How annoying is it when you buy something online or in a store only to find out that it went on sale a few days later? Many stores have policies that offer to refund shoppers when this happens, but by and large, consumers don’t know about these policies or don’t bother to keep track of sale prices in order to take advantage of them.
Now, however, there’s a free service that does the heavy lifting for you, promising to automatically get you a refund if there are coupons you missed or if the price on something you purchased drops after you buy it.
In short, you’re crazy if you don’t sign up for this service.
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The concept behind Paribus is so simple that it’s shocking this space isn’t already crowded.
In a nutshell, Paribus links to your email account and watches for receipts as you shop online, or in stores that offer receipts by email. When a new purchase is made and an invoice is emailed to you, the service records it in your account and monitors the price of the items you purchased. If there is a coupon you missed, or if the price of any items drops, Paribus will automatically file a claim with the store at which you purchased the items and get you a refund.
Paribus is free to join and use, but the company charges 25% of any refunds you receive as a result of its services.
It’s important to note that Paribus doesn’t work with every store. For the time being, the service only works with 18 different merchants, but they’re all large retailers that are very popular, such as Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy.
Here’s the full list of supported merchants:
- Amazon.com
- Bloomingdale’s
- Macy’s
- Best Buy
- Sephora.com
- Newegg
- Staples
- Target
- Bonobos
- J. Crew
- Zappos.com
- Nordstrom
- Banana Republic
- Gap
- Old Navy
- Athleta
- Piperlime
- Walmart
The company says it is constantly working to add additional merchants.
There’s one more important thing to note with Paribus: every merchant has different policies where price-drop refunds are concerned. For example, Amazon will only refund you the difference if the price of an item you buy decreases within seven days.
Of course, the fact that these policies vary so widely from store to store is yet another reason Paribus is such a great service. There’s no way you’ll remember each store’s policy, and now you don’t have to.
