Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is dealspl.us? - Show/hide

dealspl.us is a user-generated social shopping site where users can find, share, discuss, and enjoy the best deals and coupons available online. It is FREE to use, and FREE to join!

Keep in mind that we are NOT an auction or retailer site, and we don't sell any products directly. We help you find the best bargains out there, then send you to retailers' sites to purchase those products at their discounted prices.

How do I search for questions and answers about a specific topic? - Show/hide

Just use the search field on the Ask a Question homepage. We’ll do our best to show you questions and answers related to the topic you’re searching.

What's "reputation"? - Show/hide

Your "reputation" is an ever-changing score that reflects your activity and credibility on dealspl.us. When other users "plus" deals you've submitted or updated, or thumbs up your coupons or comments, your reputation increases. Of course, when other users choose to thumbs down your coupons or comments, your reputation decreases.

How do I follow a user? - Show/hide

Just click the "follow" button! On a deal page or a user's profile page, you'll find it below the user's name and next to their number of fans.

What happens when I follow a user? - Show/hide

When you follow a user you become their fan (everyone likes having fans, right?). Also, when viewing Hot or Fresh deals, you can choose to only see those posted by the users you're following. Additionally, you can only receive messages from users that you are following.

What is the "+" button? - Show/hide

When you click the "+" button (or "plus button"), it's kinda like saying "thanks," "awesome," "good find," or simply, "I like it!" You're also casting a vote to have that deal featured in Hot Deals.

What can I do on dealspl.us? - Show/hide

As a registered dealspl.us member, you can submit deals and coupons, ask questions, share shopping tips, plus the deals you like, follow your favorite users, receive e-mail alerts, and even make money! And if you're not a registered user, you can still browse our huge database of money saving deals and coupons.

Is dealspl.us free to use? - Show/hide

Yes! dealspl.us is FREE to use and FREE to join.

What are "Hot" and "Fresh" deals? And what's "Heating Up"? - Show/hide

Hot Deals are the deals you see right on the dealspl.us homepage. Through plusses and views, the dealspl.us community has declared these to be the best deals of the moment!

Fresh Deals are recently submitted deals that have not yet become Hot Deals. If you see a Fresh Deal that you think deserves an upgrade to the homepage, make sure to plus it, view it, and maybe even leave a comment.

Deals that are Heating Up are the ones well on their way to being Hot. If you think a deal that's Heating Up is homepage worthy, then go ahead and give it a plus. But if you don't think it's homepage material, you can give it a thumbs down.

Why is the price on dealspl.us different from the price on the retailer's website? - Show/hide

Here are the most likely reasons for mismatched prices ...
  • You may need to add the product to your cart, use a coupon code, or send in a mail in rebate in order to get the product at its reduced price. Make sure you read the details in the deal post to see what you need to do in order to receive your discount.
  • The price may have dropped! If you see a lower price on the retailers site than on dealspl.us, then it looks like you've found a price drop. Make sure to edit the deal with the new price or leave a comment to let other users know that the product is available at a lower price.
  • The deal may have expired! If the retailers price is higher than on dealspl.us, and there are no codes or rebates, then unfortunately, the deal has probably expired. Flag the deal as expired, or leave a comment saying that the deal is no longer available.

What are custom alerts? - Show/hide

Custom alerts allow you to add a keyword to your alert list. That way, if a deal is added to dealspl.us with your keyword in it, you will be alerted immediately. For example, if you add the keyword "laptop" to your list, you will receive an e-mail every time there's a deal with the word "laptop" in it.

Does dealspl.us have RSS Feeds and/or daily email subscriptions? - Show/hide

Yes! In fact, we have both.

dealspl.us has multiple RSS feeds, which you can subscribe to using iGoogle, My Yahoo!, Bloglines, and more:


You can also follow your favorite users by subscribing to RSS feeds of their submitted or plussed deals. Simply go to a user's profile, and click the RSS button next to "Submitted Deals" or "Plussed Deals"

We also offer a daily e-mail subscription: To subscribe to "Daily Deals," enter your email at the very bottom of any page, and click Submit. To remove yourself from email subscriptions, click the link: "To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now." at the bottom of your email.

What if I forgot my password? - Show/hide

Happens to the best of us. Just go here and enter the email address that you used to sign up for dealspl.us.

Does dealspl.us have its own language or something ... ? - Show/hide

Sort of! Here's some terminology you might find helpful.
    DP - dealspl.us
    Plusses - The number of times deal has been voted for.
    FS - Free Shipping
    MIR - Mail in Rebate - Provided by the manufacturer. Generally, you must show proof of purchase (receipt, UPC bar code) in order to receive a rebate.
    AR - After Rebate
    BOGO - Buy One Get One
    S/H - Shipping and Handling
    YMMV - Your mileage may vary
    OOS - Out of stock
    FAR - Free After Rebate
    AC - After Coupon
    OTD - Out the Door
    PM - Private Message
    OP - Original Poster

How do I submit a deal? - Show/hide

Just click the big "Submit" button at the top right of any page, then select "Deals." Next, you'll paste the URL of the product you'd like to post, then click "Continue". If your deal isn't a duplicate, it will be posted right to "Fresh Deals"! If the deal is a duplicate, a message will pop up, giving you the option to continue, submit a new deal, or edit. If you'd like to update the price, or edit the details of the deal, go for it. Please only select to continue if the deal you're submitting is different from the duplicate deal displayed.

What information should I include when I submit a deal? - Show/hide

dealspl.us makes its best attempt to grab all the information about your product that it can, but it's far from perfect. Make sure you give your deal a once over to correct any mistakes and to add any missing information before you submit it. Common mistakes include: missing dollar signs '$', incomplete or inaccurate titles, missing images, etc.

I just submitted a deal, and its not showing?! - Show/hide

If you are a newly registered member, all of your deal submissions will be moderated by the dealspl.us team, in order to prevent spam. If you are not a newly registered member and your deals still don't seem to be showing up, you can contact Technical Support.

Oops! I messed up ... How do I edit my deal? - Show/hide

To edit a deal, simply find the deal page and click "Edit," on the right hand side. You can edit most deal information, but only original posters can change/edit deal images.

How does a deal become a "Hot Deal"? Is there anything I can do to get my deal on the front page? - Show/hide

There are all kinds of factors used to determine what deals make it to the front page, including the number of plusses and clicks a deal receives within a certain period of time, and the number of flags or spam reports associated with it. So when it comes down to it, if you'd like to see your deal on the front page, the best thing you can do is post a really good deal!

What are those plusses under my avatar on my profile page?? - Show/hide

Those plusses indicate your dealspl.us "level." The more active you are, the more plusses you'll have, and the higher your level will be. When you plus a deal the plus rating of that deal increases by your "level" amount.

Are there any advantages to being a top dealspl.us user? - Show/hide

There will be soon! Stay tuned, because top users are about to get some special privileges.

What are dealspl.us Tools? - Show/hide

Our goal is to improve your online shopping experience. And right now, we offer three tools -- the dealspl.us bookmarklet, the dealspl.us Widget, and the dealspl.us Toolbar.

What is the dealspl.us Bookmarklet? - Show/hide

The dealspl.us Bookmarklet makes it quick and easy to share deals, by letting you upload products to dealspl.us with just the click of a button. By following the directions for your specific browser, you can download the bookmarklet and immediately start submitting deals.

Why isn't the bookmarklet accurate all the time? - Show/hide

Unfortunately, the bookmarklet won't ever be 100% accurate. This is due to the fact that different websites are structured differently, making it difficult for the bookmarklet to consistently grab the correct information. Because the information is sometimes inaccurate, we suggest that you give your deal a once over before submitting it to make sure everything is correct.

Any tips and tricks for using the dealspl.us Bookmarklet? - Show/hide

For sure! One helpful hint is that you can choose to grab specific text to include in your deal by selecting it with you mouse before clicking "Add to dealspl.us." This will automatically post the selected text in either the Title or the Description section of your deal. The bookmarklet will automatically choose the section you're most likely selecting for.

I tried to submit a deal using the bookmarklet, and the submission page came up blank. What gives? - Show/hide

There could be a number of things going on here. One possibility is that you may have tried to submit a deal from a non-retail product page, which the bookmarklet is unable to read. Another thing to keep in mind, the bookmarklet has a timeout of 20 seconds, which means that if the server of the URL you are trying to submit is slow or down, the DP bookmarklet will only keep trying for 20 seconds before it defaults to a blank page.

What is the "Ask & Share" section? - Show/hide

Ask & Share is where users can post their own burning questions and offer each other brilliant answers, or share their best shopping and bargain-hunting tips. Meanwhile, other users can rate posted answers and tips by giving them a thumbs up or thumbs down. This is the place to be if you’ve got a question to ask, insight to offer, or if you’re just looking to learn a little bit from the dealspl.us community.

If you’re a Money Maker, you can even earn some money on your most insightful and interesting answers and tips! We’ll give you $3.00 for every 1,000 views your answer gets while it’s the top rated answer for any one question. We’ll also give you $3.00 for every 1,000 views of your shopping tip.

How do I ask a question or post a tip? - Show/hide

Click “Ask a Question” or “Post a Tip” on the Ask & Share home page, and you’ll be directed to a short form where you can enter your question or shopping tip along with any additional details. We also ask that you add one or more tags, to help other users search for your post.

What kinds of questions can I ask? - Show/hide

Feel free to ask questions about dealspl.us, specific deals or coupons, products you’re interested in, stores or websites where you shop, or just shopping in general. We just ask that you help keep the Q&A section spam free!

What kinds of tips can I share? - Show/hide

Our community is made up of savvy shoppers looking for the best bargains. We encourage you to share any and all tips and tricks that you use to shop smart and save money.

How do I share an answer? - Show/hide

If you see a question listed that you’d like to answer, just click on it and you’ll be directed to a page displaying the question, any additional information the user may have included, and any answers that have previously been posted. Just type in your answer where it says “Answer This Question,” and hit “Submit”!

What are “tags”? - Show/hide

Tags are kind of like keywords. They allow you to summarize your question or tip using the most relevant single words you can think of. By adding tags to your question or tip, we can then easily send people who search for those tags right to your post.

How do you calculate a question’s “score”? - Show/hide

We subtract the number of thumbs down the question has received from the number of thumbs up. We do not factor in the thumbs ups and thumbs downs given to answers that have been posted in response to the question.

How do I encourage people to answer my question? - Show/hide

While there’s no secret formula for getting answers, it definitely helps to be clear and specific when asking your question. When filling out the question form, keep in mind that whatever you enter in the “Question” field is what will be displayed in the question list. Users will only see the “Additional details” once they click on your question.

How do I rate a question, answer, or tip? - Show/hide

We encourage users to rate questions, answers, and tips using thumbs ups and thumbs down. You might want to give a thumbs up to a question that’s especially engaging or a tip that’s very helpful, while you might want to thumbs down a question that’s very unclear or looks like spam. With answers, you might want to thumbs up answers that are thoughtful and useful, while you might thumbs down answers that are irrelevant or confusing.

Why should I add the dealspl.us Widget to my blog or website? - Show/hide

If your readers enjoy coupons as much as we do, then the dealspl.us Widget is sure to be a big hit! It’s regularly updated, so it’s always displaying the most popular coupons currently on our site, and it’s totally customizable. Choose what category of coupons you want to display, how many coupons you want to display, and the size and color of the widget itself.

If you’re a Money Maker, the widget is also a fast and easy way to up your earnings. We’ll pay you $10.00-30.00 for every 1,000 clicks the coupons displayed in your widget receive.

How do I customize the widget? - Show/hide

Just use the super simple customization tool on the widget home page. Select the category of coupons you want to share, enter the number of coupons you want displayed, enter you’re desired height and width, and choose your background and foreground colors. When you’re all done, click “Generate Code” and your customized code will appear.

How do I install the widget? - Show/hide

Just copy your customized code and paste it into the html source page of your blog or website. If you’re having trouble adding the widget to a blog made on a specific blog platform, look for specific instructions in the help section of that site.

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