Price Drop Email Alerts: 3 Tools to Use

The Convenience of Online Savings

Engaging in online shopping has become commonplace for most individuals. The ease and enjoyment of making purchases through the internet are widely recognized.

However, the potential for savings online is often overlooked. While many are familiar with online spending, utilizing strategies to reduce costs can be equally beneficial.

The Challenges of Traditional Couponing

Couponing represents a potentially effective method for reducing expenses. Numerous websites dedicated to money-saving opportunities have emerged.

Despite its potential, actively seeking and utilizing online coupons can be remarkably time-consuming. A significant investment of time is required to locate trustworthy and valuable coupon sources.

Furthermore, establishing systems for tracking and organizing these coupons adds to the overall effort, and the return on this investment isn't always guaranteed.

The Power of Price Tracking Alerts

In my experience, a more efficient approach to saving money online involves receiving timely price tracking email alerts. This method consistently delivers better results.

Tools for Implementing Price Tracking

I currently utilize several tools to facilitate this process. These tools allow for the creation of customized alerts based on specific product price fluctuations.

These alerts notify you when the price of an item you're interested in drops to a desired level.
This proactive approach eliminates the need for constant manual searching.
It ensures you are informed of potential savings opportunities as they arise.

By leveraging these tools, you can maximize your savings without dedicating excessive time and effort to coupon hunting.

Discovering New Discounts

Numerous coupon websites and aggregators are available, and selecting the best one often comes down to individual preference and experimentation. Currently, I find Rather-be-Shopping particularly useful, especially with its recently implemented coupon alert functionality.

The appeal of this tool lies in the apparent curation of its coupons; they appear to be carefully selected and consistently demonstrate validity. A recently added section focusing on free shipping offers is also proving to be a valuable resource.

Setting up email notifications requires establishing a complimentary account. Following account creation, navigate to "Your Coupon Alert Settings" to customize your alert preferences. You have the flexibility to receive notifications either by product category, by specific store, or a combination of both.

Here's how to configure your alerts:

Alerts can be tailored to specific categories of products.
Alternatively, you can choose to be notified about deals from particular retailers.
A combined approach, monitoring both categories and stores, is also possible.

FreeShipping.org, with its "Favorite Coupons" feature – previously discussed in a related article – presents another avenue for exploration. However, it's important to note that this platform exclusively supports price alerts based on individual merchants.

Price Decrease Notification Alerts

Numerous websites specialize in aggregating and monitoring prices, similar to coupon sites. PriceGrabber is among the most well-known and reliable of these platforms, and I have personally utilized it extensively.

To set up a notification when a product's price falls, begin by using the site's search function to find the item or category you're interested in.

Following this, account creation is necessary, after which you can utilize the "Add Price Alert" link to proceed.

Configuring Your Alert

The alert configuration options allow for precise customization, including the following parameters:

Condition Preferences: Specify whether you are interested in new, used, imported, or refurbished items.
Merchant Selection: You have the ability to include or exclude specific retailers from your search.
Merchant Rating: Define a minimum acceptable rating for the merchants included in the alert.

The visual representation of the alert configuration interface is shown below:

An example of a received price drop alert is illustrated below.

These alerts provide a convenient way to stay informed about price fluctuations on desired products.

Email Price Monitoring with Google Alerts

Google Alerts represents a versatile resource worthy of consideration. Its primary advantage lies in the ability to establish notifications for virtually any subject, leveraging the power of Google's Advanced operators.

Utilizing Google Alerts for Specific Price Tracking

Several techniques can refine your alerts for more precise results:

Price Range Alerts: Receive notifications for products falling within a defined price bracket. For example, "[laptop $500..$1200]" utilizes two periods to delineate the minimum and maximum prices.
Multiple Product Alerts: Combine searches for related items. An alert like "[laptop coupons OR mobile phone coupons]" will notify you about deals on either product.
Proximity Searches: Control how closely keywords appear together. The query ["nokia * coupons"] will find results where "nokia" and "coupons" are near each other.

Examining the "Web results" section within your alert settings, as illustrated in the screenshot, often yields the most pertinent information.

Despite its flexibility, Google Alerts isn't without limitations. While effective for broad research – such as tracking emerging products or competitor offerings – it often lacks the immediacy needed for capitalizing on rapidly changing prices.

It is advisable to create a dedicated email address for these alerts. This practice prevents your primary inbox from becoming overwhelmed with notifications.

What are your preferred methods for saving money through email alerts? Share your most effective strategies!