There are many ways to decide between products and services as you shop. You can prioritize quality, a specific brand, or even buying local. However, at some point in the buying process, all shopping decisions boil down to the all-important factor of price.
If you can get something that’s priced at $10 for $9 instead, it’s difficult to say no. Hence the creation of Wikibuy.
Wikibuy is a free assistant for your online shopping adventures. It has saved people tens of millions of dollars each year through various forms of coupon codes, discounts, and powerful comparison shopping capabilities. Just like most online apps, though, it has its pros and cons.
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How Wikibuy Works
Founded in 2014, Wikibuy initially rode the wave of increased online shopping for four years. In 2018, the company had already attracted two million users and was so successful that it was acquired by Capital One.
What attracted so many people to this fledgling tech platform? Saving money.
Wikibuy helps you compare prices without the hassle of, well, putting in all of the grunt work yourself. There are endless coupon sites out there and often 90% of the coupons displayed are either outdated or simply don’t apply to you.
In other words, you could spend extensive quantities of time and effort sorting through Google searches for competing retailers with better prices. Or you could waste hours parsing through coupon code sites, copying and pasting an endless parade of number/letter combinations into your shopping cart, and still have nothing to show for it in the end.
Even if you’re lucky, you might land a code that saves you some money, but even then, is 10% off of a pair of socks the best you could do? What if there was a 50% off coupon lingering out there in the endlessly impenetrable ether of the internet?
That’s where Wikibuy truly shows its colors. The browser extension checks the entire vastitude of the internet, scouring archives and searching in every nook and cranny for a better deal than what you currently have in your shopping cart. If it finds something, such as a discount code or a better-priced competitor, it alerts you before you commit to a more expensive purchase.
Features
Wikibuy has a large variety of product offerings including the following:
- The Wikibuy Universal Product Search: You can search for any product directly on the Wikibuy website to compare different retailers.
- Wikibuy coupon codes: Even if you currently have the best-priced product in your cart, Wikibuy will look for coupon codes that can be applied to reduce the price even further.
- Trending deals from top stores: Wikibuy provides a variety of different deals from major retailers right on their website.
- Watchlist: You can add products to a personal “watchlist” that will track current prices for you over time.
- Price drop alerts: If you know you’re going to buy something but it isn’t urgent, you can set a price drop alert and Wikibuy will let you know when the price is reduced.
- Wikibuy credits: As you shop, Wikibuy will reward you with credits (much like a loyalty program) which can be redeemed in the form of rewards such as gift cards.
- The Wikibuy app: If you’re in the store and you want to compare the price of a product to competitors’ price, you can scan its barcode and the app will quickly compare the in-store price to online alternatives.
While most of its services revolve around sales, discounts, and comparison shopping, the variety of its products makes Wikibuy adaptable to whatever shopping situation you may have.
Pros
As with most price-comparison tools, Wikibuy has several features that help it stand out from the competition:
- The software does its work quietly behind the scenes, allowing you to shop largely in peace.
- Waiting times are minimal, as the program often has already done most of its internet searching before you’re ready to check out.
- Wikibuy offers a genuinely free service with a simple set up — which certainly is not always the case.
Well thought out and maintained by a larger parent company, Wikibuy remains a highly polished price-comparison shopping tool.
Cons
Of course, along with the pros, there are always a few cons. Here are some of the things you should be aware of if you choose to use the Wikibuy extension regularly:
- Wikibuy must gather certain personal data to function properly, which means you must trust the company to be responsible for your information.
- The extension, in particular, has had mixed reviews regarding performance — nothing extreme, but it has occasionally attracted criticism due to things like basic functionality and how it handles information.
- The need to move between an extension and a mobile app as you shop can be bothersome at times.
While there are certain considerations to be had, none of these are particular deal-breakers if you’re looking for a price-comparison tool to use regularly.
How to Sign Up for Wikibuy
Go to the Wikibuy website and you’ll immediately be prompted to create a free account. You can do so by:
- Creating an email username and password.
- Using your Google account.
- Using your Facebook account.
You’ll probably need to answer a few questions after this, such as whether you’re an Amazon Prime member, to finish setting up the account.
After that, you’ll need to download the Wikibuy extension for your desktop and mobile devices. You can also download the Wikibuy app to access additional features.
Once you’re set up, you’ll be ready to use the slew of free features that the service provides.
If you need any further help as you go along, the company offers the standard self-service support resources online. If you can’t find a solution there, you can submit a specific request through a customer support portal, or email support at help@wikibuy.com.
Image Source: https://depositphotos.com/
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