Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for Merchants
About Compare PricesSM
Compare PricesSM is a leading Internet site that allows consumers to search a wide variety of products and services (“products”) and compare their prices, features, and shipping fees. Compare PricesSM allows merchants to efficiently present their products to customers in exchange for a referral fee. When a consumer finds the desired product, the consumer can then “click through” to the merchant’s site and purchase the product directly from the merchant’s own Internet web site.
Compare PricesSM is a privately held company.
Why should I list my products with Compare PricesSM?
As Internet commerce continues to rapidly expand, consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated about using the Internet to search for the products best suited to their needs and budgets. As a result, consumers are simultaneously demanding more choices among both products and merchants. At the same time, consumer attention is becoming increasingly fragmented in a multi-media world, making it more difficult to capture the attention of large audiences.
Compare PricesSM allows merchants to efficiently present their products, prices, and shipping fees to customers at its elegant and easy-to-use Internet site. Compare PricesSM helps merchants to make highly-targeted connections with the continually expanding and increasingly savvy Internet consumer population.
When a consumer executes a product search using Compare PricesSM, selects a particular product, and “clicks through” to the Internet site of a merchant offering that product, the merchant receives a highly targeted sales lead for a consumer who has already narrowed his or her search to a particular product and price range which the merchant provides. Thus, Compare PricesSM can drive highly-focused sales leads to your Internet merchant site. In exchange for receiving a focused sales lead, a merchant is assessed a referral fee for each consumer click-through to its site. A merchant only pays when Compare PricesSM refers such a sales lead to the merchant’s Internet site. This fee is not dependent on whether a consumer ultimately decides to purchase a product.
In addition, once you establish your Compare PricesSM merchant account you can monitor your historical click-through information at your merchant administrator panel. Such information can provide valuable data for your Internet marketing efforts, product selection, and pricing decisions.
How do I register as a merchant with Compare PricesSM?
Go to the new merchant registration page and provide the required information. Compare PricesSM will decide, at its sole discretion, whether you will be approved for registration. Compare PricesSM may request additional information from you.
How do I present my product information at Compare PricesSM?
There are two main ways to present your product information at Compare PricesSM. First, you may upload your information in a CSV, tab, pipe, or xml formats. Files may be zipped. Files must contain at a minimum: product name, price, category, and URL where the product can be purchased. The following information can also be uploaded to the Compare PricesSM site: brand/author/artist/manufacturer, URL where an image is located, merchant comments, shipping information. Second, you may use a spider to import information from your web site.
Are there any limitations on products that I can present at Compare PricesSM?
Yes. Compare PricesSM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to refuse to present or remove any product. Products that Compare PricesSM will not present include, but are not limited to beer, hard alcohol (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, etc.), prescription drugs, pornography, or any product that is illegal or is or may be reasonably considered to be hateful, prejudiced, or otherwise offensive or dangerous to Compare PricesSM users. (See the Content and Conduct Guidelines of our user Agreement). If you want to know whether Compare PricesSM will present a particular product, please send an email to merchants at Compare Prices, ATTN: Product Listing Inquiry.
How long does it take for my products to be presented at Compare PricesSM?
Compare PricesSM seeks to update its site with product and pricing information that merchants provide to us as quickly as possible on a rolling basis.
How much does it cost to present my product information at Compare PricesSM?
There is no fee to register as a merchant with Compare PricesSM. When a consumer executes a product search using Compare PricesSM, selects a product that a merchant offers, and clicks through to the merchant’s Internet site, the merchant is assessed a referral fee for each such click-through. Each such click-though is considered to be a referral that serves as a focused sales lead for the merchant. This click-through referral fee is not dependent on whether a consumer ultimately decides to purchase that product at a merchant’s Internet site.
Compare PricesSM establishes a minimum click-through rate for each category, listed here at our Rate Card. Merchants also may improve their placement in search results by bidding for a higher click-through rate.
How do I pay Compare PricesSM for user click-through referrals? Can I monitor my account balance?
Once you establish your Compare PricesSM merchant account, you can log in and review individual click-throughs from users. You can also look at your account balance history. Compare PricesSM will set your account limit on an individual basis, based on the volume of click-throughs and any other factors that Compare PricesSM deems to be relevant, at its sole discretion.
Can I get click-through data for products that I present at Compare PricesSM?
Yes. Once you establish your Compare PricesSM merchant account, you can log in and look at your historical click-through data. Such data can provide you with valuable data for your Internet marketing efforts, product selection, and pricing decisions.
What if I forgot my Compare PricesSM merchant password?
Go to our forgot password page for merchants and provide the required information.
What should I do if I am having problems logging in?
Please send an email to merchants at Compare Prices, ATTN: Login Problem and provide a description of the problem. Also include the browser version and operating system on which this problem was experienced.
How do I report a technical problem?
Please send an email to merchants at Compare Prices , ATTN: Technical Problem and provide a description of the problem. Also include the browser version and operating system on which this problem was experienced.
How do I get more information?
Send an email to merchants at Compare Prices with your question.
