However, with online databases distributing the codes for free, online shoppers are no longer restrained to the offers targeted directly at them. Sites such as RetailMeNot.com and currentcodes.com offer bargain hunters a chance to browse codes in an easy-to-use interface as well as vote on which codes work. This interactivity encourages online collaboration to ensure that discount codes are freely available to all.

For example, if one searches RetailMeNot for Sephora codes, free shipping, extra samples and free gifts pop up. After visiting the site, a junior supply-chain management and marketing major Alyxa Lease said she thought the site was a great resource.

"I'm going to check this site before I commit to any online purchases. It's a useful resource that appears to be improving and expanding," Lease said.

The number of online shoppers who take advantage of sites like RetailMeNot continues to grow. Data from Alexa, the Web Information Company, reports that the site's Internet reach has increased 43 percent during the past three months.

On the consumer side, Mark Frantz, a dedicated Internet bargain hunter and vice president of technology at Internet Consulting Services, based in Syracuse, said "if there's a box, I search for codes. It's an extra 10 minutes to save money that you wouldn't have saved in the store."

But the use of retail codes is not restricted to the tech-savvy. "It's mainly classic bargain hunters, not more or less technical," Branagan said. "The advantage is to a technical bargain hunter," a hybrid style of consumer "who would know how and where to search."

Some wonder whether the effect of increased distribution of discount codes will be positive or negative.

"It's viral," Branagan said. "I would reward it. I would send these people more codes. It's a new way to gain customers with a low cost of acquisition."

Jeff Rubin, president and founder of Internet Consulting Services, said it would be in the best interests of businesses to look at these code distribution sites as opportunistic.

While browsing through RetailMeNot, many offers are posted by the companies themselves, most likely trying to gain usable data on the number of users who go to the site to find deals.

"Marketers must take into consideration the market diffusion of the codes," Rubin said. "Customers enjoy saving money. If the end result of using discount codes is that customers feel better about their purchases, then I don't see an issue."

Chris Kirkegaard, a graphic artist and adjunct professor at School of Information Studies, said he believes discount code users come from all walks of life. "My mom uses them and she can barely turn on her computer."

For discount updates, download the cross-platform RetailMeNot desktop widget or Mozilla Firefox add-on.

Just in time for the holiday season.