The short answer
To track an eBay listing's price, copy the listing's link from ebay.com, paste it into a price tracker such as Snagly, and set the price you'd be happy to pay. Snagly checks the price through eBay's official API every 4 hours and emails you when it falls to or below your target. It is free during launch and needs no browser extension.
Step by step
- 1
Copy the listing’s link from eBay
Open the exact listing on ebay.com and copy its URL from the address bar. A listing link looks like ebay.com/itm/123456789012. If you are on a "compare similar items" page (ebay.com/p/…), click through to one specific listing first: that page groups many sellers, so it has no single price to track.
- 2
Paste it into Snagly
Paste the link into the box on the Snagly homepage. You will see the listing’s live title, photo and price straight away, fetched from eBay’s official API. You do not need an account for this step.
- 3
Set your target price
Enter the price you would actually buy at. If the listing already has a page on Snagly, check its price history first, so your target is based on where the price has really been.
- 4
Save it with a free account
Create an account to keep the tracker running. From then on Snagly checks the price every 4 hours.
- 5
Get the email when it drops
When the price falls to or below your target, Snagly emails you with a link to the listing. You get one email per drop, not one every time the price is checked. If the price climbs back above your target and later drops again, you get a new alert.
Doesn’t eBay’s Watchlist already do this?
Watching an item on eBay saves it to your Watchlist, and eBay may notify you about some changes to items you watch. What the Watchlist does not do is let you pick your own target price, or show how a listing’s price has moved over time.
A price tracker adds both: you decide the price that is worth an email, and you can see the listing’s history before you buy. Plenty of people use the two together.
Tips for catching a real price drop
- Track a few similar listings, not just one. Individual listings sell out or end, so watching three or four sellers of the same item gives you more chances at your price.
- Use the price history to tell a real drop from a fake one. A listing that was marked up and then "discounted" looks very different on a chart from one that has genuinely come down.
- Pick fixed-price (Buy It Now) listings. An auction’s price moves with bidding and ends at a set time, so a target price does not fit it well.
- Set a target you would really pay. A target far below anything the listing has ever reached may never trigger, and then you never hear about the deals that do come up.
- Always confirm the price on eBay before buying. Snagly shows the price as of its last check, which can be up to a few hours old.
What happens when a listing sells out or ends
If a listing is still up but out of stock, Snagly keeps tracking it, labels it out of stock, and holds back the alert. If it comes back in stock at or under your target, you get the email then.
If the listing ends or is removed, Snagly stops tracking it and takes down its public page, since there is nothing left to buy.