I love Amazon but there is a certain need for skepticism and diligence in attending to Amazon pricing. Have you noticed how the price of an item on Amazon.com can fluctuate, not only day-to-day, but even throughout the day? Ever see a price on Amazon advertised as a "sale" or Lightning Deal only to realize Amazon's sale price is the same as other retailers own regular price? I actually saw a Lightning Deal today that was about fifty cents MORE than Amazon's regular price before the "deal." So how do you make sure you're getting a good price? Well first and foremost, Google the item before you buy so you can make sure it isn't cheaper elsewhere. Don't trust Amazon's "sale" prices. But say Amazon's price is as good as any or you're just trying to catch the best deal - how do you know when to buy when the price fluctuates so often? CamelCamelCamel to the rescue!
http://camelcamelcamel.com/ is an Amazon tracking website. It gives you a price history of the item and can also alert you when the price drops below a price point that you have specified. Here's how it works:
You copy and paste the url of your Amazon item into the designated space on CamelCamelCamel.
Copy from here:
Paste to here:
The miraculous result? A price history of your item with fantastic detail and optional alerts you can set for the item. (P.S., don't tell my daughter what she's getting for Christmas)
This graph shows the price history and can help guide you in deciding if you should buy now. (I'm feeling bad for any suckers who paid $76.82 in March.)
Then for even further detail, the table below highlights the highest, lowest, and average prices as well as indicating the last 5 pricing changes. So while the current price isn't the lowest price, it's a pretty good one. Incidentally compared to Target and Walmart, it's a great one. So I can purchase at this price point feeling confident that I got a good deal.
If you really want a better deal than the current price, you can set up alerts. Enter your desired price and you will receive an email whenever the price drops to or below your desired price.
And there you have a brief overview of CamelCamelCamel. Online shopping just got smarter.