Whether you use Firefox, Chrome or Safari, this is an invaluable FREE tool that instantly tells you whether items or services you’re looking for online can be bought cheaper elsewhere.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say you’re looking at laptops on a department store website. This free ‘plugin’ (as it’s called) runs invisibly in the background searching for better prices while you browse. If it finds one or more it’ll slide down the top of your screen and warn you that there are better deals elsewhere.
You can then choose the best price for the same product and save yourself the hassle of trawling through dozens of different websites to find it.
What I really love about this is that it’s not intrusive. Toolbar plugins usually drive me loopy because they’re ugly and in the way and generally disrupt my web browsing experience – this one really doesn’t.
It only slides down from the top when you’re looking at a price for something. So when I’m reading an article on the BBC it’s completely hidden… but when I’m on an electronics website looking at flat screen teles it let’s me know that there are cheaper prices available.
There are a few to choose from but the one I use, mainly because I like the format, is called Invisible Hand. You can install it for free here:
If you use Internet Explorer or you fancy a slightly different style you can also use “Price Blink” which you can pick up (again for free) here:
There’s also a tool called “Before We Buy” which is exclusively for Google Chrome users.
All of these effectively do the same job so it’s really down to your personal preferences.
There really is no downside to this, you’re not charged anything for it and they don’t ask for your email address or any personal details.
What kind of prices and deals will it compare?
As well as physical products they’ll also compare prices for flight tickets, insurance, accommodation, rental cars and a wide range or services so it’s incredibly useful if you’re someone who likes to get the best deal but doesn’t always have the time to trawl the web looking for it.
Of course there will be the odd instance where there may be slightly better prices elsewhere, no tool is 100% right all the time. For example if you’ve got a voucher or coupon, or if a retailer has incorrectly labelled a product, you may be able to shave off a few extra pounds.
With that said this is an excellent tool and I highly recommend installing it on your browser.
Important – here’s a tip to save EVEN more when you shop
Once you’ve been notified of the lowest available price, make sure you use a cashback website to make the final purchase where possible.
Say for example you find a tennis racquet that’s available from a certain sports retailer for the lowest price.
Log on to your TopCashBack (or Quidco) account and click through to the retailer through there if you can. Not only will you get the lowest price but you may be able to save an additional 2%, 5%, 10% or more in cashback.
If you’re not familiar with cashback sites and how they work you can see my article on them in Insider’s Edge here.
7 responses to “How to automatically get the cheapest price when you shop online”
The links are dead
Thanks for letting me know all. Technical gremlins… all fixed now.
Hi
Cannot find a link to toolbar in article only for Chrome which I do not use.
Hi Tom
At the end of the above Article you say click here,
but there is nothing to click on. (Invisible Hand)
Tom
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