Most people's deal-finding "strategy" is checking Amazon, maybe Googling the product, and buying. That approach leaves a surprising amount of money on the table. Here's the full stack I've settled on after years of optimizing this, plus how to actually use it without it becoming a part-time job.

The Core Stack

Price tracker: CamelCamelCamel. If you buy anything significant on Amazon and you're not running it through CamelCamelCamel first, you're flying blind. The site pulls the full Amazon price history for any product and shows you the current price in context: is this a high, a low, or average? Set price drop alerts, get email notifications when a product hits your target price, and stop paying more than you need to.

For non-Amazon shopping, Google Shopping's price tracking feature does something similar across a broader set of retailers. Search a product on Google, click the Shopping tab, and look for the price history chart. Set an alert from there and Google will email you when the price changes.

Cashback layer: Rakuten. Rakuten (formerly Ebates) gives you a percentage of your purchase back when you click through from their site or browser extension to a retailer. Rates vary from 1-15% depending on the store and what promotions are running. For Amazon specifically, the rates are usually low (1-3%), but for specialty retailers, Macy's, Nike, Dell, and hundreds of others, the rates are meaningful. Stack cashback on top of a sale price and you're doing better than the average shopper by a significant margin. Rakuten pays out quarterly via PayPal or check.

Coupon and comparison tool: Capital One Shopping. The browser extension automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout and shows price comparisons from other retailers. It's passive -- install it and forget about it, and it surfaces savings while you shop normally. Honey (PayPal) is a direct alternative; both do similar things. I've settled on Capital One Shopping because it also has a cashback component that adds a second cashback layer on top of Rakuten for some stores.

Deal community: Slickdeals. Slickdeals is a user-curated deal forum where the community vets deals before they trend. The front page is deals that have been upvoted by real users who've verified the price is actually good. This is where you find deals you wouldn't have been shopping for -- the "I didn't know I needed this" category of savings. Browsing the front page occasionally, or setting up deal alerts for categories you buy frequently, surfaces opportunities that algorithm-based tools miss.

Browser Setup

Install CamelCamelCamel's "The Camelizer" extension to see the price history graph right on the Amazon product page without leaving the tab. Install Capital One Shopping or Honey for automatic coupon application. Link Rakuten to your account and use their extension to activate cashback automatically when you land on a participating retailer's site.

This takes about 15 minutes to set up and then runs in the background. You don't have to think about it; it works while you shop normally.

Clearance Cycles at Major Retailers

Every retailer runs a clearance cycle, and knowing when they happen lets you buy specific categories at their lowest prices. Target and Walmart rotate clearance by category on a weekly cycle, with deeper cuts applied as items age. The best clearance window for most categories is 6-8 weeks after a new season launches (so fall clearance of summer goods in August-September, winter clearance in January-February).

Amazon Warehouse is a continuous clearance stream for open-box and returned items. The prices fluctuate based on condition and supply, but checking Warehouse for items you're already planning to buy is a habit worth building. A "Used -- Like New" condition rating means the item was returned unopened or barely used, and you're paying 10-30% less than new.

RSS Feeds and Alerts

If you want to go deeper on specific categories, most major deal sites offer RSS feeds and email alerts. Slickdeals lets you set keyword alerts -- set one for a specific product you want (like "Sony WH-1000XM5") and get notified any time a deal hits the community. This is how you get to deals early before they sell out, rather than seeing them after the fact on social media.

The 24-Hour Rule

For anything over $50 that isn't a clearly time-limited deal, wait 24 hours before buying. The number of purchases I've not made after a 24-hour pause is substantial, and my regret rate on those is near zero. The number of purchases I've made impulsively that I later questioned is much higher.

The 24-hour rule also serves a practical purpose: if you still want it the next day and the price is still good, you buy it with more confidence. If the price changes or sells out, CamelCamelCamel will tell you when it comes back and at what price. Most deals aren't as one-time as they feel in the moment.