How do I add support for a new e-commerce website in Price Track?

You need to modify the web scraping logic in the Firebase functions, as the current code is tailored for specific sites; this requires understanding the site's HTML structure and updating the pullData function, which isn't documented for easy extension.

Is Price Track better than using browser extensions like Honey or Keepa?

Price Track is a self-hosted, open-source alternative that gives you full control over data, unlike extensions that rely on third-party servers. However, it's limited to specific sites and requires technical setup, while extensions often support more platforms out-of-the-box.

How accurate is the price scraping in Price Track?

Accuracy depends on the scraping logic; if e-commerce sites change their layout, the scraper might break until the code is updated, as hinted in the 'Next Step' for supporting more sites. Regular maintenance is needed to ensure reliability.

Can Price Track handle multiple users or is it just for personal use?

It's designed for personal or small-scale use; there's no built-in user management system, and the Firebase setup might need custom adjustments for multi-user scenarios, which isn't covered in the documentation.

What are the ongoing costs of running Price Track on Firebase?

Costs depend on Firebase usage; functions, Firestore, and hosting have free tiers, but scaling with frequent cron jobs and data storage could incur charges, especially if tracking many products over time.

How to customize the frequency of price checks in Price Track?

You can adjust the Firebase Cloud Scheduler settings in the deployment configuration, though the README doesn't specify the default interval; this requires familiarity with Firebase's scheduling tools.

Open-Awesome

PriceTrack

MITJavaScript

An open-source price tracker that automatically monitors product prices from e-commerce sites and sends alerts when prices drop.

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139 stars48 forks0 contributors

What is PriceTrack?

Price Track is an open-source price tracking application that automatically monitors product prices from various e-commerce websites. It collects price data over time, visualizes price trends, and sends alerts to users when prices drop, helping them save money on online purchases.

Target Audience

Individuals who frequently shop online and want to track price fluctuations for specific products, as well as developers interested in building or customizing their own price tracking solutions.

Value Proposition

It provides a fully functional, self-hostable alternative to commercial price trackers, built on a serverless architecture with Firebase for low maintenance and scalability, while offering transparency and control over data.

Overview

Price tracker monitors of products and alerts you when prices drop. Supported tiki.vn, shopee, lotte.vn, ... Built with firebase https://pricetrack.web.app

Use Cases

Best For

Tracking price drops for specific products on Tiki.vn, Shopee, or Lotte.vn
Setting up personal price alerts without relying on third-party services
Learning to build serverless applications with Firebase and React
Creating a custom price monitoring dashboard for personal use
Experimenting with web scraping and data visualization for e-commerce
Deploying a lightweight, self-hosted price tracking tool

Not Ideal For

Businesses needing to track prices on global e-commerce platforms like Amazon or eBay
Projects requiring real-time, instantaneous price change notifications
Non-technical users seeking plug-and-play solutions without setup complexity
Large-scale deployments tracking thousands of products with high data volumes

Pros & Cons

Pros

Automated Price Scraping

Uses Firebase Cloud Scheduler for scheduled cron jobs to collect price data without manual intervention, as outlined in the deployment steps.

Email Alert System

Configures Gmail-based notifications to alert users on price drops, demonstrated by the environment variables for gmail_email and gmail_password.

Interactive Data Visualization

Integrates Gatsby.js and React to provide detailed charts for price history over time, visible in the provided screenshots.

Raw Data API Access

Offers API endpoints like /query for developers to retrieve and analyze price data programmatically, as shown in the testing examples.

Cons

Limited E-commerce Support

Only tracks prices from Tiki.vn, Shopee, and Lotte.vn, with plans to add more sites, restricting its use to specific Vietnamese platforms.

Complex Deployment Setup

Requires multiple steps including Firebase CLI installation, environment variable configuration, and manual cron job setup, which can be daunting for beginners.

Firebase Vendor Lock-in

Deeply integrated with Firebase for hosting, database, and functions, making migration to other platforms difficult and increasing dependency.

Scalability and Cost Concerns

The README mentions moving workers to reduce costs, indicating potential issues with handling large-scale data or users on Firebase's free tier.

Frequently Asked Questions

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