[[help:faq_merchants]]

Frequently Asked Questions for Merchants

Posting Bargains

Can I post my products and submit my promotions as a merchant?

Yes, you can. You will need to register first.

Unlike other online communities/forums, at ChoiceCheapies we encourage merchants, service providers or store owners to post their specials on ChoiceCheapies. The reason is simple – if it is a good bargain, we want to know about it! However, there are a few points that a merchant may wish to consider.

  • Sockpuppeting is strictly forbidden and may result in a permanent ban of your store on ChoiceCheapies. You should not create multiple accounts or pose as a customer. You should not ask your existing clients/customers to sign up on ChoiceCheapies to post positive reviews.
  • Posting as a merchant does not give your offer any special treatment, and it will be voted by our members in the same way that member-posted offers will be voted. If the offer you post is not a bargain, it will be voted down. Stores with unpopular deals will not be allowed to continue posting on ChoiceCheapies indefinitely (see performance-based store bans), so choose your promotions wisely before posting and make sure you follow our deal posting guidelines.
  • Remember to declare your relationship with a store if the content is related to your store. You can do this when you are posting a deal or commenting on a deals by selecting an option from the 'I am Associated with:' drop-down. If your store does not appear in the drop-down, please ask a moderator to set you up on the system.
  • On ChoiceCheapies, vendors make a better impression when they post good deals that are open and honest by disclosing all conditions necessary for a sale. Make sure your deal is better than your competitors.
  • ChoiceCheapies members are price sensitive and each has their own sense of value, for example some rate service highly - others not.

What shouldn't I post?

General advertising without any specific offers will generally be received poorly. Listing item(s) that are cheaper than your competition is a plus.

How much does it cost to post on ChoiceCheapies?

ChoiceCheapies is a free service for everyone. There is no charge for anyone to post, vote or comment.

How often can I post a deal?

Posting limits were introduced because some vendors were trying to post too many deals at once. Some members voted against these merchants, regardless of the deal posted. Other members posted complaints against the vendor in the vendor's posts as well as with the moderators.

  • Representatives are able to post a maximum 1 deal per 24 hours and maximum of maximum 2 deals per 7 days provided previous deals have been well-received. Please see the posting limits page for more details.
  • In addition to the default posting limits above, stores with poor-performing deals (poor vote average) will be automically banned from posting further deals on ChoiceCheapies.

Can I submit a datafeed to have all my inventories automatically posted?

No.

ChoiceCheapies is a bargain sharing community, and it is not a place for advertisements unless you have a special offer for our members. Automated or mass postings do not offer our members any value and are likely to bring negative feedback to your company which may result in the store being banned.

Why is my store banned/why can't I post any deal?

There are a few reasons why a store is banned. When posting a deal you will receive an error message saying “Posting deals from <your store's domain> has been banned…”. Some reasons for being banned are:

  • You have violated ChoiceCheapies terms of service. (Sockpuppeting, spamming, etc.)
  • You have previously requested nothing from your site can be posted on ChoiceCheapies.
  • Your store has received too many negative votes from bargains posted over the last 30 days.

For a more detailed explanation on why an account is unable to post deals, see help on posting ban.

How do I remove my deal or can I have my deal deleted?

You can not remove the deal yourself. Please hit the report button and a moderator will assess your request. In most cases we do not remove deals especially if the deal is popular or if the deal has important value regarding discussions. By posting on ChoiceCheapies, you must accept that you will receive both positive and negative comments.

For further issues, please open a new thread on the Talk with a Moderator forum and discuss why you would want to have your deal removed, even after reading the above FAQ item. Moderators will assess on a case by case basis to determine whether the posted deal should be removed.

What happens if I have sold all my products from the deal or the sale has ended?

Please click the EXPIRE button located beneath the description of the deal. A red expired notice will appear in the title and the description will be greyed out.

Store Representative

Can I have a personal account as well as a merchant account on ChoiceCheapies?

We do not allow individuals to hold multiple ChoiceCheapies accounts. Merchants who sign up for multiple accounts for different purposes will trigger our sockpuppeting and ghost account detection, which then may result in the store being banned.

I have more than one store. Can I create separate accounts for each store?

We do not allow multiple accounts per individual, as per our Terms of Use. However, you can be a store representative for more than one store per ChoiceCheapies account. Please contact the moderators if you want to have your account officially linked to one or more stores.

Advertising

I saw some banner space on ChoiceCheapies -- how can I put mine there?

  • For more information on stats and advertising, please see our Advertise page.

ChoiceCheapies has closed all direct advertising on display banners. If you wish to advertise on ChoiceCheapies's display ads space, you can target ChoiceCheapies on Google Adwords.

Voting

Can I vote for a deal if I have some affiliation with the poster or company?

Do not vote on deals where you have some relationship with the business or if you are a competitor.

You can put in supportive comments which highlight the benefits of a deal, provided you fully disclose your relationship with the business.

Member Relations

What should I do to keep the relationship between the rep and members harmonious?

  1. It's a good idea to watch the bargains posted on the site for a number of days, before your first post. Pay particular attention to what shoppers like about good deals and avoid doing what encourages negative voting.
  2. Shoppers are always entitled to vote on a deal. We do have guidelines under which if they are not met we will revoke a negative vote - these are listed here.
  3. Reps shouldn't argue with shoppers as they are potential customers. If you think members have rated you unfairly, use the \\report link
    as that's the fastest way to call on the moderators for help.
  4. This is a bargain site where people are looking for bargains. Unlike other sites, we let representatives post here as a privilege.
  5. Posting unfavourable comments about a competitor is not permitted. Additionally, posting links to your products/deals in a competitors thread is also not acceptable. Both are considered as being conduct unbecoming and will invoke a penalty.

I just posted a good deal. Why aren't more people liking the deal?

  1. Some bargains are well received but *not all* bargains will become hits, no matter how good they are. A flood of posts can knock a deal off the front page before many people have seen it. Sometimes, a hotter deal is posted at the same time, which soaks up all the attention. At other times, members don't think a particular bargain is of interest to them.

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