Price alert sites
- How price alert sites work
- How to use price alerts to get the best deal online
- Which? research shows how much prices change
When Which? tracked the prices of appliances and technology products such as cameras for a month, we found some changing price frequently - and sometimes by large amounts.
During our tracking of 151 products, 66% of printers changed in price, and the typical difference was a drop of 25% from the highest to the lowest price. Most of the sat navs also fluctuated in price, although the difference between maximum and minimum was only 12%.
You can save worthwhile amounts by buying at the right time – and price alert sites can help you find exactly the right time to buy.
How to get the best deal
Price alert sites all work in the same basic way.
You set a price that you want to see a product fall below. The site then sends you an email when the price has fallen below that level on the sites on which it tracks prices.
These sites are free to use, and we've tried a range of them:
These sites track prices at the major online shops – they all cover Amazon, and then a selection of others such as Argos, Play.com, Tesco, Dixons and Currys. It's worth looking at a few products on whatever price alert site you use before setting alerts - to check which sites they do and do not cover.
We found they all did what they promised to do. PriceSpider, Shopping.com and Find-DVD require you to sign up and also provide weekly summaries.
You need to bear in mind that you are never buying from the price alert site itself but the shop it links to. It's also worth bearing in mind that prices include VAT and delivery.
Always check sellers' feedback before buying on eBay
Price graphs
Idealo and PriceSpider have useful price-history graphs that show how products were priced in preceding months. These can give you an idea of longer-term trends and help you predict what might happen to prices next – enabling you to set your target price with more knowledge.
During our tracking, we found a Lexmark Interact S605 printer changed price six times on Amazon, with its highest price of £180 being more than double its lowest of £80.
But the biggest price drop was £200 in a single day off a £1,599 Canon EOS 7D digital camera on Play.com, which we saw happen twice during the month we tracked.
Price alert sites can help you grab these savings.
Price comparisons and getting discounts
Unlike price alert sites, price comparison sites only show prices at the moment you search. However, they can still lead to big savings.
Our guide to comparison sites analyses the big names such as Moneysupermarket, Comparethemarket and Confused.com to show you who covers what markets and how, complete with insider tips.
Our guide on how to get discounts on products lets you in on the best places to get end-of-the-line or refurbished TVs, PVRs and DVD players, reconditioned kitchen appliances, clearance mobile phones, cut price MP3 players, digital cameras, PCs and laptops. It also tells you when is the best time of year to get discounts for all those product types.
If you're in the market for baby products, have a read of our guide to discounted baby products.
Stay safe online - and what to do if it all goes wrong
Our guide to shopping safely online tells you all you need to know – including tips like checking a website is listed on Shopsafe, which lists sites that have clear delivery prices and returns policies and offer secure credit card transactions.
If things have already gone wrong, our comprehensive guide to internet shopping problems should help if you've had problems buying online.
