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

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 13/11/2015 - 12:48

      Thanks for the great idea. I just added an update. The list of suggestions is too long to list them all so I didn't list them specifically.

  • wittyusername on 15/11/2015 - 09:29

    Hi. In Perth. Looks fantastic! Works almost instantaneously although it is 0630, so maybe there is low traffic.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 15/11/2015 - 09:32

      thanks! I'm glad it works well for you.

  • lisss on 18/11/2015 - 17:42
    +1

    Is it possible to search by store, by highest discount?

    Also I can't tell by looking at the site which stores are included, why does only coles show up on the front page?

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 18/11/2015 - 17:49
      +1

      Hi lisss. These questions have been addressed many times here, but basically it comes down to this: I'm still developing features. You're looking at the initial beta release for getting feedback and gauging interest. New features aren't too far away, though.

      Apparently Coles has all the price drops today.

      • lisss on 18/11/2015 - 17:50
        +1

        Ok thanks. Look forward to seeing them :)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 19:01

          Look forward no more! You can see this update and more here!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/02/2016 - 10:07

      Hi lisss, just letting you know that your request has now been granted. You can now search by highest discount, from lowest price, and a few other orders. Thanks for your feedback!

  • Herbse on 19/11/2015 - 14:13
    +2

    I love that you reply to everyone on here, very thorough

    It's probably been mentioned, but it would be awesome if we could register for email alerts when a particular product falls under a certain price.

    This site reminds me of adioso, which I love to use for comparing flight prices

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 21/11/2015 - 17:28

      I'm working on that right now. :)

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 19:01

      Your wish has been granted. :)

      • Herbse on 11/12/2015 - 01:24

        I saw and I am super happy! cheers for the update as well =D

      • Herbse on 11/12/2015 - 11:14

        When I sign up for notification of a price drop. It's only going to notify me if the shop that I have clicked into has dropped it's price?
        Is that correct?

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 13:07

          Yes. At the moment, that's how it works.

        • Herbse on 11/12/2015 - 13:44

          @jazoom:fair enough. Still better than nothing.

          I amarking all my regular groceries and various items I want to buy.
          This site has some serious potential to save people money. Something I would pay a subscription for when it's finalised with more sites and functions.

          My only other current gripe is the accountless subscription, I seem to have to keep doing it as my ip changes or on mobile. Signing in with Google plus would be sweet.

          Top work man

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 14:04

          @gerard48: redir You have an account but no password. IP has nothing to do with it. You will have to sign in for each browser.

          I might add other login options. Thanks for the feedback. :-)

  • HeartFeltAxe on 19/11/2015 - 19:11

    Is it still working?? I checked on "Down for everyone, or just me?" the website and it says that its not just me…

    • matt_will_fix_it on 19/11/2015 - 20:03
      +1

      Its working for me

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 21/11/2015 - 17:28

      Is it working for you yet?

      • HeartFeltAxe on 23/11/2015 - 18:18

        Haha it's working now. Don't worry xD

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 23/11/2015 - 18:23

          excellent :)

  • Olokun on 20/11/2015 - 08:15
    +1

    Another thing I would like to see is the ability to link directly with a URL.

    ie: https://www.pricehipster.com.au/?product-search-box=Samsung TV

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 21/11/2015 - 17:29

      You mean link to a search rather than to a particular product?

      • Olokun on 21/11/2015 - 18:34

        Yeah.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 21/11/2015 - 18:36

          Interesting. I'll have a play with that some time in the future. Thanks!

    • drunk on 23/11/2015 - 20:53
      +1

      I was going to suggest this too.
      Very useful for;
      a) sending friends links to specific search terms, rather than saying; go to pricehipster.com.au and search for 'x'
      and
      b) using FireFox's 'Keyword' search feature.
      ie I define a keyword bookmark as ph = https://www.pricehipster.com.au/?product-search-box=%s
      then I can just type: ph coke in the Firefox address bar, and it automatically takes me to
      https://www.pricehipster.com.au/?product-search-box=coke

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 23/11/2015 - 22:09

        Noted. Thanks for the explanation.

  • Olokun on 02/12/2015 - 18:53
    +1

    Just thought I would check in and see how the major update is coming along as the thread was about to move to page 2. Any time line for when you think there will be something new?

    Seem to find myself using the site daily.

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 02/12/2015 - 20:16
      +1

      Hey Olokun. I'm glad you use the site regularly!

      I've actually implemented all the new functionality. I'm just finishing building it into the UI. I'm hoping to get it released very soon so we can all use it to help with Christmas shopping. :-)

      I'll be sure to post when the changes are live.

  • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 11:03
    Merged from Price Hipster: Getting Features before It Was Cool! - Now with More Awesome

    Hey OzBargainers!

    Thanks again for the awesome support and feedback you gave when I unveiled to you Price Hipster.

    As promised, I am letting you all know that I just pushed a major update to the website. New features include:

    1. Tripled the number of indexed stores to 15!

    2. Price-drop notifications

    3. An account dashboard for managing notifications etc.

    4. Advanced search features including filters for store and price range

    5. Ability to scroll down and see more suggested deals without entering a search term

    6. Immediate copy-to-clipboard when sharing a link to specific products (not supported by Safari)

    7. Other improvements

    Again, let me know what you all think! I'm interested in both bug reports and general feedback.

    Anticipated question: Are you finished developing Price Hipster now that you've got this major update out?
    Answer: Nope! There's more to come!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 11:04
      +7

      If you would like to support Price Hipster, the Facebook page is empty and needs a bit of love.

      A simple "Like" will go a long way to supporting the cause. :-)

      • akd on 10/12/2015 - 13:00

        Facebook link page gives error message - "Sorry, this content isn't available right now. The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in."
        Can you please update the link?

        Very good site. Well done

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 13:57

          Hi akd. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention. I think I have fixed it. Does it work for you now?

          • akd on 10/12/2015 - 13:59
            +1

            @jazoom: Yup, it worked and I have "Like" the page.

          • Olokun on 10/12/2015 - 13:59
            +1

            @jazoom: Yep works now.

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 13:59

            @jazoom: @akd: Thanks heaps! :-)

      • kwbvstum on 11/12/2015 - 20:36

        Nice work jazoom! Well done on teaching yourself the requisite skills as a Doc as well…Impressive stuff!

        My unoriginal feedback: Yep, that heading is way too large, but I see that you are on that already. :)

        Other: Refresh rates?…so, for example, you have Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2 listed as being $1 at JB Hi-Fi, but that deal is no longer on and the web page has expired.

        Best of luck!

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 21:10

          The refresh rates are frequent, but I don't remove products for a little longer. There are reasons for this. I'm hoping that will become less of an issue in future.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 12/12/2015 - 22:09

          Header improved. What do you think?

      • rodinthink on 13/12/2015 - 21:33
        -5

        "A simple Like"

        Useless

    • Sergeant Salami on 10/12/2015 - 11:47
      +1

      Hey mate, tried to test the price drop thing but doesn't seem to work properly. I entered my email in, confirmed it and could see me signed in. I went back to the product and now it is saying, enter a valid price. Also, if you sign out and go to sign in, it will create another account/send email.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 11:57

        Sorry, I think I accidentally replied to you in the below comment.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 19:04

        Hi wogboy. Just letting you know that I took your feedback and added some more info in the email to reduce confusion. Thanks for the suggestion!

    • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 11:56

      Hi wogboy.

      1. You have to actually enter a price. Any idea how I can make that clearer?

      2. It doesn't create a new account. That's your login link. It's a passwordless login system. I have to make that clearer too, but I'm not yet sure the best way to do it.

      • Sergeant Salami on 10/12/2015 - 21:27

        Hey man, all good. When I tried today it wasn't allowing me to type anything in the price field so you must have fixed it. I love the site. I can't stand that huge "logo-container branding" div. You should make it shrink to "search-bar-container" div as soon as you scroll on the home page. Also on the "search-bar-container" div, you've left out the login/sigunup link.

        If you need help testing it I'm your man. I use your site every day.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 22:57

          You're right. I need to improve the header. That's one of the first things I did and I need to revisit it with a bit of an overhaul. You're very welcome to feed me any other suggestions you might have. :-)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 12/12/2015 - 22:10

          I addressed those two issues you mentioned. How's it now?

    • brazen00 on 10/12/2015 - 12:19
      +1

      Love the new features and the increased number of stores.

      Price notification is a great feature!

      It would be good to be able to get to the account dashboard from any page (can't get there directly from the search page at the moment).

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 12:24

        Yeah, for the sake of minimalism while you're actively searching, the menu (which currently only consists of the login/dashboard link) disappears. All you have to do is clear your search or click the logo and the happiness will return.

        I will look at ways of keeping it around during search, but it's especially tricky on smaller devices.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 12/12/2015 - 22:10

        You can now get to the dashboard while searching. :-)

    • ozhunter on 10/12/2015 - 12:25

      Is there a list of the stores?

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

      The original price on this is wrong.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 12:34

        That's the "normal price", and by looking at the history it's correct. The "normal price" will get updated if the product stays the same price for a while. The "normal price" is not affected by temporary fluctuations and is immune to fake RRPs. I think I'll add a little info icon next to it so people can click to find out what "normal price" is about.

        Since there is now a store filter, to see the current list of stores all you have to do is open the filter. :-)

        • brazen00 on 10/12/2015 - 12:53

          Yeah "normal price" is a good way of doing things.

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 12:56

            @brazen00: thanks for the feedback

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 19:04
        +1

        I added an information icon next to "normal price" so people can find out what it's about. Thanks for the feedback!

    • WaywardOne on 10/12/2015 - 13:30

      Is there a way to sort by price? I signed up and I can filter by price range now, but is it possible to sort the list by increasing price?

      Awesome site by the way — heaps easier/faster to use via a mobile than Coles and Woolworths own websites.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 14:02
        +2

        Thanks for the feedback! There is currently no way to sort by price as it would greatly increase database costs as things currently stand (the reasons are technical). It's something I might add in the future, but I struggle to see how it would be useful (I know on the surface it sounds like a great idea). Could you give me a scenario?

        • WaywardOne on 10/12/2015 - 14:27

          Yesterday I was after some cheap plastic food containers, that is all.

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 14:30
            +4

            @WaywardOne: Ah. So $0-$10 is obviously not gonna help since all will be under $10, and you're just browsing.

            Okay, I'll push it a bit further up the to-do list. Thanks.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 12/02/2016 - 11:45

        Hi WaywardOne, just updating you that your request has now been implemented. You can now sort in many different ways. :-)

        • WaywardOne on 13/02/2016 - 08:17

          Awesome, thanks :) Works well :)

          Now if only bargains could be filtered by postcode :) (I live in regional NSW, so my bargains are quite different to capital cities)

    • Olokun on 10/12/2015 - 13:40

      Big thumbs up from me.

      edit. Just wondering how much work actually is required to add a new store?

      Is it a matter of just changing the name of the required values, or do you need to write a new script/scraper for each store?

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 14:09
        +4

        I create a new scraper that is extremely efficient and easy on the sites' servers. I have gotten very good at it, and the system is a thing of beauty (IMHO), so it's actually not that difficult for me to add a new site.

        The real problem is upkeep. If I go crazy and add 50 sites then I have to worry about maintaining that many (websites often change without notice). I am planning some things for the future that will make this a non-issue, but it will take a bit of time.

        • Olokun on 10/12/2015 - 14:13

          Cool. Thanks for the response.

          I am very happy with the new store additions. Esp. TGG

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 14:15

            @Olokun: You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback.

        • fredblogs on 11/12/2015 - 10:01

          Just curious - what library did you use for scraping?

        • systmworks on 26/07/2016 - 17:25

          Hi Jazoom - I did a google search to see if you have a page where users can submit new stores. Didnt find anything, but found this thread instead. What is your preferred method for people to suggest new stores ?

          Id like to suggest VideoPro.com.au (popular Aussie home theatre supplier, had 200 deals posted on OzB)

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 26/07/2016 - 17:46

            @systmworks: Hi!

            Now the best thing to do is actually to contact the store (on Facebook or wherever) and tell them you want to see them on Price Hipster. They would need to send me a feed of their products.

          • systmworks on 05/10/2016 - 14:18

            @systmworks: @jazoom: Hi, I can try sending VideoPro a message asking them if they are willing to contact you to submit their feed - how would they contact you ?

            Even better if you can just start scraping their site :D

            If I search for the popular Denon X2200 home theatre AV receiver, the only PriceHipster result is Harvey Norman for $1,199.

            VideoPro currently sell it for $1,020, and for the past week had an OzBargain code to get it for just $950

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 05/10/2016 - 16:27

            @systmworks: @systmworks:

            I just replied to your private message. 😃

        • gimli on 12/09/2021 - 13:34

          Just curious as to whether you solved this problem.
          To me it seems like it would make sense to have a scraper for each site. Even if one changes you would update just the one scraper. I feel alot of big business websites remain fairly static probably for stability. (Not sure if that is true)

          p.s great work

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 13/09/2021 - 12:19

            @gimli: Unfortunately the landscape has changed quite a bit since I wrote that reply. Pretty much all retailers have made changes to their websites such that they won't even function without JavaScript running on the client side. Some also proactively block any requests that aren't made from a browser they like the look of. This means the crawling is nowhere near as efficient as it once was. It doesn't matter so much, though, because almost all retailers provide a feed of their products. Only a handful of retailers are crawled by Price Hipster for legacy reasons. But I don't set up crawlers for any new ones.

            • fredblogs on 13/09/2021 - 13:01

              @jazoom: I assume Woolworths don't provide a feed. What's preventing them from being scraped? Are they blocking your IP?

              • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 14/09/2021 - 09:40

                @fredblogs: They are very aggressive about blocking IP addresses. They haven't even bothered to reply when I've reached out to them in numerous different ways. Coles was more supportive and provided a workaround.

    • Olokun on 10/12/2015 - 14:53

      Seems Target images have an issue loading?

      Trying to search the term 'Target' gives me only 1/15 images for that store

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 15:05

        You're right. Thanks. I'll get it fixed.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 15:42

        I believe I just found and fixed the source of the problem. The images should all appear within the hour. :-)

    • [Deactivated] on 10/12/2015 - 19:31
      +2

      It certainly is great for searching for specific items. Like a grocery product and size. I'll have to keep reminding myself to check it first, before buying anything.

      This is only personal preference, but I usually click my middle mouse button on links to open a new browser tab. Obviously you already know that doesn't happen with the site… A window pops up instead, and you have to click the 'click to visit site' link. When you're done with the external site and close it, that popup window is still open - and you have to close it yourself. Like I said, personal preference - but I'd rather that window close as it opens the new Harvey Norman, etc. page. So when you come back, if you want it again you can click again - but if not - it's already back ready to at the next item/s. Maybe others prefer it the way it is though.

      I love how it changes items as you type… You always see something else you didn't know you were interested in, LOL.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 10/12/2015 - 20:25

        Hey, I've never even given that much thought, but I feel like the way it currently is is safer. By that I mean in your case you think, "boy, it'd be nice if that window read my mind and closed itself", but the other side is like this: "man, it's so annoying that it thinks it knows what I want and closes itself every time".

    • WaywardOne on 11/12/2015 - 06:37

      Another feature that would make price hipster more accurate - postcodes. A lot of specials are only relevant in certain postcodes or states or in metropolitan areas

      Is there currently any way to provide location information?

      Example: I went to Coles yesterday to grab a few Magnum ice creams, however the special price of $3 was not available (they were full price)

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 07:26

        Hmm that's annoying. The thing is, I want to encourage stores to have consistent pricing across Australia. That's one of my goals with Price Hipster. I feel like I'll be contributing to the problem if I make allowances for it in Price Hipster. We'll see. I might change my mind.

      • divergent on 13/06/2017 - 15:02

        Online prices can also be more expensive than local prices. A few weeks ago Coles Online had Coke 24 pack as $2 more expensive than the local catalogue price. But as it stands, this is a very good start to getting the shopping juices flowing. I'm sure the disappointments on application will be few and far between.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 13/06/2017 - 15:54

          Yes, that's also true. :-)

    • phoenixx on 11/12/2015 - 06:46

      Signup doesn't appear to work from the mobile site. I click the button and it's only giving an option to login.

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 07:27

        Yup. Just whack your email in there. ;-)

        • phoenixx on 11/12/2015 - 14:21

          Yeah. Looked like it ended up working…..:but I was receiving an error message - perhaps something to look into?

          • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 15:14

            @phoenixx: Maybe the connection was down.

    • matt777 on 11/12/2015 - 07:13

      Great site thanks

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 07:28

        You're welcome!

    • mrmachine on 11/12/2015 - 08:06

      It seems to make my phone run pretty hot. There must be some intense JavaScript going on?

      • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 13:08

        JavaScript, but not intense.

    • Duoka on 11/12/2015 - 08:46
      +1

      The header is too big. It is takes more than a quarter of the page.

      • VehemenceThePhoenix on 11/12/2015 - 09:13

        I agree.
        Maybe don't float the header on scrolling?

        Looking great by the way.

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 11/12/2015 - 14:05

          I have to overhaul the header :-)

        • Store Repjazoom @ Price Hipster on 12/12/2015 - 22:12

          Just changed the way the header works. What do you think?

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