Price Alert Emailer

Save things you want to buy, choose how much of a discount you're waiting for, and get an email when the price drops, with a link straight to the deal.

Jess, these directions are for you. Setup takes about 10 minutes. You need a computer with Google Chrome and a Google account (Gmail).

Already set up? A new version is out. Skip to Updating to a new version (about 2 minutes). New in this version: the app finds your items at your other stores, pays attention to sizes, and lets you merge items you saved twice.

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Step 1: Download the extension

1. Go to https://github.com/edeitrick/price-alert-emailer.

2. Click the green Code button, then Download ZIP.

3. Open your Downloads folder and double-click price-alert-emailer-main.zip to unzip it.

4. Move the unzipped price-alert-emailer-main folder into your Documents folder.

   Chrome runs the extension from this folder, so leave it there. If you delete or move it later, the extension stops working.

Step 2: Add it to Chrome

1. In Chrome, type chrome://extensions into the address bar and press Enter.
2. Turn on Developer mode with the switch in the top-right corner.
3. Click Load unpacked (top left).
4. Open Documents → price-alert-emailer-main, click the folder named extension once to select it, then click Select.
5. Price Alert Emailer now appears in your list of extensions.
6. Click the puzzle-piece icon to the right of Chrome's address bar, then click the pin next to Price Alert Emailer. Its icon now stays in your toolbar.

Step 3: Sign in

1. Click the Price Alert Emailer icon in your toolbar.
2. Click Sign in with Google. A new tab opens.
3. Choose your Google account. If Google asks you to confirm signing in, click Continue.
4. The page says "✓ Connected." You can close that tab.

Step 4: Save your first item

1. Open a product page on Amazon, Sephora, Ulta, or Target.
2. Click the Price Alert Emailer icon. You'll see the product's name, picture, and price.
   • If the price box is empty, type in the price shown on the page.
3. Under Alert me when it's at least __% off, enter the discount you're waiting for. The default is 15%. The line underneath shows the exact price you'll be emailed at.
4. Check the Category (Beauty, General, Electronics, or Home). It controls which of your other stores get checked for the same item.
5. Click Save alert. You'll see "✓ Saved."

Step 5: See and manage your alerts

Go to https://price-alert-emailer.vercel.app/dashboard, or click Open dashboard after saving an item. Each saved item shows:

• Its prices at each store, with links.
• Alert at __% off: change the number and click Update.
• Pause alerts / Resume alerts: stop emails for an item without deleting it.
• Delete: remove the item completely.
• Paste this item's link from another store: if you've seen the same product elsewhere, paste that link and click Add store. The app then watches both stores and emails you about whichever one is cheaper.
• ✓ / ✗ on possible matches: the app looks for the same item at other stores you've saved from, and shows what it finds with its price. Click ✓ if it's the same product, ✗ if it isn't. Anything it isn't sure about isn't used for alerts until you click ✓.
• Sizes: each item and store shows its size (for example, 13.52 fl oz, or Pack of 2). The app won't treat a different size or pack count as the same product.
• Merge into this: saved the same product twice, say once from Amazon and once from Target? Pick the other one from the menu under an item and click Merge into this. All its store links move onto this item, so you get one alert for whichever store is cheapest.
• "These look like the same product": when two of your items look alike, a box at the top suggests merging them. Click Merge them, or Not the same and it won't ask again.

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What to expect

• Prices are checked every 6 hours.
• Alert emails come from [email protected]. Add that address to your contacts so alerts don't land in spam. Check your spam folder the first time.
• You get one email per drop. You only get another if the price falls even further.
• Prices are read by the extension in your own Chrome, so Chrome needs to be open. Every 6 hours a minimized Chrome window briefly opens, loads your saved products, and closes again. That's normal. Chrome doesn't need to be the window you're using, but don't quit it entirely.
• Want a fresh check right away? Click the extension icon, then Check my prices now at the bottom. You can close the popup; the check keeps going. Reopen it to see what it's doing, or when it last finished and what it found.
• Other stores are only checked if you've used them. The app searches stores you've saved an item from or pasted a link from, and only ones that sell that kind of item. It learns each new store's search page the first time you save from it, so most stores (Amazon, Sephora, Ulta, Target, Hoka, Dick's, and others) can be searched.
• It's careful about look-alikes: a different size, pack count, model number (Clifton 10 vs 11), or women's vs men's version is never treated as the same product.
• Kindle books are priced from the Kindle price shown on the page, and a Kindle edition is never matched with the paperback or hardcover.
• After you save something, a minimized window opens for a minute or two while the app looks for it at your other stores. Prices it finds show up on the dashboard right away.

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If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
"Couldn't reach the extension" after signing in	Go to chrome://extensions, click the circular reload arrow on Price Alert Emailer, then click its icon and Sign in with Google again.
The popup asks you to sign in again	Click Sign in with Google; you won't need to re-enter your password if you're still signed in to Google.
"Couldn't read the price on this page"	Type the price in yourself and save as normal.
The extension disappeared	The price-alert-emailer-main folder was probably moved or deleted. Repeat Steps 1 and 2.
An error on chrome://extensions after updating	The new folder isn't in the same place or has a different name. See step 5 of Updating.
No emails at all	Check spam, and check the dashboard: is the item paused, or has the price not yet dropped by your %?

Updating to a new version

When Elise says there's a new version (about 2 minutes):

1. Download the new version: go to https://github.com/edeitrick/price-alert-emailer, click the green Code button, then Download ZIP.
2. Unzip it: in Downloads, double-click price-alert-emailer-main.zip. You'll get a new price-alert-emailer-main folder. If your Mac names it price-alert-emailer-main 2, rename it to price-alert-emailer-main.
3. Replace the old folder: in Documents, drag the old price-alert-emailer-main folder to the Trash, then move the new one into Documents. It must end up in exactly the same place with exactly the same name, so Chrome can find it.
4. Reload the extension: go to chrome://extensions and click the circular reload arrow on Price Alert Emailer.
5. Check it worked: click the extension icon. The bottom line should show your email and the new version number (for example, version 0.4.0). If Chrome shows an error, or the extension is missing, click Remove on it, then Load unpacked and pick the extension folder again (Step 2). You'll need to sign in again (Step 3).

Your saved items and alerts are stored online, so updating never loses them.

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Setting up your own copy of the whole app (database, website, email)? See docs/SETUP.md.