Frequently Asked Questions

How do we determine what discount to show?

Well there is a bit of secret sauce here because we have a trade secret algorithm that decides what discounts to show and when but the way you can think of it is the probability of smaller discounts being shown is higher thus will be shown more often and the larger discounts are lower so those will come up less often. Depending on what price customers are buying at the algorithm will adjust the probability of larger discounts being shown more or less often. The magic to the system is if you have the patience and play long enough then sooner or later the odds of large number kicks in you will get a large discount you want.

How do I redeem a discount?

If you are using Skinnyprice for a physical retail location then when you claim a discount you will be emailed a coupon code. You just show that email on your phone or print it out and show the retailer the coupon so they can verify it.

If you are using Skinnyprice online with an ecommerce e-tailer then when you claim a discount it will automatically update the price of that product in the shopping cart so you can then simple check out.

Once I claim a discount can’t I just keep playing to see if I can then get a higher discount amount?

Once you claim a discount coupon then you are emailed that coupon code. If you then try to keep playing to see if you can get a better discount than current coupon code will be invalidated. You have to think about it, it would not be fair otherwise. A customer would get a 30% discount code, accept it, and then keep playing until a higher discount amount appears and then accept that one and on and on. This is not how we intended the pricing system to work. If you accept a 30% discount then you have to decide is that good enough or should I try my luck and give that one up and see if I can get higher. I might play for the next 30 minutes and a discount amount of 30% or higher may never come up and I would then have to accept a lower discount amount or decide to spend more time. This really makes deciding if you should give up your current discount you accepted and try for higher an adrenaline pumping experience. Should you or should you not?

Do I have a higher chance of getting a larger discount the more I use the Skinnyprice button?

Well the probability of larger discounts being shown are constantly changing by the algorithm so if you play for longer (like a few days) you are giving yourself more opportunities to time your playing with when those higher probabilities of larger discounts are given. So yes the longer you play the more likely you are going to get larger discounts.

Why isn't there a max discount amount? In other words why don't you say, "Save up 50%?"

The reason we don't put the a max discount amount is because that max discount amount changes depending on what prices customers are buying at so we can’t really say what that max discount amount is because it is a moving point. If more customers, that are not price sensitive, buy at a higher price then the algorithm adjusts and larger discounts are shown to drive more conversions. If too many customers, that are price sensitive, are buying at too low of price point then the algorithm adjusts and less large discounts are given to allow the retailer to make more margin on each purchase.

How does the spin counter work?

For physical retail stores:
If you have not signed up or signed in then you are given 5 spins to try out how probability pricing works. Once you are out of spins you are asked to sign up or sign in. Once signed in you are given 500 spins a day or whatever the retailer decides to give per day. Once you have used up all your spins you then have to wait to the next day to get another 500 spins to use. The spin counter resets at Midnight UTC (Coordinated Universal Time Zone).

For ecommerce e-tailers:
The Skinnyprice button is added to product pages and the customer clicks the button to play the game to get a discount. Just like the physical store the e-tailer decides how many spins a customer will get each day. The spin counter resets at Midnight UTC (Coordinated Universal Time Zone).

Are the discounts decided by any characters or tracking info about me?

Absolutely 100% not! We do not use any identifiable information about you to decide what discounts will be shown. This would put us quickly out of business if we did this. This is called discriminatory pricing and Amazon got in big trouble for this by charging different customers higher price if they were on an Apple device and lower price if they were not. Everyone has the same odds/probability on every try. Think if it like a slot machines. You and a friend sit down and play on two slot machines. The slot machine knows nothing about either you but the odds are fixed. You might get lucky and on first pull get a huge pay out and your friend plays for hours and doesn’t win a huge payout. The odds were the same it just came down to luck.

Why was Skinnyprice created?

We saw an inefficiency in the way products were priced. Customers have different price sensitivities in other words some people need a huge sale before they buy and other people don’t. They tradition way retailers tried to capture those that would pay a higher price and then at other times those that need a lower price is the use of the traditional sale. Let’s take Macy’s for an example. Now everyone knows that Macy will run a sale sooner or later but those that are not price sensitive and want their product now will buy without the sale. Those that need the bigger discount will wait until the sale happens. The problem is that if you leave your price at the full retail price to capture larger margin from the non price sensitive customers then you are losing purchases from customers that would have bought if there was a discount but decided to wait but perhaps that customer never comes back in. That’s lost revenue. Then when there is a sale well you are capturing the non price sensitive customers but you are losing margin on the customers that would have paid a higher price. More lost revenue. This is where the magic of Skinnyprice’s probability pricing comes in. How can you separate out customer’s price sensitivity? Well you use time. In general those that are not price sensitive do not want to waste their time playing a game to get a slightly better price on a product. Those that are price sensitive will. This amount of time a customer will spend is different for each person depending on their individual price sensitivity. The Skinnyprice patented pricing system allows each individual customer to self determine what price they want to play. We hope this will be the end of the traditional sale so you at any time can just Skinnyprice a product to get the price you want.

How many patents does Skinnyprice have?

We have two granted and issued patents and two more pending with international rights.