This post continues my weekly series of bargain site reviews. Last time I reviewed DealNews, a website with 10 years of experience in bargain hunting.
Dejarik Media, the blog network behind Uncrate.com and Outblush.com, two stylish blogs entertaining fancy male and female shoppers, made a big splash in November 2006 when they launched Bargainist, which is the bargain site of this week.
The team is doing very well with their two shopping blogs and it was a very logical step for them to extend their offering to a more frugal part of their readers community, to those who won’t blow $165 for a belt buckle.
A deals site or a deals blog?
Bargainist has a typical blog layout, each bargain is served as a separate blog post with several posts added daily. The website has a Stores section with promotions sorted by stores, and Archives where you can browse past deals by month, category, and store. Coupons and Freebies sections have, you guessed it, coupons and freebies. Tips section has,… nothing as of the moment. I figure the team is too busy sweeping deals and at the end of the day has no time left for any tips. Maybe they should borrow some from my blog? ;-)
Non-commissionable deals
Most of the deal links go to affiliate sites (nothing unusual) but the team does post a non-commissionable freebie once in a while, which is a good sign. A big problem with many deal sites is that they will ignore a good deal if they can’t earn a commission on it. There is no incentive for them to publish these deals, or rather the incentive is too far stretched to realize their importance.
The truth is that in the long run, the effort they put into posting non-commissionable deals will pay back to them many times and then more in a form of regular customers who will advocate the website to their friends and will help make it a success.
No deals on weekends
The site is not updated during weekends which is a pity since good shopping deals happen 24/7. As I am writing this on Sunday night, the last deal is posted 2 days ago, on Friday.
What puts Bargainist apart from many of the other deals sites is the broad selection of deals. They are not too geeky for women, and offer enough hi-tech gadgets to attract guys as well, a perfect combination.
I like the simple blog-style design of the website however it certainly lacks the bells and whistles that other deals sites offer. For one thing they could have at least enabled readers comments!
Summary
Overall a nice deals site (or rather blog) with a distinct design, featuring a well balanced combination of deals that appeal both men and women.
Pros: simple design makes it easy to browse the deals, wide deals variety, non-commissionable deals are not ignored
Cons: deals are not updated on weekends, some advanced features are lacking (can’t discuss deals, can’t compare prices on similar merchandise, etc)
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