Maximise your (Amazon) Purchases [Feb 2025]

Some people prefer online shopping, while others enjoy browsing through physical stores. Regardless of your preference, these tools can help you make informed purchasing decisions. They provide the best price for an item, show how its price has changed over time, and help you determine if customer reviews are trustworthy or if they might be biased by manufacturers to boost sales.

The tools in this edition of GTL focus specifically on Amazon products. However, even if you’re not an Amazon fan, many large retailers — both online and in-store — will match prices if you ask.

Some of these tools offer browser extensions. Only install extensions from sites you trust and need, as they can track your browsing behaviour even when you’re not using them. Furthermore, extensions can slow down your browser. None of the tools listed here require you to install a browser extension.

For Europeans, we share tools that help you discover the lowest Amazon-country price for a product.

A Note for Our Readers

We’re glad you’re interested in our GTL article on great deals and shopping tips! However, we also want to be mindful of our readers’ well-being. If you find that you often spend more than you can comfortably afford, please proceed with a bit of caution. While the sites and products we share are intended to be helpful, it’s important to be aware that for some, the allure of a “must-have” bargain can sometimes be overwhelming.

If you feel you may struggle with compulsive shopping, or what’s sometimes called Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), taking some time to understand the issue is really worthwhile. We encourage you to check out these resources before continuing:

• https://mhanational.org/risky-business-compulsive-buying
• https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-compulsive-shopping-disorder-2510592

We care about our readers, and want your shopping to be a positive experience!

CamelCamelCamel

Price monitoring and alert for Amazon sites

URL: https://camelcamelcamel.com/ (and country centric variants)

CamelCamelCamel is a price monitoring platform that enables users to track historical price fluctuations of products listed on Amazon, helping them make informed purchasing decisions by determining whether current prices represent good value compared to historical trends. Users can also set up automated email notifications when prices drop below their specified thresholds. One can monitor, both Amazon and 3rd Party sellers.

One of the platform’s notable features is its price history visualization, which allows users to assess pricing patterns. The service also maintains a curated list of popular products and “Top Price Drops”, often highlighting items with significant discounts. However, users should exercise caution when browsing these deals, as they may lead to impulse purchases of non-essential items.

While CamelCamelCamel processes Amazon links from any region, it offers dedicated regional versions for multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The platform typically redirects users to their appropriate regional version automatically. However, users can manually access specific regional versions by adding the country code prefix to the domain. For example:

• United Kingdom: https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com
• Australia: https://au.camelcamelcamel.com

Alternatively, users can locate their regional version by searching for “CamelCamelCamel” followed by their country name (e.g., “CamelCamelCamel Germany”) in any search engine. Users should verify that the resulting website contains “camelcamelcamel.com” in the address to ensure they are accessing the official platform.

Hagglezon

Compare Prices and Deals across Amazon sites

URL: https://www.hagglezon.com/

Europe offers a unique advantage when shopping on Amazon: each country’s Amazon site may have different prices for the same product, and EU customers can freely purchase from any EU-based Amazon store. This means you could save up just by buying a product from one Amazon site rather than another.

The two websites shared here allow you to enter an Amazon product code or description. They will then display the prices for that item across multiple European Amazon sites. Clicking on a listing will take you directly to that product’s page on the respective Amazon website. Your Amazon login credentials from your home country will work across other Amazon sites.

If you land on a non-English Amazon site, you can switch the page language to English for easier navigation.

Important Considerations

• Shipping & Returns: While Amazon itself generally ships and accepts returns from any European address, third-party sellers may have different policies. Always check that the seller ships to your country, their return policies and shipping fees before making a purchase.
• Extra Taxes & Fees: Some Amazon platforms, such as Amazon UK, are no longer part of the EU. This means additional import taxes or fees may apply when ordering from these sites.

If you’re shopping from outside Europe, your best option is likely the Amazon site that serves your region, as prices, taxes and shipping costs are usually optimized for local customers.

Fakespot by Mozilla

Amazon Review Analyser

URL: https://www.fakespot.com/

When shopping online, not everyone can determine whether product reviews are genuine. Those who have fallen victim to fake reviews understand how misleading they can be, often resulting in wasted money and disappointment when the product fails to live up to its glowing feedback.

Some companies resort to unethical practices, such as paying for five-star reviews or offering free or discounted products in exchange for positive feedback. These tactics are used to artificially boost ratings, build trust, and ultimately increase sales. Fake reviews can be incredibly misleading, making it hard to know what you’re actually getting.

Fakespot is a tool created by Mozilla that uses artificial intelligence to analyse reviews, product details, seller information, and other data to spot fake or unreliable reviews. By simply entering the Amazon URL of the product you want to check, Fakespot will give you a grade from A (genuine) to F (untrustworthy). It also provides an adjusted review to help you make a more informed decision.

Other eCommerce sites

The edition of GTL focused extensively on Amazon because it is a global company operating in numerous countries, all utilizing the same eCommerce platform. This widespread coverage has created opportunities for third-party sites to specialize in it.

In a future edition of GTL, we will feature a guide on how to find country-specific generic deals. Stay tuned!