Paribus Review: Is Paribus Safe & Legit?
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Paribus reviews seem to be few and far between, so I decided to create one myself. Here is my Paribus review. Want to sign up for Paribus? Sign up here. Not too long ago, a friend of mine told me about this app called Paribus that would give you money when stores drop their prices. So if you purchase something for $10 and the seller proceeds to drop the price to $7, you’ll get the difference. Naturally, I was a little skeptical (what else is new, right?) and I had a few questions:
After a somewhat long and detailed conversation, I hit the “install” button on my phone and started using it. I’ve gotten a few bucks back and I must say that it’s pretty nice. It’s like a little watchdog that keeps looking for ways to put money back in my pocket. Let me explain… What is Paribus? Paribus is a relatively new startup that wants to help online shoppers get money back when prices drop. The reason Paribus has been so successful lately is because prices change REALLY often in e-commerce stores. Like, way more often than brick-and-mortar. In fact, Amazon alone makes about 80 million price changes every single day. What most people don’t realize is that there’s actually a way to get money returned to you when those items go on sale, because most retailers will offer some sort of price match guarantee. The problem is that it’s usually a hassle for consumers to take advantage of it. That’s where Paribus comes in. Paribus tracks the price changes associated with your online purchase. If the price is lowered, Paribus will follow the store’s procedures to file a claim on your behalf to get your money back. It’s all automatic, so you can sit back and relax. Besides the initial setup, there’s virtually no involvement on your end. The setup basically requires that you authenticate your email via their website. From there, Paribus will scan the receipts in your inbox and check the prices for you. |
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At the time of this writing, Paribus can track and price match e-commerce purchases from several retailers, including:
Paribus saves me a lot of effort because it understands the nuances of each store’s individual policies, which can be confusing. For example, Amazon price matches TVs and cell phones with competitors, but only matches its own prices for most other items. Plus, the different stores all have different procedures when it comes to filing a claim. Some stores want you to use an online form, some want you to do it via email, etc. Again, Paribus handles all that. Does this sound too good to be true? It’s not, but it brings me to one of the questions I had after hearing all this… “How does Paribus make money?” Paribus only makes money when it finds savings. If they don’t save any money for you, they don’t get paid. They take 25% of whatever savings they find for you. I feel like that’s a fair price to pay, figuring you aren’t doing anything. They call their commission their “success fee”. One of the nice little surprises was that they go back 30 days from when you first sign up. So I actually saved money from purchases I made in the previous month. Not bad! |
Not my dashboard, but it's an example of what it looks like.
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Is Paribus Legit?
Yes, Paribus is legit, and yes, they do pay. Are there cons? Well, here are some of the ones I can think of:
Is Paribus safe? Yes, Paribus is safe. The biggest obstacle I see with Paribus is the fact that you have to attach your email account to the system. Like I said before, you can just create a dummy email account – problem solved! Paribus is taking a few precautions to make the app as safe as possible. For example:
While Paribus is safe, many people are just creating a brand new email account just for shopping. That means they get all the savings associated with Paribus while never mixing their personal information. What I don’t like… While Paribus has a decent selection of stores, including Amazon and Wal-Mart, it doesn’t cover the entire internet. I know that seems like a lot to ask, but there are several smaller online stores I like to use. It would be nice if Paribus could extend their price-matching magic to the entire internet. Maybe this will happen sometime in the future. We’ll see! Summary Stores will give you money back when prices fall. The only catch is that you have to ask for it and know all the nuances that come along with asking for it. Paribus does all that for you. All you have to do is sign up with your email. That’s literally it. As you continue your normal shopping habits, Paribus will scan and monitor all your incoming receipts, looking for any money that was left on the table. Each time they find a discrepancy, they file a claim on your behalf and the money owed – minus their 25% success fee – goes right back into your account. If they don’t save you any money, they don’t take a dime. So what do you have to lose? Sign up for Paribus today. |