Critique my muse - Amazon.com Inventory Alerter

[Gabe]

Hey everyone, I am new to the forum but I have been working at various types of muses for a while and I have something that I would really appreciate some feedback on. Recently, I worked with a programmer to help me develop a website that will help people save money (by not overpaying 3rd party sellers) and time (it automatically watches Amazon.com's inventory in real-time) when shopping on Amazon.com.

In a nutshell, when you go to purchase a product on Amazon.com, you will typically see two prices - the "in stock" Amazon.com price and the typically "much higher" 3rd party seller price. For example, the big craze for kids this year is Zhu Zhu pets. They retail (when in stock at Amazon.com for $10 but if you check you can already see 3rd party sellers listing them for 4 to 5 times as much).

Once they go out of stock, people are only left with the latter option.

You can check it out at - http://www.myazbutler.com

My site makes this process simple. All you do is go there, enter the Amazon Product ID in the box and click "Watch My Product ID". You have to leave your browser window open, my site checks the Amazon.com inventory every 5 seconds and once your item is in stock a *loud* alarm will sound (5 times) alerting you to the product's availability.

If you have to close your browser, you have the ability to create a watchlist as well.

Why not an e-mail instead of an alarm?

Well, because hot items (like toys) sell out quickly which you would never get to in time if you waited on an e-mail. This is typically the method tht competing sites use.

The software is free (for now), no signup, no strings and fully functional.

If you like, feel free to check it out and test it. Also, if you do like it, *please* tell other people about it since we are working hard trying to determine how much traffic the server can handle.

Last of all, I would have loved to have this done sooner because promoting it is a nightmare this close to Christmas so if anyone has any ideas that would be great.

You can check it out at - http://www.myazbutler.com

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Gabe

[networkmemetics]

Gabe,

This is absolutely brilliant. I really like this idea. I might be concerned that you will be blocked by Amazon once the traffic picks up - do you have proxies just in case?

You might try a paid press release service. PM me if you want some more info.

NM

[edo]

Cool idea! You can definitely keep the service free if you use your amazon affiliate id to make commissions off the sales from your site!

And I agree with networkmetrics...amazon is going to block your site for continuous refreshes.

Other than that, you have a very promising muse :)

[officer_dibble]

It might depend how you do it. Create a standalone app that the user can run on their computer or iPhone and scrape pages rather than hit the API - and you might get away with it. A grease monkey script might even do it.

It also depends a bit on how frequently you poll Amazon - you might get away with every half hour.

In terms of improvements - you have to move away from asking the user to input the product ID and just allow them to do a normal search and select the right product from the results.

Also and I'm not sure Amazon's api will allow you to do this - it would be great if you could just say a price you'd be happy with and then get the app to automatically purchase it for you if it reaches it.

Finally think about rolling it out to other Amazon's. The only downside with this is that you often have to have a bank account in those countries unless you're happy with payment in Amazon vouchers.

In terms of promotion - perhaps one of my previous posts might help:

http://fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?p=24958#post24958

[Gabe]

@ networkmemetics & @ edo - Thanks guys. Actually this is the developer's idea, I just paid for the source code and so it's up to me to market it. The code has been 100% approved by AWS so there shouldn't be any problems regardless of the traffic.

@ officerdibble - Standalone app is on the way. Just integrated support for UK, Canada, Germany and France. Japan to come. We are also working on your suggestion to the search function, I've had this request alot. You can get checks from Amazon in other countries as far as I know. Thanks for the thread on promotion, I will def check it out.

Thanks guys, great help so far... :)

[networkmemetics]

Gabe -

One more item:

THESE are quality press releases....go for the most expensive one (360?) and it can be picked up by the associated press / other outlets.

http://www.prweb.com/pr/press-release-price2.html

I recommend doing pay per post on high traffic blogs.

This is really a great idea - I want to see you succeed for Christmas season!

[kamakiri]

I have to echo Network's questions here. There aren't any "AWS approved" programs, a quick google shows that.

I can't imagine that any internet company would be happy to be auto pinged every 5 seconds. It is excessive. It also eats your customers bandwith. Anything pinging over and over is going to affect your PC. Watching 10 items means 120 pings an minute, and that is enough to slow any connection.

Amazon is going to notice that as well. I have seen similar polling programs in the game industry. They ping stats. As soon as they became popular they were banned. No web site likes auto pings, especially not excessive pinging like your program does.

That is not to say that the idea isn't sound, just that the current application is ripe for being cut off from amazon on the good end to getting your customers banned from them entirely.

[Gabe]

@networkmetrics - Thanks for the info on PRWeb. I spent some time trying to research and find out what other people's results have been with the service. Overall it seems pretty good. Have you ever used them yourself, and if so what has been your experience?

@ kamakiri - Thank you for very much for your opinion. You definitely make many good points. FWIW, I think the Amazon would agree with you 100% in saying that "you can't imagine that internet company would be happy to be auto pinged every 5 seconds. It is excessive."

While this may appear to be the case on the surface, I can assure you however that the application does comply with the AWS TOS and that we have spent considerable time and money making certain that it is including many hours of back and forth with them on the phone and in countless e-mail correspondence.

Thanks again for your thoughts and well wishes.

[kamakiri]

While this may appear to be the case on the surface, I can assure you however that the application does comply with the AWS TOS

Cite, please. I am not buying this one.

[Gabe]

@kamakiri - ???

Thanks everyone for your advice and emails. I really appreciate it.

[kamakiri]

Sorry to be blunt, but I do not believe you. I was asking for a citation. A link to something from AWS that mentions something about your service, and that it is within the terms of service.

[networkmemetics]

Hi Gabe,

Sorry for Delay.
Re: PRWeb

I haven't used the service (yet). However, my source is extremely reliable, and I believe it to be the best option online at this time. I'm involved in a number of online communities for entrepreneurship online.

You can PM me if you want more specifics.

NM