isthereanydeal.com reviews: is it legit or scam?

IsThereAnyDeal.com – An Honest Review of the Best Deal Notification Site

IsThereAnyDeal.com (ITAD) has established itself as one of the most popular deal notification sites for PC video games. With thousands of daily users tracking prices across major digital storefronts, ITAD provides a valuable service for gamers looking to save money. However, with any tool that promises deals and discounts, it’s important for consumers to understand both the pros and cons. In this honest review, we’ll take an in-depth look at ITAD’s features, how well it performs its main functions, and things users should be aware of.

Tracking Deals Across Stores

Undoubtedly, isThereAnyDeal core functionality of tracking prices across digital storefronts is extremely useful. The site monitors prices on Steam, GOG, Epic, Uplay, Origin, and more, surfacing any discounts or sales across these platforms. IsThereAnyDeal makes it easy to add desired titles to your wishlist and get notifications via email or web push when a game hits a certain price point.

This degree of coverage is impressive. Having a single location to watch prices rather than checking individual storefronts daily saves users significant time. ITAD’s data is also generally accurate in our experience. When a sale goes live, deal alerts are typically sent out quickly. The site also tracks bundle prices and historical lows, so you always know if a discount is actually a good deal or not.

For deal hunters, ITAD offers the convenience of leaving the shopping to the site. You know you’ll be notified as soon as a wishlisted title hits your desired maximum price. The integrations with services like Augmented Steam also bring enhanced game details to ITAD. While deal tracking across stores is clearly ITAD’s strongest aspect, there are some limitations.

Room for Improvement in Deal Tracking

One criticism of ITAD’s deal tracking is that not every online store is supported. Prominent outliers include the Microsoft Store, Battlenet, and Bethesda.net. Additionally, deals on console digital stores like PlayStation and Xbox are understandably absent since ITAD is focused on PC games. For the most comprehensive deal awareness, users may need to occasionally check stores not covered directly.

Another notable issue is that manual price tracking is required. ITAD does not automatically crawl stores 24/7 to find deals in real-time. Users must rely on deals being user-submitted or wait for scheduled automated price checks. So it’s possible for some limited-time offers to be missed entirely. More persistent automated crawling would strengthen ITAD’s value as a deal aggregator.

Regional pricing differences also aren’t fully accounted for. While major global/USD prices are usually reflected, getting the lowest available cost in your specific region would require manually checking your local stores. ITAD provides a good global overview rather than optimizing for every regional market. On balance, ITAD still fills the dealer aggregation needs of most users, even with these limitations. But there is room to further improve coverage.

Community Features for Enhanced Deal Hunting

Beyond pure price tracking, ITAD leverages its large community to enhance the deal finding experience. User reviews provide quick purchase recommendations on game pages. The comment sections also serve as discussion areas for gameplay impressions, technical issues and more. This gives visitors seeking opinions an alternative to review bombs on individual store pages.

For deal hunters, the community feed shows the latest discounts as user-submitted posts. This supplemental information source helps ensure no bargains are missed between scheduled checks. The site also distributes a regular newsletter rounding up major deals. Following other bargain-focused accounts helps widen your deal exposure.

Plus, community Deal Tips share insider price tricks and upcoming sales predictions. Sales patterns can be inferred from historical deal data on ITAD to anticipate future promos. For instance, notable franchises often go on sale during holidays or to celebrate new releases. So community wisdom and data analysis give ITAD users an edge over store-only deal seekers.

Some Downsides to the ITAD Experience

While ITAD’s value is clear for devoted deal hunters, casual users may find aspects of the experience lacking. The site design is somewhat disjointed and outdated looking compared to storefronts. Navigation can also prove difficult at times, especially on mobile. Categorization of deals and settings feel rough around the edges.

The community, though useful, sees its fair share of low-effort posts and complaints. Moderation appears light touch. Some users also report customer support response times being slow at times. The free tier is also limited, putting features like custom price alerts behind a premium paywall.

And while data is extensive, presentation feels basic. Charts or better visualization of pricing histories and comparisons over time would help analysis. Regional pricing norms aren’t standardized either. So value judgments on “deals” still require manual reference points. ITAD excels most as a data aggregator rather than experience.

Should You Use IsThereAnyDeal?

For dedicated deal hunters constantly seeking the best prices, IsThereAnyDeal undoubtedly provides worthwhile value. Its expansive game coverage, deal notifications, and community intelligence form a very strong deal tracking foundation. Time and money saved through access to deals likely outweigh any issues with the user experience.

More casual users, however, may struggle to find ITAD engaging enough to consistently use. Unless you’re devoted to scoring discounts or a deal tracking completionist, the poor UI could easily put you off. Some features also feel “bare minimum” for the premium price compared to slick store alternatives.

For most, a reasonable middle ground would be to occasionally browse IsThereAnyDeal when shopping for specific games. Refer to price histories and the community for added context on purchases. But relying on ITAD as a primary online game store risks frustrations.

In the end, ITAD has firmly cemented itself as an indispensable tool for dedicated deal hunters. Just be aware of the tradeoffs in experience that come with its specialized focus. For casual users, it’s likely better used as a reference than a main destination. But overall, ITAD undeniably helps users save money through extensive deal coverage alone.

Augmenting IsThereAnyDeal With Additional Price Trackers

While IsThereAnyDeal excels overall, it’s still a good idea for avid deal hunters to augment price tracking with some additional tools. Cross-referencing deals spotted on multiple sources hedges against any one site missing discounts. Here are some complementary options to ITAD worth keeping an eye on:

Psprices

A popular PS4/PS5 deal tracker, Psprices also covers Steam, Uplay, Origin and other PC stores. Where it helps over ITAD is strong console store coverage, including regional PlayStation and Xbox deals. The interface feels more streamlined too.

Deku Deals

Focused specifically on the Nintendo Switch and 3DS eStores, Deku Deals offers wishlists, price drop alerts and charts. It finds portable deals ITAD can overlook. Community features are more robust too, like a price prediction database.

Cheapshark

Cheapshark aggregates Steam deals alongside ITAD’s stores plus others like Fanatical and Games Republic. Filters let you prioritize certain storefronts as well. Notifications work across web, browser extensions and mobile apps.

PCGamesN

While not a dedicated price tracker, PCGamesN is a go-to news site for regular deal roundups. Being media-driven, it catches limited-time bundles and promos that sometimes evade more data-focused tools. Good as a daily deals supplement.

By canvassing deals on these additional sources alongside ITAD, bargain hunters can maximize their chances of never missing worthy discounts. Cross-checking lets each site help compensate for the others’ individual limitations. Using multiple trackers gives the most well-rounded deal visibility possible.

Customizing ITAD For Your Needs

To get the most value out of ITAD, it pays to spend time customizing settings for your specific situation. Fine-tuning filters, price rules, and notifications optimizes the service. Here are some recommendations for personalizing an ITAD setup:

In the Steam wishlist importer, select only genres/tags relevant to your taste. This avoids cluttering your IsThereAnyDeal list with irrelevant games.

Adjust price drop rules thoughtfully. Consider both your budget and how deep discounts typically must be for purchases. Not all deals save the same amount.

Select notification methods wisely. Email is essential, but consider web push or mobile alerts for the fastest response times on limited deals.

Request review, bundle, and historic low tracking only for games high on your wishlist. Saves ITAD resources for priorities.

Filter out stores you never/rarely buy from. Watching many unfit outlets dilutes useful deals.

Use price thresholds, not flat rules, when possible. e.g. “Under $20” not “$15 or less”. More flexible.

Note any region restrictions. VPN or alternate purchasing may be needed for all available discounts.

Set custom match criteria on wishlisted titles. Address sequel name changes or different editions.

Fine-tuning like this makes the most of ITAD’s potential. Finding the right individual settings reveals many more suitable deals over time.

Conclusion

In summarizing, IsThereAnyDeal is without a doubt one of the strongest free tools available for discovering and tracking the best video game deals. Its extensive store coverage, wishlisting features, and engaged community provide resources that likely save users significant money annually.