Firefox Add-on of the Week: The Camelizer

Posted 05/20/2010 at 8:28am | by David Murphy

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Alright, smart shoppers. Start your engines, grab your plastic cards, and let's get shopping. But not just yet. You'll want to grab this week's Firefox Extension of the Week, The Camelizer, if you want any shot at making informed purchasing decisions. And by that, I mean waiting until the time is just right to pick up whatever it is you're hunting after from one of the major retailers of your choice.

Here's how The Camelizer works. When you hit up a site like Amazon, NewEgg, or Overstock.com--amongst others--The Camelizer calls back to a few third-party, camel-themed Web sites to generate a list of prices over the previous few months for the particular object you're looking at. It then spits this information out in an easy-to-digest graph right on the landing page for said product. Not only can you view the price fluctuations of the product itself as sold by said retailer, but you can also check out the average selling price of used versions of the item as well (for places that support such a marketplace, like Amazon).

If you want, you can use an included "Track Product" button to fire up one of the aforementioned camel Web sites and mark the product for investigation over there. Should you do that, said sites will automatically shoot you a message via email, Twitter, or RSS if the product you're after happens to drop below a set point.

For a relatively low cost of entry (none) and an equally small level of obstruction (also none), The Camelizer provides a ton of useful information for the aspiring smart shopper. If saving money is your thing, check it out!

Maximum PC picks one new Firefox add-on as its favorite of the week each... week. Have a nifty extension that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.