The Monkey Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Is there some way to monitor auction sites or forums such that when a particular product went on sale, you would receive an email or would otherwise be notified? For example, let's say I was in the market for another North Star. I could subscribe to the FS forums on HF, HC, etc. and get daily updates. Same with the 'bay. Not sure about the 'gon. But I'm wondering if there is some sort of service or feed or robot or spider or whateverthefuck that would monitor certain sites and notify me asap when something was posted for sale. Is this remotely feasible, or am I just being an assfacehole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 RSS is what you're looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted November 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 I thought maybe it would be something like that. But how would I configure it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 I thought maybe it would be something like that. But how would I configure it? There are many apps that do this, but personally I use Google Reader which is web-based. If you're using Firefox, on some pages where RSS feed is available, you should have a small icon like the one on the left here: Click on that and it will give you the address of the RSS feed. Put that address in Google Reader and you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted November 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Ok, but now how does it notify me with the specificity that I want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Well, you can filter your searches by word. This works for all sites where RSS is enabled. For other sites like Audiogon, I don't know of any system that monitors activity and filters by word, but I'd be really interested if it exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepak Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Monkey you could hire a lacky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 The technology exists -- if it exists for the consumer, I don't know. If it doesn't, I can't imagine it'd be too hard to write -- I've used the google ajax API myself. Just start with a canonical list of search hits, and then compare new iterations of the search result set against the canonical set and look for differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBLoudG20 Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 The technology exists -- if it exists for the consumer, I don't know. If it doesn't, I can't imagine it'd be too hard to write -- I've used the google ajax API myself. Just start with a canonical list of search hits, and then compare new iterations of the search result set against the canonical set and look for differences. Thanks for volunteering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted November 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 ^ I know how to do all of that except use the google ajax API, start with a canonical list of search hits, compare new iterations of the search result set against the canonical set, and look for differences. I did some searching last night and it looks like there are some standalone software solutions, but they all seem to be for Windows--I have a Mac. There are some web-based apps that might work, but they seem to turn results daily at the most frequent. I'd want hourly at least. One web-based app looks like that functionality is in development, but not out yet. I'll find a solution. I'm persistent like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Thanks for volunteering! I'd love to -- it is certainly something within my capabilities -- I just don't have the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted November 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 I'd love to -- it is certainly something within my capabilities -- I just don't have the time. Thank you, by Monday will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postjack Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 i like the hire a lacky idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Thank you, by Monday will be fine.Pfff. I got some serious slacking off I have to catch up on this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 What you are looking for is "web mining" or "web scraping". But I have a feeling they're going to charge you a lot more than you'd be willing to pay. From a brief look-see, it looks like they're targeting not the buyer for this, but the seller, in terms of establishing a market price for a new product. The problem with this "hourly" stuff is that most sites don't like their sites being constantly searched by monkeys and lackeys that frequently. Once a day, maximum, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flecom Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 this is built into ebay at least, its called "saved searches"... you can set them up in the regular search page, whenever something gets listed that matches your string it shoots you an email... ive picked up quite a few rare items this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepak Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 this is built into ebay at least, its called "saved searches"... you can set them up in the regular search page, whenever something gets listed that matches your string it shoots you an email... ive picked up quite a few rare items this way But the delay between listing and when you receive the email is pretty slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Yeah -- the difference in what he wants and those "saved searches" is the immediateness of the response. One of those things that as soon as the item popped up, he'd be alerted. I'd wait for web 2.0. Me, personally, I just sign up to paying more for the item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted December 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 My idea, I get a piece of any action when the internets catch up to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 Good luck with that, Al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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