Economics
Amazon Discount Tracker Camelcamelcamel Tips Users to Deals
Third-party websites track prices and make money doing it
This article is for subscribers only.
Gareth Milner, a lance corporal in the British Army Intelligence Corps, planned to buy a 3D television from his local Sainsbury’s store until he received a Twitter message saying the same model was £35 (about $57) cheaper on Amazon.com. The tip didn’t come from Amazon, but from Camelcamelcamel, a website that tracks Amazon’s prices and notifies users about discounts. With Camel keeping watch over the e-tail giant, “I can look back at the historical price to see whether what they’re offering is a genuine discount,” Milner says.