

Show HN:  See lower prices in your cart - ericn
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/buy-happy/amplgponnfkfhnbgojhehcaaiocgmpam

======
daxelrod
I use something similar, Invisible Hand.
[http://www.getinvisiblehand.com/](http://www.getinvisiblehand.com/)

I haven't had a chance to check out Buy Happy yet, but it seems to me that
displaying competing prices on product pages rather than when adding to cart
might be a better experience. I use price as one of the deciding factors on
whether to buy, and there have been a few times where the lower price that
Invisible Hand found convinced me to actually buy a product.

Perhaps both approaches are useful.

~~~
SquareWheel
I would sure like to see one of these extensions that doesn't use affiliate
links. I often want to use specific affiliates to support organizations like
the EFF or Child's Play charity.

Not trying to be trollish, but I genuinely dislike this sort of monetizing and
wish these extensions were at least more upfront about it.

~~~
gk1
> I genuinely dislike this sort of monetizing and wish these extensions were
> at least more upfront about it.

Do you have a reason for feeling this way, aside from not wanting someone else
to earn money from your action?

They are providing you with a service that saves you money, so I don't
understand the hesitation.

~~~
Domenic_S
What other reason is needed? Some of us intentionally use affiliate links from
a person or cause we care about, and would like to know when the affiliat-
izing changes.

------
bluetidepro
I haven't checked the source code of the plugin, but I wonder if they add
affiliate links when they link to the other prices that are lower? If they
don't, I don't see why not, it seems like a nice & easy way to skim off the
top of those transactions for providing a nice extension. I'll definitely try
this out for a bit and gauge how good it works.

~~~
schneidmaster
It looks like they're going to be monetizing by partnering with specific
retailers. From the plugin description:

> Buy Happy retail partners will soon be giving you deals to share with
> friends and family via social media. And we’ll be adding more powerful
> features to Buy Happy as well — while building a fun community along the
> way. Isn’t it time to add Buy Happy to your browser?

~~~
mynameisfiber
Also, don't forget the data they are harvesting. From their privacy policy,
they are monitoring your shopping habits and what you do before/after you look
at a product. So, that will let them "support our relationships with the
operators of the retail websites from which we provide you with information
about lower priced products"[1]

Basically, this is a data-farm.

[1] [http://buyhappyapp.com/privacy-policy/](http://buyhappyapp.com/privacy-
policy/)

------
ericn
Just for reference,

At the moment, the best price we've found on this product is on Best Buy. If
you add it to your cart and view your cart, you should see a best price
confirmation.

[http://www.bestbuy.com/site/radar-laser-
detector/1470022.p?i...](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/radar-laser-
detector/1470022.p?id=1219052238508&skuId=1470022&st=laser%20detector&cp=1&lp=1)

You only see a confirmation if we could find a match. Otherwise, we stay out
of your way.

This Blu-ray player is cheaper elsewhere:

[http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Smart+Blu-
ray+Player/7829...](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Smart+Blu-
ray+Player/7829257.p?skuId=7829257&productCategoryId=abcat0102003&id=1218861012727)

Add it to your cart and go to your cart and you'll see a better offer.

~~~
giarc
What do you mean you "stay out of your way"? I seem to get a confirmation pop
up regardless if the price is higher or lower.

~~~
ericn
You get a a dialog if we find a match (whether it's higher or lower). If we
don't find a match, we don't show anything.

Updated the comment to be more clear.

------
FriedPickles
Looks very nice!

Our Zinc Save [0] extension takes a slightly different approach. We add a
button on at checkout that guarantees a fixed, better price. If you use it, we
then do the price shopping for you and place the order on your behalf. If we
don't get the price we promised, we keep or eat the difference.

[0] zincsave.com

------
bluetidepro
FYI OP, I had to remove the extension because it caused other extensions to
break.

I get this error code in the console when the extension is turned on:

 _Denying load of chrome-extension:
//amplgponnfkfhnbgojhehcaaiocgmpam/jquery.min.map. Resources must be listed in
the web_accessible_resources manifest key in order to be loaded by pages
outside the extension._

(I'm using Chrome Version 33.0.1750.146)

~~~
ericn
Thanks for the report!

As far as we know, that error is harmless. It has never affected us negatively
before.

Can you give more details about which extensions stopped working?

Thanks

~~~
bluetidepro
It's another extension that's using jquery, I think. It's something custom I
added awhile ago, so I don't actually have a direct link to it in the Chrome
extension store or anything. :/ Sorry about that.

------
danellis
Just a quick tip -- if you link directly to the extension, nobody except those
using desktop Chrome can see anything about what it is.

~~~
ericn
I have a hard time believing this. I can see the chrome store in Firefox.

~~~
danellis
You can't see it in in Chrome on Android, and of course not in anything using
the web component, such as Hacker News clients.

------
patd
Nicely done.

If you're not in the US, you can give a try to our extension Shoptimate [0].
It does not compare in your cart but at the product page.

[0] [http://www.shoptimate.com](http://www.shoptimate.com)

------
ericn
By the way, extensions for Firefox and other browsers are coming soon.

