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A “40% off” sticker tells you very little. What matters is what the item has actually sold for in the past. A price tracker shows you that history for free, and it takes about a minute to check. This guide explains the main tools and how to read what they show you.
What a price tracker does
A price tracker records the price of a product over time and draws it as a line on a chart. You can see the highest price, the lowest price, and where today’s price sits between them. Most trackers can also email you when the price drops to a number you choose, so you do not have to keep checking.
Free ways to see an item’s price history
CamelCamelCamel. CamelCamelCamel is a free Amazon price tracker. You paste in a product link and it shows the price history and lets you set a price alert. Reviewers usually recommend it for casual shoppers because it is simple, though the site looks a little dated.
Keepa. Keepa has a free level and a paid subscription for advanced features. Its browser extension can show the price chart right on the Amazon product page, and its charts are more customizable than CamelCamelCamel’s. For most shoppers the free version is enough.
Amazon’s own tools. Amazon says its Alexa shopping tools can show price history for up to 365 days and set deal alerts. If you already use Alexa, that is the easiest place to start.
Google Shopping. Product listings there can also show a price history for some items. It is not available for everything, but it is worth a look, especially for products sold outside Amazon.
How to read a price chart in three steps
1. Look at the last three to six months. A short window can hide the truth. A longer one shows the item’s normal price range.
2. Find the lowest price and the typical price. If today’s “sale” price is close to the typical price, it is not much of a deal. If it matches the lowest price on the chart, it is a good one.
3. Watch for a price that jumped up just before the sale. Sometimes a price rises a few weeks before a big event, then “drops” back to where it always was. The chart makes this easy to spot. Our guide to telling a real holiday deal from a fake one covers more tricks like this.
Set an alert instead of watching
Once you know the lowest price an item has reached, set an alert slightly above it. Then you can wait for the price to come to you. This works well before any big sale, including Black Friday on November 27. Our Black Friday and Cyber Monday guide shows how to fit this into your prep.
Two cautions
Browser extensions can see the pages you visit. Install them only from the official Chrome or Edge store, and read the permissions before you click add.
Trackers mostly follow Amazon. Coverage of other stores varies, and a price history does not tell you about product quality. A cheap price on a poor product is still a poor buy.
Frequently asked questions
Are price trackers really free?
CamelCamelCamel is free. Keepa offers a free level and a paid one. Amazon’s Alexa tools are included with your Amazon account.
Do I need to install anything?
Not to get started. You can paste a product link into CamelCamelCamel’s website and see the chart without installing an extension.
Can a tracker tell me a deal is fake?
It can show you the item’s past prices, which is the best evidence you can get. If the “was” price on the page never appears on the chart, be skeptical.
The Bottom Line
Before you buy anything on sale, spend one minute looking at its price history. It costs nothing, it protects you from fake discounts, and after you have done it a few times it becomes a habit.