Top Sites for Product Price Monitoring

Have you ever bought something expensive or even somewhat expensive only to realize later that you could have gotten it cheaper after the price guarantee period is over?   There are many sites out there you can go to for price matching (froogle, pricegrabbr) but, monitoring them is a pain.  The sites listed here will notify you either by e-mail or RSS feed if the price changes.  If the store you purchased from has a price guaranty  you can then request a refund.

I tried these sites out when I bought a DVD player from Amazon.  They all provided the information I needed to get a refund.  Amazon appears to be very good about price matching, even multiple times.  I did it twice and the last time was only for about $6 which they refunded promptly.  Here's the list in my order of preference.

4. Price!pinx is a price change site that uses e-mail to alert you of any price drops.  They claim to work with most web sites and I verified they did with a few including Amazon and Apple.com.  They do not support ebay or gap.com. You will need to install a !pinx toolbar in your browser to use the site.  From the product page you create bookmark, select the product price and click the !pinx button.  From then on your product will be monitored.  I didn't really like installing another toolbar but, if you are a frequent shopper it may be worth your while.

3.  PriceShout.com allows you to build a personalized price tracking site.  You can monitor prices with an RSS feed to see when prices change or item become in-stock.  You specify the items and criteria you are interested and PriceShout does the rest.  They monitor a good list of online stores including Amazon, newegg, buy.com, ebay and appear to add more frequently.  The RSS feed method was nice.

2.  RefundPlease works only for Amazon but, is easy to use.  You grab the ISBN or ASIN number from the product page enter the purchase date and your e-mail and your done.  Since Amazon says they only will price match for 30 days it appears that is as long as they monitor.  I've actually gone out as 47 days and Amazon still price matched.  Something to keep in mind.

1.  PriceProtectr monitors 90+ stores to find the lowest price for a product.  Stores include Costco, Best Buy, Amazon and Sears.  You start by copying the address of the product you bought and pasting it into the site to look it up.  Then you enter your e-mail address to start monitoring the product.  Anytime the price drops you get an e-mail.  I liked this site the most as I didn't need to register or install a toolbar and they were quickest to send price drop notifications.

Check them out to maybe get some cash back on your next major purchase.