I Made a Australian Price Finder for The Best Deals!

Ljimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 21:20
Last edited 29/06/2025 - 20:43

Status:Online!

https://deal-finder-12dw.onrender.com

A FREE API has been added so people can make their own price comparison sites!!!

Okay, so who else gets totally fed up trying to find the best price online for anything? Seriously, I was recently trying to buy a new watch, and I swear I visited about 20 different sites just to compare prices. It was a nightmare.

That frustration finally hit a peak, and I thought, "i am not wasting this much time ever again" So, after many late nights fueled by way too much coffee, I decided to build one myself.

My goal was simple: make it super easy to see the cheapest prices, no matter what you're looking for. It works for pretty much any general item you can think of, pulling in results from a bunch of places so you don't have to bounce around!

I've been using it myself, and honestly, it works really well.And its also way easier to find the cheapest price compared to standard google.
This database is best at finding tech products. I just updated the search algorithm to make it more accurate. Please comment any problems you find!

https://deal-finder-12dw.onrender.com

So, if you're keen to give it a try
Im working on making it way better,my next focus is general items prices and videogame prices.

Let me know what you guys think! Any feedback at all is awesome – I'm still tweaking it, and your thoughts would really help make it even better.

Free Software/Websites

Comments

  • boomramada on 21/06/2025 - 21:34

    Google.com usually do the trick

    • AustriaBargain on 22/06/2025 - 09:34

      shopping.google.com.au is even better

      • boomramada on 22/06/2025 - 12:44

        Anything better, once they get indexed ☺️

      • Big-Deal on 22/06/2025 - 16:46

        Can't filter for brand new though, only for 'used' :/

    • pineapple12 on 24/06/2025 - 17:38
      +1

      Or staticice ;)

  • SnowDragon on 21/06/2025 - 21:47
    +13

    Were deal-finder-1dw through deal-finder-11dw taken?

    Searched for "4070ti", waited 20 seconds and got no results. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Thanks OP.

    • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 21:47
      +1

      i am adding a extra argument which filters out american results, i am very sorry

    • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 21:49

      should be working now

      • SnowDragon on 21/06/2025 - 22:04
        +7

        Sorry, no matching offers were found for "5070". Please try a different search term.

        Sitting there waiting 20 seconds for that to return makes me feel like you're using my device to mine crypto or something.

        Horrible user experience.

        • Dr Phil on 23/06/2025 - 17:26
          -1

          Maybe you didnt pay youir annual subscription fee ?

  • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 22:04
    -4

    i keep destroying the whole site with my changes

    • SnowDragon on 21/06/2025 - 22:05
      +34

      I hope this serves as a valuable lesson on playing around in production.

      • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 22:07
        -6

        essentially, i had a stable build but then i tried to add links, it seemed to have caused a few issues

        • CocaKoala on 24/06/2025 - 08:48
          +7

          That's what a test environment is for, but even that should only be trifled with after your changes worked in Dev environment.

      • airzone on 23/06/2025 - 07:58
        +10

        Amateurs test in production. Real men produce in test.

  • Aap Ke Papa on 21/06/2025 - 22:06
    +4

    I searched iPhone 16 pro max 256gb and its given me 10 results all eBay with lowest being close to $4000 and all used and highest being $25000. No second page or filter that I can apply.

  • MS Paint on 21/06/2025 - 22:07
    +1

    Not working for me looking for a car part. Says no results. I know at least 5 sites that sell this particular part.

  • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 22:12
    -4

    redeploying the site with the changes 🤞

  • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 22:17
    -6

    forgot 1 thing

  • simplystu on 21/06/2025 - 22:30
    +7

    So what does your site do what the others don't ???
    other than keep breaking !

    IMO - there is one of these sites / apps developed every other month or so (heck only need to search OZB to see).

    So comes back to …
    What are you trying to achieve +++ value add that the others don't?

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 21/06/2025 - 22:35
    +7

    "i am not wasting this much time ever again"

    Fair enough but half the fun of bargain hunting is the thrill of the hunt and art of the hustle.

    • Gunnar on 22/06/2025 - 04:13
      +5

      What advantages does this website have over a train, which I could also afford?

      But seriously, my fun bargain hunting approach is to search ozbargain and then read the comments

  • donga100 on 21/06/2025 - 22:53

    I searched for "Sony WH-1000XM5" (the suggestion given by your site for a search term) and it returned no results.

  • Hybroid on 21/06/2025 - 23:00
    +7

    Searched "PS5" and just got links to Walmart, Macy's and uShopMall…

    Every result is via Pricer API, so basically you created a wrapper? Likely to add affiliate referrals to results like all the others.

  • Protractor on 21/06/2025 - 23:01
    +1

    Nothing suss at all

  • jimmyjonny on 21/06/2025 - 23:23
    -6

    finally made it work properly

    • MS Paint on 22/06/2025 - 00:02

      I'm just getting overseas eBay results. Keep working away.

      The cheapest pixel buds 2 are $500+ with an overseas eBay store according to your tool.

      • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 00:12
        +1

        im still working rn

        • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 00:25
          +1

          found the problem that makes it only show results from ebay

      • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 00:50

        alright there we go,should have fixed your issue

  • hasher22 on 22/06/2025 - 01:08
    +1

    Needs a bit of work imo.

    I simply searched Samsung s24 and while it did show me results, it showed a few from Google shopping which were the lowest and 1 was from a US store.

    If I'm searching for tech, staticice.com.au does the job. Maybe see how they grab data.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 01:11

      thanks for the advice, ill check it out, I did try to filter out US results, but i might have to go through and refine that process. Google shopping is supposed to show, but only leading to australian sites

  • nomoneynoproblems on 22/06/2025 - 01:49

    After reading about everyone’s experience, I thought I would search for watches as that was the reason why you created this project. Unfortunately….it still needs work. Cheapest price was a used chrono24 listing when a google search was instant and had a brand new local shop for about $30 cheaper. Not sure what watch you were searching for originally, but mine was from a well known Japanese classic.

  • woodg on 22/06/2025 - 07:29
    +6

    Firstly, congratulations on giving it a go!

    A couple of feedback items:

    1. On my Android phone, using both Chrome and Edge, the Search button is partly off the screen, and you have to scroll to see the full button. A minor issue as you can still see part of the button. But once you get some results, the filters (Sort By, Condition, Store) are off the side and you need to scroll to use them. Also, the price button on each item is, like the search button, partially off the side.

    2. Even if I select the option for Condition to New Only is still get used items (i.e. Cash Converters, eBay - in both cases the items are clearly marked as "Used")

    3. I get eBay results from outside Australia (e.g. UK). These items can certainly be shipped to Australia, but it would be nice to at least have the option for items from Australia only.

    Good luck,

    Glenn

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 08:32

      ill work on this now

  • ronnknee on 22/06/2025 - 07:37
    +1

    Searched for "nintendo switch 2".

    Took about 20-30 seconds for the search. Was excited to see progress "Contacting providers … Aggregating results … Filtering results … Almost there" but then it just looped, so ended up feeling emotionally scammed.

    The first 15 or 20 results were irrelevant. Mostly joycons, games or Switch 1 V2. Only until halfway down the page, could start finding Switch 2.

    My goal was simple: make it super easy to see the cheapest prices, no matter what you're looking for. It works for pretty much any general item you can think of

    It didn't meet the original requirement. Might as well stick with current habits by clicking through different links from Google than switching.

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 08:34

    hmm, im going to try to get a fix out for that. not really sure how yet

  • PeterSnoot on 22/06/2025 - 08:37

    My thoughts:
    - It's too slow - maybe cache your data?
    - Prices didn't seem to be the best for what I checked
    - I would be better if you could progressively show deals rather than loop through "Sorting Prices", etc. They don't reflect what is really happening anyway

    Good luck!

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 08:45
      +1

      The loading bars really so you know somethings happening, and great idea on the data caching, im currently working on revamping the price finding

  • tenpercent on 22/06/2025 - 09:27

    Sorry, no matching offers were found for "iphone". Please try a different search term.

    I seem to get the follow error for whatever value of X I input.

    Sorry, no matching offers were found for "X". Please try a different search term.

    I have tested this with Brave Browser and with Firefox both on a desktop computer.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 09:31
      +2

      i turned it off as i migrated to a different product search system!

      • tenpercent on 22/06/2025 - 09:44

        "Move fast and break things"?

  • LINK91 on 22/06/2025 - 09:44
    +1

    Please use branches and add features through them instead of working on a production build. Wasting a minute of my time with "application loading" is a surefire way to make sure end-users never use your website.

  • User0001 on 22/06/2025 - 10:00

    Took 30 seconds to render the app. Couldn't find the item. I searched both OnePlus 13 and RTX 5070. No results.

    The website design also looks a bit funky, the search button should probably be underneath, or just a magnifier icon.

    I'll stick with Google shopping.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 10:08
      +1

      im restarting it now, there was a issuew ith the displaying of results i was unaware of

  • Stormnut on 22/06/2025 - 10:54

    So where do I find this? Thanks

  • Protractor on 22/06/2025 - 11:06
    -2

    I put the name of the app in the search engine and when I clicked search, my 'puter started playing Rick Astley on a continuous loop.

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 11:20

    or maybe you clicked the imrpoved version lol

    • Protractor on 22/06/2025 - 11:26
      -1

      I put Rick Astley in the search window, I get a better improved version,

  • Darude Sandstorm on 22/06/2025 - 11:34

    Yeah wild, I was looking for a guitar.
    $399-$480 every result on google first couple of pages - out of the 4 colours they had 3 of them were sold out on every site and about half of the sites had 4/4 colours sold out.
    Ended up just googling guitar shops near me, finding the model there for $280 (in the colourway I wanted!!) rather than finding one in NSW or QLD, paying heaps for shipping and a higher price with less than desirable colour.
    Google results did not even show the store on the first 2 pages.

    I knew with AI stuff the enshitification was happening but this is awful, I don't know how many times I've overpaid for stuff, although I tend to put effort into buying shit at the cheapest price I can get it.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 11:37

      I agree with that. thats why im working on this

    • Protractor on 22/06/2025 - 11:41

      In this use case the wronger AI is the better. It will cost idiots more, and eventually (maybe) less ppl will rely on it.

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 11:37

    lol

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 12:29

    alright i think im almost ready to get it back online

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 12:38

    just working out final minor issuses

  • MS Paint on 22/06/2025 - 12:44
    +1

    Thanks for the continued updates and progress reports.

  • doctordv8 on 22/06/2025 - 13:24
    +1

    Is it anyway better than my usual go to?

    https://dupe.com

    • blighst on 22/06/2025 - 14:13

      Nice site, never heard of - I tend to just run an aliexpress + reverse image search

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 14:36

      It's more relevant results , as I try to filter out spam etc

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 14:37

    And if you search for a product it will identify whether you are looking for the main product or accessories and sort via that as well( doesn't always get rid of all the accessories)

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 17:01
    -1

    im gonna run on the old software until i can get the new version ready

  • Deals For Days on 22/06/2025 - 17:40

    I’ve had good success with BUYWISELY

    It aggregates from many different sites and does alerts. Posted about it before but mods merged to the original launch thread (presumably don’t want competitor advertised here lol)

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:02

      yea i tried that while ago, but i noticed alot of the links were referral links that they just used to get a payday. sothats essentially why i made my own

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:03

      im working on a major update at the moment that should make the results far more accurate and reliable

  • RED27APPLE on 22/06/2025 - 18:17

    Down? None of my searches are showing results

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:28

      it shouldnt be? I uploaded a old version to run while i work on the new one? what searches are you doing?

  • gromit on 22/06/2025 - 18:33
    +1

    Tried 3 different products, 9800x3d, revitive and 9070xt all zero results. Looks like site doesnt work at all.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:36

      let me test and identify the issue

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:37

      Found the issue, give me 10 to fix it

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 18:40

      back online!

      • gromit on 22/06/2025 - 20:10

        Works…. but i use that term loosely, way too slow and even the item i bought today it showed far worse deals than i could ky find

        • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 20:22

          yea im releasing a update probably later tonight. Should actually greatly boost the amount of products shown on there

  • movieman on 22/06/2025 - 19:10

    I'm not about the best deals part.

    Searched for Colgate total 115g.

    Cheapest is $9.

    I paid $3.50 at Coles today.

    So, yes, nice resource, but not a great deal finder unfortunately.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 19:13
      +1

      yea the current public version is my old model. im just trying to get my new model to run smoothly before release. Thanks for the feedback by the way!

  • tenpercent on 22/06/2025 - 20:30
    -1

    I can see this has great potential, but it needs a lot of work, although I understand it is in its infancy (or possible prenatal still).

    The results aren't super accurate. For example if I search for vitamin c it comes up with a fair few results sold by "google_shopping" and the link just takes me to the google shopping product page which then has links to several other stores. If I wanted that I'd just check google shopping (although I find google shopping is one of the least accurate price comparison sites around).
    Searching for another specific vitamin product and specific brand came up with 1 result only, sold by "google_shopping" and it's not even the cheapest that I found via buywisely.

    Assuming this site is intended to be used for finding the best prices for groceries and other items which have some kind of count greater than one (i.e. as well as searching for an iphone 16 you can also get correct results when searching for eg. toilet paper) or items that have a weight or volume (e.g. coke zero, e.g. oranges), then it also would be good to be able to sort, as relevant, by unit price (e.g. price/sheet of toilet paper, e.g. price/kg oranges, eg. price/L coke). Another more advanced sorting that I manually do at the moment, as none of the price comparison sites do it, is sorting by price/mg or price/mL of active ingredient for vitamins and a few other things.

    Future iterations of the site should include the functionality to paste in or enter multiple products and search for all of them in one operation.

    To make this my one-stop go-to price comparison site I would also want to be able to automatically be told about and be able to toggle on/off any discounts (e.g. ebay plus discount codes), including cashback and be able to sort by price or price/unit after discounts are applied.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 20:33
      +1

      Good idea, i might try and see if i can add some of that into my updated release later today, most prominently the multiple product search

      • tenpercent on 22/06/2025 - 20:41
        +1

        I'm not going to tell you how to manage your project, but if I were doing this I'd focus on getting the results 'correct' first. Then expand from there with additional features and ways of sorting and filtering the results. Of course if other features are quick wins that can be motivational too.
        I've bookmarked the site and subscribed to this thread to keep updated on the progress. I'm looking forward to see where this goes.

        • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 21:08

          thanks thats essentially what I have spent the last day working on, getting results from more locations and filtering out junk results.

  • Brainwhacker on 22/06/2025 - 22:03

    "
    An error occurred: Service is temporarily down for maintenance. Please try again later."

  • MessyG on 22/06/2025 - 22:05

    Temporarily down for maintenance. Excited to try it though, I got so tired of going in circles of the same rebadged product when looking for office chairs that I sat down with ChatGPT and came up with a whole plan to make a site that makes the same chair (by image) show up with a list of prices for it. And then quit because it was way beyond my expertise.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 22:24

      mb man im working on a update

  • Poor Ass on 22/06/2025 - 22:12

    An error occurred: Service is temporarily down for maintenance. Please try again later.

    • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 22:24

      yea im working ona quick update

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 22:45

    well actually a not so quick update by the looks of it

  • jimmyjonny on 22/06/2025 - 23:18

    im redoing the whole search algorithm from scratch, the old one wasnt very efficent

  • Aerith-Waifu on 23/06/2025 - 05:47
    +6

    I think you should just call it a dud and move on…..

    • Herbs on 23/06/2025 - 12:07

      Agree, this is crowd-farming bug-finders/testers and wasting people's time.

  • sund00bie on 23/06/2025 - 06:50

    "An error occurred: Service is temporarily unavailable. The scraper worker is not connected."

    :(

  • idonotknowwhy on 23/06/2025 - 09:29

    Let me know what you guys think! Any feedback at all is awesome – I'm still tweaking it, and your thoughts would really help make it even better.

    What kind of hyphen is that? It's not the usual ChatGPT em-dash, kind of stumpy

    –Yours

    -Standard

    —Em-Dash

    • Chandler on 23/06/2025 - 15:49
      +1

      Could be an en-dash?

      Symbol Name Unicode
      - Hyphen-Minus U+002D
      ‐ Hyphen U+2010
      ‑ Non-Breaking Hyphen U+2011
      – En Dash U+2013
      — Em Dash U+2014
      ― Horizontal Bar U+2015

      (markdown table courtesy of ChatGPT, since I cbf doing it myself :))

      Edit: Yep. copied it into the query field and ChatGPT says it's an en dash.

      • jimmyjonny on 23/06/2025 - 20:40

        Nice, thanks for figuring that out. Was dying to know

      • idonotknowwhy on 24/06/2025 - 11:00

        Thanks! Didn't realize there were so many.

  • jimmyjonny on 23/06/2025 - 10:46

    If you type something up on word thats the em dash it creates when going through with the editor. I believe its the Em-dash. and whats on the keyboard is the hyphen. I have absolutely no clue what the difference is, I could not help you.

  • jimmyjonny on 23/06/2025 - 10:48

    Finally almost done 🤞

  • lltravel on 23/06/2025 - 10:55
    +1

    An error occurred: Service is temporarily unavailable. The scraper worker is not connected.

    wasted my time, wont ever beat google

    we have staticeice.com.au ffor this

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