Coupon code policy

PriceThrift operates to the IAB UK Affiliate Marketing Council Code of Conduct – Vouchers (version 4.0, June 2017), which Awin and the other major affiliate networks enforce as a condition of working with a publisher, and to Awin’s Code of Conduct for Publishers. This page sets out each rule and what we do about it, so a reader, an advertiser or a network can check us against it rather than take our word.

It applies to every offer on the site, wherever it came from — an advertiser, a network, an agency or a reader.

1. Acting in good faith

The Code requires publishers to comply with its spirit as well as its letter, and to create content in good faith with the end user in mind.

Our test for anything here is whether a reader who acted on it would feel misled afterwards. That is why the conditions sit on the offer rather than the discount alone, why we say when a store has given no end date, and why how we check codes describes a modest process rather than a heroic one.

2. Information that is true, accurate and not misleading

Key terms and expiry, immediately visible

The Code: a description of the key terms and conditions of a voucher, including any expiration date, must be immediately visible when viewing the voucher, having regard to the screen size of the device.

Every offer carries a row of terms directly beneath it showing its end date and its main conditions. Where the advertiser supplied its own terms text with the promotion, that text is what we display. That row is plain text on the page — not behind a tooltip, an accordion or a tap — and it is not truncated on a phone; the layout is built to keep it readable at 320 pixels wide. A “See details” expander holds the longer terms, satisfying the Code’s separate requirement that all other terms be readily accessible.

Expired vouchers

The Code: vouchers must be kept up to date, and an expired voucher may only continue to be published if it is immediately apparent to consumers that it has expired. Stating the expiration date alone is not sufficient.

On the day an offer’s end date passes it is removed automatically from every live list, count, search result and category. It then appears only on its store page, inside a section headed “recently expired”, with a red EXPIRED badge, the text struck through, the date it ended stated, and the code button replaced by “no longer works”. After 21 days it is unpublished entirely. Expired offer pages are marked noindex so search engines cannot present them as live. Offers that had already expired were never imported in the first place.

Prominent, fair and intelligible terms

Terms are written in ordinary English, in the same size type as the rest of the offer, dark text on a light ground. The full terms of any promotion are set by the store and shown at its checkout, and every offer says so.

Metatags and keywords

The Code: any metatags or keywords associated with a voucher must not generate misleading search results.

Page titles and descriptions are generated from the offers that are live at that moment, so when a store’s best offer expires the title changes with it the same day. We do not put discounts in a page title that are not on the page, we do not list stores we have no offers for, and we do not create pages for promotions that do not exist.

3. Consequences that meet reasonable expectations

The Code: consumers must not be required, invited or induced to act without being properly informed of the consequences; a valid voucher must be the primary consequence of that action; and the consumer must be made aware if the action will cause a redirect or cause a website to appear.

• Every code button carries a line beneath it, before you press it, reading “Shows the code and opens [store] in a new tab”. Deal buttons say “Opens [store] in a new tab”.
• Pressing it produces the code: displayed in full, copied to the clipboard, and left visible behind the window. The code is the primary consequence, not a side effect of arriving at the store.
• The store opens in a new tab, so the offer and its terms are still there when you come back.
• There is no interstitial page, no countdown, no sign-up wall, and nothing to install in order to see a code.

4. Vouchers differentiated from other promotions

The Code: it must be clear whether a discount is obtained by using a voucher, through a group-coupon arrangement, a daily-deal promotion, or is a sales promotion offered by the advertiser generally.

Each offer is labelled Code or Deal, filterable by that label, and states “code entered at checkout” or “no code needed” in its terms row. We run no group-buying or daily-deal mechanics; if we ever do, they will be labelled separately.

5. Monetisation only with permission

The Code: vouchers must only be monetised with the permission of the advertiser, publishers must not monetise vouchers exclusively licensed to another affiliate, and must cease monetisation on request.

• Commercial links exist only for advertisers whose programmes we have been accepted into. Where we are not accepted, an offer is published without a commercial link or not published at all.
• We do not publish a code we have reason to believe is exclusive to another publisher, a named creator, an employee or a single customer account.
• On request from an advertiser or its network we remove an offer or stop monetising it, without requiring an explanation.

6. Content standards (Awin Code of Conduct rule 6)

We do not list vaping, e-cigarette or tobacco products, cannabis or CBD, adult products, gambling, weapons, prescription pharmacy or high-cost credit, and the store list is screened against those categories before anything is published. Nothing on this site is obscene, discriminatory, defamatory or violent, and we publish no user-generated content that has not been read by a person first. Store names and logos are used solely to identify the store; the marks on our store pages are our own plain typographic treatments of the store’s name, not reproductions of anyone’s brand assets.

7. Publishing in line with advertiser instructions

We follow the instructions attached to each programme, including restrictions on paid search, trademark bidding, use of codes in advertising copy, and permitted channels. Where an advertiser gives no instruction we publish only offers the advertiser has itself made public.

8. Traffic and technical conduct

Traffic comes from organic search and direct visits. We run no browser extension, toolbar, adware or cashback mechanic, use no iframes, hidden frames, fake redirects, robots or automated clicking, and do not intercept another publisher’s referral or stuff cookies. A tracking link is only ever activated by a reader’s own deliberate click.

9. Nothing that brings the model into disrepute

There are no open comments. Codes sent in by readers are read by a person before publication and rejected if they look personal, improperly obtained or likely to breach a store’s terms. Any complaint from an advertiser or a network is answered promptly.

Advertisers and networks: how to reach us

Reviewing this policy

The Code requires compliance measures to be reviewed periodically. We review this page and the checks behind it whenever either Code is updated, whenever a network raises anything with us, and otherwise at least twice a year.