I used to comparison shop manually. Open six tabs. Type the same product into six different sites. Compare prices, shipping, tax. Spend forty minutes to save four dollars. That math does not work. My time is worth more than six dollars an hour.

Now I have a system that takes under two minutes and consistently finds the best price. Here it is.

Use Price History, Not Current Prices

A product listed at fifty dollars might be forty dollars every other week. The current price tells you nothing about whether it is a good deal. CamelCamelCamel for Amazon and Keepa for browser extensions show you the price history for any product going back months or years. If the chart shows it drops to thirty dollars every six weeks, wait six weeks. This has saved me more money than any other single tactic.

Search the Model Number, Not the Product Name

Retailers rename the same product across stores. “Ultra-Comfort Ergonomic Office Chair” at one store is “Pro-Series Mesh Task Chair” at another. But the model number — that string of letters and numbers buried in the product specs — is the same everywhere. Search that instead and you will find every store carrying the exact same item, including warehouse clubs and smaller retailers that do not show up in branded searches.

Set Price Alerts and Walk Away

If you do not need the item immediately, set a price alert and stop thinking about it. CamelCamelCamel, Google Shopping, and Honey all offer alerts. Set your target price — usually twenty to thirty percent below current — and wait for the email. The mental energy you save by not checking prices every few days is worth more than the discount itself.