Founded in 2007 by Ben Federman, the website 1Sale (previously known as 1SaleADay) claims to be offering the lowest prices of items online, in a deal-a-day format. At the same time, however, 1Sale is considered a potentially unwanted program (PUP).
What Is 1Sale and How Does It Work?
The business model Federman came up with is simple: 1Sale buys products in bulk, which ensures large discounts that are then passed on to the consumer. A new product in each of the categories (Main, Wireless, Watch, Family, and Jewelry) appears every day, and by midnight Eastern Time that product is replaced by something new.
According to 1Sale, “1 Sale is looking to position itself for the future by building a service-centric brand dedicated to keeping its customers excited, loyal, and constantly surprised by what they find, at prices that make purchasing a no brainer.”
In fact, in a Huffington Post article from January 2010, 1Sale was featured as number one from the 10 most popular websites to save you “big bucks.”
Only a year later, a Woman’s Day issue listed 1Sale as one of the best ways to save money on deals. The website continued to be featured in multiple magazines afterward, too.
How Does 1Sale Affect Your PC?
As with anything that may seem too good to be true, 1Sale has its pitfalls as well. Although 1Sale is a legitimate online store, truly aiming at offering low-price deals on the web, sometimes even reaching prices of 80 to 90 percent off the retail price, it is an add-on to your browser. That means that once installed it starts displaying a variety of ads of discounted coupons of jewelry, electronics, housewares and more on your screen whether you want it or not. That makes 1Sale a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.
These pop-up ads may be annoying to you, but try clicking on any of them. They may redirect you to potentially malicious websites, exposing your system to a wide range of threats, attacks, and misuses.
Another problem you may run into by allowing ad-supported software to reach your system is that it may collect sensitive data about and from you. That’s the case with 1Sale too. It may track your browsing activities and collect your personal information. This information may then be shared with third parties.
How Does 1Sale Enter Your PC?
The tricky part about 1Sale is that it’s usually installed along with another program you have downloaded. Users rarely pay attention to the installation process of a program, which is why unwanted adware can easily sneak into your system without your knowledge or permission.
In order to avoid installing a PUP, you must simply choose the “Advanced” option during the downloading process and opt-out of the bundled adware, instead of automatically clicking on “Next.”
Should You Remove 1Sale?
In short, as much as 1Sale can save for you from hot online deals and discounts, it may do just as much harm to your system. You should simply stay alert of anything you do online, especially when downloading a program. And, it will be best to remove 1Sale from your system, in case you already have it.