coupons.com fatwallet dealnews review
We Review Coupons.com, FatWallet and DealNews
There are heaps of cheap coupon sites out there -- so many, in fact, that picking just one (or even two) can be overwhelming. We're taking the guesswork out of the process by reviewing some of these coupon sites. This week, we start with three: Coupons.com, Fatwallet.com, and Dealnews.com.
Coupons.com: This site offers printable coupons for grocery stores, restaurants and entertainment. You can also download discounts by manufacturer. A review on the blog Freecouponsites.org says the site is easy to use and boasts a great restaurant resource that offers discount codes and other information on establishments of your choice -- just print out the coupons and use the bar code technology to apply them to store purchases. According to a Smart Money story, Coupons.com was among the first cheap coupon sites to start using bar codes a few years ago to better authenticate the web-coupon process. You get the coupons through the site's downloadable coupon printer.
You can get more savings on Coupons.com with a card you sign up for, download coupons to, and then use at the store or supermarket. You can't use your savings card and a separate Coupons.com discount on the same item, however.
One Factoidz.com review says the site is easy to navigate and has hundreds of good deals each day. There are discounts for everyday items in addition to luxury products. The large amount of brand name items means you can use your coupons at various stores. The site also has an iPhone app.
User reviews for this site are scarce. It seems solid enough in its variety of discount offerings but doesn't necessarily stand out compared to other cheap coupon sites.
Fatwallet.com: FatWallet offers daily deals like many other cheap coupon sites but tries to set itself apart by letting you get products or services through its listed merchants. It was one of the first cheap coupon sites around, and it differs from sites like Groupon in that it doesn't post daily deals on its main page. Instead, you click on links that take you to the various items offered at a discount. This can be a bit confusing for the beginner user, as deals are scattered throughout the Forum, Top Deals, and Coupon sections.
Once you find the deals, you can expect longer descriptions and price comparisons than some other sites offer, says a Viewpoints review. This feature can help users feel more confident that they're getting the very best deals. An Epinions review says the best deals are often found in the Forum section. Users can post deals themselves, but the Epinions review warns newbies to proceed with caution. Anyone who posts an old, inaccurate, or shady deal will be torn apart by the site's savvier deal masters.
Several reviews of this coupon site point to one standout feature: a cash-back program. While Top 10 Reviews touts this as a positive, a Viewpoints review says users can only benefit from this program if they click through the site before making their purchase. As with Coupons.com, you have to sign up for the site to use this extra savings feature. There are also coupon codes and free giveaways, although some users on Viewpoints say it can take weeks to get freebies, deals go quickly, and much of the cash back is on small items. This latter point makes sense, as what site would want to pay out tons of money for higher-cost items?
Overall, this longstanding site seems to know what it's doing when it comes to offering the best and latest deals. The site also has an iPhone app for even more access to daily deals.
DealNews.com: This site, which just released an iPhone app this month, is focused mostly on electronics discounts, although it does offer other products. A reviewer on TalkReviews says it offers the best savings on computers, TVs, movies and clothes. One of the older cheap coupon sites, it also has rebates, promotional codes, and information on closeout sales.
The biggest difference between Dealnews.com and other cheap coupons sites is that it hunts deals instead of offering products directly off the site. It has a separate site, Dealcoupon.com, offering actual coupons to various retailers. In its posts of daily deals, Dealnews notes when the offer became available and how popular it is so you know whether to wait a while or to jump on it ASAP, says Pennypouch.com.
Top 10 Reviews, which rates this as one of the best cheap coupon sites, likes this site for its in-depth description of deals; other sites may only give minimal information on the actual offer. There are also real-time updates of deals and editor's picks. The former cuts down on inaccurate or outdated deals so you don't get all jazzed up about a hot sale that's been scooped up.
Want to know about other coupon sites? See our reviews for others: Post 2, Post 3, Post 4 and Post 5.
