Dealtime.com
Dealtime.com is a private online comparison shopping company founded in 1998 that operates the Shopping.com price comparison platform, aggregating product listings, prices, and deals across multiple online retailers for consumers in Japan.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersSan Jose, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Dealtime.com does
Dealtime.com is a private, U.S.-headquartered (San Jose) online comparison shopping company founded in 1998 that provides price comparison services in Japan, with an employee base of 11–50. The company's core product is Shopping.com, a price comparison platform that aggregates product listings, prices, and deals from multiple online retailers and presents them to consumers to support informed purchasing decisions. The platform functions as a catalog- and price-aggregation layer over third-party retailer inventory, surfacing top products and top deals to end users through dedicated site sections.
The underlying technology stack is not disclosed in the available data, but the product construct is a classic multi-merchant price comparison service — likely built on periodic merchant feed ingestion, normalized product taxonomy, and search-and-filter user interfaces. There is no indication of proprietary AI/ML models, recommendation engines, or advanced data science capability; the offering is positioned as a comparison utility rather than a personalized shopping assistant.
The business model is not explicitly disclosed, but is consistent with affiliate/referral economics typical of late-1990s comparison-shopping sites: merchant partners pay for traffic, clicks, or transactions driven by the platform. Dealtime.com has raised approximately $70 million across two venture rounds (1999 and 2000) from investors including Nomura International, Bain Capital, AOL, Bank of America, Hollinger Capital, Warner Media, and UBS, and acquired Epinions in March 2003 to extend into user-generated reviews and community content.
Dealtime.com firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Dealtime.com
- Website
- https://dealtime.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Dealtime.com is a private online comparison shopping company founded in 1998 that operates the Shopping.com price comparison platform, aggregating product listings, prices, and deals across multiple online retailers for consumers in Japan.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Dealtime.com industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Price Comparison Shopping
- NAICS
- All Other Miscellaneous Retailers (459999)
- SIC
- Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Comparison Shopping & Price Discovery Portals (BPAMAAAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)
Keywords
Where Dealtime.com is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Jose
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Dealtime.com business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel
Dealtime.com product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Dealtime.com operates an online price comparison shopping platform that enables consumers to search for products, compare prices across multiple online retailers, and locate deals. The service aggregates product listings, prices, and promotional offers from various third-party retailers into a single searchable interface for shoppers.
Product overview
Shopping.com is a price comparison platform that allows consumers to search for, compare, and find deals on products across multiple online retailers. The platform aggregates product listings, prices, and deals from various sources to help shoppers make informed purchasing decisions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Shopping.com
Companies that use Dealtime.com
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Dealtime.com technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Dealtime.com partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Dealtime.com competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Shopping.com: Shopping.com is itself the product operated by Dealtime.com per the source data. Historically it was a direct price comparison platform competing with MySimon, NexTag, and PriceGrabber, and was acquired by eBay in 2005. It is the most directly comparable entity.
- PriceGrabber: PriceGrabber was one of the original price comparison engines founded in 1999, directly comparable to Dealtime.com in product, era, and target market. It was acquired by Experian in 2005, illustrating the consolidation trajectory in this category.
- NexTag: NexTag is a price comparison shopping site for products, travel, and education launched in 1999, directly competing with Dealtime.com in the same product comparison vertical during the same era and with the same general merchandise focus.
- Shopzilla: Shopzilla (originally BizRate) operates a comparison shopping network for online retailers, directly comparable to Dealtime.com in product offering, customer base, and business model. Acquired by E.W. Scripps and later sold to Symphony Technology Group.
- BizRate: BizRate pioneered comparison shopping with merchant ratings in the late 1990s, directly overlapping with Dealtime.com's category and era. Now part of Shopzilla/Connexity, it represents the same comparison shopping + reviews hybrid model.
- Kelkoo: Kelkoo is a European price comparison and deals platform founded in 1999, comparable to Dealtime.com in product, category, and timeframe. Now owned by Yahoo, it represents a comparable comparison shopping operator with strong geographic focus.
Broad incumbents
- Google Shopping: Google Shopping is the dominant price comparison and product discovery platform, directly competing with Dealtime.com in the same product category but as part of a much broader Google search and ads ecosystem with vastly greater scale and data advantages.
Regional players
- Kakaku.com: Kakaku.com is the leading price comparison platform in Japan, directly comparable to Dealtime.com's stated Japan focus. It is the dominant local incumbent in the exact market Dealtime.com describes itself as serving.
- Priceprice.com: Priceprice.com is a Japan-focused price comparison site covering electronics, computers, and other consumer goods. It is a comparable operator in the same Japanese market that Dealtime.com describes as its focus.
Emerging players
- Camelcamelcamel: Camelcamelcamel is an Amazon-focused price tracking and comparison tool. While smaller and narrower in scope than Dealtime.com, it represents a modern price comparison product with similar functionality and target use case for savvy shoppers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Dealtime.com social profiles
Digital presenceDealtime.com financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Dealtime.com leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Dealtime.com funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Dealtime.com M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Dealtime.com
What does Dealtime.com do?
Dealtime.com operates an online price comparison shopping platform that enables consumers to search for products, compare prices across multiple online retailers, and locate deals. The service aggregates product listings, prices, and promotional offers from various third-party retailers into a single searchable interface for shoppers.
Is Dealtime.com a public or private company?
Dealtime.com is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Dealtime.com founded?
Dealtime.com was founded in 1998. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Dealtime.com based?
Dealtime.com is headquartered in San Jose, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Dealtime.com's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Shopping.com, PriceGrabber, NexTag, Shopzilla, BizRate and Kelkoo. Google Shopping is listed as a broad incumbent. Regional players are Kakaku.com and Priceprice.com. Camelcamelcamel is listed as an emerging player.
Does Dealtime.com have an API?
No public API is recorded for Dealtime.com.
What industry is Dealtime.com in?
Dealtime.com's product category is Price Comparison Shopping. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAAAJ, Comparison Shopping & Price Discovery Portals, with a secondary code of BPAMAGAH, Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms. Its NAICS code is 459999 and its SIC code is 5961.