Looking back at the early days of my bargain hunting I recall that reading and understanding what people write in the forums can sometimes be a difficult task. It certainly took me time to get used to the slang and to learn the common abbreviations. I will try to summarize what I remember.
| Abbreviation | Notes |
|---|---|
| AR – After Rebate | Expect to pay full price and then get a rebate in a form of a check or store credit. It is usual for the merchant to require you to mail a receipt and/or UPC code cut out from the product packaging to get the rebate. |
| MIR – Mail-in Rebate | The form of a rebate when you receive a check or coupon back by mail. It is typical for a MIR to take several weeks to get processed. See also: Definition by Wikipedia, Rebate Company Info from FatWallet |
| AC – After Coupon | The final price implies use of a discount coupon or a promotion code. |
| YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary | Usually means the deal may not work for some people while it will work for others. See also: Online bargain hunting |
| FAR- Free After Rebate | While the price may actually turn out to be 0 after you deduct rebate amount don’t forget that you might still have to pay the tax and/or shipping costs. |
| S/H – Shipping and Handling | Something people tend to forget to mention when they post a deal. |
| P/M – Price Match | Merchants often offer a price match guarantee. This means that if you find the same product from a different merchant the seller will refund the difference (or more) to match (or beat) the competitor price. |
| OOS – Out of stock | This is what usually happens very soon after a good deal is posted on one of the popular bargain hunting sites |
| GC – Gift Certificate | Something you usually try to get rid off. ;-) |
| OP – Original Poster (the author of the thread) | The person who gets the reputation points for a good deal or a lot of flame for a repost. |
See this SlickDeals posting for a more complete list of abbreviations.
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