I spent the past year creating Price Hipster, a product search engine and price watching website for the OzBargain community!

Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 11:45
Last edited 13/11/2015 - 12:45

Update 13/11/15: Thanks everyone for the support and feedback! I realise there are heaps of comments here and no one wants to read through them all. If you have a suggestion, it has probably already been raised. I'm currently working on a big update and I'll be sure to let you all know when I release it. I'll be keen to get further feedback and suggestions then. :-)

Hi fellow OzBargainers!

I've spent the past year creating a powerful tool for you all.

https://www.pricehipster.com.au/

These are the reasons I created Price Hipster:

  1. Searching for products across multiple stores is painful. Sometimes you don't even know which stores to check for a product. Wouldn't it be great to conveniently search all stores from one place?

  2. Even if you want to find a product in one particular store, most store websites are very bad at searching their own products, and they're slow at it.

  3. There is no convenient way to find out the previous prices of products, making it difficult to hold vendors accountable for false claims of discounts. Some products vary wildly in price. Some change price nearly every day. For example:

https://www.pricehipster.com.au/product?id=NJNmxsZ3k5n

I really appreciate those OzBargainers who have taken the time to use internet archives to dig up previous prices, but it's less than ideal, and hopefully will now be a thing of the past!

Price Hipster currently includes 5 websites in its index. That will expand in the near future.

Questions for you all:

  1. Which stores should be added next?

  2. OzBargainers in Western Australia, how is the search latency for you? The search servers are in Sydney. I live in Brisbane and the search is pretty much instantaneous here.

If you find any issues with the website or have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

General Discussion

Related Stores

Price Hipster
Price Hipster

Comments

  • ilostnemo on 01/11/2015 - 14:33
    +9

    I'm in WA,

    It's awesome, the speed, the structure.

    I'm impressed.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 14:40

      Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear it.

  • spackbace on 01/11/2015 - 14:37

    You say there's 5 sites it looks up, what are they? On mobile site I just see HN and WW deals, how about listing what you search, somewhere convenient to see? :)

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 14:44

      Mobile, desktop, you'll get the same results.

      Woolworths, Coles, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, JB Hi-Fi.

      Products with recent price drops are shown higher in the list, so if you are only getting 2 stores it means the others don't have any good deals and you need to be more specific in your search terms to narrow down the product.

      There will eventually be the option to restrict search to certain stores, but I'm not going to list everything you're searching "convenient to see" because the plan is to have very many stores being searched. There would be no room left for anything else on the page.

      • spackbace on 01/11/2015 - 14:53

        But if the user doesn't know what stores they're searching, how would they know your going to list more than 1 store, if it's even 1? It's like going to a library to find a horror book then finding there's no horror section, was kinda pointless trying to find it in the first place

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 14:58

          I see what you mean. Well hopefully that'll be a non-issue once you can select which stores to search from. :-)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:07

          Hey Spackbace, just updating you on the site. Now there are 15 stores and there is a search filter where you can see all stores and select only the ones you want to get result from. More info here.

        • spackbace on 04/01/2017 - 22:37

          @jazoom:

          So obviously things have changed quite a bit in over a year, congrats, I'm sure you've seen I've quoted a few deals that your site has found :)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 04/01/2017 - 22:51

          @Spackbace: Yeah, I have. I really appreciate it. Thanks!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:00
      +14

      If you're getting that message then your browser is missing a feature that should have been in browsers years ago. I don't insist on using the most modern browser available. It works with Chrome and Firefox from 2013!

      Which browser are you using?

      What does this mean? "They are much easier to display and probably more secure."

      Edit: oh, I see what you mean. You were talking about the JavaScript again, not the browser.

      Well, modern websites are usually written as a single-page application that runs entirely on the client (Angular, React, etc). Older technologies like Ruby on Rails and PHP render on the server and send HTML to the clients. That's slower. That kind of thing works okay for blogs, where you request one page and that's that, but if you want a website that is as smooth as an app then you need JavaScript.

      In answer to your question: yes, it needs that much JavaScript. And this website uses far less JavaScript than 95% of websites out there.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:12
          +13

          FYI, because my website runs on the client in JavaScript you chew through LESS data, NOT more. It doesn't contact my servers every time you want to load a new page etc. The pages are generated in your browser dynamically.

          "Websites that don't use javascript are much easier and clearer to display on the screen." <- this doesn't make any sense. Everything is rendered from HTML and CSS.

          I have no control over your network blocking JavaScript. I'm guessing 90% of websites don't work properly for you. I'm sorry to hear that.

        • ThadtheChad on 01/11/2015 - 19:18
          +4

          Wow.. chewing up CPU cycles? What are you running? A 2005 celeron?

          My interest is piqued by the 'security issues' you mention. A lot of organisations block calls to analytics website, and this should have virtually no impact to your actual browsing experience.

          Just so you know, stuff like Angular JS is inherently more secure and robust against client side attacks due to sanitisation mechanisms inherent to the framework.

        • serpserpserp on 03/11/2015 - 19:19

          @gearhead:

          He might also be thinking about turn of the century javascript.

  • rgr on 01/11/2015 - 14:59
    +4

    Aldi would be another good store to add.

    Then you might go further and add special categories like 'common groceries', 'technology and gadgets', etc.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:01

      Thanks. It's on the list. Aldi is an interesting one because many of its products change twice a week.

      • BangkokDessert on 01/11/2015 - 15:16
        +1

        From what I can gather though the catalogue items tend to run in the same week each year..

        Meaning long term it would be interesting to compare when they say "$20 cheaper than last year" if it is in fact cheaper!

        ps. awesome site :)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:19

          Thanks.

          Yes, you've hit the nail on the head.

          I'll have to find a way to make my database know when a product is being re-added after a 6-12 month hiatus or if it's indeed a new product.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:08
          +1

          Hey Cole, just letting you know that I just updated Price Hipster. Unfortunately Aldi didn't make the cut since they only list a handful of products on their website. More info here.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:07

      Hi rogr, just updating you that there are now 15 stores indexed. I looked into doing Aldi but unfortunately they only list a handful of their products online. More info here.

  • imtahir7 on 01/11/2015 - 15:13

    looks good.

    but i cringe when i see harvey norman medium rug $399….. bargain.

    man, HVN are so overpriced on 99% of everything that they sell except bargain bin games and printers that we go for.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2015 - 15:24

    DOesn't work properly only compares prices from the 1 store rather than say xbox one console 500 gig across all stores. People are too lazy to look up each separate stores price history.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:28

      Actually it will bring it up for every store that sells it.

      I just searched for an X-box One console and it brought up JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, exactly as you would expect, since Coles, Woolworths and Dick Smith don't sell it.

      • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2015 - 16:39

        Yeah but they are sperate listings there should be 1 listing for the 1 product.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 17:18

          That would be a really cool feature. It's definitely something to consider for the future, but I don't have an army of AI experts to build that functionality just yet. ;-)

        • chipstss on 02/11/2015 - 00:12

          @jazoom: Possible to scrape the SKU and then compare?

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 02/11/2015 - 07:21

          @chipstss:

          Nope. No SKU on nearly all products.

        • Gecko on 02/11/2015 - 10:05
          +2

          @jazoom:

          We did it using Levenshtein distances on mildsurprise.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 02/11/2015 - 16:11

          @Gecko: Hey, I don't recall hearing about that site before. It appears to be gone. What happened?

        • AncientWisdom on 02/11/2015 - 19:54
          +1

          @jazoom: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/217794#comment-3166203

          There's actually been a bunch of them… E.g. See MildSurprise and PriceSlice?

          I hope you can get past those issues as I think Australia is terribly lacking in this space. More than happy to help too - I'm an automation QA engineer so feel free to ping me if you need help with the site.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 02/11/2015 - 20:39
          +1

          @ory_zm: Cool. Thanks for the offer.

          I'll do my best to keep the dream alive. I've seemed to do okay so far…

          And thanks for the support!

  • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 15:28
    +2

    the price needs to have dates, like camelx3. i like your idea, i was only thinking if there was something similar for the australian market the other day. well done son, it's a good start

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:29

      Hey frondono, thanks. Do you mean show the exact date when hovering over the point on the chart? It would be unreadable to cram every date on the X axis.

      • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 15:31

        more like camelx3

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:46

          They show every 3rd week. I show every 4th week (roughly a month). It's not much difference?

        • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 15:55

          @jazoom: ok I was only looking at the main page didn't delve into it too much, so it's going to show it a couple of weeks?

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 16:10
          +2

          @frondono: I'm thinking I don't understand what you're saying. Sorry, I meant that when I look at camelx3 I see that their x-axis shows a date every 3 weeks. Price Hipster shows a date every month. It's not much different in accuracy, but it looks much less busy.

          I'm planning to add more info on click/mouse hover later.

        • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 16:18
          +1

          @jazoom: yeah date information on the x axis, this is what it looks like for me. price history

          http://imgur.com/WYlWcwL

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 16:23
          +1

          @frondono: Yup, that's a bug. Thanks for picking it up! That'll be fixed in the overhaul.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 04/11/2015 - 18:08

          @frondono: Chart should be fixed now.

    • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 15:30

      and where the price bottoms out, have a little more of the graph left, so it just doesn't turn into white.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 15:47

        You're right, the graphs are sub-optimal. Good graphing takes a lot of work. It's on my todo list to overhaul them.

        • frondono on 01/11/2015 - 15:58

          I think this could really catch on, as it's always handy to have something to price check against, i mainly use the search on ozbargain to compare if the price is good. how did you make the graphs? i would like to make some for my website but mainly for weather data from a few government sources, I have a rough idea of how i want it too look but have no idea on how to make the graphs and integrate the data.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 16:11

          @frondono: There are heaps of charting libraries. ChartJS, Chartist, D3, Highcharts are all worth looking into.

          I'm using Chartist, but they're a little difficult to fine-tune.

  • JuryWheel on 01/11/2015 - 16:33

    Great idea, sort of similar to camelcamelcamel i imagine which is the ULTIMATE amazon tool.

    I would suggest to add a couple of large computer parts stores like msy since the price changes often. Also appliancesonline and even kogan if that is possible?

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 17:20

      It's definitely possible. I'll add them to the list!

      • Doggiie on 01/11/2015 - 18:31

        Give me an MSY search engine and I will be your best friend :)

        • Hahuh on 01/11/2015 - 20:08
          +2

          Static ice?

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:14

      hi cjb, just letting you know that Price Hipster has just had a big update. Unfortunately computer part stores didn't make the cut this time, but hopefully will in future. More info here.

  • JuryWheel on 01/11/2015 - 16:34

    Also, how about being able to create an account, add your favourite items, then get notifcations when prices drop? Might be a great way to know when to do the weekly shopping and which products to target each week.

    Also, where are the filters?

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 17:22
      +1

      Account + price drop notifications are in progress. Actually, the account is sorted. If you sign up for daily deals email then BOOM, you've got an account. You'll be able to use that later. Price Hipster uses a passwordless login system for simplicity and security.

      Filters are half-complete. They'll be implemented soon.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:15

      oh, and price-drop notifications and filters are in the update ;-)

  • ChronoSphinx on 01/11/2015 - 16:47

    Good job, and good suggestions by all. How about having a more streamlined search? Such as allowing the user to sort items ie by price, deal ending soonest etc and being able to have categories like clothing, electronics, groceries etc.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 17:24

      Search filters are a work in progress, but categories might be much further down the line since that's a massive undertaking.

      Also, there's no way to know about "deal ending soonest". Price Hipster takes into account all price changes, not just catalogue prices. Sometimes stores just change their prices, you know?

      https://www.pricehipster.com.au/product?id=NJNmxsZ3k5n

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:15

      hi ChronoSphinx, just updating you that filtered search is now implemented. More info here.

  • Doggiie on 01/11/2015 - 18:27

    With 5 stores it is instantaneous, but would it be the same when you have 100 stores?

    Good effort, looking good though. I know where to buy my Fallout 4 now.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:03
      +1

      I'll make sure it is. ;-)

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:16

      Still snappy with 15 stores ;-)

  • goosegog on 01/11/2015 - 18:29
    +7

    Jazoom- go for this concept my darling- think you're on a winner. You obviously have some fine tuning to do & make sure it's done before somebody else over rides your idea.
    I'm probably old enough to be your Mum - but love your " get out there & do it approach "
    Don't ever get put off by other peoples negatives- if you believe in what you are doing - go for it , find a way past any setbacks, think, plan & overcome.
    Always stay positive in your attitude & keep the end goal in sight.
    Good Luck.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:04

      Thanks for the support :-)

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:17

      big update goosegog. I've done plenty of that "fine tuning" you were talking about :)

  • Olokun on 01/11/2015 - 18:33

    Perhaps the price displayed should have the last time/date it was scraped.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:05

      It happens many times per day. I don't think it'd add much value since they'll all be in the last few hours.

  • Hotpotcorn on 01/11/2015 - 18:33

    i really do appreciate your work, well done!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:05

      Thanks

  • galaxiers on 01/11/2015 - 18:33

    the site doesn't work with AdBlock enable on Mozilla..

    • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2015 - 18:43

      Well set adblock not to run on his domain??

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:07

      Thanks for the heads up. I noticed when my wife had adblock on the buttons for sharing products don't come up. Everything else worked.

      I don't use any ads so there's no reason for the site to break.

      Can you please give me more details of what it looks like and what version of FF and what OS?

      • galaxiers on 01/11/2015 - 20:32
        +2

        Noticed you dont run ad, but most ppl will have the add-on enabled.However i did not observe any issue with the AB disabled, the site was fast….good work…
        Specs:
        blank page, not even a single dot visible :)
        FF: 41.0.2
        OS: Win 8.1
        hope this will help…

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 22:09

          Thanks for the info. I'll fire up FF with AdBlock.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 05/11/2015 - 09:26

          Hi, could you please check again with your Firefox? I just fixed another issue and it's possible this issue will be fixed by it.

  • Ughhh on 01/11/2015 - 18:51
    +4

    Could add Priceline and Chemist Warehouse.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:08

      Thanks. Added to the list.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:18

      15 stores now, but unfortunately pharmacies didn't make the cut this time. Hopefully soon.

  • whodidthat on 01/11/2015 - 19:10
    +2

    It's very fast!

  • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2015 - 19:30
    +4

    Great website…not sure about the name though!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:40
      +1

      I bet you'll remember it tomorrow. ;-)

      • onetwothreefour on 01/11/2015 - 21:47
        +1

        I'll take that bet. :-)

      • danyool on 03/11/2015 - 18:26

        But will it be dated the day after that?

  • aussieaubs on 01/11/2015 - 19:40
    +1

    wow great site… nice and fast… needs a sort by price button (low - high)

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 19:40

      Advanced search is coming

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:19

      Hi aussieaubs, just updating you that there is now filtered search, among other new features. No sorting, as yet.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/02/2016 - 09:42

      Updating you that sorting is now implemented. :-) Thanks for the suggestion.

      • aussieaubs on 11/02/2016 - 20:50

        great thanks looks good

  • boo hoo on 01/11/2015 - 19:48

    Top Work.
    a bug on speakers (plural) search some prices "was" is lower than now price.
    nice and fast good design.
    On second look is that the way it works graphing the price cycle.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 20:09

      Yes, that means the price has gone up.

  • ATangk on 01/11/2015 - 19:52

    Some products which are the same, are named differently by different retailers. As such, its not too easy to figure out which one is which, and perhaps searching one keyword does not produce the results one would desire.
    BUUUUT i have no clue how you would fix this. But just a word of reminder.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 20:10

      There really isn't a way to fix it, unfortunately.

      • machej on 01/11/2015 - 23:49
        +1

        Potentially do product linking like Ozbargain does on the side of deals. It would only be possible for popular products unless users can contribute. Ask Scotty if he has used any algorithms to do it.

  • SeaSalty on 01/11/2015 - 19:53
    +1

    You could maybe add ozgameshop?

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 20:11

      Added to the list. Thanks.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 17:19

      just letting you know that ozgameshop didn't make the cut this time, but there are plenty of other new features to make up for it

  • icecream on 01/11/2015 - 20:11

    tried to sign up with email, but it throw error "Please accept privacy policy", although the tick box "I accept the Lasoo Terms & Conditions" is already checked.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 20:12
      +10

      You're on the wrong website dude. :-)

      • icecream on 01/11/2015 - 20:59
        +1

        Oh, sorry, I am now in price hipster, how do I setup price alert on certain product?

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 22:12
          +1

          That functionality will be available at a later date.

        • icecream on 01/11/2015 - 22:43

          Thanks. It is a great & fast website by the way.

          Look forward to seeing product/ price alert, hopefully soon!

          Cheers.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 01/11/2015 - 22:54

          @icecream:

          Thanks, icecream.

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