Prior to his appearance on the GeekWire podcast a few weeks ago, Decide.com CEO Mike Fridgen hinted that the Seattle online shopping service was cooking up something new and exciting. At the time, Fridgen didn’t disclose what they were doing.

But we’re now starting to get an inside look. The company, which launched a consumer electronics research site last year, today is unveiling a new daily deal service. Dubbed “Got Your Back,” the service has a unique twist that takes advantage of the company’s technology for predicting whether prices will rise or fall on laptop computers, cameras, refrigerators and other products.

If the price drops on the daily deal within two weeks after purchase at any retailer — not just the retailer where the consumer purchased the item — Decide.com has pledged to automatically issue a payment for the full amount of the price drop.

“Got Your Back reflects our confidence in our price predictions,” said Fridgen. “We want to show our users this isn’t just lip service – we’re actually willing to put our money behind our data-driven recommendations.”

The concept is a bit complex, so it will be interesting to see if consumers latch on to it. Seattle startup Yapta, an online travel service, tried something similar with refunds for airfares. But, in that case, there were typically policies from the airlines that promised the refunds.

Here’s an explainer from the company on how the new Got Your Back service works.

  • Decide analyzes billions of product prices each day to select 10 daily Got Your Back Deals based on their record-low prices.
  • To purchase the deal, a user simply clicks the “Buy Now” button to access the independent retailer with the lowest price.
  • Once purchased, the buyer provides a copy of the purchase receipt to Decide. The company will track price movements of that product across the thousands of retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy and Walmart.
  • If Decide’s prediction proves wrong and the price drops at anyparticipating retailer – not just the product seller – within two weeks, Decide will automatically alert the buyer and pay them the amount of the price drop, up to $200.
  • As proof of purchase, buyers need only submit a photo of themselves with the product, then Decide will process payment via PayPal or a check.
  • The Got Your Back daily deals will be available for up to 24 hours, or until the number of allocated “buys” for each guaranteed deal is reached.
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