Help Center

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about SmartScan, Prime Elite, and SmartScan Direct.

When you click "Buy Here" on a SmartScan Direct listing, you're purchasing directly from R.E.A.L. SmartScan — we are the merchant of record for that transaction. This means:

  • Your contract of sale is with us, not a third-party retailer
  • We handle payment processing, order fulfillment coordination, and customer service
  • The price shown is the final price for the item (shipping shown separately at checkout)

Our price engine continuously monitors retail prices across 847+ sources and applies a transparent margin to cover operational costs and support. Unlike affiliate redirect models, we take full responsibility for your purchase from click to delivery.

We believe in radical price transparency. Our Buy Here prices are often competitive with or better than clicking through to retail sites, while giving you the protection of buying from a single accountable merchant.

The SmartScan deal score (0–100) is calculated by our AI engine using multiple weighted factors:

  • Price vs. 90-day average (40% weight): How far below the historical average is the current price?
  • Recency (25% weight): How recently was this price verified? A price from 2 minutes ago scores higher than one from yesterday.
  • Availability confidence (20% weight): Is the item actually in stock?
  • Seller credibility (15% weight): Retailer reputation, return policy quality, and verified seller status

Score guide: 80–100 = Exceptional deal. 60–79 = Good deal. 40–59 = Fair price. Under 40 = At or above historical average.

Scores are recalculated every 5 minutes as new price data arrives. You can always see the score explanation by clicking the score badge on any product.

Prime Elite is $9.99/month and includes everything in the free tier, plus:

  • Unlimited price alerts — set target prices on as many products as you want (free tier: 3 alerts)
  • Full web sentiment analysis — AI synthesizes Reddit threads, YouTube reviews, news articles, and forums for any product
  • 90-day price history charts — see exactly how prices have trended over 3 months
  • Priority support — 4-hour response guarantee (vs. standard 48-hour)
  • Early deal access — flash deals shown to Prime members before free users
  • Advanced deal explanations — detailed AI breakdown of why a deal is good or bad
  • Saved searches with auto-monitoring — we watch your saved searches 24/7

Prime Elite is designed for anyone who shops online more than a few times a month. At $9.99, it typically pays for itself on a single purchase.

Yes — absolutely, anytime, in one click. No phone calls. No cancellation surveys you can't skip. No 30-day waiting periods.

To cancel, go to Dashboard → Subscription → Cancel Subscription. The cancellation takes effect immediately, and you'll get a confirmation email within minutes.

  • Your access continues through the end of your current paid billing period
  • You will not be charged for the next billing cycle
  • Your account reverts to free tier after the period ends
  • You can reactivate anytime from your dashboard

New subscribers also get a 7-day full refund guarantee on their first charge. See our Refund Policy for details.

Price data is sourced from SerpAPI and our direct retail integrations, and refreshed approximately every 5 minutes for actively searched products.

  • Popular products (searched frequently): refreshed every 5–15 minutes
  • Less common products: may be cached up to 24 hours
  • SmartScan Direct prices: locked at checkout — immune to subsequent price changes

Every price listing displays a "last verified" timestamp, so you always know exactly how fresh the data is. If you see a stale price (over 1 hour old), you can trigger a manual refresh with the refresh icon on any result.

SmartCast Pro ($49/month) is our broadcaster tier for deal power users — people who find great deals and want to share them with a large, engaged audience.

As a SmartCast Pro subscriber, you can:

  • Publish deal listings directly to the SmartScan platform, visible to thousands of active shoppers
  • Get AI credibility scoring — our system verifies your deal's price accuracy and availability before it goes live
  • Access broadcaster analytics — views, click-through rates, conversion data, and follower growth
  • Build a verified broadcaster profile with follower counts and deal history
  • Includes all Prime Elite features

SmartCast Pro is ideal for deal communities, coupon bloggers, and anyone who regularly shares deals online and wants a professional broadcasting platform.

Price alerts let you set a target price for any product. When our system detects a matching or lower price anywhere across our 847+ retailer network, we notify you immediately.

How to set an alert:

  • Search for any product and click the 🔔 Set Alert button
  • Enter your target price
  • Choose notification method: email, push notification, or both
  • Save — we start watching immediately

Alert limits:

  • Free tier: 3 active alerts
  • Prime Elite: unlimited active alerts

Alerts run continuously and check for price matches every time our price data refreshes (~5 minutes for popular products). You can manage all your alerts from your Dashboard.

Yes — your payment data never touches our servers.

All payment processing is handled by Stripe, Inc. — one of the world's most trusted payment processors, used by Amazon, Google, and millions of other businesses.

  • Stripe is PCI DSS Level 1 certified — the highest level of payment security
  • Your full card number, CVV, and raw payment details are never transmitted to or stored on our servers
  • SmartScan only receives a tokenized reference and your billing address for order fulfillment
  • All connections use TLS 1.3 encryption

You can also view Stripe's security practices at stripe.com/docs/security.

The price history chart shows how a product's price has changed over time across the retailers we track. Our system automatically records price data daily for thousands of popular products via our cron-based price recording system.

  • Free tier: 30-day price history
  • Prime Elite: 90-day price history with hourly granularity for popular products
  • The chart highlights the current price vs. the 90-day average and all-time low

This is the most powerful feature for spotting fake "sales." When a retailer marks something as "50% off" but the price history shows it's been at that same price for 3 months, you know the "original price" was manufactured. Real deals show a genuine drop from historical norms.

The chart is available on every product detail page — free and paid users alike. No account required to view it.

Our full refund policy is at real-smartscan.vercel.app/refund.html. The short version:

Subscriptions (Prime Elite & SmartCast Pro):

  • 7-day full refund guarantee on your first subscription charge — no questions asked
  • After 7 days: no pro-rated refunds, but you keep access through end of billing period
  • Cancel anytime: Dashboard → Subscription → Cancel

SmartScan Direct (Buy Here purchases):

  • 30-day return window on physical goods in original condition
  • Buyer pays return shipping (we cover it if item was defective or incorrectly shipped)
  • Refund issued within 5–10 business days of receiving return

To request a refund, email support@real-smartscan.com with your order number or account email. We respond within 2 business days.

Still have questions?

Our support team is here to help. We typically respond within 2 business days (4 hours for Prime Elite members).

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