RSS Feeds
Track Price Drops at any Site with Price!pinx
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 7:30 AM on March 7, 2008
Want to keep an ever-present eye on an item you just know is going to go discount at any moment? Price!pinx offers a price-watching service that doesn't require searching (like PriceAmbush) or limit itself only to Amazon, eBay, or any other big-name site. You provide your email address to Price!pinx, then add their bookmarklet to your browser's links bar. When you see a price you think/hope will go lower, highlight it and then hit the "!pinx" link. The site will then email you when it notices a drop in the digits. Looks like pretty handy stuff, although I haven't had the good fortune to see an item go on sale in the last 30 minutes. Let us know if you've used this service, or prefer another, in the comments.
Tags: notifications | price comparison | saving money | shopping
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Diablo
Posted March 8, 2008 12:44 PM
The PP toolbar is awesome.
But my favorite: I really like the UltimatePricechecker toolbar (http://ultimatepricechecker.com). Has the same price protection like PP, with the added benefit of efficient price comparison, AND it helps you find coupon codes.
Price Pinx could be interesting though...the advantage of being able to use it with any store is pretty huge (although PP and the UP can be used with 92 stores right now,so not sure if there is a huge difference).
loogee
Posted 2:20 AM 7/3/08
This should be on consumerist. These kinds of programs are getting better and better.
At some point someone will come up with something that will scan the internet for prices based on UPC, description or something and be able to tell you where to get the best price period.
Price pinx assumes that the store you're buying from has the best prices to begin with.
/snarky comment
loogee
shockwaver
Posted 3:51 AM 7/3/08
This could be quite promising, especially if you are in the market for a high dollar item like a computer or a TV. We shall see how well it works though.
shockwaver
criticman
Posted 4:19 AM 7/3/08
Hmm, what do they get in return? Spam e-mail since you give them your address? Otherwise, sounds promising.
criticman
variaas
Posted 4:48 AM 7/3/08
I prefer PriceProtectr [www.priceprotectr.com] and love the recently release toolbar for Firefox.
variaas
user_name_here
Posted 5:55 AM 7/3/08
I like priceprotectr.com too. Have used successfully with both my laptop purchase ($100 bucks back after purchase) and video camera (waiting for the price to drop before purchase - took 2.5 weeks).
user_name_here
richard
Posted 5:55 AM 7/3/08
I've recently written something similar at [www.waitable.com] ... it only works with Amazon right now, but I'm coding new features and adding more stores at the moment, so coverage will increase soon. Also, Waitable doesn't require an account for you to set up alerts for an item (or several!), so that's one less account you've got to remember the password for :)
richard
swedelibrarian
Posted 5:55 AM 7/3/08
It just makes me more and more excited about how close we are getting to useful and user friendly adaptive technologies! Programs like this one will make consumers more aware, although I question if younger generations (16-21 now) really care? Money seems to be no object to many of them. I know I care!
swedelibrarian
jdubbleu
Posted 7:06 AM 7/3/08
I hate to be redundant, but I've been using Price Protectr [www.priceprotectr.com] for months (without spam, criticman). Looks like pinx is late to the party. Not sure what they're doing better or different. The new PP toolbar is cool, too. Waittable is ok, but only covers Amazon and the interface is pretty clunky (no offense, Richard). I'm interested to see who ends up on top. How are any of these guys making money?
jdubbleu
BenReed
Posted 5:18 AM 8/3/08
Doesn't work very well. I use Price Protectr (www.priceprotectr.com) and it notifies me every time (saved $300 on my new HDTV). It even knows how to add products to shopping carts to get prices. As someone else mentioned their FF toolbar is great too.
BenReed
Malidictus
Posted 7:58 AM 10/3/08
priceprotectr.com only works with certain stores and they are all US stores, whereas pinx works with any site.
Malidictus
jdubbleu
Posted 9:03 AM 10/3/08
Mal: I'm an avid online shopper, and the 100 stores at PP are enough for me, but you make a good point for someone with broader shopping needs. Still, does pinx really work with any site? There's a post at WebWare.com that talks about the major flaw of pinx, how it doesn't work with "any site" because of the way it scans the page (ie won't work with The Gap, Apple Store, etc., because of configurable and hidden prices). PP has been great (like reliable), so I'd need a reason to switch. Also, I think they have a few non-U.S. stores, but it's a long list and I don't shop overseas much. How long have you been using pinx? What has been your experience?
jdubbleu
bdragonmsl
Posted 10:00 AM 11/3/08
@criticman: Hopefully not, when you sign up they do state that they are not a spamming company.
bdragonmsl
That Girl
Posted 1:35 AM 23/3/08
Price!pinx and Waitable serve a different need than Price Protector (which I adore and use all the time). Price Protector watches your items after you've bought them so that you can get your price-match refund if the price drops. As such, it only watches your items for a limited amount of time (the term of the price guarantee, so in Amazon's case, 30 days). If the price drops 6 weeks later, Price Protector does not alert you.
Price!pinx and Waitable are suited for watching items you haven't bought yet, especially if the reason you haven't bought them yet is because of the price (i.e., you would buy it if it were cheaper). Thus, as far as I am aware/can tell, these services will watch your items indefinitely. This is a vital difference.
@richard - I'm glad you linked to your Waitable service, because when I looked at Price!pinx, I thought that it could be useful, but that I'd really like to be able to define a minimum price drop to be alerted about. If a $50 item drops to $49, I don't really care, but if it drops to $35, I might. I guess the only drawback is that I might miss out on something that came close -- if I tell Waitable to alert me when it drops to $35, and it drops to $35.50 or $36, I'll never know even though I might have been interested.
That Girl