399.95 million. Shipping cost was a bear though.

Oh great...PG just became a statistic

[v3c7r0n]

So now that Pg's been bought out, anyone placing bets on how long the site will retain it's usefulness? Granted I usually only buy from TigerDirect, ZipZoomFly or NewEgg, I do use them to check prices and availability on parts from retailers...somehow I have a feeling I'll be giving that up because I wont want to see who paid the most for the best advertised price on the item I want only to go to the site to buy and now it's 3x what pg said they had it for (normally I see a $5-15 price difference on things which is usually due to shipping)

I really wish companies could manage taking things over / merging with other companies / etc. without royally screwing things up...*COUGH* SQUARE-ENIX *COUGH COUGH*

Perfect!

[jon.wolf]

They'll just use my credit report to filter search results for things I can actually afford!

Re:Translation (other site)

[hackwrench]

Thankfully there's still http://nextag.com/.

I've always went to nextag, though that may be because they advertised with Google.

Holy freaking christmas...

[rdean400]

Anyone want to bet how long it takes PriceGrabber personnel to take the loot and run for the hills?

Sheesh, it's like the 90s all over again.

Sites starting to all look the same

[Mean Variance]

I've been going to these sites to shop for stuff like digital cameras, laptops and the like. As has been pointed out in other posts, they are all looking similar in the results: PriceGrabber, Shopping.com/Epinions, Nextag, MySimon. There are a few differences.

For me, they give me a range of acceptable prices. Then I go to the retailers I trust, your Amazons, J&Rs, Tar-jays, etc. Someone is usually hitting a good price.

Some of those obscure companies with the ultra low prices are slime. When shopping for a Fuji S7000, the retail was $699 and the majors were pricing at $599 or slightly lower. I found one that was $499. I bit. I ordered and received an email that they needed me to call to complete the order. That's when you have to add all the accessories or they won't complete. My response was something to the effect of "Eat me!"

PriceGrabber buyout

[RAY GOLD]

I for one welcome our new pricegrabber overlords!

should have used priceline

[shatner]

They should have used priceline.com to get up to 50% off the purchase price! priceline.com! -- Yes, I did create this account just for this joke.

Maybe Google will acquire Dun and Bradstreet

[Animats]

Now that would be a win, if Dun and Bradstreet's corporate information fed into Google's rankings.

So...

[Evil Butters]

Does this mean that I will only be entitled to one free PriceGrabber.com search per year now? Of course, I would imagine for a low $24.95 per month, I might be entitled to as many searches as I want, so long as my account remains paid. Or for $5.00 more, maybe I can even get the "Total Review" number, to see how many people have left positive or negative feedback of the various suppliers.

Price is simply amazing

[Amid60]

There are many comparison shopping sites that do automatic price detection, all of them (including PG itself) developed and marketed for a fraction of the $0.5B acquisition cost. Personally, I prefer the little-known Dulance, http://dulance.com/.

A good test for Pricegrabber vs. Dulance that I have done this morning (an attempt to buy a miniPCI WLAN card):
atheros cm9

On PG, no results (but an ad from Neweb that really sells the thing - seems that whoever sells ads on PG does better matching than PG itself :-)

On Dulance - very decent list of results (it did confuse euros with dollars once, though).

In Korea

[JazzLad]

Only old people use PriceGrabber

Because you're a dumbass, asswipe.

[Anonymous Coward]

Now fuck off!