Why Amazon's Own Price History Isn't Available
Amazon doesn't show you how much a product cost last month or last year. That information exists -- they have it -- but showing you would make it obvious that a lot of "deals" aren't deals. So two third-party tools stepped in to fill the gap: CamelCamelCamel and Keepa. Both are free, both work well, and I use them for every non-trivial purchase on Amazon.
CamelCamelCamel: Setup and First Look
Start at camelcamelcamel.com. You can use it without an account to look up price history -- just paste any Amazon product URL or the product's ASIN (the alphanumeric code in the URL, like B0CXXX1234) into the search bar and hit enter.
The chart that comes up shows three lines:
- Green: Amazon's own price (when Amazon is the seller)
- Blue: Third-party new seller price
- Red: Used/collectible price
Most of the time you care about the green line. If Amazon frequently goes in and out of stock on a product, you'll see gaps in the green line -- that means Amazon wasn't the seller during those periods. If you only care about buying from Amazon directly, focus on green.
To set alerts, create a free account. After logging in, search for a product and click "Add to Watchlist." Set your target price for each seller type you care about. CamelCamelCamel sends you an email when the price hits your number, usually within an hour of the price change.
Before you set a target, spend 30 seconds reading the chart. Zoom out to "All Time" view to see the product's full history. What's the lowest price it's ever been? What does it average? Is the current price a spike or baseline? If the item has been $42 consistently for 18 months and you're seeing it at $44 right now, your target might be $40 or $42. If the chart shows $44 as the regular price with a historical low of $29 two years ago during a sale event, you know what to wait for.
Reading the Chart: What the Patterns Tell You
Gradual price decreases over months usually mean a product is aging out -- newer versions are coming or it's losing relevance. Good time to buy if you want it, but don't rush.
Sharp drops followed by a return to previous price are flash sales, lightning deals, or limited coupons. If Keepa shows these happening every 6-8 weeks, you can wait for the next one instead of chasing this one.
A flat line for months means the price is stable. If it's at the low end of where it's been, buy it. If it's elevated and you can wait, set an alert and move on.
Spikes right before Prime Day or Black Friday -- especially if the spike starts 3-4 weeks before the event -- are almost always pre-sale inflation. The "Prime Day deal" will bring it back to roughly where it was before the spike, not to a genuine all-time low. CamelCamelCamel's charts make this pattern obvious in about five seconds of looking.
Keepa: More Data on the Product Page Itself
Keepa (keepa.com) has a free browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that changes how Amazon product pages look. Once installed, it embeds a detailed price chart directly on every Amazon product page -- you don't have to go to a separate site.
The Keepa chart shows more data than CamelCamelCamel by default: price history, Amazon stock availability history, sales rank history, and whether the product has had lightning deals or coupons applied in the past. The additional layers can get visually cluttered but you can toggle them on and off.
To install: go to keepa.com, click "Get Keepa" and install the browser extension. Create a free account to unlock alert functionality. After installation, just browse Amazon normally -- the Keepa chart appears automatically below the "Buy Box" on every product page.
How to Decide: Buy Now or Wait?
Here's how I actually make the call. Pull up the product on CamelCamelCamel or check the Keepa chart on the product page. Look at three things:
- Where is the current price relative to the historical range? Bottom 25% of its range -- consider buying now. Top 75% -- consider waiting or setting an alert.
- How often does this product drop? If the chart shows price drops every few months and you're not in a rush, wait. If the price has been flat for a year and is already near its low, now is as good as it gets.
- Is this product being discontinued or replaced? A long steady decline with no bounces back up often means the product is being phased out.
Products that are almost always worth waiting on: TVs (drop predictably before holidays and when new models release), laptops (same pattern), and seasonal items. Products where waiting rarely pays off: consumables that are always in demand, products with very stable prices that almost never drop, and anything where stock is genuinely limited.
Chrome Extension Setup
Both Keepa and CamelCamelCamel have Chrome extensions. I keep the Keepa extension installed because it's always-on -- I don't have to remember to check anything. The chart is just there every time I look at an Amazon product page.
CamelCamelCamel's extension (called The Camelizer) adds a toolbar button -- click it on any Amazon page to pull up the price history in a popup without opening a new tab. Useful if you prefer the CamelCamelCamel chart style.
You can run both extensions simultaneously without conflicts. My setup: Keepa extension for at-a-glance chart on product pages, CamelCamelCamel account for managing my watchlist and alerts since the interface is cleaner. Between the two, I haven't paid full price for anything I could have waited on in years.