Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

camelcamelcamel.com

1–10 of 140 posts

Re: Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

#4
post #3

I've used CCC the chrome extension for a long time. What is newsworthy here? Is the landing page new?

Probably that it's been around so long, an entire generation of Netizens aren't aware of it. I genuinely had forgotten about it until this post, so it's a nice reminder.

Super helpful project, especially to see past surface-level ploys like some holiday "sales" where the discounted price is actually just the going price, and they put a fake crossed-out price near it.

Re: Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

#6

I've always wondered how CCC interfaced with Amazon. Are they using bots to scrape the site? Are they just coasting along until Amazon tries to shut them down, or is there some kind of agreement in place?

On the bottom of the about page [0] they have an "In association with Amazon" badge, so I'm guessing they have Amazon's consent.

Edit: D'oh. Had I looked a bit longer I would have seen the legal disclaimer that confirms this at the bottom of the about page:

> camelcamelcamel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

[0] https://camelcamelcamel.com/about

Re: Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

#7
Great service! Even if nothing is new, it deserves more attention. It really helps me cut through the noise of all advertising hoopla of "Big sale", "20%" off, etc. when I can see the full price history of a product.

Re: Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

#8
post #6

I've always wondered how CCC interfaced with Amazon. Are they using bots to scrape the site? Are they just coasting along until Amazon tries to shut them down, or is there some kind of agreement in place?

On the bottom of the about page [0] they have an "In association with Amazon" badge, so I'm guessing they have Amazon's consent. Edit: D'oh. Had I looked a bit longer I would have seen the legal disclaimer that confirms this at the bottom of the about page: > camelcamelcamel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program [0] https://camelcamelcamel.com/about

It looks like they're part of the Amazon Associates Program which is probably where that banner is from (and it says it further down on the page.). I know there is some API locked behind a signup program for that, so I was curious if thats only what they use or if there is some other scraping going on.

Re: Amazon Price-Tracker with Alerts

#10

I've always wondered how CCC interfaced with Amazon. Are they using bots to scrape the site? Are they just coasting along until Amazon tries to shut them down, or is there some kind of agreement in place?

Since they send traffic to Amazon from people who want to buy things, I don't think Amazon minds. And I don't think they care if they pay out to any one affiliate vs. another.
Post reply on HN