The difference between a price alert and a wish list

A wish list saves items you are interested in so that you can find them again later without having to search for them all over again. A price alert goes one step further: you also set the price at which you want to be notified, and the shop gets in touch automatically by email as soon as the item reaches or drops below that figure. Some shops offer the two features separately, while others merge them into a single list with an optional price notification for each item.

For you, the practical difference is mainly about who does the work: you have to open a wish list yourself regularly to notice any changes. A price alert gets in touch on its own, so you do not have to keep checking in between.

How to set a sensible target price

A target price only slightly below the current price is often reached quite quickly, but then only saves you a little. A target price far below it, on the other hand, may go unreached for months, because the item simply never gets that cheap. Looking at an item's price history so far helps you judge what range is realistic, instead of picking a target price on gut feeling.

A worked example with a target price

Say an item currently costs 89 euros and you set a target price of 70 euros. The price would have to fall by 19 euros, or roughly 21%, to hit your target exactly. If the item stays at 75 euros instead, so your alert never goes off, buying it can still be worth it: if you find a valid code for 10% off, the price drops to 67.50 euros, below your original target price, even though the regular price itself never fell that low.

How a price alert works behind the scenes

In the background, the shop checks the price of the saved item at regular intervals and compares it with the target price you set. If the price drops below it, the system automatically sends an email to the address you used to set up the alert. If the price goes back up after a brief dip before the next check runs, you may miss that short cheap spell altogether, because the check does not happen in real time, only at certain points.

That also explains why a price alert sometimes goes off with a bit of a delay, even though the price has technically been below your target for a while. If you do not want to miss very short-lived promotions, you should therefore not rely on the alert alone, but also check yourself now and then at particularly busy times, for example just before a well-known sale day.

Why a notification on its own does not guarantee the best price

A price alert responds to a single item in a single shop. It tells you nothing about whether another shop has already been offering the same item for less, and it does not know about any discount codes currently running that would bring the final price down further. How prices keep changing in general, regardless of any alert you set, is explained in the article Understanding and spotting dynamic pricing. How to read a price history chart properly is described in the article Reading and understanding price history.

The limits of a price alert in practice

• An alert usually refers to one particular variant, such as a colour or size. If the price only changes for another variant of the same product, the alert stays silent.
• Many price alerts do not automatically include delivery costs in the comparison, so a lower item price does not necessarily mean a lower total.
• An item can disappear from the range altogether in the meantime without the alert telling you, since it only reports price changes.
• Some shops automatically delete an alert after a few months without it going off, so a purchase planned a long way ahead may occasionally need setting up again.

If you have several price alerts running at once, go through them from time to time and remove items you are no longer interested in anyway. A long list of forgotten alerts makes it harder to spot a notification that actually matters among older ones that stopped being of interest long ago.

Using price alerts and discount codes together

The most reliable approach is to combine the two: the price alert for the base price, plus a quick look at current discount codes just before you buy. Even when your alert goes off, it is still worth a quick check to see whether a code is available as well before you order. You can find codes for individual shops in the coupon overview, sorted by category if you want to keep an eye on several items at once. What makes up the total price of a purchase beyond the item price itself is also explained in the article Working out the total cost of an online purchase.

Frequently asked questions

How often does a shop check the price for my alert?

Each shop decides this on the technical side, and it is rarely made public. In practice, a daily check is usually enough to hear about price changes that matter.

Will I get a notification as soon as the price drops at all?

That depends on the settings. Some systems report every price drop, others only once your chosen target price has been reached. Looking at your alert settings makes this clear.

Is a price alert worth it without a fixed target price?

Yes. It then simply tells you about every price change, and you decide when the notification arrives whether the new price is good enough for you.

Does a price alert replace comparing prices across shops?

No. It only watches one item in one shop. Comparing prices across several shops is still a separate check in its own right.

What happens to a price alert when the item sells out?

Many systems simply keep the alert and carry on checking once the item is back in stock. As a rule, you will not be told that it was sold out in the meantime.