Deal Site Showdown: Fatwallet vs. SlickDeals

As an all-around cheap bastard, there are two sites that I spend a lot of time on: Fatwallet and SlickDeals. The purpose of each is very similar. Each hosts user forums where cheap bastards from around the country talk about deals and alert each other to new deals. Both are supported by affiliate advertising (i.e., when someone posts a deal for an online retailer, they insert a referral link in the post so that when someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, they make a commission). There are many differences between the two, though, so I will give a rundown of the pros and cons of each site as I see them.

Fatwallet.com

Pros

1. FatCash: You can register with their site and when you click the special “FatCash” links from the stores section of their site and make a purchase, they kick a portion of the commission they receive back to you.
2. Robust Finance and Rebate Forums: FW has an extremely active and informative Finance Forum dedicated to personal finance discussion and deals related to loans, credit cards, bank accounts, etc. Between my wife and I, we have probably saved or earned at least $4,000 based on the information and deals we have found there. They also have a great Rebate Tracking forum where users share info on rebate offers they are having issues with and specific information to help collect on those.

Cons

1. Heavy moderation: At least compared to SlickDeals, the forums at FW are heavily moderated. Deals involving techniques that may be somewhat questionable (i.e., using a one-time use coupon multiple times or pricing errors) are frequently shutdown and deleted by the moderators. The theory among many users of both sites is that because of the growth of the site and the numerous affiliate relationships and sponsorships FW has with many companies FW has sold out to try and protect the cash that is rolling in.

SlickDeals

Pros:

1. Quicker deal posts: Many great deals are relatively short-lived as a retailer may have limited stock or may incorrectly price an item, so getting in on a deal early is important. My observation is that most of the really good deals seem to be showing up on SlickDeals before they do on FatWallet. I would guess it is because of the moderation of FW driving the hardcore deal seekers who find most of the deals over to SlickDeals. If you look at the Hot Deals forum at FW, you will often see in the posting “Ripped from SD (Slick Deals)”.
2. Minimal moderation: SD has moderators, but they tend to let almost anything go. They also allow discussion of questionable techniques like using single use coupons more than once. There are also a few topics allowed on SD that are specifically banned on FW, such as GPT (Get Paid To) sites.

Cons

1. No CashBack: SD doesn’t have any type of cash back program like FW’s FatCash. I typically will find out about the deal on SD and head over to FW to make the purchase so I can get some cash back on it.
2. No dedicated Finance forum: There is no forum on SD specifically dedicated to Finance discussion and deals. Sometimes finance deals will be posted in the main Hot Deals forum, but they often get lost in the shuffle with all of the other product deals relatively quickly.

The final verdict: SlickDeals is the better deal site in my eyes. However, I still use FatWallet for the FatCash and finance forums. I would say keep an eye on both sites.