Paribus

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Paribus
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTechnology
Software
Founded2014
FounderEric Glyman (CEO)
Karim Atiyeh (CTO)
HeadquartersBrooklyn, NY
Area served
Worldwide
ParentCapital One
Websitewww.paribus.co

Paribus was a price-tracking service founded in 2014 that monitored online purchase receipts to identify opportunities for price-adjustment claims.

History

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Paribus was founded in 2014 by Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh.[1] The company is based in Brooklyn, New York.[1] The name is derived from the Latin phrase ceteris paribus, meaning "all others things being equal."[2]


The founders developed the concept in 2013 to simplify the process of receiving a refund following a price drop.[3][4] and launched a beta version of the service in September 2014, with a public introduction at TechCrunch Disrupt New York on 5 May 2015.[1][5] Paribus released its iOS app on August 6, 2015,[6] and its Android app on April 28, 2016.[7]

In October 2015 Paribus announced a seed funding round of about $2.1 million following participation in Y Combinator and TechCrunch Startup Battlefield. The round was reported to have been led by General Catalyst Partners and also included Greylock Partners, Foundation Capital, Soma Capital and Mick Johnson.[8]

In October 2016, it was announced that Paribus had been acquired by Capital One.[9][10] Following the acquisition, the service was integrated into Capital One’s suite of shopping and price-protection features; specific product changes and service availability have varied over time.[citation needed] As of January 2023, Capital One discontinued the Capital One Price Protection feature of Capital One Shopping.[11]

Software

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Paribus connected to a user's email account to scan messages for receipts from e-commerce retailers.[12][13] When a qualifying price adjustment opportunity was detected, the service submitted claims on the user’s behalf to request refunds or adjustments according to the retailer’s policies.[14][15][16] It was also able to detect coupons or promo codes that could have been applied to a purchase, and have the coupon redeemed retroactively.[17][18] The app is free.[19] After the acquisition closed with Capital One, Paribus users began to keep 100% of the savings. It was available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and on Android smartphones and tablets.[20]

At its launch, the service worked with 18 major retailers, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Macy's and Newegg.[8][21] This list had grown to 29 retailers in the United States by December 2017. The company states that the average user saves between $60 and $100 per year.[12] As of October 2016, it had over 700,000 users.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Rebecca Strong, "Harvard Grads' App Gets Your Money Back When Something You Bought Goes on Sale," Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine BostInno, May 21, 2015.
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ a b Sarah Perez, "Capital One acquires online price tracker Paribus," TechCrunch, October 6, 2016.
  10. ^ Antony Peyton, "Capital One buys online price tracker Paribus," Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Banking Technology, October 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ a b Lauren Zumbach, "Apps track emails, receipts to spot potential price-match refunds," Chicago Tribune, May 24, 2016.
  13. ^ Janet Berry-Johnson, "Want To Save Money Shopping Online? There's An App For That," Forbes, March 21, 2016.
  14. ^ Stefano Marra, "This Money-Saving App Bugs Retailers and Gets You Refunds," Wired, August 18, 2016.
  15. ^ Rick Broida, "How to get price-drop refunds without even trying," CNet, May 25, 2016.
  16. ^ Erin Barry, "Paribus looks into your email, but only to help save you cash," CNBC, February 28, 2016.
  17. ^ "Paribus: The app that gets you price-drop refunds," Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine WUSA, September 7, 2016.
  18. ^ Erin Barry, "Start-up finds cash for online shoppers," CNBC, October 7, 2015.
  19. ^ Doug Aamoth, "Free App Friday: Never, Ever Pay Full Price For Anything," Fast Company, December 4, 2015.
  20. ^ Kristin Wong, "Paribus, the App that Automatically Refunds Price Drops, Comes to iPhone and Android," Lifehacker, April 27, 2016.
  21. ^ Zach Epstein, "New free service automatically gets you money back when items you've already bought go on sale," Boy Genius Report, May 22, 2015.
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